Dan Snow's History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

By History HitHistory
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Dan Snow's History Hit episodes

  • How History Inspires Environmental Activism
    The world faces a unique environmental challenge. The scale of response to this looming catastrophe can be overwhelming. But economist and activist Andrew Simms believes that history provides us with a guide. It can inspire us to see that we have overcome greater challenges than those we face now. It can encourage us to be bold and believe that the solution lies in our hands. Andrew co-founded the New Weather Institute and Green New Deal group and is a lover of history. In this podcast Andrew shares his thoughts with Dan on episodes in the past that we should be looking to, from the New Deal to the allied victory in the Second World War. He believes we "are capable of extraordinary things."

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • How History Inspires Environmental Activism
    The world faces a unique environmental challenge. The scale of response to this looming catastrophe can be overwhelming. But economist and activist Andrew Simms believes that history provides us with a guide. It can inspire us to see that we have overcome greater challenges than those we face now. It can encourage us to be bold and believe that the solution lies in our hands. Andrew co-founded the New Weather Institute and Green New Deal group and is a lover of history. In this podcast Andrew shares his thoughts with Dan on episodes in the past that we should be looking to, from the New Deal to the allied victory in the Second World War. He believes we "are capable of extraordinary things."

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    24 min
  • The Commando Raid that Changed the Course of WW2
    In October 1942 the British launched a small raid on the Channel Island of Sark. A cast of characters who gave their colleague Ian Fleming ideas for a new secret agent character, James Bond, crept ashore and captured German prisoners. A scuffle broke out and two of them were killed. The commandos escaped with one prisoner and that might have been the end of it. When Hitler heard the news however he went ballistic and very shortly after issued his infamous Commando Order. Henceforth they were to be shot on sight. It was another ratcheting up of the ferocity, and criminality of the Nazi war effort. In this podcast Dan visits the Channel Islands. Meets a local expert and retraced the steps of the raid. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    21 min
  • The Commando Raid that Changed the Course of WW2
    In October 1942 the British launched a small raid on the Channel Island of Sark. A cast of characters who gave their colleague Ian Fleming ideas for a new secret agent character, James Bond, crept ashore and captured German prisoners. A scuffle broke out and two of them were killed. The commandos escaped with one prisoner and that might have been the end of it. When Hitler heard the news however he went ballistic and very shortly after issued his infamous Commando Order. Henceforth they were to be shot on sight. It was another ratcheting up of the ferocity, and criminality of the Nazi war effort. In this podcast Dan visits the Channel Islands. Meets a local expert and retraced the steps of the raid. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    21 min
  • Sam Mendes on 1917

    In this podcast Dan talks to Golden Globe winning film maker Sam Mendes about his new World War One film 1917.


    Based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, it chronicles the story of two young British soldiers at the height of WWI during Spring 1917.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 min
  • Sam Mendes on 1917

    In this podcast Dan talks to Golden Globe winning film maker Sam Mendes about his new World War One film 1917.


    Based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, it chronicles the story of two young British soldiers at the height of WWI during Spring 1917.


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    26 min
  • The Persian War

    In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its western frontier. It was the start of the Persian War. Thankfully for us this war was recorded in some detail by the world's first historian. Herodotus. Despite previous millenia of history in the ancient Near East, this historical record means that the Persian Wars feels recognisably modern. The attitudes and decisions of commanders are discernable. The course of the battles, traceable.

    William Shepherd has written an engaging new account of the war. He took some time to sit down with Dan and explore the course of the war and why it still matters.



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min
  • The Persian War

    In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its western frontier. It was the start of the Persian War. Thankfully for us this war was recorded in some detail by the world's first historian. Herodotus. Despite previous millenia of history in the ancient Near East, this historical record means that the Persian Wars feels recognisably modern. The attitudes and decisions of commanders are discernable. The course of the battles, traceable.

    William Shepherd has written an engaging new account of the war. He took some time to sit down with Dan and explore the course of the war and why it still matters.




    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    38 min
  • Interwar Germany’s Secret Ally: The USSR

    After the First World War the German Army was in crisis. Limited in the size and its equipment by the Versailles Treaty which ended the war, it was a shadow of the mighty force it had been in 1914. Help came from a surprising source. Soviet Russia.


    Historian Ian Johnson explains to Dan how it was the Soviets who helped rebuild the German military machine before World War Two. 


    30% of Weimar Germany's defence spending took place in the USSR. 25% of German officers passed through camps in Soviet soil. This is the shocking conclusion reached by Ian Johnson who has trawled through the archives to understand just how much the German war machine owed to Soviet support. The cash strapped communists were happy to take German money in return for training areas, tank development labs and other activities banned by the Versailles Treaty. 


    The Soviets helped turn the Wehrmacht into a military machine that in 1941-2 came very close to toppling the Soviet state. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    25 min
  • Interwar Germany’s Secret Ally: The USSR

    After the First World War the German Army was in crisis. Limited in the size and its equipment by the Versailles Treaty which ended the war, it was a shadow of the mighty force it had been in 1914. Help came from a surprising source. Soviet Russia.


    Historian Ian Johnson explains to Dan how it was the Soviets who helped rebuild the German military machine before World War Two. 


    30% of Weimar Germany's defence spending took place in the USSR. 25% of German officers passed through camps in Soviet soil. This is the shocking conclusion reached by Ian Johnson who has trawled through the archives to understand just how much the German war machine owed to Soviet support. The cash strapped communists were happy to take German money in return for training areas, tank development labs and other activities banned by the Versailles Treaty. 


    The Soviets helped turn the Wehrmacht into a military machine that in 1941-2 came very close to toppling the Soviet state. 


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    25 min

About Dan Snow's History Hit

From the publisher's feed

Historian Dan Snow journeys across the globe to tell the stories of history's defining moments. From the Colosseum in Rome to the Great Wall of China, the battlefields of Waterloo to the Tomb of Tutankhamun, join Dan as he explores the how and why of the greatest monuments, battles, heroes, villains and events that have shaped our world.


New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays with bonus subscriber only episodes every other Friday.


You can get in touch with us at [email protected]


A podcast by History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts The Ancients, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.


History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™


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