The Restoration reinstates the monarchy in England, Scotland & Ireland, and Irish Catholics believe that they will get their lands back for their loyalty to the king. And when the openly Catholic King James II succeeds his older brother, they are even more hopeful. But English Protestants fear that his reign will lead to a Catholic dynasty, and invite the Dutch William of Orange to take the throne.

James II flees to France and gathers troops to back his cause. He arrives on the coast of Ireland in 1689 to reclaim his crown. When news of this reaches Parliament, William of Orange heads to Ireland to meet his enemy on the battlefield. In the Boyne Valley near Dublin, the two kings clash in a battle that continues to be memorialised in Ireland today. But was it that militarily important? And how did the Battle of the Boyne play into the chessboard of European geopolitics?

Listen as Anita and William are joined once again by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer to discuss how the Battle of the Boyne shaped Protestant identity in Ireland.

 _____________

Empire UK Live Tour: The Booze & Brews live show is going on a UK tour! William and Anita will be discussing the extraordinary history of ordinary drinks such as tea, Indian Pale Ale and gin & tonic, highlighting how interconnected our drinks cabinets are with the British Empire. Tickets are on sale NOW, to buy your tickets head to aegp.uk/EmpireLive2025.

Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up or start a free trial on Apple Podcasts.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @empirepoduk 

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk 

X: @empirepoduk

goalhanger.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

His statue may stand proudly outside the Houses of Parliament in London, but in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell is remembered as “the Devil from over the Sea” for the bloodshed he unleashed there from 1649 to 1653. 

Rising to prominence as a Parliamentarian during the English Civil Wars, Oliver Cromwell sought revenge against the Catholics who had killed Protestant colonists in Ireland during the rebellion of 1641. 

Soon after overseeing the execution of King Charles I, Cromwell feared that Ireland would be used as a backdoor to England by Royalists, and he took violent measures to stop that from happening. The sieges at Drogheda and Wexford saw some of the worst massacres to occur in Irish history. What happened to ordinary people during the misery of the 1650s? And what legacy did the Cromwellian Conquest leave in Ireland?

Listen as Anita and William are joined once again by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, author of Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World, to discuss how Irish Catholics were displaced and dispossessed as a result of the Cromwellian Conquest. 

 _____________

Empire UK Live Tour: The Booze & Brews live show is going on a UK tour! William and Anita will be discussing the extraordinary history of ordinary drinks such as tea, Indian Pale Ale and gin & tonic, highlighting how interconnected our drinks cabinets are with the British Empire. Tickets are on sale NOW, to buy your tickets head to aegp.uk/EmpireLive2025.

Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up or start a free trial on Apple Podcasts.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @empirepoduk 

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk 

X: @empirepoduk

goalhanger.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After victory in China, Genghis Khan goes west and takes on the Khwarezmians, surprising his enemy with a daring assault. He conquers all in his path and now controls the biggest empire the world has ever seen. But whose shoulders are broad enough to become his successor?

Listen to Goalhanger and Wondery's podcast, Legacy, as Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan explore the life of Genghis Khan.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1607, after launching a failed rebellion in Ulster against the English, Hugh O’Neill and other Irish nobles are forced to flee Ireland, and their lands are confiscated. In response to the revolt, an insidious narrative about Irish people emerges in Tudor England, describing them as ‘caterpillars’ and ‘barbarians’ who needed ‘civilising’.

In the wake of the development of the Ulster Plantation, a group of London merchants establish The Honourable Irish Society to colonise County Derry, renaming it County Londonderry in an ode to their origins. How did the city’s 17th century history shape its role in The Troubles? And what’s the difference between plantations in Ireland and plantations in the Caribbean?

Listen as William and Anita are joined once again by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, author of Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World, to discuss English imperialism in Ireland in the early 1600s.

_____________

Empire UK Live Tour: The Booze & Brews live show is going on a UK tour! William and Anita will be discussing the extraordinary history of ordinary drinks such as tea, Indian Pale Ale and gin & tonic, highlighting how interconnected our drinks cabinets are with the British Empire. Empire Club members will receive a link to the members' pre-sale on Wednesday 26th of February, and general sale goes live on Thursday 27th of February.

If any members who signed up through Apple Podcasts don't receive a link to the ticket presale, please email us at [email protected]!



Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @empirepoduk 

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk 

X: @empirepoduk

goalhanger.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ireland is the only country in Western Europe that has experienced being colonised in the modern era. It was used by England as a laboratory for imperialism, and was the site of bloody colonial wars for centuries, yet many people in the neighbouring United Kingdom have little understanding of Ireland’s history. 

The new series on Ireland & Empire begins with the Tudor Conquest. By the 1500s, there were small pockets of English imperialism in Ireland via descendants of the Anglo-Norman invasions of the 1190s, but they were concentrated along the southeastern coast. However, when Henry VIII launched the Protestant Reformation in England, establishing control over Ireland suddenly became a top priority. In 1541, he declared all Irish people as his subjects. He built upon previous laws banning Irish language and customs, and created a militarised society. And by Elizabeth I’s reign, the Tudors introduced plantations in Ireland which granted land to English and Scottish settlers. 

Listen as Anita and William are joined by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer at Jaipur Literature Festival to discuss how Tudor colonialism paved the way for the overhaul of Gaelic society in Ireland.

_____________

Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up or start a free trial on Apple Podcasts.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @empirepoduk 

Blue Sky: @empirepoduk 

X: @empirepoduk

goalhanger.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The future of the Chagos Islands hangs in the balance as world leaders debate how really owns the islands and who should be allowed to live there. Since the 1970s, the evicted Chagossian people have been using legal channels to fight their expulsion from their Indian Ocean homes, challenging Britain's claim to its last colony. Led by Olivier Bancoult, a Chagossian activist expelled from Peros Banhos in the 1960s, hundreds of people have been campaigning to be granted the right to return to their land.

Despite winning their case in October 2024, the election of US President Donald Trump has thrown the status of the Chagos Islands again into jeopardy. So, as the weeks roll on since Trump's inauguration, the Chagossian people are asking: when will Britain let us go home?

Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by barrister, writer and academic, Philippe Sands, to discuss the uncertain future of the Chagos Islands.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chagos Islands have dominated news headlines over the past few months, but the struggle of the Chagossian people to reclaim their island home has spanned decades. First colonised in 1513 by the Portuguese, the archipelago shifted from one imperial master to another over the course of the next three hundred years, until the British took control in the 19th century and changed the course of Chagossian history forever...

In the 20th century the US realised the strategic importance of the Chagos archipelago, sitting equidistant between Asia and Africa. As the island of Diego Garcia became home to one of the largest US military bases in the world, the Chagossian people were forcibly evicted from their lands and displaced across the world, left to fend for themselves in unknown lands.

Listen as Anita and William are joined by Philippe Sands, barrister, writer and academic, who has been leading the repatriation case against the British government on behalf of the Chagos Islands and the Mauritian state.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel transformed India’s landscapes but faced immense personal struggles. Despite rising to prominence as the Maharaja of Mysore’s trusted landscape architect, Krumbiegel suffered greatly during the first and second world wars, enduring hardship and isolation in British-run camps.

Krumbiegel’s resilience shone through even in adversity. His expertise was so revered that, after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, the newly independent India entrusted him with landscaping the Raj Ghat memorial in Delhi, a sacred space visited by dignitaries from around the world to this day.

Listen as William and Anita delve into Krumbiegel’s legacy - a tale of brilliance, resilience, and deep-rooted love for India. Despite facing internment, political shifts, and personal loss, his vision shaped not just gardens but the very essence of India’s urban and cultural landscapes. This is the story of a man who, though German by birth, left an indelible mark on India’s heart and soil.

Many thanks to Vinay Parameswarappa for introducing us to the fascinating story of Gustav Krumbeigel.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel's visionary work transformed the landscapes of India. From humble beginnings in Germany to an apprenticeship at Kew Gardens, Krumbiegel’s journey led him to Baroda, where he became the trusted landscape architect of the Maharaja. Designing the iconic Brindavan Gardens, shaping Bangalore’s reputation as the “Garden City,” and introducing innovative agricultural practices that supported local economies, Krumbiegel's influence shaped India's botanical future.

Krumbiegel’s work was not, however, purely focused on aesthetics. He revolutionised urban planning in India, introducing tree censuses, promoting sustainable irrigation systems, and blending traditional Indian gardening with European techniques. His deep respect for local environments and cultures allowed him to create green spaces that felt both timeless and transformative.

Listen as William and Anita delve into the life of this unsung hero, whose passion for plants left an enduring imprint on India’s landscapes. From royal palaces to public parks, Krumbiegel’s story is a testament to how one man’s vision can shape the natural and cultural heritage of an entire nation.

Many thanks to Vinay Parameswarappa for introducing us to the fascinating story of Gustav Krumbeigel.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calcutta in the late 18th century was a chaotic, fast-growing city, filled with fortune seekers, towering mansions, and an ever-present sense of impermanence. Inspired by the botanical and zoological paintings they encountered in Lucknow, Sir Elijah Impey, the first Chief Justice of Bengal, and his wife, Lady Mary Impey, brought this style to Calcutta, where they assembled an artistic salon and commissioned Indian artists to document the natural world in beautiful detail.

Lady Impey, a passionate naturalist, became the unlikely patron of some of India's greatest animal painters, including Sheikh Zayn al-Din, Bhawani Das, and Ram Das. Working with delicate squirrel-hair brushes, these artists captured birds, mammals, and even bats with stunning precision. Their art, once viewed merely as scientific record-keeping, is now recognized as some of the finest examples of Indian painting from the colonial period.

Listen as William and Anita trace the journey of this artistic tradition from Lucknow to Calcutta and beyond, exploring how European patrons influenced Indian artists - and how, in turn, Indian artistry left an indelible mark on Western botanical and zoological illustration. 

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Senior Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices