Father Christmas – or Santa Claus – is one of western culture’s most recognisable figures. But from his mysterious origins to quite how he ended up as owner of a North Pole workshop staffed by elves, much about the festive season’s main man remains a mystery. In this episode, Thomas Ruys Smith joins Matt Elton to discuss the cultural life and career of the benevolent gift-giver – and reveals when Santa Claus first had to battle Father Christmas for the crown of festive figurehead.

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Read Thomas Ruys Smith’s feature on the intertwined history of Father Christmas and Santa Claus on the HistoryExtra website: https://bit.ly/3MJN7LA

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Did you know that Elizabethan Londoners were good kissers? That medieval drinkers used beer to fight off the flames of a raging inferno? And that Jane Austen doesn't paint an entirely accurate picture of the early 19th century? These are just some of the facts served up in Ian Mortimer's new book, Mortimer's A to Zs of English History. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Ian takes us on an immersive tour of the nation in four periods: the 14th century, the Elizabethan age, the Restoration and the Regency.

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We might assume that Jane Austen led a quiet existence, writing dramatic plots instead of experiencing them herself – but that presumption is far from the truth. In this second episode of our four-part series on Austen's life and writing, Dr Lizzie Rogers and Lauren Good chart the author’s tumultuous twenties, an eventful period of her life during which she faced everything from a fleeting romance to sudden loss.

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Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk

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In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a covert propaganda war on Hitler's Germany. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Terry Stiastny reveals how the Political War Executive deployed everything from fake news and pornography to bogus killings to spread fear and confusion in Nazi-occupied Europe.

(Ad) Terry Stiastny is the author of Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War (Ebury, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fbelievable-lies%2Fterry-stiastny%2F%2F9780753559833.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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Historian Clare Jackson delves into the life and reputation of James VI & I – a king who, says Jackson, has a legacy that has been much refracted and maligned in the 400 years since his death. In her reappraisal of the king's life, she considers the violence that beset James throughout his life, and how that shaped the king's attitudes towards diplomacy, learning and religion. Speaking to Elinor Evans, Jackson brings James's reputation up to date – and shares her pick for the king's perfect dinner companion.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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Mozart is celebrated for his musical genius – but how did he rise to such enduring fame? What inspired him, and who was the man beyond the concert halls and compositions? Ahead of new TV drama Amadeus launching on Sky Atlantic in the UK on 21 December, Hannah Templeton tells Lauren Good about the composer's life, his experiences as a child prodigy on European tours, and the mystery surrounding his death.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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A spooky story during the Christmas season has become traditional – and the modern ghost story was invented by the Victorians, who embraced the supernatural and tried to understand it. Ben Machell has investigated the history of ghost hunting and supernatural investigations since the mid-19th century for his new book, Chasing the Dark, and in this episode David Musgrove talks to Ben about the history of our passion for the paranormal.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part series on Jane Austen's life and work, Dr Lizzie Rogers and Lauren Good step back into the influential Regency novelist’s formative years, and explore her earliest writings that show how she began to find her voice.

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GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

Want to go further into the world of Jane Austen and her literary creations? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good rounds up some essential reading, listening and viewing from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to deepen your understanding of Austen's life, her work and the Regency era in which she wrote: https://bit.ly/49F9oUk

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For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters. Historian Karl Bell talks to Jon Bauckham about the stories that dominated the maritime imagination, and what role these fishy tales might play in our understanding of the ocean today. 

(Ad) Karl Bell is the author of The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic (Reaktion, 2025). Buy it now from Reaktion: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-perilous-deep%2Fkarl-bell%2F%2F9781836390909.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summer of 1944 was marked by personal grief and political legacy. As eldest son Joe Jr flew dangerous missions in the Second World War's European theatre, and Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy scandalised her parents with an aristocratic English match, the family gathered under the looming shadow of tragedy. Talking to Elinor Evans, Straw explores how this fateful summer reshaped the ambitions of younger brother Jack and steered the family’s destiny towards the White House.

(Ad) Leigh Straw is the author of The Kennedys at Cape Cod, 1944: The Summer That Changed Everything (Bloomsbury, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kennedys-Cape-Cod-1944-Everything/dp/1350512583/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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