Podcast
HistoryExtra Long Reads
Hosted by History Extra · EN
Take a deep dive into the past as we bring you the very best of HistoryExtra magazine, Britain’s bestselling history magazine. With a new episode released every Monday, enjoy fascinating and enlightening articles from leading historical experts, covering a broad sweep of the centuries – from the scandals of Georgian society to the horrors of the First World War, revolutions, rebellions, and more.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Nell Gwyn: England's mistress
6d ago00:18:29Tap to summarizeNell Gwyn became famous for her love affair with Charles II, and for her love of drinking, gambling and carousing. Yet, as this Long Read written by Sophie Shorland explores, this upwardly mobile celebrity was also a canny political operator who wielded substantial power in court. Today's feature originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →The Asante gold: a tale of blood and plunder
2w ago00:20:47Tap to summarizeIt’s a tale of slavery, racism and naked imperial power. This Long Read written by Barnaby Phillips traces the fate of the exquisite golden treasures looted by British forces from the kingdom of Asante 150 years ago. Today's feature originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →How medieval mothers took back control
3w ago00:22:25Tap to summarizeIn the Middle Ages, the bearing and raising of children defined women’s lives. But, as this Long Read written by Elinor Cleghorn explains, there were women who had other ideas and boldly challenged attitudes towards motherhood. Today's feature originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Rome's people power
4w ago00:22:03Tap to summarizeFrom Romulus’s open-city policy to Claudius’s reforms, citizenship was used by Rome as both a reward and a weapon. As this Long Read written by Shushma Malik explains, it enabled the burgeoning empire to build power and define identity. Today's feature originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of HistoryExtra magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →The 'Iron Curtain' speech: why Churchill poked the Russian bear
May 300:22:25Tap to summarizeIt’s 80 years since the war victor and ex-prime minister Winston Churchill delivered his ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, sounding the alarm for a perilous new age. The speech, given as tensions with Stalin soared, is among the most famous in modern history. Yet, asks this Long Read written by Richard Toye, has it been misunderstood? Today's feature originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Anne Boleyn’s image problem
Apr 2600:24:51Tap to summarizeDark or brunette? Fair or swarthy? A paragon of beauty or a refined charmer? Our picture of Henry VIII’s ill-fated second queen has become distorted over five centuries – but new research by Owen Emmerson and others comes closer to revealing her true appearance. This Long Read, written by Owen, explains more.Today's feature originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Mob rule: the rise of the mafia
Apr 1900:25:18Tap to summarizeThe 20th century was a golden age for organised crime groups. This Long Read written by Ryan Gingeras reveals how gangs from the Sicilian Mafia to Mexico’s cartels capitalised on political chaos, economic upheaval and mass migration to spread their tentacles around the world. Today's feature originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →What Shakespearean food reveals about early modern England
Apr 1200:14:34Tap to summarizeShakespeare and his peers served up hearty helpings of diverse dishes and ingredients – many of them spiced with forgotten meanings. This Long Read written by Sam Bilton reveals how food allusions illustrate five key themes of everyday life.Today's feature originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of HistoryExtra magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →A Victorian murder mystery
Apr 500:17:01Tap to summarizeBy 1889, Jack the Ripper's grisly murders had sparked terror throughout London. So when the mutilated body of a woman was found beneath railway arches near the Thames, a coded alert was dispatched to warn metropolitan police divisions: "Another Whitechapel." But her killer wasn't Jack. Following her recent BBC Two series, this Long Read, written by Lucy Worsley, investigates the horrifying crimes of the Thames Torso murderer. Today's feature originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →How empires end
Mar 2900:22:15Tap to summarizeHow do civilisations collapse? That was the question at the heart of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Two hundred and fifty years after it was published, this Long Read, written by Guy de la Bédoyère, argues that Gibbon's magnum opus remains a landmark in the writing of history. Today's feature originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →