Description
The rise and fall of empires and the events that shaped world history.
William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the intricate stories of revolutions, imperial wars, and the people who built and lost empires.
From the British Empire to the Ottomans to Ancient India, history is shaped by power struggles and territorial conquests. How does it continue to affect the world today?
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Episodes
- 2026 / 3 / 3338.Chairman Mao: Birth of A Dictator (Ep 1)A revolutionary hero or a brutal despot? Mao Zedong has one of the most recognisable portraits on Earth. How did he rise to become the founder of the People’s Republic of China? ** Binge all six episodes of...
- 2026 / 2 / 26337. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Philistines, Israelites, & Rebuilding The Ruins (Ep 6)How did the Phoenicians create the alphabet we still use today? Was the Bronze Age collapse comparable to the fall of Rome? What does DNA evidence tell us about the origins of the Philistines and...
- 2026 / 2 / 26337. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Philistines, Israelites, & Rebuilding The Levant (Ep 6)How did the Phoenicians create the alphabet we still use today? Was the Bronze Age collapse comparable to the fall of Rome? What does DNA evidence tell us about the origins of the Philistines and...
- 2026 / 2 / 24336. Bronze Age Apocalypse: How To Survive The End of The World (Ep 5)Which ancient civilisation was the best at surviving the Apocalypse, and which was the worst? Who were the Hittites, and what did they actually call themselves? Does the Bronze Age collapse serve as a warning...
- 2026 / 2 / 19335. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Solving The Mystery of The Collapse (Ep 4)Who were the ‘Sea Peoples’? Was the Bronze Age Collapse caused by a single catastrophic event? How did the Egyptians try to adapt to the changing climate? From the scientific evidence hidden in ancient pollen...
- 2026 / 2 / 17334. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Did Homer Write History? (Ep 3)The legendary ancient Greek poet, Homer, is a key source to our understanding of the Bronze Age Collapse, but did a single genius named Homer even exist? How could sophisticated poems like The Iliad and The...
- 2026 / 2 / 12333. Bronze Age Apocalypse: The Fall of Troy with Stephen Fry (Ep 2)Stephen Fry joins William and Anita to discuss how Greek Myths have shaped our understanding of the Bronze Age Collapse. Was the Trojan Horse real? What can we learn about the end of ancient civilisations...
- 2026 / 2 / 12333. Bronze Age Apocalypse: The Fall of Troy (Ep 2)Stephen Fry joins William and Anita to discuss how Greek Myths have shaped our understanding of the Bronze Age Collapse. Was the Trojan Horse real? What can we learn about the end of ancient civilisations...
- 2026 / 2 / 10332. Bronze Age Apocalypse: Before The Collapse (Ep 1)This is the beginning of the most dramatic imperial collapses in history. Why were Ancient civilisations so interconnected 3000 years ago? How did this interconnectedness lead to their downfall? Did people at...
- 2026 / 2 / 5331. The Iranian Revolution: Will The Shah Return To Iran? (Ep 2)In 1979, the people of Iran took to the streets to topple the Shah. This year they are back in the streets shouting “Long Live The Shah”. How did this happen? How did a country which so volcanically threw out...
- 2026 / 2 / 3330. The Iranian Revolution: 1979 vs. 2026 (Ep 1)In recent weeks, protestors have swarmed the streets in Iran in defiance of the regime, and it feels as if the country is on the precipice of a transformative change. Yet these scenes feel familiar. In the...
- 2026 / 1 / 29329. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The British Raj is Born (Part 8)How did Lucknow become the final battleground of the 1857 Uprising? Who was Begum Hazrat Mahal, and how did she hold together a rebellion against overwhelming odds? How did the 1857 Uprising lead to the fall...
- 2026 / 1 / 29329. Indian Uprising 1857: The British Raj is Born (Part 8)How did Lucknow become the final battleground of the 1857 Uprising? Who was Begum Hazrat Mahal, and how did she hold together a rebellion against overwhelming odds? How did the 1857 Uprising lead to the fall...
- 2026 / 1 / 27328. Indian Uprising 1857: The Reign of Terror (Part 7)How did the British finally break into Delhi during the 1857 Uprising? Why did a sudden solar eclipse change the fate of the siege overnight? Why is the British victory considered one of Delhi’s greatest...
- 2026 / 1 / 27328. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Reign of Terror (Part 7)How did the British finally break into Delhi during the 1857 Uprising? Why did a sudden solar eclipse change the fate of the siege overnight? Why is the British victory considered one of Delhi’s greatest...
- 2026 / 1 / 22327. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The British Strike Back (Part 6)How did the tide turn towards the end of 1857 as British reinforcements gathered to strike the hearts of the rebellion: Delhi and Lucknow? Who was the British Commander, John Nicholson, and why was he feared...
- 2026 / 1 / 22327. Indian Uprising 1857: The British Strike Back (Part 6)How did the tide turn towards the end of 1857 as British reinforcements gathered to strike the hearts of the rebellion: Delhi and Lucknow? Who was the British Commander, John Nicholson, and why was he feared...
- 2026 / 1 / 20326. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Indian Joan of Arc – Rani of Jhansi (Part 5)The warrior queen who fought the British on the battlefield, Rani of Jhansi –or Rani Lakshmibai– is still a hero in India, with comic books and Bollywood movies about her. But what’s the true history behind...
- 2026 / 1 / 20326. Indian Uprising 1857: India’s Joan of Arc – Rani of Jhansi (Part 5)The warrior queen who fought the British on the battlefield, Rani of Jhansi –or Rani Lakshmibai– is still a hero in India, with comic books and Bollywood movies about her. But what’s the true history behind...
- 2026 / 1 / 15325. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Siege of Lucknow (Part 4)An entire city turns on the British and revolts in unison. 3000 East India Company soldiers and civilians in Lucknow are under siege in one compound, hiding in tunnels and surrounded by snipers. But who will...
- 2026 / 1 / 15325. Indian Uprising 1857: The Siege of Lucknow (Part 4)An entire city turns on the British and revolts in unison. 3000 East India Company soldiers and civilians in Lucknow are under siege in one compound, hiding in tunnels and surrounded by snipers. But who will...
- 2026 / 1 / 13324. India’s Greatest Rebellion: Massacre and Revenge in Kanpur (Part 3)In one of the darkest chapters of the 1857 uprising, brutal massacres are met with revenge brutal massacres as the rebellion reaches the East India Company garrison town of Kanpur or “Cawnpore”. Who was...
- 2026 / 1 / 13324. Indian Uprising 1857: Massacre and Revenge in Kanpur (Part 3)In one of the darkest chapters of the 1857 uprising, brutal massacres are met with revenge brutal massacres as the rebellion reaches the East India Company garrison town of Kanpur or “Cawnpore”. Who was...
- 2026 / 1 / 8323. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Rebels March On Delhi (Part 2)How did the mutiny amongst sepoys –Indian soldiers– turn into a national crisis? What ultimatum did the rebels give the Mughal emperor when they reached the Red Fort in Delhi? Why did the British fail to see...
- 2026 / 1 / 8323. Indian Uprising 1857: The Rebels March On Delhi (Part 2)How did the mutiny amongst sepoys –Indian soldiers– turn into a national crisis? What ultimatum did the rebels give the Mughal emperor when they reached the Red Fort in Delhi? Why did the British fail to see...
- 2026 / 1 / 6322. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The 1857 Mutiny (Part 1)Secret messages are being passed from city to city inside chapattis, rebellion is in the air. When Indian soldiers in the East India Company army hear that bullet cartridges are greased with pig and cow fat,...
- 2026 / 1 / 6322. Indian Uprising 1857: The Mutiny (Part 1)Secret messages are being passed from city to city inside chapattis, rebellion is in the air. When Indian soldiers in the East India Company army hear that bullet cartridges are greased with pig and cow fat,...
- 2026 / 1 / 1321. Exploding Rum-filled Coffins, Anglo-Indian Sisterhood, & Julia Margaret CameronHow did Julia Margaret Cameron - Virginia Woolf's great aunt - become one of the most influential photography artists of her time? Who were the Anglo-Indian Pattle Sisters who charmed Victorian society in...
- 2025 / 12 / 30320. Photos That Shook The World: Exposing Leopold in The CongoHow did one woman take on the brutal colonial King Leopold II in Congo with her camera? Who was Alice Seely Harris and why should we remember her name? How did she smuggle her photographs of the horrors going...
- 2025 / 12 / 25319. Heist of St Nicolas: The Medieval Mafia Who Stole Santa (Part 2)Who were the Italian sailors who stole the bones of St Nicolas from his church in Turkey in 1087? How was the mythology of St Nicolas combined with Germanic pagan stories of Odin riding a white horse...
- 2025 / 12 / 23318. Heist of St Nicolas: Raiding Santa's Tomb (Part 1)The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas, was a real bishop from Myra in modern-day Turkey, whose tomb there was popular with pilgrims, but 700 years after his death, a group of sailors decided to steal his...
- 2025 / 12 / 23318. Heist of St Nicolas: Tomb Raiding In Ancient Turkey (Part 1)Saint Nicolas was a real bishop from Myra in modern-day Turkey, whose tomb there was popular with pilgrims, but 700 years after his death, a group of sailors decided to steal his magic bones… What myth about...
- 2025 / 12 / 18317. Churchill's Photographer: From Escaping Genocide to MLKWho was Karsh and how did he become one of the most famous portrait photographers of the 20th century? How did Karsh escape from the Armenian Genocide as a child? What was the story behind some of the most...
- 2025 / 12 / 16316. Hitler's Photographer: Nazi Secrets, Eva Braun, & Escaping JusticeWho was Heinrich Hoffman and how did he use his photography to promote Adolf Hitler and Nazism? When did Hoffman introduce Hitler to Eva Braun? What lies did he tell a Jewish journalist who interviewed him in...
- 2025 / 12 / 12Introducing: The Rest Is ScienceForget what you think you know about reality. The Rest Is Science is a mind-bending new show from Goalhanger that tears down familiar ideas… time, randomness, beauty, it will reveal just how bizarre the...
- 2025 / 12 / 11315. Controversy, Colonialism, & V.S. NaipaulWho was V.S. Naipaul and why was he so controversial? How did Naipaul alter the way in which writers and readers saw the world, and in particular how they saw Trinidad? Why did he make an enemy of Salman...
- 2025 / 12 / 9314. Rudyard Kipling: Villain or Visionary? (Part 3)Should we still read Kipling today? What family tragedy did Kipling face in the later half of his life? How did he fan the flames of jingoism during and after the First World War? William is reunited with...
- 2025 / 12 / 4313. Rudyard Kipling: Escaping India & Writing The Jungle Book (Part 2)What inspired Kipling to write his two most famous works: The Jungle Book and Kim? Why did Kipling hate London and swiftly move to the US? How did Kipling develop such astute observational writing about...
- 2025 / 12 / 2312. Rudyard Kipling: Son of Empire (Part 1)Rudyard Kipling was one of the most evocative writers of India, yet he was a jingoist and an imperialist until his dying day. So how do we grapple with this conundrum, why was Kipling such a man of...
- 2025 / 11 / 27311. Cricket In India: Beating The Brits At Their Own Game (Part 2)How did Britain’s imperial game become so popular in India? Why were India’s princes the ‘nepo babies’ of cricket? How does the legacy of Partition continue to affect matches in India and Pakistan...
- 2025 / 11 / 25310. The Origin of The Ashes & The Killer Cricket Scandal (Part 1)How is the history of cricket completely intertwined with the history of the British Empire? What was the Bodyline Controversy of the 1930s and how did it nearly kill a player? Who was Don Bradman and why is...
- 2025 / 11 / 20309. Tintin, Nazis, & SovietsHow did the young journalist with the quiff haircut and his companion Snowy The Dog feature in Nazi propaganda in the 1940s? What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The...
- 2025 / 11 / 18308. Asterix and Obelix, Babar The Elephant, & Colonial CartoonsHow did a story made up by a mother for her sick children turn into Babar The Elephant? Why did two immigrants to France create such a patriotically French cartoon in Asterix and Obelix? How should we feel...
- 2025 / 11 / 13307. Austen vs Brontë: Unmasking Slavery HeiressesWhat is the true history behind the “madwoman in the attic” in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre? How was Jane Austen’s aunt deeply connected to slavery in Barbados? Who were the British heiresses who married...
- 2025 / 11 / 11306. Joseph Conrad: From Russian Exile To The Heart of DarknessHow did a Polish sailor become one of the greatest writers in the English language? Why were Conrad’s parents exiled to the harsh conditions of northern Russia? Should we continue to read The Heart of...
- 2025 / 11 / 6305. Orwell: Dark Secrets, The CIA, & His Forgotten Failures (Part 4)Why was Orwell’s wife, Eileen, written out of his story when she co-wrote Animal Farm? How did the CIA twist the novel into anti-communist propaganda? As a writer who was so ahead of his time on imperialism...
- 2025 / 11 / 4304. Orwell: Animal Farm, 1984 & Totalitarian Dystopia (Part 3)What was the inspiration behind George Orwell’s most famous works? Why did he move to the remote Scottish island of Jura to finish writing 1984? What was Orwell’s “Snitch List” which he handed over to the...
- 2025 / 10 / 30303. Orwell: Fighting Fascism In The Spanish Civil War (Part 2)Why did George Orwell go to Spain to fight on the Republican side against General Franco? Who saved his life when he was shot in the throat? How did internal feuds on the leftist side of the war influence his...
- 2025 / 10 / 28302. Orwell: The Anti-Imperialist In India & Burma (Part 1)How was George Orwell’s childhood rooted in the British Empire and the opium trade in India? Why did George Orwell become a colonial police officer in Burma? When did Orwell develop his anti-imperialist...
- 2025 / 10 / 28302. Orwell: The Anti-Imperialist in India & Burma (Part 1)How was George Orwell’s childhood rooted in the British Empire and the opium trade in India? Why did George Orwell become a colonial police officer in Burma? When did Orwell develop his anti-imperialist...