8 Best History Podcasts of 2021

Updated: Oct 2022


Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

By Dan Carlin  

History  

13 Episodes

Started: Oct 2015

Latest: 3 months ago

In "Hardcore History" journalist and broadcaster Dan Carlin takes his "Martian", unorthodox way of thinking and applies it to the past. Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as Adolf Hitler? What would Apaches with modern weapons be like? Will our modern civilization ever fall like civilizations from past eras? This isn't academic history (and Carlin isn't a historian) but the podcast's unique blend of high drama, masterful narration and Twilight Zone-style twists has entertained millions of listeners.

Best Episodes of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History:

Show 68 - BLITZ Human Resources

The Atlantic Slave Trade mixes centuries of human bondage with violence, economics, commerce, geo-political competition, liberty, morality, injustice, revolution, tragedy and bloody reckonings. That s…

Throughline

By NPR  

History  Society & Culture  Documentary  

205 Episodes

Started: Jan 2019

Latest: Few days ago

The past is never past. Every headline has a history. Join us every week as we go back in time to understand the present. These are stories you can feel and sounds you can see from the moments that shaped our world.Subscribe to Throughline+. You'll be supporting the history-reframing, perspective-shifting, time-warping stories you can't get enough of - and you'll unlock access to our sponsor-free feed of the show. Learn more at plus.npr.org/throughline

Best Episodes of Throughline:

Editing Reality

We live in divided times, when the answer to the question 'what is reality?' depends on who you ask. Almost all the information we take in is to some extent edited and curated, and the line between en…

Revisionist History

By Pushkin Industries  

Society & Culture  History  

103 Episodes

Started: Jun 2016

Latest: Few days ago

Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance. To get early access to ad-free episodes and extra content, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts are pushkin.fm/pus. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Best Episodes of Revisionist History:

The Rise of the Guinea Pigs

The Minnesota Starvation Experiment could never be done today. No scientist could get permission to starve 36 healthy people for close to a year. But why? Revisionist History tries to follow the stran…

BackStory

By BackStory  

History  Education  

259 Episodes

Started: Sept 2015

Latest: Year ago

BackStory is a weekly public podcast hosted by U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman. We're based in Charlottesville, Va. at Virginia Humanities. There’s the history you had to learn, and the history you want to learn - that’s where BackStory comes in. Each week BackStory takes a topic that people are talking about and explores it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversations with our listeners, BackStory makes history engaging and fun.

Best Episodes of BackStory:

331: The End of the Road: BackStory and the History of Finales in America

On this final episode of BackStory, Nathan, Brian, Joanne and Ed explore different kinds of finales throughout American history. They also consider what it’s like being a part of their own finale and …

Revolutions

By Mike Duncan  

History  Education  

361 Episodes

Started: Sept 2013

Latest: Few days ago

A weekly podcasting exploring great political revolutions. Now: The Russian Revolution Next: ???

Best Episodes of Revolutions:

Appendix 4- Shocks To The System

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way... For tickets to the October dates: Oct. 3 <a href= "https://tickets.austintheatre.org/8563/8564">Austin TX @ Paramount Th…

In Our Time: History

By BBC Radio 4  

History  

300 Episodes

Started: Oct 2000

Latest: Month ago

Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.

Best Episodes of In Our Time: History:

Angkor Wat

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the largest and arguably the most astonishing religious structure on Earth, built for Suryavarman II in the 12th Century in modern-day Cambodia. It is said to have more…

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

By Jon Hagadorn Podcast Host  

History  Arts  Books  

380 Episodes

Started: Dec 2014

Latest: Few days ago

Where History Comes Alive! A fast-paced, well-researched weekly podcast covering a wide range of historical events, persons, places, legends, and mysteries, Hosted by Jon Hagadorn, the selection of stories and interviews includes lost treasure, unsolved mysteries, unexplained phenomenon, WWII stories, biographies, disasters, legends of the Old West, American Revolutionary history, urban legends, movie backstories, and much more. .

Best Episodes of 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast:

GREG "PAPPY" BOYINGTON AND THE BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON OF WWII

The Black Sheep Squadron, officially known as VMF-214, was commissioned on July 1, 1942 and moved to the island of Espiritu Santo in the Solomon Islands for the purpose of eliminating Japanese air sup…

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