Podcasts and Streaming Audio: History

What's the story of Pharaoh Djoser and Egypt’s first pyramid? How did Dr. Vera Peters helped revolutionize the treatment of both breast cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma? Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

From award-winning public radio producer, Nate DiMeo, comes The Memory Palace. Short, surprising stories of the past, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterical, always super-great. For history buffs, fans of public radio shows like This American Life, Radio Lab, and whatnot, and for all admirers of things that are super-great.

This podcast consists of lectures recorded live at the UK National Archives in Kew, England. The lectures touch on many different periods in the history of the British Isles (and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the world), from the lives of medieval peasants to pop concerts held in Hyde Park in the late 60s. Some talks center on the future of archives, particularly the growing importance of digital collections. A more recent series also produced by the Archives, On the Record, features clusters of episodes based on a central theme, such as espionage, love, or resistance.

This monthly podcast is produced by the Library Company of Philadelphia, which, having been founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, is the oldest cultural institution in the United States and now houses extensive collections of rare books, manuscripts, prints, and other historical materials. Each episode features an interview with a researcher detailing how the Library Company's collections have informed their work.

In each episode of The History Chicks, Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider spend an hour or more delivering a detailed (yet conversational) recap of the life of a fascinating woman from history, ranging from Joan of Arc to Mary Church Terrell to Dowager Empress Cixi of China. As their tagline puts it: "Any resemblance to a boring history lesson is purely coincidental."

This podcast traces the history of the English language and the people who spoke it from it's earliest origins in the Proto-Indo-European language through Old, Middle, and Modern English. If you like history, then this is a podcast for you.