HistoryExtra Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast 2026-10-21T14:12:36.000Z https://www.historyextra.com/content-classification/podcast-episode/feed/atom Elinor Evans <![CDATA[America's anti-Chinese laws: a forgotten history]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/americas-anti-chinese-laws-forgotten-history-podcast/ 2026-10-21T14:12:36.000Z 2026-10-21T14:12:36.000Z From the middle of the 19th century, Chinese people in the United States found themselves increasingly policed, as legislation was introduced that contained and controlled their economic and cultural lives.

Historian Beth Lew-Williams tells Elinor Evans about her work uncovering this wide-reaching set of laws for her book John Doe Chinaman, and reveals how Chinese people resisted and avoided discrimination.

Beth’s book is a finalist for the 2026 Cundill History Prize – you can find more details at cundillprize.com.

Find out more about the Chinese Exclusion Act.

]]> Dr David Musgrove, FSA <![CDATA[An African king in the Roman empire]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/an-african-king-in-roman-empire-podcast/ 2026-10-20T11:44:23.000Z 2026-10-20T11:44:23.000Z He was barely a toddler when he was paraded as a captive in a Roman triumph in 46 BC, but young North African prince Juba went on to marry a daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, and rule an African kingdom. Andrew Kenrick, author of Rex Juba: 15 Glimpses of an African King, unravels his amazing life, in conversation with David Musgrove.

]]> Rob Attar <![CDATA[Everyday life in a slave trading town]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/everyday-life-in-a-slave-trading-town/ 2026-10-19T08:05:04.000Z 2026-10-19T08:04:52.000Z In 1665 the Portuguese Inquisition arrested Crispina Peres, a powerful slave trader in the west African port of Cacheu. The records of her case provide a remarkable window into everyday life in 17th-century west Africa, and form the basis of Toby Green's latest book, The Heretic of Cacheu.

In this episode he is joined by Rob Attar to explore the story of Crispina and the lost world she inhabited.

]]> Lauren Good <![CDATA[From plague 'searchers' to strawberry birthmarks: a history of women's bodies]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/from-plague-searchers-to-strawberry-birthmarks-a-history-of-womens-bodies/ 2026-10-16T16:00:07.000Z 2026-10-16T16:00:07.000Z What was 'nidgeting'? How did women know they were pregnant before modern tests? And what did people in the past believe a mother’s imagination could do to her unborn child?

In this episode, Lauren Good speaks to historian Erin Maglaque about her book Presence, which explores the history of the female body – and society's longstanding beliefs about it.

]]> Lauren Good <![CDATA[The country house at war]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/the-country-house-at-war/ 2026-10-16T15:54:00.000Z 2026-10-14T10:53:16.000Z It might be assumed that the owners of Britain's country houses weren't hugely affected by the Second World War, and that they continued to live in luxury in their vast estates. However, as Judith S Lewis explains to Lauren Good, that wasn't the case. From the conscription of upper-class women to stories of great loss, she charts the roles that country houses and their occupants really played in the war effort.

]]> Elinor Evans <![CDATA[The pioneering surgeon who stood up to Rasputin]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/pioneering-surgeon-who-stood-up-to-rasputin-podcast/ 2026-10-13T10:03:42.000Z 2026-10-13T10:03:42.000Z She pioneered lifesaving battlefield surgery, challenged the medical establishment, stood up to Rasputin, and became the world's first female professor of surgery – yet today, few people have heard of Vera Gedroits.

In today's episode, acclaimed biographer Miranda Seymour tells Elinor Evans about Vera's remarkable life and accomplishments – and why her story was erased.

]]> Matt Elton <![CDATA[The stolen Native Americans who shaped US history]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/the-stolen-native-americans-who-shaped-us-history/ 2026-10-15T08:08:58.000Z 2026-10-12T15:42:05.000Z Between 1492 and 1880, as many as 600,000 Native Americans were enslaved in the area that would become the United States. That’s the figure estimated by historian Linford D Fisher in his book Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in US History – one of the books shortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize. In today’s episode, he speaks to Matt Elton about the extent of this slavery, the impact that it had on tribal communities, and its legacy today.

]]> Emily Briffett <![CDATA[Being disabled in the medieval era]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/being-disabled-in-the-medieval-era-podcast/ 2026-10-09T09:14:05.000Z 2026-10-09T09:14:05.000Z Prosthetic legs, wheelbarrow wheelchairs and guide… children? Those were just some of the assistive technologies and body augmentations available to our medieval and early modern ancestors.

In this episode, Rae Gillibrand highlights how bodily difference was understood in this pre-modern era, and explores the medical marketplace and community support that was available. Speaking to Emily Briffett, Rae reveals a world of ingenuity, adaptation and care.

Beyond the podcast

To find out more about Tudor attitudes to disability – and why they may have been more compassionate than you might think – don’t miss this HistoryExtra article written by Phillipa Vincent-Connolly

]]> Matt Elton <![CDATA[Vanilla: a far from ordinary history]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/vanilla-far-from-ordinary-history-podcast/ 2026-10-07T15:55:08.000Z 2026-10-07T15:55:08.000Z It's now often used as an adjective for anything standard, plain, and borderline boring – but the history of vanilla is anything but. Eric T Jennings – whose book Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean is among the titles shortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize – tells Matt Elton about the ways in which piracy, espionage and cut-throat capitalism have shaped its story.

]]> Emily Briffett <![CDATA[Ancient explosives and the philosopher's stone: a history of alchemy]]> https://www.historyextra.com/membership/ancient-explosives-and-the-philosophers-stone-a-history-of-alchemy/ 2026-10-15T08:08:18.000Z 2026-10-06T10:29:23.000Z Think of alchemy, and you likely imagine bubbling vials of strange potions and molten metals. But how close is this popular perception to the truth? That’s the question behind historian and adventurer Kit Chapman’s latest book, The Age of Alchemy, which was recently announced as winner of the 2026 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

In this episode, Kit guides Emily Briffett through a remarkable story of discovery that blurred the boundaries between science and mysticism – and explains how alchemists pursued dreams of fortune and immortality that laid the foundations for modern science.

Beyond the podcast

An unlikely mix of scientist, scholar, engineer and magician, the 'magus' was a figure that sat at the heart of the transformative Renaissance period. Don’t miss this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast charting the careers of these men, seen as genius scholars by some and charlatans by others.

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