# Good history podcasts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475 "2014-07-18T18:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/1 "2014-07-18T18:47:45Z")
Someone here, I forget who, recently recommended the Dan Carlin ‘Blueprint for Armageddon’ podcast in another thread. I listed to it, and thoroughly enjoyed it—so I’m wondering, for anyone familiar with that, are there other podcasts in a similar vein I might enjoy? I’ve already gone and listed to the other episodes from him I could find on itunes, but I’m curious if there are any other good history podcasts anyone is listening to? I’ve tried “stuff you missed in history class”, but something about the speaking style of the current hosts rubs me the wrong way and I’m not really sure why. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/2 "2014-07-18T18:57:45Z")
[History of Rome](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474?mt=2) ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/3 "2014-07-18T19:25:40Z")
Listened to episode 1 the other day. Not bad, but my biggest problem was how short it was. I’ll give a couple of others a try back to back since I tend to listen to these on my commute. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/4 "2014-07-18T20:34:35Z")
“12 Byzantine Emperors” is pretty good. And I’ll second “History of Rome”. Not exactly a podcast, but there are a fair number of history classes with their lectures online. ---
**Author:** ![zyzzyva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@zyzzyva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zyzzyva)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/5 "2014-07-18T20:44:31Z")
I had the same feeling about the SYMIHS podcast. The subjects are interesting, but the hosts can be grating. I love [The Memory Palace](http://thememorypalace.us/), but it’s very short, sometimes excruciatingly so. I’d call it a “smoke break podcast,” if only I smoked. [Damn Interesting](http://www.damninteresting.com/) is a good one. [Sparkletack](http://www.sparkletack.com/) is long gone, but the archives are still all there and it’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s specifically San Francisco history, so it may be less interesting if you’re not a local, but still worth a try. [Tank Riot](http://www.tankriot.com/) isn’t specifically history, but there’s a fair amount of it. It’s also _quite_ different from the rest here. It’s a bit like college… but not the classroom part, rather the sitting on your buddy’s couch getting drunk and talking about historical figures part (what, didn’t you do that in college?). Most people either love it or hate it. If you can get past the endless snickering and them sitting around shooting the shit for the first 30 minutes or so, it can be pretty educational. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/6 "2014-07-18T21:24:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Not exactly a podcast, but there are a fair number of history classes with their lectures online. [Here’s Donald Kagan’s](http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/clcv-205/lecture-1) lectures on Greek History for example. There are videos as well, but I found it worked fine just to listen to the mp3’s. I didn’t feel like I was missing much with no visual. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/7 "2014-07-18T21:27:46Z")
I really enjoy **Hardcore History**. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/8 "2014-07-18T21:57:21Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > Listened to episode 1 the other day. Not bad, but my biggest problem was how short it was. I’ll give a couple of others a try back to back since I tend to listen to these on my commute. There’s like two hundred of them, though! Seriously, while each one is only twenty minutes (I think some early podcasting “wisdom” set that as the ideal length for an episode–obviously Dan Carlin fell asleep in class that day), there’s dozens of hours of content. The same guy’s new podcast, Revolutions, is good as well. Does what it says on the tin–explores various revolutions throughout history. So far he’s done the English Civil War and the American Revolution; he’s just starting in on the French Revolution. > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I really enjoy **Hardcore History**. Well, now we know who doesn’t read the OP… ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/9 "2014-07-18T22:21:33Z")
To be fair, I was about to recommend that if the OP liked that from Dan Carlin you might like Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. Just before hitting submit I remembered that Blueprint for Armageddon was the name of the WWI series that has been the last three episodes of Hardcore History. (I know Carlin has another podcast as well as Hardcore History but not sure of topic so just assumed the OP was talking about that one.) ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/10 "2014-07-18T22:42:27Z")
You might check out the BBC’s [History of the World in 100 objects](http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-history-podcasts/693475/11 "2014-07-22T08:35:58Z")
**Back Story** is very good. Does a great job of giving a historical perspective on current events in the US.