Podcasts · History

Empire: World History

Goalhanger

300 episodes

The rise and fall of empires and the events that shaped world history.

More about the show

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 page 1 of 6

  1. 407. JFK: The Kennedy Curse Begins (Part 1)

    · 52 min · S43 E1

    John F. Kennedy, the youngest elected president of the United States, a man who charmed a nation. His tragic death in Dallas continues to inspire infinite conspiracy theories, but what made the man? Anita Anand is…

  2. 406. Norman Conquest: The First Crusade (Part 6)

    · 47 min · S42 E6

    How did Normans from Western Europe reach as far as Antioch in what is now Turkey? What was their role in The First Crusade? Who was the Byzantine Alexios I Komnenos and how did he summon Normans to support his…

  3. 405. Norman Conquest: Medieval Mafia Invade The East (Part 5)

    · 46 min · S42 E5

    They are best known for invading England in 1066, but the Normans conquered territories in the East too. Who was Robert The Weasel, and did he operate like a Mafia boss in the 11th century? How did the Normans…

  4. 404. Norman Conquest: Colonising Ireland (Part 4)

    · 49 min · S42 E4

    How did the Normans conquer the Celts on the fringes of their territory after 1066? What led to the events of the Norman Conquest of Ireland, which still affects the nation’s politics today? And how did the Norman…

  5. 403. The Norman Conquests: The Battle of Hastings (Part 3)

    · 56 min · S42 E3

    For weeks, William the Conqueror has been stuck on the Normandy coast, waiting. Then the wind changes. The Normans land in England, and the stage is set for the most famous battle in English history. The Bayeux…

  6. 402. The Norman Conquests: The Real Story of 1066 (Part 2)

    · 58 min · S42 E2

    Who was William the Conqueror? Who was Harold Godwinson? Who was Harald Hardrada? And how did these three rivals change the course of English history forever? In Episode 2 of this series, Anita Anand and William…

  7. 401. The Norman Conquests: Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry (Part 1)

    · 56 min · S42 E1

    The Bayeux Tapestry shows one of the defining moments in English history. But look closer at its dragon-prowed ships and its warriors, and there's another story stitched into the Battle of Hastings. Why does the Norman…

  8. 400. Stalin: A Poisonous Legacy (Part 6)

    · 50 min · S41 E6

    Fiona Hill is the leading authority on Russia and has been in the room with Putin and Trump. She joins Anita Anand and William Dalrymple to discuss how Stalin’s violent legacies have impacted Putin's approach to…

  9. 399. Stalin: Hitler’s Downfall At Stalingrad (Part 5)

    · 52 min · S41 E5

    Antony Beevor wrote the definitive book on the Battle of Stalingrad. He joins William Dalrymple and Anita Anand to discuss how Hitler and Stalin’s armies faced gruelling winter conditions in the siege of the city, and…

  10. 398. Stalin: The Great Terror (Part 4)

    · 43 min · S41 E4

    Soon after Stalin’s purges and mass violence, Nazi soldiers launch a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, opening up the Eastern Front of World War II. Who was Stalin’s chief executioner who still holds a Guinness…

  11. 397. Stalin: Killing Trotsky (Part 3)

    · 49 min · S41 E3

    Was it an ice axe or an ice pick? The murder of Trotsky in Mexico is infamous, but what does it say about Stalin’s willingness to seek out and destroy his rivals? Who was Leon Trotsky and why was he such a threat to…

  12. 396. Stalin: The Bolshevik Revolution (Part 2)

    · 44 min · S41 E2

    Despite later mythology, Stalin was effectively a nobody during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Unlike Trotsky and Lenin, he was not on the frontline amongst the revolutionaries. How did he reveal his penchant for…

  13. 395. Stalin: The Rise of A Tyrant (Part 1)

    · 34 min · S41 E1

    How did Stalin become one of the most ruthless dictators in World History? What was his childhood like in Georgia? How did he rise from a poet training to be a priest, to the ruler of the Soviet Union? In Episode 1 of…

  14. 394. Road To 9/11: Hijackers, CIA Failures, and America’s Darkest Day (Part 6)

    · 46 min · S40 E6

    How did the CIA fail to tell the FBI that known Al-Qaeda terrorists were already training inside the United States? Who was the calculated mastermind behind the scheme to hijack twenty commercial jets? What does new…

  15. 393. Road To 9/11: Interviewing Bin Laden In The Caves of Tora Bora (Part 5)

    · 47 min · S40 E5

    What was it like to interview Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora caves? Who were the other terrorists behind the infamous 1998 fatwa? How did Monica Lewinsky derail the response to the East Africa embassy bombings? In…

  16. 392. Road To 9/11: Bin Laden vs Saudi Arabia (Part 4)

    · 43 min · S40 E4

    How did the Gulf War drive a permanent wedge between Osama bin Laden and the Saudi royal family? Why did the bin Laden family finally decide to disown him? How did he manage a global terror network from a farm in…

  17. 391. Road To 9/11: The Rise of Osama Bin Laden (Part 3)

    · 45 min · S40 E3

    Who were the bin Ladens, and how did they build a construction empire in Saudi Arabia? What was Osama bin Laden’s childhood like, and how was he radicalised by a puritanical PE teacher? What did a young Osama see on…

  18. 390. Road To 9/11: The Soviet-Afghan War (Part 2)

    · 43 min · S40 E2

    Did the CIA actually fund Osama bin Laden during the Soviet-Afghan war? Who was Abdullah Azzam, the radical scholar who turned jihad into a global franchise? How did a bureaucratic office meeting create Al-Qaeda? In…

  19. 389. Road To 9/11: Origin of Al-Qaeda (Part 1)

    · 55 min · S40 E1

    What were the building blocks of the rise of Radical Islamism that paved the road to the 9/11 terror attacks? How did the torture of radical members of the Muslim Brotherhood fan the flames of Islamist thought in the…

  20. 388. Viking Mythology: Thor, Ragnarok, & Jesus Christ (Ep 6)

    · 47 min · S39 E6

    Who are Thor and Ragnarok in Norse Mythology? How did the Vikings fuse their own spiritual beliefs with Christianity? And how do Norse spiritual practices continue in some ways today through Scandinavian indigenous…

  21. 387. The Vikings Invade Britain (Ep 5)

    · 47 min · S39 E5

    Why did the Vikings invade Britain, and how did they mix into society? What did they do with the gold they stole from churches? Which Viking stereotypes are true - and which ones are total myths? In Episode 5 of this…

  22. 386. The Picts: Scotland’s Tattooed Warriors (Ep 4)

    · 46 min · S39 E4

    Who were the mysterious peoples who ruled parts of Scotland for 500 years? What is the true origin of the Loch Ness Monster? Is there a secret code behind the Pictish carved stones? What do recent excavations at Rhynie…

  23. 385. Saint Patrick: Slave, Rebel, & Ireland’s Patron Saint (Ep 3)

    · 55 min · S39 E3

    Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over the world every year by the Irish diaspora, but what is the real history behind the patron saint of Ireland? How is the traditional story of his life almost entirely…

  24. 384. The Roman Invasion: Gods on Hadrian’s Wall (Ep 2)

    · 48 min · S39 E2

    The Roman Conquest of Britain. The furthest western point of the empire. How did life change for ordinary people after the invasion? Why do Middle Eastern gods end up on Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England? And how does…

  25. 383. Romans vs Druids: The War For Celtic Britain (Ep 1)

    · 47 min · S39 E1

    What are the links between the Druids and Stonehenge? Why did Romans massacre Druids in Anglesey, Wales? What is the Pagan Calendar and how is modern Halloween derived from it? What can we learn from the mysterious…

  26. 382. Empire of AI: Karen Hao On Today’s Hidden Colonialism (Ep 2)

    · 57 min · S38 E2

    Are modern AI companies the new empires? What is the hidden human cost behind chatbots like ChatGPT? How does Silicon Valley’s rhetoric echo the East India Company? In this episode, Anita is joined by award-winning…

  27. 381. Musk, Bezos & The New East India Companies (Ep 1)

    · 54 min · S38 E1

    Are modern tech corporations the new East India Company? What is the dark history behind Silicon Valley? What do Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have in common with Cecil Rhodes? In this episode, William and Anita explore…

  28. 380. Algerian Revolution: The Rise of Le Pen (Ep 6)

    · 35 min · S37 E6

    How is Marine Le Pen connected to the Algerian War of Independence? What can the cult film, La Haine, tell us about life in the banlieues for people of Algerian descent? What happened to Algerian protestors in Paris in…

  29. 379. Algerian Revolution: Black Panthers, LSD, & Nina Simone (Ep 5)

    · 47 min · S37 E5

    How did Algiers become a centre for revolutionaries from around the world in the 1960s? What happened to the “pied noirs” white settlers after Algeria gained independence? Who was Frantz Fanon, and why did he end up…

  30. 378. Algerian Revolution: Birth of Independence (Ep 4)

    · 31 min · S37 E4

    How did the French use systemic torture during the Battle of Algiers? Which army generals plotted to overthrow the French president? Why did the bloody birth of an independent Algeria herald further trouble to come?…

  31. 377. Algerian Revolution: The Battle of Algiers (Ep 3)

    · 38 min · S37 E3

    What really happened during the infamous Battle of Algiers? How did the Algerian War of Independence begin? Who was the radical mastermind who restructured the resistance movement under the noses of the French army?…

  32. 376. Algerian Revolution: Repression and Rebellion (Ep 2)

    · 44 min · S37 E2

    Who were the ‘pied noirs’ and how did they come to dominate Algerian society? What was life like for the millions of Muslim Algerians living under French rule? Why did VE Day celebrations trigger horrific massacres?…

  33. 375. Algerian Revolution: The French Invasion (Ep 1)

    · 42 min · S37 E1

    How did the French colonise Algeria? Was the Algerian economy built on slavery? Who was the revolutionary priest who united Algerians against the invaders? What atrocities did the French commit in the mountains? In…

  34. 374. Ken Burns on the American Revolution and Empire

    · 36 min · S36 E2

    How did the United States change from a revolutionary experiment into a global empire? Was the American Revolution really a civil war over Native American land? Why was George Washington known as the ‘Town Destroyer’?…

  35. 373. The Dark Truth About Mount Rushmore

    · 54 min · S36 E1

    What is the dark past of Mount Rushmore, America’s most famous national Monument? How did a sacred indigenous site become a colossal shrine to the American empire? What ties did sculptor Gutzon Borglum have to the Ku…

  36. 372. The First British Indians: The Sisters Rejected By Queen Victoria (Ep 4)

    · 55 min · S35 E4

    Who were Princesses Irene and Pauline, the forgotten Duleep Singh sisters? Why did Queen Victoria shun them? Why did Irene choose to leave her fortune to Dr Barnado's, sparking a vicious legal battle? And why has the…

  37. 371. The First British Indians: Last Sikh In Lahore (Ep 3)

    · 42 min · S35 E3

    Who was Bamba Duleep Singh, the self-styled 'Queen of the Punjab'? How did she survive Partition to become one of the last Sikh residents of Lahore? Why did she turn her back on British high society in favour of…

  38. 370. The First British Indians: Saving Jews In Nazi Germany (Ep 2)

    · 42 min · S35 E2

    **Unlock the entire First British Indians series ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** During the rise of Hitler, how did a brown-skinned Indian princess survive living in Germany? Who was Catherine…

  39. 369. The First British Indians: The Suffragette Princess (Ep 1)

    · 54 min · S35 E1

    **Unlock the entire First British Indians series ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** Sophia Duleep Singh: heiress to the Sikh Empire, ward of Queen Victoria, suffragette and revolutionary. How did…

  40. 368. Ancient Egypt: The Origin of Abrahamic Religions? (Ep 7)

    · 45 min · S34 E7

    Was monotheism passed down from Pharaoh Akhenaten of Ancient Egypt? Who was the ancient goddess Asherah? How did exposure to other empires shape the Hebrew Bible? William is joined by Francesca Stavrakopoulou, author…

  41. 367. Ancient Egypt: “Tut-mania” And Tutankhamun’s Tomb (Ep 6)

    · 44 min · S34 E6

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** Why did the world go crazy for all things Ancient Egypt after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922? How…

  42. 366. Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun The Boy King (Ep 5)

    · 54 min · S34 E5

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** His death mask is one of the most famous faces in Ancient Egyptian history, but who was the real Tutunkhamun?…

  43. 365. Ancient Egypt: Who Was Nefertiti? (Ep 4)

    · 51 min · S34 E4

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** Her image has been reproduced by countless artists in recent years, but who was the real Nefertiti? How did…

  44. 364. Ancient Egypt: The Fall of Akhenaten (Ep 3)

    · 53 min · S34 E3

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** Why did Akhenaten’s name get struck from the historical record after his death? Why did he build a new city in…

  45. 363. Ancient Egypt: Destroyer Of Gods – Pharaoh Akhenaten (Ep 2)

    · 57 min · S34 E2

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** Why did Egyptian priests wear animal masks? Who was the goddess of hangovers? And how did the Pharaoh,…

  46. The Scandal That Shaped Partition: Heartbreak & Secret Deals

    · 6:53 · Bonus

    **Unlock the full episode and the complete members’ miniseries by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** How did the relationship between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten tangibly change the course of Partition?…

  47. 362. Ancient Egypt: Great Kings of The Bronze Age (Ep 1)

    · 54 min · S34 E1

    **Unlock the entire Ancient Egypt series early and ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** You’ve heard of Tutankhamun, but what do you know about the world he grew up in? In this series, we explore…

  48. 361. Louis Theroux On The Settlers, The Manosphere, & Tribalism

    · 49 min · S31 E9

    William and Anita are joined by Louis Theroux to discuss his documentaries on the Settler movement in the West Bank, and explore how extremists operate. What are the commonalities between HS TikkyTokky and the mother…

  49. The Scandal That Shaped Partition: The Affair

    · 6:24 · Bonus

    **Unlock the full episode and the complete members’ miniseries by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** How did Edwina Mountbatten literally fall into the arms of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946? Who was Subhas…

  50. 360. Spice Wars: The Battle of the East India Companies (Ep 3)

    · 55 min · S33 E3

    What caused the mighty Dutch East India Company to plummet from immense Golden Age wealth to total bankruptcy? Who was ‘Peter Pepper’, and how did his stolen plants end the VOC's spice monopoly? And how did a tiny…

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