History Extra podcast - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I can always count on BBC History Extra for great stories from the people in the know, expert historians and authors who have done their due diligence. Stories I never would see otherwise and makes me hungry for more about the subject at hand. In a world of never ending crisis-driven news, its a welcome reprieve to look into the past and have something else riveting, rather than depressing, to listen to.

This is one of my go-to podcasts, and has been for years. Excellent quality and variety of material. It’s not easy to put out a 45 min episode every day and still have interesting things to talk about. This podcast manages that feat with quality and depth. Are there ads? Yes. Just skip them. Are there occasional duds or left-leaning topics? Yes. Just ignore those episodes if you so choose. There will be another good one literally the next day. Special mention to David Musgrove’s fun multi-parters. Creative and comical while still being fascinating.

I truly enjoy the show, so much more interesting than reading a history book!

I must give a small critical comment though. The May 27 episode about Galileo was very difficult to listen to. The way Dr. Hannam’s voice started strong but trailed off to almost a whisper in every sentence, it was frustrating to try to hear everything he said. Not sure if a sound engineer could have done something to render the sound level more even, but I hope that future episodes won’t suffer from the same effect.

An excellent show, nonetheless!

This is one of the best history podcasts around. There’s a variety of topics so there’s something for everyone. I really look forward to this every week.