Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan tell the wild stories of some of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived – and ask whether they have the rep they deserve. Should Nina Simone’s role in the civil rights movement be more celebrated than it is? When you find out what Picasso got up to in his studio, can you still admire his art? Was Napoleon a hero or a tyrant - or both? (And, while we’re at it, was he even short?) Legacy is the show that looks at big lives from the perspective of now – and doesn’t always like what it sees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chart trend
Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#101#200JunJulAugSep
#7
all-time peak
3
days in the top 10 since Nov 2024
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
9/11: 25 Years On | The Forever War | 2
Content warning: this episode describes the aftermath of 11 September 2001, including torture and civilian deaths.
How does a country go from the sympathy of the entire
Sep 8 43 min
Inbox: Genghis Khan and the Empire We Got Wrong | Marie Favereau
Who taught you that the Mongols only destroyed things?
What if the empire that sacked Baghdad also invented blue and white porcelain, elected its leaders, and let the Kh
Sep 3 41 min
9/11: 25 Years On | The World That Made 9/11 | 1
Content warning: this episode describes the events of 11 September 2001 in detail.
What if the deadliest terror attack in history began with an American chequebook?
Wha
Sep 1 38 min
Inbox: Lindsey Graham and the Price of a Seat at the Table
How does a man go from calling Donald Trump a kook and a jackass to becoming his closest ally in the Senate?
What do you give up to keep a seat at the table, and what do
Aug 27 25 min
Modern Travel | The Full Package | 5
Who decided that the thing stopping people travelling was not money, but choice?
What happens to a country when the holiday is designed so that the visitor never has to
Aug 25 42 min
Inbox: Zhu Rongji and the Price of Modern China
Why does a kettle cost less than ten pounds?
What kind of official refuses to send the army against protesters in one decade, then puts thirty million people out of work
Aug 20 25 min
Modern Travel | The Age of the Skies | 4
When did flying stop being the most glamorous thing a person could possibly do?
What kind of industry fixes its own prices by law, and then competes on how much champagn
Aug 18 40 min
Inbox: Hecuba, Exile and Coming Home | Arwa Omaren
What happens to a person when the country they were born in decides they were never really from there?
What does a play about the women of a sacked city, written 2,400 y
Aug 13 39 min
Modern Travel | Rise Of The Seaside | 3
Who decided that the sea — cold, dangerous and full of smugglers — was somewhere you went for fun?
What kind of doctor prescribes plunging into the Channel naked in the
Aug 11 43 min
Inbox: Why Dictators Love the World Cup | Feat. Karim Zidan
Why does every dictator, sooner or later, want to host the World Cup?
What did a military junta that never wanted the tournament discover once the goals started going in
Aug 6 38 min
Modern Travel | The Other Grand Tour | 2
What happened when the people written out of the Grand Tour wrote their own account of it?
What did an eighteenth-century Bengali diplomat see in London that made him ca
Aug 4 43 min
Inbox: The Secret Global History of Bruges
What's a garnet mined in Sri Lanka two and a half thousand years ago doing in a silver hairpin dug up near Bruges? Why are the Duke of Burgundy and the conqueror of Const
Jul 30 31 min
Modern Travel | The Original Gap Year | 1
What actually turned a teenage aristocrat into a "finished" gentleman in the 1700s? Why did one incredibly long, incredibly expensive holiday end up inventing the whole i
Jul 28 38 min
Legacy Inbox: The Gold Britain Still Won't Return
What does it take to get a room of ex-military festival-goers in rural Wiltshire to agree Britain should return its stolen gold? And why does an obsolete Victorian law st
Jul 23 28 min
World Cup | Migration and the New Asia | 7
What does it mean when the sons of empire become the heroes of the nation that once ruled them? Four years later, what happens when one of those same colonies turns round
Jul 21 40 min
World Cup | Big Business | 6
How does a country where football is a minority sport end up hosting — and cashing in on — the biggest World Cup in history? What happens when FIFA stops behaving like a
Jul 15 33 min
World Cup | The End of the Cold War | 5
How does a country only three decades free of colonial rule end up humiliating the reigning world champions in the opening match? What happens when the last World Cup of
Jul 14 34 min
Gary Lineker | Nation, Identity and the Beautiful Game | 2
What does it mean to cheer for the country that once colonised yours? Forty years on from the Hand of God, does one match still define how a nation sees itself? And when
Jul 9 25 min
Gary Lineker | The Polictics Of The World Cup | 1
hould football and politics ever really be kept apart? What happens when the host nation is at war with one of the teams competing in its own tournament? And when FIFA ha
Jul 7 27 min
World Cup | The World of Dictators | 4
What happens when a World Cup final is played a few hundred metres from a torture centre? How does a newly independent nation humiliate the champions of Europe — and stil
Jul 2 37 min
Chart positions
Where Legacy ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 10, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
My new favorite podcast! Every episode is so well researched and really entertaining. The hosts are engaging as well. It’s like they took the time to watch all of the stuffy documentaries for me and turn it into something much more fun to digest.
Hoagiebub · Nov 2024
I found this podcast through the Wondery+ subscription and I am floored by this podcast! I’ve always had an aversion to history (yawn) but the hosts bring such humanity and perspective to these historical figures! The hosts add parables, historical facts and their own thoughts and opinions in a fair and even keeled way. I am finding myself utterly glued to this pod and learning about people I never cared to learn about previously merely because I enjoy listening to these hosts. Much appreciation to Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan for bringing life to history and giving this listener a new appreciation to the people who came before her :)
GoldenEvence · May 2024
I’m going to start by saying - Afua, I love you. You are the voice missing in so many history podcasts!! I was hooked from Season 1 Episode 1. Afua is such a great voice of BIPOC peoples perspectives - thank you, as a fellow POC. The way Peter and Afua converse feels like you are at some intimate dinner amongst academics and they begin to discuss a favorite figure and go down the rabbit hole offering multiple perspectives. Just listen - believe me - even Gorbachev! - immediately hooked. Day 2 of listening and I’m starting Nina Simone - Episode 2 - and she is so relevant to today, I had no idea, I am ashamed to say! Keep this up! 👍
MangoLassiAllDay · Apr 2024
As a physician who did not get time to take nearly enough history classes in college, I love podcasts for learning about how fascinating the characters of our past really are. There are many great podcasts for that purpose (1865 is amazing), and this one is an interesting take on the genre. I do think the content focused on one person is of value, as most history is taught as a story with many characters. This is worth a listen for that unique perspective.
One pet peeve is the host’s pronunciation of “nuclear” as if it is spelled “nucular”. I asked a few Brit friends and they report this is not a dialectical variation (aluminum vs aluminium being an example), rather just a person making a lexical error—repeatedly. Unfortunately some seasons (Gorbachev) have the host saying it often. Not a deal breaker but would love a producer to help correct that, which can damage credibility.
MD Lisa B · Feb 2024
I listened to 10 of the seasons and it had a strong start, but became more impossible to bear every season. I just found myself beholden to Afua’s opinions on historical figures for an hour which became tirelessly predictable. Her co-host struggles to bring balance to the show but she is so insistent it rarely helps the listener better understand the people they’re highlighting. Her opinions lack so much nuance regardless of the person, she literally repeats herself verbatim on entirely different seasons. Is the point to explore an impactful person’s legacy or to indict them with your 20/20 hindsight? I’m so curious what we will be judged for today that we are blind to and after listening to 10 seasons of this show I am certain that our entire contributions value will boil down to that blind spot.
ME Lacefort · Dec 2024
I love history podcasts and enjoy this one at times but their views most definitely lean to the left This is not something I am “upset” about but prefer for podcasters about history to keep their own political views out.
As a point of reference I am a lifetime third party/ independent voter and while I support all views and think everyone should be heard, I think that this podcast does not represent both sides equally and tends to demonize the right in the current political atmosphere
s####### · Dec 2024
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Legacy, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
