The History Podcast

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. When Germany’s biggest magazine Stern announced in 1983 that they’d found the long-lost diaries of Adolf Hitler, authenticated by the eminent British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, the world was poised to rewrite history. Salvaged from the wreckage of a Junkers plane which had crashed escaping Hitler’s Berlin bunker in the dying days of the war, the diaries had been hidden in a hayloft in East Germany for forty years. And remarkably they had now come to light, smuggled across the border into West Germany at the height of the Cold War. One lone journalist, Gerd Heidemann, known as ‘The Bloodhound’, had tracked them down. It had taken two years of secret missions and millions of Deutschmarks to amass all sixty volumes of Hitler’s personal, handwritten journals. The world was about to find the truth of Adolf Hitler’s mind: what he knew, what motivated him, his intimate reflections as the Third Reich rose and fell. That, at least, was the story – a story which news organisations the world over, including Rupert Murdoch’s newly-acquired Sunday Times, believed. This would be a sensation – assuming, of course, that it was true. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Goering’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words. Murray interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart: the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional doc for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material. Murray’s mission is to track down the actual books which caused all this chaos, and to get as close as he can to the truth. In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last fifty years? Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams A Whistledown Production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s 1991 in New Hampshire and a cheerfully pugnacious TV pundit and political insider is announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination. His name is Pat Buchanan and what he is about to say will shock the room. Not only does he challenge sitting President George H W Bush, but the entire post-war order, the vision of America that has persisted for the past half century - America at the head of a free world. Instead, Pat Buchanan says, “It will be time for a new foreign policy that looks out for America first, but not only America first, but also America second and third as well.” This is the story of the idea that governs America’s new vision of its role in the world — America First — and what it really means. Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

A man sits in the Pentagon terrified. The building is shaking. He thinks it’s an Earthquake. In fact it’s 9/11 and this man senses an opportunity. To drag America out of its post Vietnam stupor and re-assert itself on the world stage. The man’s name is Paul Wolfowitz. He’s an academic and political advisor. And he is obsessed with one idea. One idea he thinks will help America become great again. Invading Iraq. This is the story of how in the early 2000s America re-established itself as the leader of the free world and the decision to fight a war that did more than anything else to burn that image to the ground. David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of. In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam? Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

March 1965 Vietnam. American fighter jets are taking off to bomb munitions depot in the North. A few days later, American ground troops arrive in the jungle. They would stay there for almost a decade, dropping more bombs on Vietnam than in all theatres of World War Two. How did this happen? The answer lies with someone who has evaded the glare of the spotlight. A liberal development theorist called Walt Rostow. A man who started off by advocating to help developing nations become capitalist and who ended up helping to unleash hell on an unsuspecting civilian population of a country on the other side of the world. This is a story of how idealism can lead to disaster. Of how America went from defender of freedom to bearer of destruction. David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of. In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam? Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

1953 Tehran. An American diplomat called Kermit Roosevely III rides through the city’s streets on his way to see the Shah of Iran. Although he can’t see anything because he’s riding in the boot covered in a Persian carpet. He doesn’t want to be seen because he’s on a top secret mission. A mission from the American government. To overthrow Iran’s popular Prime Minister threatening to nationalise the oil industry — Mohamed Mossadegh. Kermit is organising a coup. This is the story of how America came up with a blueprint of how to fight its communist enemies abroad while still looking like the good guy. How it maintained its role as the virtuous superpower while getting rid of people it didn’t like. They decided to do it in secret, using the ultimate invisible hand - the CIA. It’s a tale of oil, money, power and marks the start of a toxic relationship between Iran and the US that is still playing out to this day. David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of. In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam? Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

A man wakes up in the middle of the night in Moscow. He is sick. Shivery. Feverish. But he has a mission. A mission that will end up changing the course of world history. After World War Two was over, America was ready for peace. And to continue working with their ideological adversary, the Soviet Union. Franklin Delano Roosevelt even flew to Crimea to make a deal with Churchill and Stalin. But there was one man who was sounding the alarm, all the way from a freezing Moscow winter. A Chekhov-obsessed diplomat called George Kennan who’s witnessed Stalin’s repressions first hand and would live to 101. More than anyone else, he will set the trajectory of American foreign policy in the 20th Century - with a telegram. A telegram he would come to deeply regret. This is the story of how the US and USSR went from allies to enemies. And the man who made this happen - starting what would come to be called the Cold War. David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th Century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of. In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam? Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

This is the story of the most important person you've probably never heard of. The man who made the dollar the centre of the world. And America along with it. His name is Harry Dexter White and, as an economist at the Treasury, he had a vision of how to ensure another conflict like World War Two would never happen again. To do that he had to upend the whole structure of the world financial system - and make the US Dollar the most important currency on Earth. Standing in his way was the greatest celebrity economist of all time, John Maynard Keynes. The battle between these two men - and Harry Dexter White’s eventual victory - would come to define the next 80 years of world history. And yet, just a few years later, this visionary economist - the man who changed the world - would be dead. Branded as a traitor to his country. Accused of being the worst thing an American could be accused of - a Soviet Spy. In Series 2 of Invisible Hands: The American Century, David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, America became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the centre of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now, it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you may not know. These ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam? Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

David Dimbleby introduces the story of how America became a superpower through the invisible hands who made it happen.

Where does the British love affair with tea begin? It all starts with a Portuguese princess… In this first episode of Here For The History, Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson explore the origin story of the British love of tea. Starting with the first appearance of tea in England in the 1600s and its popularisation in the English royal court, the story takes a dark turn as the British East India Company seeks to break China’s monopoly on tea production leading to the Opium Wars and corporate espionage. Here For The History is a new BBC Sounds podcast where every week historians Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson shed light on the stereotypes, social norms, traditions and beliefs that fill our everyday life. From Britain’s stiff upper-lip, to Scottish tartan, the podcast will reveal the surprising roots of the customs and everyday objects that surround us. If you enjoy this episode, you can listen and subscribe to Here For The History on BBC Sounds. If you’re outside the UK, you can listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Key sources for this episode: A Social History of Tea - Jane Pettigrew A journey to the tea countries of China - Robert Fortune Dinner with Dickens - Penn Vogler

Ahead of England's 2026 World Cup match with Mexico, David Baddiel and Nick Robinson reflect on what it means to be an England Men's Football fan. They discuss National Anthems and football songs, power vs the underdog, the emotionality of Football, Tuchel’s choice of players, the climate in the Azteca and how taking a penalty is like theatre, plus take questions from the audience.

In the last episode of his series on the history of the England Men's football team, David Baddiel looks at that most magical, and most tantalising of all things - hope. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated. England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Having put it off as long as he possibly could, David devotes episode 5 to the collective and individual agonies of the the penalty shoot out. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In Episode Four, David looks at the 1990s and 2000s. He sees how Italia 90 was a turning point for perceptions of the sport, before turning his attention to the glamour and promise of the 'golden generation' of English players and the subsequent slow descent of the team (and the country) into uncertainly and anger. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated. England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode two, England v Mavericks, David shares a theory that he once unsuccessfully shared with England Manager, Terry Venables. England isn’t good at dealing with talent, specifically with maverick talent, talent that doesn’t play by the rules - the best kind of talent. As a result, England men’s football is littered with wonderous players who won very few caps, and never more than in the 1970s. David thinks the team, in this respect, represents the country and gets to the bottom of how various kinds of Englishness fought to keep the genius Brian Clough away from the manager’s job, and Rodney Marsh, the most talented player of his generation, away from the team. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. “Football is singularly the most important cultural institution in the country for defining Englishness” says Historian David Goldblatt, as the series begins looking at the most famous moment in English football – the world cup win in 1966. Comedian, writer and football fan, David Baddiel, sees how the victory adorned swinging London, and yet the characters in the team spoke to a very different kind of England. David also travels back to the very origins of the game in England (discovering that Henry VIII had a pair of football boots), checks in with Elis James for a view from Wales, and muses on the meaning of national anthems. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, comedian, writer and football fan David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more. The England football team always, somehow, represents a nation. Its dramas are our dramas, its divisions are our divisions, its story is our story. A story about race and history, talent and rivalry, class and courage, violence and beauty. But what exactly is that narrative, who gets to write it and, once the final whistle is blown, what does it all mean? Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

After a show trial in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aiden Aslin has been sentenced to death. He endures months on death row, where his days are filled with further propaganda videos and psychological torment. But in September 2022, his life takes an abrupt and unexpected turn: he is hooded, and led onto a truck, awaiting what his captors term a ‘Russian Surprise’. After making his video with Aiden, Graham Phillips faces his own reckoning. Their story becomes big news in the UK, and possible legal consequences of Graham’s actions become all too real. Will he be able to go back to a normal life outside war reporting, or is this the point of no return? Our series concludes by exploring the lasting cost of war for both men. How did the encounter between our two Nottingham lads fundamentally change their lives, and cement their status as symbols of a fracturing world? Presenter: Paul Kenyon A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins in February 2022, and Aiden Aslin finds himself fighting on the frontline. After a desperate retreat towards the port city of Mariupol, Aiden spends six harrowing weeks defending the massive steelworks, the final sanctuary for Ukrainian forces. As food and ammunition ran out, Aiden is forced to make an agonizing choice. Graham Philips was in the UK when the full-scale invasion began, but quickly makes it back to the Donbas to continue his reporting. And it is not long before he makes his biggest scoop to date: the interview with Aiden Aslin. We return to this haunting video to understand what was going on behind the scenes, and discover why it was such a sliding doors moment for both men. Presenter: Paul Kenyon A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Aiden Aslin and Graham Philips take very different routes to get to that prison in Donetsk in 2022 – but their journeys cemented their destinies in Ukraine. For Aiden, his evolution from young truant to soldier takes place in the crucible of war in Syria – volunteering for the free Kurdish forces fighting against ISIS. But after trouble with the British state on his return, another conflict called: Ukraine. Aiden’s time fighting in the Donbas war confirms his commitment to the country, and leads to him being at the heart of some terrifying events. Meanwhile, Graham is becoming ever more entrenched in his views. In the mid 2010s, his dispatches from the frontline of the Donbas war are becoming more vitriolic, but also more ambitious. He is going further down the rabbit hole, and finding more and more followers in the process – people eager to see the war up close from his unique perspective. This former stand-up comedian is finding his calling – and it will ultimately change his life entirely. As 2022 draws near, the soldier and the independent journalist are operating just miles apart, both sensing that the regional trench war is about to erupt into all out conflict. Presenter: Paul Kenyon A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4