Empire: World History
by Goalhanger
Latest episode
412. Lawrence of Arabia: Guerrilla Warfare In The Arab Revolt (Part 2)
412. Lawrence of Arabia: Guerrilla Warfare In The Arab Revolt (Part 2)
About this podcast
The rise and fall of empires and the events that shaped world history.
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
The newest 50 of 425 episodes
- 412. Lawrence of Arabia: Guerrilla Warfare In The Arab Revolt (Part 2) · 43 min · Season 44 Episode 2In 1916, Arab leaders rose up against the Ottoman Empire with the hope of creating an independent Arab state at the end of World War I. Lawrence of Arabia arrives in Cairo to…
- 411. Lawrence of Arabia: The Truth Behind The Legend (Part 1) · 55 min · Season 44 Episode 1The 1962 cinematic masterpiece is considered one of the best films of all time, but who was the real Lawrence of Arabia? A geeky and unconventional soldier, the young T.E…
- 410. JFK: Blood On The Streets Of Dallas (Part 4) · 57 min · Season 43 Episode 4Three shots, six seconds, all caught on camera. The image of JFK’s assassination is one of the defining pictures of the 20th century, along with the photograph of Jackie Kennedy…
- 409. JFK: The Cuban Missile Crisis (Part 3) · 1 h 2 min · Season 43 Episode 3After facing Nixon in America’s first televised electoral debate, JFK charms the nation. As president, he soon faces what could be the end of the world – the Cuban Missile…
- 408. JFK: Nixon, McCarthy, & The Dark Side of Camelot (Part 2) · 50 min · Season 43 Episode 2After his brother’s death in the skies over Britain, a young JFK must fulfil his father’s dynastic dream, but does he want it? The whole family supports his campaign to become…
- 407. JFK: The Kennedy Curse Begins (Part 1) · 52 min · Season 43 Episode 1John 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…
- 406. Norman Conquest: The First Crusade (Part 6) · 47 min · Season 42 Episode 6How 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…
- 405. Norman Conquest: Medieval Mafia Invade The East (Part 5) · 46 min · Season 42 Episode 5They 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…
- 404. Norman Conquest: Colonising Ireland (Part 4) · 49 min · Season 42 Episode 4How 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…
- 403. The Norman Conquests: The Battle of Hastings (Part 3) · 56 min · Season 42 Episode 3For 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…
- 402. The Norman Conquests: The Real Story of 1066 (Part 2) · 58 min · Season 42 Episode 2Who 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…
- 401. The Norman Conquests: Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry (Part 1) · 56 min · Season 42 Episode 1The 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…
- 400. Stalin: A Poisonous Legacy (Part 6) · 50 min · Season 41 Episode 6Fiona 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…
- 399. Stalin: Hitler’s Downfall At Stalingrad (Part 5) · 52 min · Season 41 Episode 5Antony 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…
- 398. Stalin: The Great Terror (Part 4) · 43 min · Season 41 Episode 4Soon 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…
- 397. Stalin: Killing Trotsky (Part 3) · 49 min · Season 41 Episode 3Was 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…
- 396. Stalin: The Bolshevik Revolution (Part 2) · 44 min · Season 41 Episode 2Despite 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…
- 395. Stalin: The Rise of A Tyrant (Part 1) · 34 min · Season 41 Episode 1How 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…
- 394. Road To 9/11: Hijackers, CIA Failures, and America’s Darkest Day (Part 6) · 46 min · Season 40 Episode 6How 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…
- 393. Road To 9/11: Interviewing Bin Laden In The Caves of Tora Bora (Part 5) · 47 min · Season 40 Episode 5What 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…
- 392. Road To 9/11: Bin Laden vs Saudi Arabia (Part 4) · 43 min · Season 40 Episode 4How 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…
- 391. Road To 9/11: The Rise of Osama Bin Laden (Part 3) · 45 min · Season 40 Episode 3Who 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…
- 390. Road To 9/11: The Soviet-Afghan War (Part 2) · 43 min · Season 40 Episode 2Did 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…
- 389. Road To 9/11: Origin of Al-Qaeda (Part 1) · 55 min · Season 40 Episode 1What 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…
- 388. Viking Mythology: Thor, Ragnarok, & Jesus Christ (Ep 6) · 47 min · Season 39 Episode 6Who 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…
- 387. The Vikings Invade Britain (Ep 5) · 47 min · Season 39 Episode 5Why 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…
- 386. The Picts: Scotland’s Tattooed Warriors (Ep 4) · 46 min · Season 39 Episode 4Who 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…
- 385. Saint Patrick: Slave, Rebel, & Ireland’s Patron Saint (Ep 3) · 55 min · Season 39 Episode 3Saint 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…
- 384. The Roman Invasion: Gods on Hadrian’s Wall (Ep 2) · 48 min · Season 39 Episode 2The 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…
- 383. Romans vs Druids: The War For Celtic Britain (Ep 1) · 47 min · Season 39 Episode 1What 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?…
- 382. Empire of AI: Karen Hao On Today’s Hidden Colonialism (Ep 2) · 57 min · Season 38 Episode 2Are 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…
- 381. Musk, Bezos & The New East India Companies (Ep 1) · 54 min · Season 38 Episode 1Are 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…
- 380. Algerian Revolution: The Rise of Le Pen (Ep 6) · 35 min · Season 37 Episode 6How 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…
- 379. Algerian Revolution: Black Panthers, LSD, & Nina Simone (Ep 5) · 47 min · Season 37 Episode 5How 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…
- 378. Algerian Revolution: Birth of Independence (Ep 4) · 31 min · Season 37 Episode 4How 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…
- 377. Algerian Revolution: The Battle of Algiers (Ep 3) · 38 min · Season 37 Episode 3What 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…
- 376. Algerian Revolution: Repression and Rebellion (Ep 2) · 44 min · Season 37 Episode 2Who 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…
- 375. Algerian Revolution: The French Invasion (Ep 1) · 42 min · Season 37 Episode 1How 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…
- 374. Ken Burns on the American Revolution and Empire · 36 min · Season 36 Episode 2How 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…
- 373. The Dark Truth About Mount Rushmore · 54 min · Season 36 Episode 1What 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…
- 372. The First British Indians: The Sisters Rejected By Queen Victoria (Ep 4) · 55 min · Season 35 Episode 4Who 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…
- 371. The First British Indians: Last Sikh In Lahore (Ep 3) · 42 min · Season 35 Episode 3Who 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…
- 370. The First British Indians: Saving Jews In Nazi Germany (Ep 2) · 42 min · Season 35 Episode 2**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…
- 369. The First British Indians: The Suffragette Princess (Ep 1) · 54 min · Season 35 Episode 1**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…
- 368. Ancient Egypt: The Origin of Abrahamic Religions? (Ep 7) · 45 min · Season 34 Episode 7Was 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…
- 367. Ancient Egypt: “Tut-mania” And Tutankhamun’s Tomb (Ep 6) · 44 min · Season 34 Episode 6**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…
- 366. Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun The Boy King (Ep 5) · 54 min · Season 34 Episode 5**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…
- 365. Ancient Egypt: Who Was Nefertiti? (Ep 4) · 51 min · Season 34 Episode 4**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…
- 364. Ancient Egypt: The Fall of Akhenaten (Ep 3) · 53 min · Season 34 Episode 3**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…
- 363. Ancient Egypt: Destroyer Of Gods – Pharaoh Akhenaten (Ep 2) · 57 min · Season 34 Episode 2**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…
