Dan Snow’s History Hit
Historian Dan Snow investigates the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of history’s defining moments.
From the Colosseum of Ancient Rome and the battlefields of Waterloo to the tomb of Tutankhamun, Dan journeys across the globe to share the greatest stories from the past that help us understand the present.
New episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
You can get in touch with us at ds.hh@historyhit.com
A podcast by History Hit, the world’s best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts The Ancients, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
Why is Timbuktu Famous?
Today we explore the famed city of Timbuktu. How did it grow from a trading post on the edge of the Sahara to a major centre of trade, learning and culture at the height of the Islamic Golden Age?
Joining us is Kai Mora, a writer, historian and PhD student in African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Kai takes us on a tour of the city’s history, and explains its enduring legacy in the face of colonial disruption and conflict.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and James Hickmann, and edited by Tim Arstall.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
We’d love to hear your feedback – you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.
You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
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In Our Time
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
History fans can learn about pivotal wars and societal upheavals, such as the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Sack of Rome in 1527, and the political intrigue of the Russian Revolution. Those fascinated by the lives of kings and queens can journey to Versailles to meet Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV the Sun King, or to Ancient Egypt to meet Cleopatra and Nerfertiti. Or perhaps you’re looking to explore the history of religion, from Buddhism’s early teachings to the Protestant Reformation.
If you’re interested in the stories behind iconic works of art, music and literature, dive in to discussions on the artistic genius of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers. From Gothic architecture to the works of Shakespeare, each episode of In Our Time offers new insight into humanity’s cultural achievements.
Those looking to enrich their scientific knowledge can hear episodes on black holes, the Periodic Table, and classical theories of gravity, motion, evolution and relativity. Learn how the discovery of penicillin revolutionised medicine, and how the death of stars can lead to the formation of new planets.
Lovers of philosophy will find episodes on the big issues that define existence, from free will and ethics, to liberty and justice. In what ways did celebrated philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Karl Marx push forward radical new ideas? How has the concept of karma evolved from the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism to today? What was Plato’s concept of an ideal republic, and how did he explore this through the legend of the lost city of Atlantis?
In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.
Typology
Melvyn Bragg and guests explore typology, a method of biblical interpretation that aims to meaningfully link people, places, and events in the Hebrew Bible, what Christians call the Old Testament, with the coming of Christ in the New Testament. Old Testament figures like Moses, Jonah, and King David were regarded by Christians as being ‘types’ or symbols of Jesus.
This way of thinking became hugely popular in medieval Europe, Renaissance England and Victorian Britain, as Christians sought to make sense of their Jewish inheritance – sometimes rejecting that inheritance with antisemitic fervour. It was a way of seeing human history as part of a divine plan, with ancient events prefiguring more modern ones, and it influenced debates about the relationship between metaphor and reality in the bible, in literature, and in art. It also influenced attitudes towards reality, time and history.
With
Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London
Harry Spillane, Munby Fellow in Bibliography at Cambridge and Research Fellow at Darwin College
And
Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe, Associate Professor in Patristics at Cambridge.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
Reading list:
A. C. Charity, Events and their Afterlife: The Dialectics of Christian Typology in the Bible and Dante (first published 1966; Cambridge University Press, 2010)
Margaret Christian, Spenserian Allegory and Elizabethan Biblical Exegesis: The Context for ‘The Faerie Queene’ (Manchester University Press, 2016)
Dagmar Eichberger and Shelley Perlove (eds.), Visual Typology in Early Modern Europe: Continuity and Expansion (Brepols, 2018)
Tibor Fabiny, The Lion and the Lamb: Figuralism and Fulfilment in the Bible, Art and Literature (Palgrave Macmillan, 1992)
Tibor Fabiny, ‘Typology: Pros and Cons in Biblical Hermeneutics and Literary Criticism’ (Academia, 2018)
Northrop Frye, The Great Code: The Bible and Literature (first published 1982; Mariner Books, 2002)
Leonhard Goppelt (trans. Donald H. Madvig), Typos: The Typological Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New (William B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1982)
Paul J. Korshin, Typologies in England, 1650-1820 (first published in 1983; Princeton University Press, 2014)
Judith Lieu, Image and Reality: The Jews in the World of the Christians in the Second Century (T & T Clark International, 1999)
Sara Lipton, Images of Intolerance: The Representation of Jews and Judaism in the Bible Moralisee (University of California Press, 1999)
Montague Rhodes James and Kenneth Harrison, A Guide to the Windows of King’s College Chapel (first published in 1899; Cambridge University Press, 2010)
J. W. Rogerson and Judith M. Lieu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies (Oxford University Press, 2008)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production
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POLITICO Tech
The POLITICO Tech podcast is your download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy. New episodes on Thursdays.
‘Compute, not crude’: How American AI is defining the new Middle East
A large contingent of Silicon Valley CEOs followed President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia this week, where a number of them announced billions of dollars in AI-related investments and business partnerships. Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says this is the new Middle East — where the relationship with the U.S. is driven by tech and innovation, not just oil and security. On POLITICO Tech, Soliman tells host Steven Overly how this new arrangement benefits tech companies and Gulf nations — and why it’s necessary if the U.S. hopes to stay ahead of China.
Steven Overly is the host of POLITICO Tech and covers the intersection of trade and technology.
Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy and producer of POLITICO Tech.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 1, 2025
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The Daily
This is what the news should sound like. The biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world. Hosted by Michael Barbaro. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, ready by 6 a.m.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp
Birthright Citizenship Reaches The Supreme Court
On Thursday, the Trump administration’s effort to limit birthright citizenship ended up in front of the Supreme Court.
Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The New York Times, discusses the White House’s unusual legal strategy for defending its plan, and what it might mean for the future of presidential power.
Guest: Adam Liptak, covers the Supreme Court. A graduate of Yale Law School, he practiced law for 14 years before joining The Times in 2002.
Background reading:
- Adam Liptak wrote about the unusual features of the birthright citizenship case.
- Adam also wrote about the Supreme Court justices across the ideological spectrum who have been critical of nationwide injunctions, which apply to everyone affected by a challenged law, regulation or executive action.
- Charlie Savage and Alan Feuer shared four takeaways from the birthright citizenship case.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Drew Angerer/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
