I’ve been on a multi-year adventure attempting to learn global human history chronologically. I began with the evolution of man and have continued through the rise of agriculture, empires, and civilizations. Right now I’m in the late 11th century - just before the crusades, at the height of the Song dynasty in China, and in a time when the Cholas of Tamil country controlled trade routes in Indonesia.

I use a variety of sources, including books, documentaries, Wikipedia, YouTube, and podcasts. I’ve listened to numerous podcasts across a number of societies and times and so I thought I’d share my quick assessment of them here (explanation of some of the grades at the end of the post). I’ll go by region:

Iberian Peninsula

•Reconquista by Sharyn Eastaugh: B

•History of Spain by David Cot: D (quality production but unfinished)

Britain

•History of England by David Crowther: A-

•British History Podcast by Jamie Jeffers: C

•Rex Factor: C-

France

•History of France by Gary Girod: C

•Thugs and Miracles by Benjamin Bernier: TBD (focuses on Merovingian and Carolingian times; haven’t listened to enough episodes to grade)

Germany

•History of the Germans by Dirk Hoffman: A-

Italy

•History of Rome by Mike Duncan: TBD (I had already learned about the ancient Roman Empire by the time I got into podcasts, so I haven’t listened but obviously this show is iconic in the “History Of” genre)

•A History of Italy by Mike Corradi: C

•History of the Papacy Podcast by Stephen Guerra: B

Medieval Rome (also anachronistically know as Byzantium)

•History of Byzantium by Robin Pierson: A

•Byzantium and the Crusades by Nick Holmes: B

•Byzantium and Friends by Anthony Kaldellis: B- (not a narrative podcast but rather a series of expert interviews on various Byzantine topics)

Crusades

•History of the Crusades by Sharyn Eastaugh: TBD (I just started it, but she’s good in Reconquista so I expect a solid B out of this one)

•History of the Outremer by (? Idk if he ever mentions his name): B

India

•The History of India by Kit Patrick: B-

•Echoes of India by Anirudh Kanisetti: B-

•Lost History of India by Abhijit Raja: D

•Yuddha (India military history) by Anirudh Kanisetti and Aditya Ramanathan: B

Arab/Muslim/Central Asian/Turk/Mongol

(I’ve only listened to one and I just started it, so I’m going to list a few I know of without grades)

•History of Islam by Elias Belhaddad: Appears to have been abandoned early on

•The Islamic History Podcast: Appears to have a vast catalogue over a huge variety of regions; looks promising although it turns into non-narrative at some point

•Slaves and Sultans by Armchair Historian: I just started it, so TBD; Focuses on Turks

China

•The History of China by Chris Stewart: B-

•Chinese History Podcast by Laszlo Montgomery: B- (non-narrative)

•The History of China by Eric Andresen: TBD (He started after I was already into the Tang, so I never went back to listen; He’s currently at the end of the Han; from the little I heard it sounds possibly better than Stewart’s stylistically, but idk)

Language

•History of English by Kevin Stroud: B

Overarching non-narrative/non-geographical pods

•Hardcore History by Dan Carlin: B

•The Medieval Podcast by medievalist.net: C

•In Our Time by Melvyn Bragg of the BBC: C

Other Podcasts I Know About But Have Never Listened To

•The History of Ireland

•Irish History Podcast

•The History of Poland Podcast

•History of Persia

•History of Japan

•A History of Japan

•History of the Vikings

•History of Africa

•A History of the United States

•History of North America

•History of Egypt Podcast

•The History of Ancient Greece

•History of Europe, Key Battles

•Wittenberg to Westphalia

•History of the World

Conclusion

Obviously, podcast quality is a very subjective thing. I prefer a scholarly, in depth approach. At the same time, the host should strive for brevity within that framework and a little natural humor goes a long way. I also much prefer narrative, chronological histories (hence my lower Hardcore History grade, which admittedly is very entertaining and well done).

The podcast that threads those qualities together into a masterclass is: The History of Byzantium by Robin Pierson. Best history pod on the market, and it’s not close in my opinion. If all podcasts were as well done, I’d never get anything, well, done.

Other excellent pods are Dirk Hoffman’s History of the Germans and David Crowther’s History of England. Those are my top 3.

The pods not as well done because they get stuck in the mud are British History Podcast by Jeffers and The History of China by Chris Stewart. I still gave them decent grades because they are well developed, very professional shows. But they both lose the forest for the trees, so to speak. Each would do well to streamline their story telling and cut about half the names out of their material. Both shows, however, do have value.

If anyone has any questions about the content, structure, host qualities, etc of any of the pods listed, let me know and I’d be happy to give my opinion.