Funding cuts and culture wars: history behind the headlines

What connects a notorious Chilean dictator with an SS commander who played a key role in the Holocaust? This is the question at the heart of a book by the author and lawyer Philippe Sands, which follows the twin stories of Augusto Pinochet's sensational arrest in London in 1998 and the postwar career of Walter Rauff, who spent many years in Pinochet's Chile. Philippe was joined by Rob Attar to explore a tangled tale of law and mass murder in Europe and South America. (Ad) Philippe Sands is the author of 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia (Orion, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2F38-londres-street%2Fphilippe-sands%2F9781399632812. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trade wars and tariffs have once again been making headlines in recent weeks, as US president Donald Trump's government adopts combative economic policies. But are such approaches really that unusual? Speaking to Matt Elton, Frank Trentmann looks back at centuries of economic warfare – and reveals the historical factors that have sparked it. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the latest episode of our monthly series, Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss recent headlines about funding cuts to history departments in the UK’s universities - and we hear from Lucy Noakes, president of the Royal Historical Society, with her take on the situation. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Debates about whether museum artefacts should be returned to the cultures that made them have made headlines several times in recent years. But historian and author Justin M Jacobs explains to Matt Elton why he believes that calls for these objects to be repatriated often overlook the wishes of the people who made them in the first place. (Ad) Justin M Jacobs is the author of Plunder?: How Museums Got Their Treasures (Reaktion Books, 2024). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fplunder%2Fjustin-m-jacobs%2F9781789149487. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paris's Belle Époque – or 'Beautiful Era' – conjures up images of cafés, can-can dancers and sunny walks along the River Seine. But was life in the French capital in the late 19th and early 20th-century really as exciting as the scenes painted by Toulouse-Lautrec? Jon Bauckham talks to Dr Mike Rapport about the real history behind the Belle Époque, revealing why there was also a darkness to the 'city of light'. (Ad) Mike Rapport is the author of City of Light, City of Shadows: Paris in the Belle Époque (Bridge Street Press, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Light-Shadows-Paris-%C3%89poque/dp/0349128162/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1910, music hall performer Belle Elmore went missing. Her husband Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen claimed Belle had gone to America to visit a dying relative. But before long, Crippen's stories began to unravel and the doctor went on the run, triggering an international manhunt. Hallie Rubenhold re-examines Crippen's crimes in her new book Story of a Murder, and she spoke to Ellie Cawthorne about what this infamous case can reveal about medicine, the music hall and women's lives at the time. (Ad) Hallie Rubenhold is the author of Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen (Transworld Publishers, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fstory-of-a-murder%2Fhallie-rubenhold%2F2928377304799. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1970s, as the Troubles divided Northern Ireland, hundreds of armalite guns were sent to the IRA from across the Atlantic. Reporter Ali Watkins follows the smuggling operations of a ragtag group of Irish American gunrunners from Philadelphia in her new book The Next One is for You. She spoke to Ellie Cawthorne about their impact on the conflict over the ocean. (Ad) Ali Watkins is the author of The Next One Is for You: A True Story of Guns, Country, and the IRA's Secret American Army (Little Brown, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Next-One-You-Country-American/dp/0316538272/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thomas Becket is probably medieval England's most famous martyr and saint – yet the circumstances of his life are overshadowed by his infamous feud with King Henry II, and his shocking murder in Canterbury Cathedral one winter's evening in 1170. Emily Briffett speaks to historian and author Michael Staunton to chart how Becket rocketed to power from humble origins, before dramatically switching from close royal ally to the thorn in Henry II's side. (Ad) Michael Staunton is the author of Thomas Becket and His World (Reaktion Books, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomas-Becket-World-Medieval-Lives/dp/183639070X?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.MTvDup6huJD2pesd63URgHlHzJsj9v2mzEUQDBADoJrosLeuGDQ0lnK5a8uakRmrUFhj7Y3yF-qgeE073i2yDP6L9nsaWDygmfrXuvEIWH-WI1hpY2SA31iJw_VSNtMPcfW6FzUJhNHruLcqDe5zZycr4zBJ6PJa_8098f5WqkgFyXzcv8NrODBILSMwzj8N3FxN_DzxW2AXJPq7l7-W_L_WVGlzkdHEPGtUg8-Se9A.PF4sbYGf_bMvm0wEHNE6QZ2ylq3kDsx7lnU_cD__1NI&dib_tag=se&qid=1741605380&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+Staunton&s=books&sr=1-1&tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has our focus on the impact of the transatlantic slave trade blinded us to the diversity and complexity of Africa's past? That's one of the arguments at the heart of Luke Pepera's new book Motherland, which spans 500,000 years of the continent's history. Luke speaks to Matt Elton about some of the stories that shine the spotlight back on African people. (Ad) Luke Pepera is the author of Motherland: A Journey through 500,000 Years of African Culture and Identity (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fmotherland%2Fluke-pepera%2F9781398707368. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why, in the 1850s, was the excrement of thousands of people being deposited straight into the Thames? How lethal were Victorian London's cholera outbreaks? And why is Joseph Bazalgette one of the most heroic figures in London's history? Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Rosemary Ashton answers the most pressing questions on an infamous pollution event caused by soaring temperatures and huge amounts of human waste. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices