Episodes

  • Introducing: Fidel Castro - Real Dictators

    Introducing: Fidel Castro - Real Dictators
    Jun 25 2025
    This is a taster episode of the Fidel Castro story. To hear episodes 2-10, head over to Real Dictators and hit follow. Fidel Castro - a revolutionary turned strongman dictator, beloved by his supporters and loathed by his enemies. The bête noire of the United States who pushed the world to the brink of annihilation. The ultimate political survivor who evaded hundreds of barely believable assassination attempts. We scroll back to the early years of the one they would call El Loco. It all begins on a farm in the east of Cuba - an island paradise with dark undercurrents swirling beneath the surface… Real Dictators is a Noiser podcast production, narrated by Paul McGann. Find the rest of the Fidel Castro story on the Real Dictators feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • The Spanish Flu

    The Spanish Flu
    Jun 22 2025
    The influenza pandemic of 1918-20 infected about one-third of the world’s population at the time, killing at least 50 million people. Occurring during the First World War, what became known as the Spanish Flu spread rapidly as soldiers moved across continents. It overwhelmed hospitals, led to mass graves, and disrupted societies worldwide. But what made the disease so deadly? Was it really Spanish? And what lessons had been learned by the time Covid-19 emerged, a century later? This is a Short History Of The Spanish Flu. A Noiser Production. Written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Mark Honigsbaum, a medical historian, and author of The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • The Manhattan Project

    The Manhattan Project
    Jun 15 2025
    The Manhattan Project was the codename for the US government’s top secret programme to develop the first atomic bomb. At the height of World War Two, America’s top scientists - such as Dr Robert Oppenheimer - raced against Nazi Germany to harness the power of nuclear fission, and ultimately end the war. But what is the story of the other scientists, soldiers and civilians who brought about the birth of the A-bomb? What role did Albert Einstein play in the project? And what were the consequences when the bomb was finally used? This is a Short History Of The Manhattan Project. A Noiser Production, written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr Cameron Reed, a physicist, and the author of ‘Manhattan Project, The Story Of The Century.’ Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • The First Emperor of China

    The First Emperor of China
    Jun 8 2025
    In the third century BC, China was a land fractured by war - a patchwork of rival kingdoms struggling for dominance. Out of this chaos rose a single, extraordinary figure who would reshape the course of history: Chin Shrr Hwong, the First Emperor of China. His achievements were monumental, but his reign was marked by ruthlessness, so how did this teenage king rise to power? What drove him to undertake colossal projects like the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army? And how might his obsession with immortality have led to his mysterious death? This is a Short History Of The First Emperor of China. A Noiser Production, written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to John Man, author of The Terracotta Army: China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Anne Frank

    Anne Frank
    Jun 1 2025
    Anne Frank is one of the world’s most famous writers, yet she didn’t live long enough to see her work published. At the age of thirteen, Anne was a normal teenager, who poured her heart into a diary. But what made her diary different, was that she created within its pages a snapshot of the darkest events of World War Two, detailing the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands that forced her family to hide in a secret annex. But what do we know about the real life of this bubbly young girl? How did her precious diary survive the war? And what about the people who protected - and betrayed her? This is a Short History Of Anne Frank. A Noiser Production, written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Karen Bartlett, a journalist and author of The Diary That Changed the World. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    57 mins
  • Alfred Hitchcock

    Alfred Hitchcock
    May 25 2025
    Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most celebrated film directors of all time. In a career that spanned six decades, he produced more than 50 films, including Britain’s first successful talking picture. His countless awards and accolades earned him a reputation as the ‘Master of Suspense’, but how did an introverted working class boy come to dominate Hollywood? What was the truth behind the rumours of obsessive ruthless behaviour? And what makes his films so revered still to this day? This is a Short History Of Alfred Hitchcock. A Nosier Production. Written by Olivia Jordan. With thanks to Tony Lee Moral, author of numerous books on Hitchcock, including ‘Alfred Hitchcock: Storyboards’. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Gaudi (Bonus Episode)

    Gaudi (Bonus Episode)
    May 20 2025
    In a long life, spanning the late 19th and early 20th century, Antoni Gaudi created some of history’s best-loved architecture. From his early lamppost designs, through to his great unfinished masterpiece, his unmistakable works are world renowned, inimitable, and iconic to this day. But how did a man who began life as a sickly child become one of history’s best loved architects? What drove him to reject marriage and dedicate his life to serving God through art? And why does his most famous building remain unfinished? This is a Short History Of... Antoni Gaudi. A Noiser Production, written by Angus Gavan McHarg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 mins
  • The Romanovs

    The Romanovs
    May 18 2025
    Throughout their centuries-long dynasty, the Romanovs oversaw the transformation of Russia from a fragmented medieval state, into a vast empire. Despite their power though, the period of the Romanovs was plagued by violence, assassinations, and the heavy hand of autocratic rule. Then, in 1917, the course of Russian history took an irreversible turn, and the fate of the Romanovs was changed forever. So what do we know of the lives of the Romanov family? Was it possible for monarchs such as Catherine the Great to balance Enlightenment ideals with absolute power? And did any of the family survive the infamous assassination of 1918? This is a Short History Of The Romanovs. A Noiser production, written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to Russell E. Martin, Distinguished Professor of History at Westminster College, Pennsylvania, and author of The Tsar’s Happy Occasion: Ritual and Dynasty in the Weddings of Russia’s Rulers. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins