Podcast · History

History's Heroes

by BBC Radio 4 · English · History

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for tales of deception, resistance and courage in History's Secret Heroes Series 4. History's Heroes: the BBC's breathtaking, high stakes, story-led history podcast feed that shines a light on extraordinary pe

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest: 13 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 29 minNew

History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Madeleine Riffaud’s Defiant Resistance

19-year-old Madeleine Riffaud is imprisoned and tortured for assassinating a German officer in broad daylight in Paris. Upon her release, she becomes one of the key players in the French Resistance. How did she do it? With historians Rick Stroud and Anne Sebba. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4:…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

6 Oct 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Kiyoshi Tanimoto and the Atomic Bomb
In the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb, a minister rushes towards the devastation to save his people. Little does he know that he’ll become a global hero. With historian Kim Brandt and Koko Kondo, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s daughter. Archive of This Is Your Life courtesy of Reelin' In The Years Productions and Ralph Edwards Productions. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul…
29 Sep 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Pamela Churchill’s Special Relationships
Pamela Churchill, newly married to the Prime Minister’s son, becomes a key diplomatic figure in the war effort. How did she use her charm to help sway U.S. sentiment towards aiding Britain? With biographer Sonia Purnell and Chris James, Pamela Churchill’s nephew. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4:…
22 Sep 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: The Ovitz Family
The Ovitz family were a group of theatrical performers from Romania, seven of whom had dwarfism. When their mother was dying she urged them to stick together, guard each other and live for one another. How did they defy the odds and survive Auschwitz? With actor Warwick Davies, biographer Eilat Negev and historian Warren Rosenblum. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul…
15 Sep 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Airey Neave: Escape from Colditz Castle
Captured by the Nazis, Lieutenant Airey Neave is sent to Colditz Castle, a high-security prisoner of war camp in Germany. No British prisoner has ever escaped from here before. After months of preparation, and armed with a careful disguise, can he evade the notorious guard patrols and their dogs? With biographer Patrick Bishop and Marigold Webb, Airey Neave’s daughter. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Producer:…
8 Sep 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: The Cockleshell Heroes
In December 1942, a small team of commandos are set to paddle their canoes through freezing enemy-infested waters to sabotage German ships in the port of Bordeaux. Operation Frankton is described as a “suicide mission”. Will Royal Marines Bill Sparks and Herbert ‘Blondie’ Hasler destroy the enemy supply lines and make it back to England alive? With military historian Robert Lyman, and Terry Sparks, son of Bill Sparks. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios…
1 Sep 2026 · 29 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Elvira Chaudoir: D-Day’s Double Crossing Agent
Elvira Chaudoir is a Peruvian playgirl with all the right connections… and a gambling debt. She’s also a double agent, locked in a dangerous game of deception. With D-Day on the horizon, can she convince the Germans that the Allied invasion is happening in the southwest of France, and not in Normandy? With author and historian Ben Macintyre and Sophie Stewart from the National Archives. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War II. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC…
18 Aug 2026 · 3 min
History's Secret Heroes - Series 4: Trailer
Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for tales of deception, resistance and courage in History's Secret Heroes Series 4.
7 Apr 2026 · 28 min
Rose Heilbron QC and The Cameo Murder
In 1950, a trial began for a gruesome murder, marking the first time a woman would lead a murder case in an English court. Can Rose Heilbron QC prove herself? Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Georgina Leslie Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
31 Mar 2026 · 28 min
Washington and Emily Roebling: Superstars of Suspension
Disaster strikes when Washington Roebling is building a landmark suspension bridge connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. Can his wife Emily help him deliver an impossible engineering feat? Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios Audio production. Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by: Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
24 Mar 2026 · 29 min
Maharani Jindan Kaur – The Last Queen of the Punjab
1849. The youngest queen of Sikh Emperor Ranjit Sing, Maharani Jindan was locked up in at Chunar fort, hundreds of miles from home. She was small, beautiful and powerful, and crucially she was the mother of 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh. She had to be kept away from her kingdom in Punjab, and her young son, by order of the British East India company. But nothing would keep her from her son. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer:…
17 Mar 2026 · 25 min
BONUS Margaret Cavendish Blazes Through the World Part 2
Alex von Tunzelmann meets Professor Keith Allen to discuss Margaret Cavendish’s remarkable legacy. Keith, who is professor of philosophy at the University of York, has been researching Margaret Cavendish and neurodiversity. He argues that Cavendish may have had one or more forms of neurodivergence, based on the descriptions she herself gave of her life and experience. Cavendish clung to the hope of future fame. She knew that her work was misunderstood within her own time. Lady Dorothy Osborne remarked that there are "soberer people in Bedlam” - the psychiatric hospital. Centuries later, she…
10 Mar 2026 · 26 min
Margaret Cavendish Blazes Through the World
In 17th Century Europe, a young woman escapes civil war and discovers a love of scientific learning and a remarkable literary talent. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
3 Mar 2026 · 29 min
Vuyisile Mini: The Voice That Defied Apartheid
In 1950s South Africa, under the system of apartheid, a powerful song catches fire among Black communities. But to sing it could result in imprisonment. Its author - the musician, poet and union organiser Vuyisile Mini - prepares to put his life on the line. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
24 Feb 2026 · 28 min
Sophie Blanchard Takes to the Skies
In 19th Century France, a young woman escapes a life of drudgery, faces her fears and finds worldwide fame as an aeronaut. Sophie Blanchard performs for Napoleon and eventually becomes the official aeronaut of the Restoration. But as her hot air balloon shows become more and more ambitious, can she keep cheating death? Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer:…
17 Feb 2026 · 28 min
BONUS: Eleanor of Aquitaine: Medieval Queen Supreme Part 2
Alex von Tunzelmann meets Dr Eleanor Janega to discuss Eleanor of Aquitaine, the extraordinary medieval woman who became Queen of France, then Queen of England. Dr Janega is a broadcaster and historian who was named after the great queen. Looking at key moments in her life, Alex wants to better understand the queen’s real impact on history and, crucially, whether this medieval icon actually had agency. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios Audio production.…
10 Feb 2026 · 29 min
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Medieval Queen Supreme
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine was in her 70s when disaster struck in the 1190s. Her sons were often at loggerheads and causing trouble. This time, her crusading son Richard the Lionheart had got into a spot of trouble and got himself kidnapped on his way back from the Holy Land. It was down to Eleanor to save her son, her dynasty and the realm. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios Audio production. Producer: Suniti Somaiya Written and presented by Alex von…
3 Feb 2026 · 29 min
Eileen Kampakuta Brown and the Anti‑Nuclear Campaign
When a nuclear programme threatens Eileen Kampakuta Brown's traditional land in Australia, she brings together a group of Aboriginal women to resist. Their campaign across the country in a two-door wagon will take them all the way to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
27 Jan 2026 · 28 min
Wat Tyler and the Peasants’ Revolt
For six days in thirteen eighty-one, Wat Tyler a mysterious, charismatic figure appears to hold the balance of power in England. Fired by a vision of social equality, he leads a peasants' revolt that threatens to overturn the ruling order. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
20 Jan 2026 · 25 min
BONUS: The Sisters Who Took On A Dictator, Part 2
Alex von Tunzelmann talks to Dominican American writer Julia Alvarez. Her 1994 novel In The Time of the Butterflies, tells the fictionalised account of the Mirabal Sisters, who lost their lives in standing up to the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez, who was awarded The National Medal of the Arts, spent her childhood years in the Dominican Republic and describes the Mirabals as her “shadow sisters.” In 2001, the novel was adapted into a feature film of the same name, starring Salma Hayek as Minerva Mirabal and Edward James Olmos as Rafael Trujillo. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas…
13 Jan 2026 · 29 min
The Sisters Who Took On A Dictator
At the height of a vicious regime in the Dominican Republic, Minerva Mirabal and her sisters risk everything to liberate their nation. How would their actions help topple the dictator Rafael Trujillo? Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
6 Jan 2026 · 29 min
Charles Dickens and the Train Crash
In June 1865, the writer Charles Dickens was sitting in the first-class carriage of a train when it crashed outside of Kent. The horrific accident would require all his courage and threaten to reveal his most closely guarded secret. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history. A BBC Studios production. Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts
23 Dec 2025 · 2 min
History's Heroes Trailer
Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.
16 Dec 2025 · 30 min
History's Toughest Heroes: William Marshal: The Greatest Medieval Knight
At the age of 70, does England’s greatest knight still have what it takes to save the realm from invasion? In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. The young Sir William Marshal was handsome, charming, captain of the England Tourney team a sporting hero and right-hand man to many a king of England including Henry the Young King, Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and Bad King John. He was a brilliant rider and very good at jousting. He was even famed for having a ‘large crotch’. But towards the end of his…
9 Dec 2025 · 28 min
History's Toughest Heroes: Ida B. Wells and the Red Recorder
With lynchings of Black Americans on the rise, a reporter begins documenting the crimes, sending her on a dangerous journey through the violence of the Jim Crow South. In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. After a humiliating standoff with a train conductor in the American South, the young Ida B Wells decided to make a stand. Racism was rife, and Lynchings of Black people were increasingly common. A talented writer at a time when most people were unable, or too afraid to speak out, she used…
2 Dec 2025 · 29 min
History's Toughest Heroes: The Ballad of Crazy Horse
When European American settlers begin displacing the indigenous Lakota from their ancestral lands, one enigmatic warrior refuses to surrender. He gathers his people for an epic standoff with the military. In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. In the depths of the Wild West Crazy, when tensions between Native American tribes and the US military were running high and native people were losing their lives, their land and their heritage, Crazy Horse (along with other notable warriors like Sitting Bull)…
25 Nov 2025 · 28 min
History's Toughest Heroes: Margery Kempe: Ministry of Tears
Margery Kempe always tells it like it is. But in Medieval England, such straight-talking can get a woman killed... In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. Born in Kings Lynne in around 1373, Margery Kempe was destined for a typical medieval life. But after the birth of her first child, and a terrifying nine months of diabolical visons of the devil and hell which meant she was tied to the bed for her own safety, she had an altogether more soothing experience. A vision of a man with whom she’d fall…
18 Nov 2025 · 29 min
History's Toughest Heroes: Henry Johnson: Hellfighter
A Black soldier from the American South makes headlines when he fights off an entire German party in World War One. But his fame comes at a price. In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. Growing up in as a Black man in North Carolina, where racism was enshrined in law and lynchings were horrifyingly common, Henry Johnson didn't have much hope for a bright future. He moved to Albany New York and when America joined the Great War he found himself on the front line in France, with the all-Black 369th…
11 Nov 2025 · 28 min
History's Toughest Heroes: Hugh Glass: The Real Story of The Revenant
The real-life Revenant who survived a savage bear mauling and crawled hundreds of miles across the American plains to confront the scoundrels who abandoned him. In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. Immortalised by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2015 blockbuster movie, the real-life Hugh Glass is still a bit of a mystery. This fur trapper and great mountain man of the Wild West became famous in his own lifetime for being absurdly tough – the legend went that he'd escaped pirates, been schooled by native…
4 Nov 2025 · 29 min
History's Toughest Heroes: Constance Bulwer-Lytton: Suffragette Rebel
Constance Lytton was raised an aristocrat. But when she wakes up to women's suffrage, she goes undercover in solidarity, joining her working-class comrades in prison and staging a series of dangerous hunger strikes. In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. As a lady, and part of the English upper-crust, when Constance Lytton was arrested for her involvement in the women's suffrage movement, she was given special treatment in prison. Desperate to be treated like everyone else, she disguised herself as…

About History's Heroes

History's Heroes is a English history podcast from BBC Radio 4. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: BBC Radio 4
Language: English
Category: History
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest episode: 13 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1689369106
Rights: (C) BBC 2026

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