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PODCAST

Empire: World History

The rise and fall of empires and the events that shaped world history. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the intricate stories of revolutions, imperial wars, and the people who built and lost empires. From the British Empire to the Ottomans to Ancient India, history is shaped by power struggles and territorial conquests. How does it continue to affect the world today? Empire Club: Become a member of the Empire Club to receive early access to miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to

history

All Episodes

53:11

323. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Rebels March On...

Empire: World History ·

2026/01/08

How did the mutiny amongst sepoys –Indian soldiers– turn into a national crisis? What ultimatum did the rebels give the Mughal emperor when they reached the Red Fort in Delhi? Why did the British fail to see what was coming? In Episode 2 of the series, William and Anita discuss how the rebel sepoys travelled along the Bridge of Boats to take the rebellion to Delhi. Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live

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50:58

322. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The 1857 Mutiny...

Empire: World History ·

2026/01/06

Secret messages are being passed from city to city inside chapattis, rebellion is in the air. When Indian soldiers in the East India Company army hear that bullet cartridges are greased with pig and cow fat, they take a stand against their British generals. A mutiny begins that will soon explode into an all-out revolution… This is the Indian Uprising of 1857.How did India’s Greatest Rebellion begin? Why did the dynamic between British and Indian soldiers start to change in the 1850s? How did the

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50:02

321. Exploding Rum-filled Coffins, Anglo-Indian...

Empire: World History ·

2026/01/01

How did Julia Margaret Cameron - Virginia Woolf's great aunt - become one of the most influential photography artists of her time? Who were the Anglo-Indian Pattle Sisters who charmed Victorian society in India and London? How did the family create a warm artistic oasis where celebrities like Tennyson and Watts loved spending time?William is joined by art historian Emily Burns to discuss the life of his relative, the pioneering photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron. Join the Empire Club: Unlock

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46:05

320. Photos That Shook The World: Exposing Leopold in...

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/30

How did one woman take on the brutal colonial King Leopold II in Congo with her camera? Who was Alice Seely Harris and why should we remember her name? How did she smuggle her photographs of the horrors going on in the Congo out of the country?Anita and William discuss the life of Alice Seely Harris, the mouse who stood up to a lion using the power of her Kodak Camera… Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and

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32:23

319. Heist of St Nicolas: The Medieval Mafia Who...

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/25

Who were the Italian sailors who stole the bones of St Nicolas from his church in Turkey in 1087? How was the mythology of St Nicolas combined with Germanic pagan stories of Odin riding a white horse accompanied by ravens? How did polar-mania and Coca Cola advertising transform Dutch traditions around St Nicolas into the Santa Claus we know today?William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple to discuss his original research on the epic Heist of St Nicolas… Join the Empire Club:

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32:21

318. Heist of St Nicolas: Raiding Santa's Tomb (Part 1)

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/23

The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas, was a real bishop from Myra in modern-day Turkey, whose tomb there was popular with pilgrims, but 700 years after his death, a group of sailors decided to steal his magic bones… What myth about St Nicolas first associated him with gift-giving? How did his story get merged with the Greek god of the seas, Poseidon? How were the tombs in his hometown connected with Ancient India? Anita and William are joined by Sam Dalrymple to discuss his original research on

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48:25

317. Churchill's Photographer: From Escaping Genocide...

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/18

Who was Karsh and how did he become one of the most famous portrait photographers of the 20th century? How did Karsh escape from the Armenian Genocide as a child? What was the story behind some of the most famous photographs of Churchill, Einstein, Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, and Martin Luther King?Anita and William explore the fascinating life of one of the photographers of Empire, Yousuf Karsh. Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire experience with bonus

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47:14

316. Hitler's Photographer: Nazi Secrets, Eva Braun,...

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/16

Who was Heinrich Hoffman and how did he use his photography to promote Adolf Hitler and Nazism? When did Hoffman introduce Hitler to Eva Braun? What lies did he tell a Jewish journalist who interviewed him in 1950?Anita and William discuss the life of Hitler’s photographer as part of a series on Eyes on Empire - exploring the influential people behind the lens who captured those in power. Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire experience with bonus episodes,

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13:22

Introducing: The Rest Is Science

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/12

Forget what you think you know about reality. The Rest Is Science is a mind-bending new show from Goalhanger that tears down familiar ideas… time, randomness, beauty, it will reveal just how bizarre the world truly is. Join Professor Hannah Fry and science creator Michael Stevens (Vsauce) twice a week to explore big, small and surprising questions as they deep dive into theories, concepts, objects and thoughts and take us on a journey into the unexpected. If you love digging into details

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44:16

315. Controversy, Colonialism, & V.S. Naipaul

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/11

Who was V.S. Naipaul and why was he so controversial? How did Naipaul alter the way in which writers and readers saw the world, and in particular how they saw Trinidad? Why did he make an enemy of Salman Rushdie? Anita and William are joined by Ben Moser to discuss the life of V.S. Naipaul. Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire experience with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a

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47:36

314. Rudyard Kipling: Villain or Visionary? (Part 3)

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/09

Should we still read Kipling today? What family tragedy did Kipling face in the later half of his life? How did he fan the flames of jingoism during and after the First World War?William is reunited with Anita to discuss Rudyard Kipling’s later life and legacy and to debate whether we should revere or despise him... Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire experience with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets,

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33:38

313. Rudyard Kipling: Escaping India & Writing The...

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/04

What inspired Kipling to write his two most famous works: The Jungle Book and Kim? Why did Kipling hate London and swiftly move to the US? How did Kipling develop such astute observational writing about Anglo-Indians in his early twenties? William is joined once again by Andrew Lycett, author of Rudyard Kipling, to discuss his rise to fame and how although he left India, his writing became evermore obsessed with the subcontinent… Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the

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25:37

312. Rudyard Kipling: Son of Empire (Part 1)

Empire: World History ·

2025/12/02

Rudyard Kipling was one of the most evocative writers of India, yet he was a jingoist and an imperialist until his dying day. So how do we grapple with this conundrum, why was Kipling such a man of contradiction? In this episode we explore his early life.How did he go from a spoiled child in India who spoke Hindustani with his nanny, to living in an abusive foster home in Portsmouth which he called The House of Desolation? William is joined by Andrew Lycett, author of Rudyard Kipling, to

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41:14

311. Cricket In India: Beating The Brits At Their Own...

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/27

How did Britain’s imperial game become so popular in India? Why were India’s princes the ‘nepo babies’ of cricket? How does the legacy of Partition continue to affect matches in India and Pakistan today? Anita and William are joined once again by Tim Wigmore, author of Test Cricket: A History, as they unpack how a colonial sport grew to define a nation, mapping onto India’s historic and political tensions. Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire experience with

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49:22

310. The Origin of The Ashes & The Killer Cricket...

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/25

How is the history of cricket completely intertwined with the history of the British Empire? What was the Bodyline Controversy of the 1930s and how did it nearly kill a player? Who was Don Bradman and why is he believed to be the greatest sportsperson of all time? Anita and William are joined by Tim Wigmore, author of Test Cricket: A History, to discuss the history of the cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Make someone an Empire Club Member this Christmas – unlock the full Empire

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45:37

309. Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/20

How did the young journalist with the quiff haircut and his companion Snowy The Dog feature in Nazi propaganda in the 1940s? What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The Adventures of Tintin? How did an unlikely friendship transform Hergé’s life and lead him to draw Tintin crying in a comic strip for the first and only time?Anita and William navigate the turbulent hot waters of Tintin’s history from anti-Soviet propaganda, to featuring authentic Chinese calligraphy,

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47:27

308. Asterix and Obelix, Babar The Elephant, &...

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/18

How did a story made up by a mother for her sick children turn into Babar The Elephant? Why did two immigrants to France create such a patriotically French cartoon in Asterix and Obelix? How should we feel about racist depictions of people of colour in beloved children’s cartoons today?Listen as William and Anita explore the controversial debates about two of the most beloved cartoons from twentieth-century France: Asterix the Gaul, and Babar The Elephant. Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full

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41:51

307. Austen vs Brontë: Unmasking Slavery Heiresses

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/13

What is the true history behind the “madwoman in the attic” in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre? How was Jane Austen’s aunt deeply connected to slavery in Barbados? Who were the British heiresses who married Caribbean plantation owners and inherited vast wealth made through chattel slavery?William and Anita are joined by Miranda Kauffman, author of Heiresses: Marriage, Inheritance, and Caribbean Slavery, to discuss how Austen and Brontë were connected to, and wrote about, these often-ignored slavery

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60:29

306. Joseph Conrad: From Russian Exile To The Heart...

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/11

How did a Polish sailor become one of the greatest writers in the English language? Why were Conrad’s parents exiled to the harsh conditions of northern Russia? Should we continue to read The Heart of Darkness in spite of its outdated views?Anita and William are joined by Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch, to discuss the adventurous life of Joseph Conrad and how his work shaped readers' understanding of imperialism. Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus

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60:29

305. Orwell: Dark Secrets, The CIA, & His Forgotten...

Empire: World History ·

2025/11/06

Why was Orwell’s wife, Eileen, written out of his story when she co-wrote Animal Farm? How did the CIA twist the novel into anti-communist propaganda? As a writer who was so ahead of his time on imperialism and totalitarianism, why did Orwell fail when it came to the patriarchy?Anita and William are joined by Anna Funder, author of Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life, to discuss the women who are missing from Orwell’s biography despite being crucial to his development as a writer. Join the

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330 results

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