Journey Through Time
Forgotten stories from history and how they shaped the way we live today. Hear about the ordinary people from history and the extraordinary impact they’ve had on the present. Hosted by historians David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell, Journey Through Time will show how everyday actions have the most remarkable unintended consequences that ripple through time. From the first woman to run for President to the unknown story of how the world came to the brink of nuclear war in 1983, this podcast is for everyone, not just history lovers. To hear more Goalhanger podcasts, go to www.goalhanger.com To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time
Episodes
August 27, 2025 • 52 mins
How did Hitler get caught after leading the failed Beer Hall Putsch, which killed 20 people? Why was he allowed to turn his 24 day trial into a piece of internationally received political theatre? How did a botched coup become a dangerous Nazi myth?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they explore how Hitler’s trial for the notorious Beer Hall Putsch catapulted him into the limelight.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhan...
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August 20, 2025 • 48 mins
The Nazis were voted into power in 1933, but how close did they come to seizing power 10 years before? What catastrophic economic conditions fuelled them? And where did Hitler take his inspiration from?
Listen as David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell discuss the 1923 Beer Hall putsch and the Nazis’ attempt to seize power.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod
Instagram: @Throu...
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August 13, 2025 • 50 mins
How did the NRA manage to gain so much control over the American President and the Supreme Court? Who are the armed citizens masquerading as secret police in America today? Why is an understanding of history so important in the fight to regulate America's guns?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they discuss how The National Rifle Association became such a powerful force in American politics.
Email: journeythroughti...
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August 10, 2025 • 42 mins
Was the Wild West really lawless? Why did the 1960s mark a turning point in the gun debate? How did a convicted killer become one of the most influential figures in modern gun politics?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they discuss how the NRA changed from a sportsman's organisation to a pro-gun lobby.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod
Instagram: @ThroughTim...
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August 6, 2025 • 40 mins
How does the history of the National Rifle Association explain how the pro-gun lobby got such a stranglehold on modern US politics? Was the United States always a firearm-loving nation? How did race and class shape early American gun laws?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they delve into the first chapter in the history of America’s National Rifle Association.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @Through...
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July 30, 2025 • 56 mins
How did the flames engulf the stone building of St Paul’s Cathedral, jump over the River Fleet, and reach 1,700 degrees celsius? After four days, how was this monstrous fire finally put out? What scars remain on the modern capital city from this fire nearly 400 years ago?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga to discuss the damage inflicted by The Great Fire of London.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @Throug...
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July 23, 2025 • 44 mins
What caused London to go up in flames on 2nd September, 1666? How did a fire that started in a bakery grow to engulf so much of the city? Who was Samuel Pepys, the great diarist who documented the fire?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they relive the first day of The Great Fire of London.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod
Instagram: @ThroughTimePod
Assist...
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July 20, 2025 • 62 mins
What role did WWII enigma hero Alan Turing play in the early development of AI? Why are games so important to the history of AI? Did 2001: A Space Odyssey influence the design of the iPad?
Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga are joined by Steven Johnson, author and co-founder of Notebook LM, to discuss all this and more.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod
Instagram: @Thro...
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July 16, 2025 • 47 mins
What death and destruction did the people of England wake up to after the 1703 storm? How did people make sense of this biblical devastation? Why do we remember The Great Fire of London and not The Great Storm?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they delve into the aftermath of the Great Storm.
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod
Instagram: @ThroughTimePod
Assi...
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July 9, 2025 • 49 mins
How did a storm in November 1703 turn into one of the deadliest natural disasters in England’s history? Why is Daniel Defoe, ‘father of the British novel’ and author of Robinson Crusoe, at the centre of this story? With 10,000 people dead, why has this storm been forgotten?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they tell the story of the Great Storm of 1703.
To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmy...
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July 2, 2025 • 52 mins
Why did the audience of Macbeth begin hurling theatre seats and food then cobble stones and bricks? What caused the militia, drafted in by New York’s mayor, to fire on the crowd? How did this riot change theatre and Shakespeare forever?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as the Astor Place Riots unfold, leaving many innocent New Yorkers dead.
To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journ...
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June 25, 2025 • 50 mins
How did a fight about Shakespeare descend into America’s bloodiest riot during peace time? Why were tensions so high in New York City in May 1849? Who were Edwin Forrest and William McCready, the actors whose personal rivalry was at the centre of all this?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they explore the lead up to the Astor Place riots, the deadliest use of military force against civilians since the American Revolu...
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June 18, 2025 • 58 mins
What piratical crimes did ‘good girl’ Anne Bonny and ‘bad girl’ Mary Reed commit on the high seas? Who were the bounty hunters chasing Calico Jack’s crew? How did the swash buckling, gender bending pair finally get captured and find themselves languishing in a Jamaican jail?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they dive into all this and more in the story of the notorious female pirates.
To find out more about Find M...
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June 11, 2025 • 59 mins
How did ‘good girl’ Anne Bonny and ‘bad girl’ Mary Reed end up sailing with Pirates of the Caribbean? Who was ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, the infamous Pirate Captain and ladies man? Did our notorious female pirates have a scandalous love affair with each other?
To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time
Email: journeythroughtime@goalhanger.com
X: @ThroughTimePod
Blue Sky: @Thr...
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June 4, 2025 • 59 mins
Eleanor Rathbone was instrumental to the implementation of child benefit and the welfare state, why have we forgotten her? Who were the two million “superfluous women” recorded in the 1921 census? How did Eleanor campaign for over three decades for caregiving to be recognised as “real work”?
Joining David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they explore the fascinating story of the campaigner and politician Eleanor Rathbone.
S...
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May 28, 2025 • 63 mins
17 murders in, what finally brought serial killers Burke and Hare to justice? How did the notorious partners in crime turn against each other? Which of the pair met a grisly end and who got off totally scot-free?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga as they retell the capture and gruesome fate of Burke and Hare.
To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-time
Email: journey...
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May 21, 2025 • 55 mins
How did Burke and Hare get into the lucrative business of murder? Why was there such a demand for fresh corpses in 1820s Edinburgh? What gruesome methods did the pair use to kill their victims?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell as they delve into the gothic story of Burke and Hare, the mass murderers who scandalised the nation.
To find out more about Find My Past visit: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/journey-through-tim...
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May 14, 2025 • 51 mins
Why did a military training exercise seem like an imminent threat of nuclear attack? Despite being minutes away from launching Nuclear missiles, what made the Soviets back down? Why does no one know how close we came to total annihilation?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time as they discuss the days where we narrowly escaped full scale nuclear war.
To find out more about Find My Past visit: http...
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May 7, 2025 • 61 mins
Why was the world so close to the brink of nuclear war in November 1983?
What tactics were the Americans employing to play high stakes mind games with the Soviets?
And, what made the Soviets so exceptionally paranoid?
Join David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell on Journey Through Time as they discuss how a routine military training exercise in November 1983 nearly had cataclysmic effects.
To find out more about Find My P...
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April 30, 2025 • 60 mins
Why did Iva Toguri get branded America’s first female traitor, despite there being no evidence to convict her?
How did her case become important to President Harry Truman’s re-election campaign?
And, after decades, how did Iva and her supporters finally clear her name?
Join Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga on Journey Through Time as they delve into the sad story behind the scandalous myth of Tokyo Rose.
To find out...
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