I prefer YouTube as the platform but I’m also open to suggestions elsewhere.

Basically I’m looking for long-ish format episodes I can listen to while doing something else. Ideally the host isn’t just a voice reading a text, but someone relatable or that shows enthusiasm and/or has a personal take/ humor about the topic they’re talking about.

I sometimes listen to Simon Whistler’s videos on a variety of topics, in case you know him, I find he’s entertaining enough and his writers are usually good but I’m looking for some more variety.

I’ve tried Stuff You Should Know and the Oologies series and while the content seems well researched, I found them a bit boring for me.

Got any recommendations?

  • CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.

    He tries to look at history through the eyes of people at that time and not from a distance. E.g. instead of talking about great strategies etc he focuses on what it meant to be raided by Ghengis Khan.

    • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      By far my favorite, though I suppose OP may not like it, as it is just the (monotonous, but nice sounding) voice of the narrator, without enthusiasm, jokes or personal takes

      • ValiantDust@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        I’m also not sure if it’s what OP is looking for, but I also think Fall of Civilisations is not quite as dry as other history podcasts.

        He does a great job of painting a picture through the narration, making you imagine what it would be like to have lived in those times. And he sometimes does add his personal takes (always clearly pointed out as personal takes).

        It might still be too narrative for OP, but it might also be colourful enough.

      • Mothra@mander.xyzOP
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        2 months ago

        Well I’m not going to discard it outright, maybe if it’s really well written in a way I like, it’s still engaging enough. I’d rather err on the side of too many options than too few. Thanks for the suggestions

  • vvilld@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    Others have mentioned Hardcore History – probably the pinnacle of history podcasting, but the episodes are VERY long (a lot are upwards of 4 hours) and you’re lucky if he puts out more than 2 per year. He does other shorter Addenda episodes that come out more frequently, but they’re not the same format, usually interviews.

    History of Rome – it’s older, but it basically started the “History of [nation/civilization]” podcast format. Does an excellent job tracing Roman history from the founding of the city up to the fall of the Western empire in the 5th century.

    Revolutions – same host as History of Rome. After he finished HoR he started this one. Each ‘season’ tracks a different historical world revolution (English, American, French, Mexican, Haitian, Russian, and more). Overall, the entire series tracks large-scale western political history from the 17th century up to the early 20th. He ended the podcast after he finished the Russian Revolution. But then he restarted it a couple of years later, running a season on the fictional Martian Revolution of the 24th century. This is on going now, with 6 episodes left. He’s said he’s going back to pick up on historical revolutions after the Russian when he finishes with Mars, teasing Ireland and Iran as future seasons.

    Behind the Bastards – Dives into various horrible people from history with a special focus on world dictators/authoritarians, cult leaders, grifters, and quack doctors. He tends to focus on more recent history (past 50-100 years) but sometimes goes into older history.

    Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff – An inversion of Behind the Bastards from the same podcast network. Tends to focus on radical political history with a special focus on anarchists, women, and lgbtq people.

  • Skua@kbin.earth
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    2 months ago

    I am personally a big fan of Voices of the Past and Fall of Civilisations.

    Voices is very specific in what it does. It doesn’t actually give you a historian’s perspective, it’s strictly primary sources translated into English and then read out as-is. Since it makes absolutely no attempt to account for material evidence or the biases of the authors it is much more about the perspective of individuals from the time than recounting accurate history, but I think that’s very interesting

    As its name suggests, Fall focusses on the end of civilisations, ranging from the Greenland Norse and Rapa Nui to Han China and Byzantium.

    It doesn’t hurt that the speakers in both have very pleasant voices

  • kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    Behind The Bastards isn’t a general history podcast, but what it covers is history.

  • RandomStickman@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    History of Everything is pretty good.

    AltHistoryHub, while the main focus isn’t actual history obviously, but he gives a lot of context from the real history.

    Tasting History is food focused but also gives you the historical context around the dishes he makes as well.

  • Melllvar@startrek.website
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    2 months ago

    Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome and Revolutions podcasts (particularly the French Revolution series).

  • coffeetastesbadlikecoffee@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    I absolutely love Throughline. They have some very interesting content and I like how they fuse it together with with a good soundstage, it can be quite cinematic. The only two downsides: You kind of have to pay attention Some episodes can be a bit depressing, so I’ve heard from people I’ve recommended the show to in the past.

    https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline

    Edit:

    YT link: https://music.youtube.com/library/podcasts?addrssfeed=https%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.npr.org%2F510333%2Fpodcast.xml

  • Executive Chimp@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    BBC’s You’re Dead To Me is good if you want something a bit light. There’s a regular host who’s joined by a comedian and a historian. Covers a different topic each time.

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    just a voice reading a text […] Simon Whistler

    The ultimate voice reading a text IMO. Specifically, a voice reading a text that it has clearly never seen before and where the producers have not even bothered to explain how to pronounce the names in it. IMO Simon Whistler is like Justin Bieber - essentially a product of the YouTube algorithm. In this case, a hipstery guy with an amazing beard and a posh authoritative accent talking confidently about… whatever. To me it just screams inauthenticity. But it’s obviously what people want so congrats to him for riding the gravy train.

    • pipe@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Honestly that’s part of the fun of it. I love when he reacts to the information incredulously, “What? Is that really it??”

  • kelpie_is_trying@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    BtB is my favorite, but that’s already been mentioned. Our Fake History is my second favorite and also very worth a listen!

    Their angle on things is addressing points in history that, for one reason or another, have been misrepresented or misremembered, but they get into all sorts of topics, so that’s not always their explicit goal.

    There is also This Podcast Will Kill You, which is more a science show than history, but they always have a history segment on whatever their subject is (mostly viruses, infections, diseases, and occasionally poisons and disorders). The hosts are both named Erin. That’s not relevant to the thread. I just think it’s funny.

  • Uruanna@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Oldest Stories Podcast

    History with Cy

    Both doing Mesopotamian antiquity, and Egypt as well for Cy. Both on Youtube.