As it says on the tin, I'm curious about which History podcasts /r/Askhistorians is actively listening to, which they'd recommend, and perhaps even which they'd warn against.
Aside from the eponymous podcast featured here some of of my go to listens while out and about are the BBC's In our time and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' Backstory. But, there are so many more well made ones out there: too many seemingly good ones even to cue up for weekly listening.
There are many published lists floating around and this topic has been visited on here in general form before (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) but I'm curious what has your ear and should have mine at the present moment.
EDIT -- Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. I'm going to compile the offered podcasts here into a single list by the end of the 29th EDT
My speciality is modern Europe, but when I'm stuck in an airport or something I listen to Mike Duncan's classic "History of Rome".
He's a political scientist by training, and it shows--the focus is mostly about high political history (maneuvering to become consul/emperor, family rivalries, civil wars) and less on social/cultural stuff (how the Romans worshipped, gender roles, etc.)
But it's engaging. He's got a geek's knack for conveying excitement when discussing arcane conspiracies or evaluating emperors' reigns.
Actual historians. Real history. Perfect blend of depth and variety for easy listening.
[Ugh, ugh, UGH to the histrionics and unqualified speculations of Dan Carlin - and NO I don't care that he admits that he's under qualified!]
I'll throw in the China History Podcast. I can only certify the two episodes I actually know anything about (the Chinese-American Food and Chinese-American Immigration episodes), but those seemed reputable. I'd love to hear the opinion of an actual China specialist. Paging /u/jasfss?
You know, I have to say that I really am a fan of Stuff You Missed In History Class. It really does bring to light, everything that does get overlooked. I think this calls upon the listener to engage further. That first step of learning something which you didn't can open the door to a whole new history you never knew. I just am partial to it because in dealing with history daily, I sometimes find myself unchallenged by daily activities and discussions. If I hear something that sounds intriguing, I will take that journey for the challenge that it presents - which is always fun.
Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, the follow-up to his History of Rome (current top-voted rec in this thread), is stunning. It's a very entertaining "view from 1,000 feet" of the English, American, French, and soon Haitian revolutions, with more to come after that. He has a really great sense of community building, with little in-jokes for longtime listeners, and he's a nice guy, too: he responds to questions/criticisms over email. I can't recommend it enough!
For linguistic history, I really recommend Kevin Stroud's History of English, which traces the language through what we know of Proto-Indo-European into (currently) early Modern English.
I've recently started listening to when diplomacy fails which after a bit of meandering seems to have settled itself on a detailed dive into the great power politics and battles surrounding the wars and political climate of the early modern era and WWI. would be interested to know what other people thought.
I would point out that on podcast feeds episodes from 1999-2011 (i think) are grouped on separate podcasts by subject (all history podcasts under IOT: History).
History of Byzantium podcast is nice as well as the history of bulgaria podcast (interesting to see a state like bulgaria become the center of a story instead of just existing on the periphery of the byzantine world). Bulgaria is new
I don't know anything about Korea but the Topics in Korean history podcast seemed pretty good. The guy pretty much told a chronological narrative until he 1600ish Japanese invasion of Korea where he switched to a less interesting more episodic take.
History of Philosophy podcast is great but not really history (though the author is a professor and the work is top noch), Duncan aka History of Rome is doing a new podcast called Revolutions.
The British history podcast and History of england are both very good with the british history podcast (ongoing) currently taking 160 episodes to get to Offa of Mercia while History of England takes a more normal breeze through the pre norman years in 30 or so episodes and is currently just past Agnicourt.
Ottoman History Podcast. It's not as engagingly well produced as some of the others on the list, but it's generally an engaging conversation between a graduate student interviewing and a person with a recent book out being interviewed. This means it's very up-to-date in its information.
Adam Mintz (Hebrew U PhD, now a pulpit rabbi) has a series of wonderful podcasts going back all the way at least to 2008. Here's a link to his archive (as far as I can tell, if you get something like iTunes, they only have like 10, but he has far more). Vox Tablet, the podcast from Tablet Magazine, also regularly puts out interesting bits on Jewish history (though it's certainly not exclusively about history).
New Books in Native American Studies
It's kind of a "Fresh Air" approach, where the host interviews authors of recently released books in the field. Now, you may look at the subject here and automatically say, "Pass...", however, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. The books are fascinating, taking novel approaches with great breadth. It's not books titled "Bifacial Flaking Fragments from the Cuyahoga Valley"
Two favorites were:
"Kindred by Choice: Germans and American Indians since 1800", wherein he describes the overwhelming fondness for Native American culture by German people, going into the shared tribal and fragmented pasts of both German and Native American history
"The Red Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000-1927", where the concept of a "Black Atlantic" proposed in the field of African American Studies is expanded to include "Red" Americans
"Backstory" has already been mentioned, but I'll just plug it again in case someone didn't notice and because I have so much love for it.
Now something completely different. If Dan Carlin gets derided for not being a real historian, these guys don't even try to be not-real-historians. However, they are fans of history. Gruesome history. And Bizarre history. And tabletop gaming. It's a Canadian podcast by three incredibly geeky friends who tackle a topic -- such as, Killing Sprees throughout History, the Seven Deadly Sins throughout history, Evil Books, or Self-surgeries -- employing weighty humor and wit, while light on the scholasticism. Previously, a comment regarding "Stuff You Missed in History Class" pointed out that they like the idea esoteric and not well known topics being explored, but dislike the hosts; well, this is your answer. Caustic Soda to the rescue.
And since the last was a little Sciencey, I'll just push on through with another: RadioLab
This is easily the best podcast I've listened to. I know, it's kind of a "Science" podcast, but it overlaps into other topics on a constant basis, and a very common overlap is into history. This is because the show approaches each topic with a wide lens and an inclusionary sense. Shows like "Why Does the Arab World Hate Us?", "The Ring and I" (Wagner), and "War of the Worlds" (Mass Hysteria), are examples of history-related topics. And there's tons. Something like "Colors" will go from in-depth discussions of optics, to Homer's "wine-dark sea" and a discussion on how ancient peoples might have viewed color.
If you haven't heard of it, I can't recommend it highly enough.
It's at least as much about comedy/jokes as it is about history, but The Dollop is worth a mention for anyone looking for a not-even-remotely-serious diversion. Basically, one comedian finds a mostly forgotten corner of American history, tells his friend about it, then they riff on it.
The quality tends to be hit-or-miss, but here are a few of the more successful ones (imo):
http://thedollop.libsyn.com/46-live-w-patton-oswalt-the-cereal-men
http://thedollop.libsyn.com/jack-parson
http://thedollop.libsyn.com/rainbow-man
the BBC's In Our Time http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ioth/all, is formatted more as a panel discussion between historians on a topic rather than a traditional 'podcast' but well worth a listen
Can i add onto this a request for say good itunesU podcasts worth listening to? Especially about a general history of regions generally undercovered by normal historical narratives (i.e. Latin America, Africa, SE Asia).
If I may, I'd like to ask for tips for episodes of, or whole podcasts focused on, ancient to meji era japan and ancient china since I'm particularly interested in those topics
I think the only history podcasts I listen to that I have not seen here are the BBC's History of the World in 100 Objects and UT-Austin's 15 Minute History. The former is the director of the British Museum moving forward in history through a series of objects emblematic of a particular point in time and place. The latter consists of interviews with academics on their specialty or on recent publications. Very similar to what we do with the AskHistorians Podcast (which, as host, I also recommend).
To complete the shilling, I'll point ears towards our own /u/bemonk's History of Alchemy and Bohemican podcasts, the former being self-explanatory and the latter being focused on Czech/Bohemian history.
I enjoy a lot of the ones mentioned (especially Mike Duncan's work), but want to add Lars Brownworth's two contributions as well. 12 Byzantine Rulers was the first history podcast that I know of - production wise, it certainly doesn't top any charts, but Lars knows his stuff and it was a great introduction to an empire I didn't know much about. His second offering, Norman Centuries, is also worth a look. It follows the creation of Normandy and follows some of the most influential Normans for the couple centuries they were really dominating the scene.
New Books in History is great (nbn). Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time also regularly features historians of one stripe or another.
I like the Russian Rulers podcast by Mark Schauss
For early American History...
The Jefferson Hour
Listen to 1,125 episodes here:
I'm going to plug my own American history cast out there - American Biography (https://soundcloud.com/americanbiography) - currently covering the life of John Marshall
I am not a historian, but a committed history podcast listener. I have really enjoyed many. Hardcore History, History of Rome, History of Byzantium, History of Japan, The WWII Podcast, Life of Caeser, The Lesser Bonapartes, Wartime, The Ancient World, Revolutions