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Empire: World History
Empire: World History
Author: Goalhanger
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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 live show tickets, bonus episodes, book discounts, our exclusive newsletter, and access to our members’ chatroom on Discord! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up.
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
334 Episodes
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How did Lucknow become the final battleground of the 1857 Uprising? Who was Begum Hazrat Mahal, and how did she hold together a rebellion against overwhelming odds? How did the 1857 Uprising lead to the fall of the East India Company, and the rise of the harsher British Raj?
In the final episode of the series, Anita and William explain how northern India’s organised rebellion came to an end, ushering in a new era of British rule in India.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editors: Bruno Di Castri and Lorcan Moullier
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
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How did the British finally break into Delhi during the 1857 Uprising? Why did a sudden solar eclipse change the fate of the siege overnight? Why is the British victory considered one of Delhi’s greatest tragedies?
In Episode 7 of the series, William and Anita discuss the bloody Siege of Delhi, the British assault which spelled the end of the Mughal Empire.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
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How did the tide turn towards the end of 1857 as British reinforcements gathered to strike the hearts of the rebellion: Delhi and Lucknow? Who was the British Commander, John Nicholson, and why was he feared by both friend and foe? Was the city of Delhi, under control of the last Mughal emperor, doomed from within?
In Episode 6 of the series, Anita and William cover how Indian resistance during the 1857 uprising became weakened by dwindling resources, tactical disunity, and the growing British force.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Vasco Andrade
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
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The warrior queen who fought the British on the battlefield, Rani of Jhansi –or Rani Lakshmibai– is still a hero in India, with comic books and Bollywood movies about her. But what’s the true history behind her legend? How did she become a fierce leader of resistance who led her men to fight fearlessly against the East India Company?
In Episode 5 of the series, William and Anita are joined by Ira Mukhoty, author of Heroines: Powerful Indian Women of Myth & History, to discuss the life of one of the leaders of the Indian Rebellion, Rani of Jhansi.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Charlie Rodwell
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
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An entire city turns on the British and revolts in unison. 3000 East India Company soldiers and civilians in Lucknow are under siege in one compound, hiding in tunnels and surrounded by snipers. But who will break first the besieger the besieged?
In Episode 4 of the series, William and Anita discuss how Lucknow became one of the centres of resistance standing up to East India Company power.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In one of the darkest chapters of the 1857 uprising, brutal massacres are met with revenge brutal massacres as the rebellion reaches the East India Company garrison town of Kanpur or “Cawnpore”. Who was General Wheeler and why was the entrenchment he built so fragile? How were the atrocities at Kanpur used to justify gruesome violence against Indians?
In Episode 3 of the series, Anita and William discuss the gruesome history of the Kanpur massacre which lived on in Victorian memory for the decades that followed.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 British react when the mutiny broke out?
William Dalrymple and Anita Anand launch a brand new series on the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Norris
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to https://empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Norris
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to https://empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 experience with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to https://empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to https://empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 full Empire experience with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 discuss Kipling’s colourful but turbulent early life.
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 members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Just go to https://empirepod.supportingcast.fm/gifts
And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at empirepoduk.com or on apple podcasts.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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, to becoming one of the most successful comic book series in the world.
Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe
Executive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com
For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com
Email: empire@goalhanger.comInstagram: @empirepodukBlue Sky: @empirepodukX: @empirepodukProducer: Anouska LewisAssistant Producer: Alfie RoweExecutive Producer: Dom Johnson
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices



Ha haaa! 18:02 "Blowing an alarm bell"? Don't say, "blowing a horn" or "ringing an alarm bell"?
These 2 are great together.
Has cowhide ball leather no effect?
Naive about slavery. Most English people had no clue that savoury was happening
Thank you so much and sorry i didnt mean to be rudexxx
Why do you both emit to mention "Down and outs of Paris and London"? This autobiographical work says a lot more about Orwell's thinking is the most significant of all his works.
I am so 😊. Pity you are not covering the odd middle part. Down and out in London and Paris is my favorite personal Orwell book.
Episode 305 is particularly harrowing. How anyone can hear this and still claim the Empire was something to be proud of is beyond comprehension.
The guest speaker put William in his place regarding his ethnocentric perspective
Constantly moving off the topic.... moving on to the next podcast. Hopefully it's better
You have spent 25 minutes talking about this love story
By the way Anita you do the same thing you blame your partner for - always getting off the topic
Please get on with the current topic
It's interesting to me how infatuated they are with Zoroastrianism and think the Hebrew and Christian Bible draw from Zoroastrianism rather than the ancient stories of the Bible are more ancient
I very much enjoy these podcasts but at least half of most podcasts are taken up in the hosts personal and unrelated stories. I don't appreciate that part of it.
I wish this part of history would be broadcast to everyone in the world 😔
The series is very very interesting for me. I can't hardly put it down. But the two hosts are so knowledgeable they can't help themselves by interrupting each other and their guest to put in their tidbit of knowledge and insight. I just feel like saying, "Be quiet. Let the man speak and tell his story."
I really have the lowest regard for the historical British and how they devasted and used civilizations around the world for their own benefit. 😞
It's used in the Bible frequently. Gird up your loins they gathered up their long skirts around their waist so they can run.
Massively interesting for me. American listening from Cambodia August 2025