Claim OwnershipEmpire
Subscribed: 62,263Played: 1,532,437
Subscribe
Description
The rise and fall of empires, rulers, 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.
294 Episodes
Reverse
1How did the Suez Crisis end? Why did the Suez Crisis mark the end of the Anglo-American “special relationship”? And was it Egypt or India that marked the nail in the coffin of the British Empire?
William and Anita are joined for the final time by Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to discuss the end of the Suez Crisis, and how its legacy continues to shape global attitudes today.
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
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who was Dulles Airport named after and why was he instrumental in de-escalating the Suez Crisis? Why did Nasser order cyanide pills for his military generals during the crisis? How did the Egyptians use beer bottles to block the Suez Canal?
William and Anita are joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to discuss the height of the Suez Crisis, and how the Soviets quashed the uprising in Budapest.
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
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What did the Queen think about Britain’s humiliating failures in Suez in 1956? Why did France and Britain not inform their American allies of the invasion? What was simultaneously going on in Hungary that sent the UN into crisis mode?
William and Anita are joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to explore the chaos that Britain and France inflicted on Egypt in 1956.
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
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why did France & Britain secretly collude with Israel against Egypt? What did America think was going on in Suez? Why did the Soviets think the US was behind an uprising in Hungary?
William and Anita are joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to discuss the second chapter in the unfolding Suez Crisis of 1956…
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
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How did Britain and France almost start World War 3 in 1956? Who was Anthony Eden and why did he hate Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser? Why was the Suez Canal so vital to European oil supplies in the 1950s?
Anita and William are joined by the brilliant Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to discuss the origins of the infamous Suez Crisis.
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
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How did Bangladesh separate from Pakistan in 1971? When did India and Pakistan go from sharing intelligence to being at the brink of nuclear war? Why did George Harrison from the Beatles organise a concert for Bangladesh?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to discuss the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What happened to the 565 princely states within British India when it became independent from the empire? How are the current conflicts in Balochistan and Kashmir linked to the partition of the princely states? Why have copies of the Lonely Planet been burnt because of their maps of Kashmir?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to discuss how the division of the princely states created a territorial dispute between nuclear nations which has continued ever since.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why was the Partition of India and Pakistan so rushed in 1947? How did Partition divide everything from stationery to army boots in a matter of weeks? And how do South Asians today grapple with the memory of the largest forced migration in history?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to The Great Partition.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why did Jinnah initially accept that Pakistan could be part of an Indian Federation? When did Jinnah start to push for Pakistan to be independent from India? What was Direct Action Day in 1946, and how did it start the violence of Partition?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to discuss the origins of The Great Partition of 1947.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why have we forgotten that much of the Arabian peninsula was once legally part of India? How were the founding fathers of Yemen influenced by Indian nationalists? Which British spy was a double agent for the CIA and the KGB when he was based in Bahrain?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to discuss how the Gulf States were once part of the Raj.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why did Japan’s invasion of Burma in WW2 affect its path to independence? Who was the Burmese fascist leader who praised Hitler for his views on immigration? How did the separation of Burma link to the origin of the Rohingya Genocide?
Anita and William are joined by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to discuss Burma’s separation from India in 1937.
Become a member of the Empire Club via empirepoduk.com 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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How did the US orchestrate the Panamanian Revolution to be able to build the Panama Canal? Why did French engineer Bunau-Varilla and the US sign a treaty about Panama without a single Panamanian in the room? How did Americans impose Jim Crow laws in The Canal Zone?
William and Anita are joined by Matthew Parker, author of Hell’s Gorge: The Battle To Build The Panama Canal, to discuss how America finally completed the building of the Canal and entered the dawn of the American Century…
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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How was George Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower involved in a huge corruption scandal associated with the Panama Canal? How many workers died during the French attempt to build the canal? And who was Bunau-Varilla and how did this smooth-talking moustache-wielding French engineer manage to sweet talk the US government to back his plan?
Anita and William are joined once again by Matthew Parker, author of Hell’s Gorge: The Battle To Build The Panama Canal, to discuss how French dreams were dashed when the project came crumbling down, and how one man climbed out of the rubble and charmed his way to the White House…
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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What madcap schemes did French engineers use to drum up support to build the Panama Canal in the 1880s? How did the Gold Rush affect the flow of travellers through Panama looking for a shortcut? Who was the eccentric Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps and why did he fly a hot air balloon over Paris to support the building of the Panama Canal?
William and Anita are joined by Matthew Parker, author of Hell’s Gorge: The Battle To Build The Panama Canal, to discuss the nineteenth-century history of Panama and the French campaign to drill a sea canal through the isthmus.
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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who was Captain Morgan, and why is a spiced rum named after him? How did a Welsh buccaneer lead an attack on the heart of Spain’s empire in Panama? How did Elizabeth I fund Francis Drake’s first slaving voyage?
William and Anita are joined once again by historian and archaeologist Mark Horton to discuss pirate raids in Panama in the 1600s.
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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean? Who was Balboa and why did he set his bloodhounds on Native people in Panama? Why do we remember Cortes over the brutish conquistador Balboa?
Anita and William are joined by Mark Horton to discuss the conquistadors in Panama.
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.
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Have archaeologists finally solved the 400 year mystery of the lost American colonists? Who orchestrated historical hoaxes in the 1930s and did they get away with it? How has the history of the Roanoke Colony been reappropriated by the right-wing?
Anita and William are joined by archaeologist Mark Horton to exclusively discuss his exciting new discovery through his work on the Roanoke dig site this year…
-----------------
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.
-----------------
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What was life like for Indigenous children forced to attend Residential Schools in Canada in the 1800s and 1900s? When was the final residential school closed? Which grim discovery in 2021 forced non-Indigenous Canadians to grapple with this dark history?
Listen as Anita and William are joined by Celia Haig-Brown, co-author of Tsqelmucwilc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School - Resistance And A Reckoning, to discuss the suffering and survival of Indigenous children at one residential school in British Columbia.
-----------------
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.
-----------------
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why did Washington invade Quebec? How did the US fail to take the Canadian territories during the Revolutionary Wars? And why did the British burn the White House?
Anita and William are once again joined by Maya Jasanoff to discuss how the American Revolution birthed Canada.
-----------------
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.
-----------------
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Senior Producer: Callum Hill
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is there any truth in the film 'The Last of The Mohicans' and how did the French and Indian War that it's based on change the make-up of Canada? Why was the Seven Years War the first truly global war? What is the connection between the forced removal of the Acadians in Canada and cajun spices?
Anita and William are joined by Maya Jasanoff to discuss how the French and Indian War affected Canada.
-----------------
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.
-----------------
Email: empire@goalhanger.com
Instagram: @empirepoduk
Blue Sky: @empirepoduk
X: @empirepoduk
Assistant Producer: Becki Hills
Producer: Anouska Lewis
Senior Producer: Callum Hill
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
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
im nearly sure the Gibraltar 3 were flown into dublin and not belfast
I'm 30 and work in construction, and I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your podcast. You guys do an amazing job of sharing historical knowledge, which really gets me thinking about how different things used to be compared to today. After listening to your "History of India" episodes, I definitely have a new appreciation for what we have now. It really makes you realize that things were often much tougher in the past, and that helps put everyday complaints into perspective.
I can't be more happy to listen to this amazing pod u can learn many I mean maaany things and they help you to see things from a different perspective thank you
Disgraceful podcast. Deleting. Millions of Irish people would find this totally offensive.
Tremendous podcast, thank you. Just to flag one thing, barely any mention of one good reason Collins signed the agreement is Lloyd George and I think Churchill made it crystal clear that the Ulster Protestants had ten times the arms of the IRA and that they (UK gov) would not be able to hold back the British Army from supporting the Unionists. Two very good reasons to sign the agreement!
A pity that the Siege of Limerick and Sarsfield were glossed over. The raid by Sarsfield and Galloping Hogan coupled with the defence of Limerick and the part of the women of Limerick would make an excellent episode on its own. maybe review this chapter of the Jacobite War?
I'm afraid I have had enough of this podcast, the only one of the goalhanger series I don't like. The presenters go out of their way to be as anti British and one-sided as they can in with their look back in anger, right-on way. It was so refreshing to listen to their guest, Colm Tóibín, who showed some refreshing objectivity with regard to Irish history. However, he is a very rare highlight. Not enough focus on how all sides use propaganda.
try a brand new lottery game bbgo https://bbgo.ltd
try a moneymaker game that is https://jalwa.io jalwagame
I was so disappointed with this series on the trouble. I didn't find it balanced or objective. there were fat too many issues to list, but it almost glorifies 2 cowardly terrorists leaders as "brilliant tacticians" and inspirational people. It is over sympathetic to the republicans, over critical of the British, and basically reads like IRA propaganda. Absolutely no attempt at balance. given thus is history in living memory, the many victims of the IRA deserve better.
They like to talk about themselves alot
I was disappointed in this podcast. I was expecting to hear more details of the Empire but instead they mostly talked about current racism. Fast forward to the end.
What happened to the end of this podcast? It just stopped half way through a sentence
What is The Raj you keep referring to?
Charles Dickens exposed the same attitude the English had towards children and the uneducated and those in poverty. Really bad character 😔.