The 20 Best American History Podcasts (2026)

Wondery knows how to produce a polished history show, and American History Tellers is one of their best. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the senator -- the podcast world's favorite disclaimer), this one takes big chapters of American history and turns them into multi-episode seasons with full dramatic production. Think Prohibition, the Cold War, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Each season runs several episodes deep, giving you time to really absorb the era.

With 476 episodes across 93 seasons, Graham has covered an enormous amount of ground since 2017. The show pulls a 4.6 rating from over 18,500 reviewers, which is impressive at that scale. Episodes typically clock in around 36 to 39 minutes, and the production includes voice acting and sound effects that bring historical moments to life without veering into audiobook territory.

What makes this show work is Graham's narration style. He's warm and authoritative without being preachy, and the Wondery production team backs him up with research that holds up to scrutiny. The seasonal format means you can jump into whatever topic interests you -- you don't need to start from episode one. If you liked American Scandal (also Wondery, also Graham), this is the companion piece that focuses on the broader sweep of national history rather than individual scandals. It's history as prestige audio, and it earned that reputation honestly.

Prof. Greg Jackson has built something special here. History That Doesn't Suck is a bi-weekly American history podcast that genuinely lives up to its name, delivering seriously researched stories with the kind of energy you'd want from a favorite college professor. Jackson uses character voices, background music, and sound effects to dramatize events from the Revolutionary War through modern times, and it never feels cheesy. Each episode runs between 37 minutes and just over an hour, giving him room to really unpack the context around major events.

With over 210 episodes and a 4.7-star rating from more than 6,000 listeners, HTDS has earned a dedicated following since launching in 2017. Jackson covers everything from Pearl Harbor to the Civil War to lesser-known political turning points, and he does it with the kind of detail that makes you realize how much your high school textbook left out. The narrative style means you're getting actual storytelling, not just a dry recitation of facts and dates.

What sets this apart from other history shows is Jackson's commitment to primary sources combined with his natural ability to make those sources interesting. He'll spend weeks researching a single topic, and you can tell. The production quality through Audacy has gotten better over the years, but the core appeal has always been Jackson himself -- a guy who clearly loves this stuff and knows how to make you love it too. If you've ever said "I wish history class had been more like this," well, someone finally made that podcast.

Throughline is NPR's answer to the question "how did we get here?" and it's one of the most creatively produced history podcasts out there. Hosted by Peabody Award-winning journalists Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei, each episode works like a time machine, tracing a modern issue back through its historical roots. The sound design is genuinely immersive -- layered audio, archival tape, expert interviews woven together in ways that feel more like a documentary film than a standard podcast.

Since 2019, Abdelfatah and Arablouei have built up 443 episodes covering everything from the history of American policing to the Iranian Revolution to how immigration detention became what it is today. They pull a 4.6 rating from nearly 16,000 reviewers, which puts them in elite company for the history genre. Episodes run 40 to 50 minutes and drop twice a week.

The real strength here is how the hosts connect past and present without being heavy-handed about it. They'll start with a headline from this week's news, then spend the episode peeling back layers of history you probably didn't know about. The research is rigorous -- this is NPR, after all -- but the storytelling keeps it from feeling academic. Abdelfatah and Arablouei have genuine chemistry, and their curiosity comes through in every episode. It's the kind of show that makes you smarter about the world without ever feeling like homework.

Don Wildman hosts American History Hit, part of the History Hit network founded by historian Dan Snow. The format is interview-based: Wildman brings on leading historians and subject matter experts to discuss specific events, people, and turning points in American history. With 369 episodes dropping every Monday and Thursday, the show covers an enormous range -- from the origins of slavery in colonial America to the Kent State shootings to Walt Disney's anti-communist testimony before Congress.

The show pulls a 4.3 rating from about 1,500 reviewers. Wildman is a solid interviewer who knows enough about his subjects to ask smart follow-up questions without trying to out-expert his guests. The conversations run the full spectrum of American history, from pre-colonial periods through the Space Race, with stops at every major war, political crisis, and cultural shift along the way.

What distinguishes American History Hit from solo-narrator shows is the variety of perspectives you get. Each episode features a different historian, so you're hearing from people who have spent years or decades studying their specific topic. The History Hit network gives the show professional production values, and the twice-weekly release schedule means you're never waiting long for new content. It's particularly good if you prefer learning through conversation rather than monologue, and the episode-length sweet spot means you can fit one into a commute without trouble.

If you want the American Revolution told properly -- not the highlights reel, but the whole thing, week by week, battle by battle, treaty by treaty -- Michael Troy is your guy. The American Revolution Podcast is a serialized deep dive that starts before the first shots at Lexington and is still going strong at 499 episodes. Troy covers everything from the French and Indian War background to the political maneuvering in Parliament to individual military campaigns, and he does it with the thoroughness of an academic and the accessibility of a good teacher.

The show holds a 4.8 rating from over 1,000 reviewers, which is exceptional for a niche history podcast. Troy's approach demands commitment -- this is meant to be listened to in order, and each episode builds on the last. He supplements the audio with a companion blog featuring maps, pictures, and source documentation for the history nerds who want to go even deeper.

The production is straightforward: it's Troy talking, backed by solid research, without the dramatic sound effects or voice acting that some narrative shows use. Some listeners find the delivery a bit dry compared to flashier productions, but fans argue that's part of the appeal. There's no filler, no tangents, just meticulously sourced history presented clearly. If you've ever wanted to actually understand the Revolution beyond "taxation without representation" and the crossing of the Delaware, this podcast will get you there. It just might take a while.

Slow Burn has become the gold standard for deep-dive political history podcasts, and the awards shelf proves it. Season 8 won Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Ambies, Season 7 took Apple Podcasts Show of the Year in 2022, and the show consistently lands on every "best of" list for good reason. Each season picks one massive American story -- Watergate, the Clinton impeachment, the L.A. Riots, Roe v. Wade, the rise of Fox News -- and spends six or more episodes pulling it apart with archival tape, original interviews, and meticulous reporting.

The host rotates by season, with Josh Levin, Christina Cauterucci, and Joel Anderson among those who have steered different runs. Across 319 episodes and 10 seasons, Slate has built a documentary franchise that treats American political history with the seriousness it deserves while keeping things genuinely compelling. Episodes vary in length but usually land around 40 to 50 minutes.

What makes Slow Burn hit differently than other history shows is its focus on the people and details that got lost in the bigger narrative. You'll learn about the Watergate break-in, sure, but also about the minor characters and weird coincidences that shaped how events actually unfolded. The show trusts its listeners to handle complexity, and it rewards that trust with some of the best audio journalism being made right now. A 4.6 rating from nearly 24,000 reviewers says it all.

Malcolm Gladwell built his career on making you reconsider things you thought you understood, and Revisionist History is that instinct turned into a podcast. Each episode (or sometimes a multi-part series) takes something from the past -- an event, a person, an idea -- and asks whether we got the story right the first time. The answer, almost always, is no. And Gladwell is remarkably good at showing you why.

With 196 episodes across 14 seasons and a staggering 58,000+ ratings averaging 4.7 stars, this is one of the most popular history-adjacent podcasts ever made. Recent seasons have included a seven-part investigation into unsolved Alabama murders and a deep look at the disputed authorship of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The range is enormous, and Gladwell's curiosity keeps the show from ever settling into a predictable groove.

Produced by Pushkin Industries (Gladwell's own company), the production quality is exactly what you'd expect -- clean, well-paced, with excellent use of interviews and archival material. Gladwell's voice is distinctive and divisive; some people find his narrative style captivating, others find it a bit too pleased with itself. But love him or not, the man knows how to construct a compelling argument. If you enjoy having your assumptions challenged and don't mind the occasional intellectual detour, Revisionist History delivers that consistently.

The Dollop is what happens when two comedians discover that American history is already funnier, weirder, and more absurd than anything they could make up. Dave Anthony does the research and presents a historical topic to Gareth Reynolds, who comes in completely blind. The result is 886 episodes of genuine reactions, ridiculous tangents, and surprisingly thorough history lessons wrapped in comedy.

Running since 2013, this show has earned a 4.7 rating from over 18,200 listeners, and that longevity speaks for itself. Anthony picks the strangest corners of American history -- the time Ted Nugent did something unhinged, a 19th-century milk strike, a baseball player named Charley Sweeney who was an absolute disaster of a human being. Reynolds's reactions are half the show, and his ability to be genuinely shocked by real historical events never gets old.

The format is loose and explicit -- this is very much a comedy show first, history show second, but Anthony's research is actually solid. He reads from primary sources, historical accounts, and old newspaper clippings, and you end up learning real stuff between the jokes. The recurring "Past Times" segment, where they read actual historical newspapers, is a particular highlight. If traditional history podcasts put you to sleep, The Dollop is the antidote. Just know what you're signing up for: it's loud, opinionated, and occasionally profane, and that's exactly why people love it.

Blowback describes itself as "a podcast about the American Empire," and it lives up to that ambitious tagline. Hosted by Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, each season is a multi-episode deep dive into a major U.S. military intervention or foreign policy disaster -- Iraq, Cuba, Korea, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and most recently Angola. The show has 79 episodes across six seasons, and the production quality is genuinely cinematic, with layered audio that makes each season feel like a documentary series.

With a 4.8 rating from over 3,100 reviewers, Blowback has built a passionate audience that appreciates both the research depth and the willingness to be critical. James and Kulwin don't shy away from examining the consequences of American foreign policy decisions, and they bring enough historical context to make you understand how these situations developed rather than just what happened. Episodes run 50 minutes to over an hour, and the biweekly release schedule gives the team time to maintain their high production standards.

The show isn't neutral -- it takes a clearly critical stance toward American interventionism -- and that's worth knowing going in. But even listeners who disagree with the editorial perspective tend to respect the research. The seasonal format means each arc tells a complete story, and you can start with whichever conflict interests you most. Season 1 on Iraq remains the most popular entry point. If you want history that doesn't pull punches about America's role in the world, Blowback is the show.

Every scandal starts with a lie, and Lindsay Graham (again, not the senator) has made a career out of unraveling 337 episodes' worth of them. American Scandal takes the biggest disgraces in American history -- from Watergate to Theranos, the 2008 financial crisis to the Houston Astros cheating scandal -- and builds multi-episode seasons around each one. It's currently on season 72, which tells you just how many skeletons this country has in its closet.

The format works beautifully: each season runs several episodes, giving Graham time to set up the players, build tension, and show exactly how things fell apart. Episodes clock in at 34 to 39 minutes, which is a sweet spot for narrative podcasting. The Wondery production machine is in full effect here, with polished audio and careful pacing that makes each scandal feel like a thriller you already know the ending to but can't stop listening to anyway.

With 18,400+ ratings and a 4.5 average, listeners clearly agree that Graham has found his lane. The show works best when it picks scandals with real human drama -- the Twilight Zone movie accident, corporate fraud cases, political corruption -- rather than abstract policy failures. Graham's narration is steady and measured, letting the outrageous facts speak for themselves. If you're the kind of person who reads Wikipedia rabbit holes about historical controversies at 2 AM, this podcast was made for you.

American Elections: Wicked Game takes you through every presidential election in U.S. history, starting with George Washington's 1789 contest and working its way to the present. Lindsay Graham (the podcast host, not the politician -- a clarification this man will never escape) narrates each election as a stand-alone story, and the central thesis is compelling: American elections have always been nasty, personal, and contentious. We didn't invent dirty politics. With 64 episodes that typically run 45 minutes to over an hour, the show provides a surprisingly thorough tour of campaigns that most people have never thought about. The election of 1824? The chaos of 1876? Graham makes these forgotten races feel relevant and dramatic. The production is clean and professional, coming from Airship, and the 4.6-star rating from about 3,200 reviews suggests the audience was engaged. However, reviews do note a shift in tone when the show reaches more recent elections, with some listeners feeling the coverage of 2016-2024 leans in a particular direction compared to the more neutral treatment of earlier contests. The show appears to have wrapped up around 2024, making it a finite, complete series you can listen to from start to finish. That's actually a strength -- it functions as a comprehensive audio history of American presidential campaigns. If you've ever wanted to understand how we got from John Adams complaining about discourse to modern political chaos, this maps the whole journey.

Dan Carlin does not release episodes often — sometimes months pass between them — but when one drops, it commands your attention for four to six hours straight. Hardcore History is a solo show where Carlin narrates sweeping historical events with the intensity of a dramatic performance and the sourcing of a graduate seminar. His series on World War I, the Mongol Empire, the Atlantic slave trade, and the fall of the Roman Republic are genuinely riveting, the kind of content that makes a long road trip feel too short. The archive holds just 73 episodes because each one is the length of an audiobook. Carlin builds tension, reads primary sources aloud, and constantly asks listeners to imagine themselves inside historical moments — what it felt like to be a soldier at the Somme or a citizen watching the Republic crumble. His 4.8-star rating from over 63,000 reviews makes it one of the most beloved podcasts ever produced. The approach is unorthodox by academic standards — Carlin is a journalist and commentator, not a historian, and he is upfront about that. He prioritizes narrative and emotional truth over exhaustive historiography. That means professional historians sometimes quibble with his framing, but for most listeners the trade-off is worth it. Nothing else in podcasting sounds like this.

David M. Rubenstein hosts For the Ages from the New York Historical Society, and the format is refreshingly simple: sit down with a leading historian or author and have a focused conversation about a piece of American history. Guests include heavyweight names like Pulitzer winners Geoffrey Ward and Gordon S. Wood, military historians like Craig Symonds, and specialists in everything from women's suffrage to Native American history to the creation of national parks. With 158 episodes since 2021, the show publishes twice a week and keeps each conversation to a manageable 23-38 minutes. That brevity is both a strength and a limitation. You get clean, accessible introductions to historical topics without the time commitment of a three-hour deep dive, but some listeners wish the conversations went further. Rubenstein's interviewing style is professional and prepared, though a few reviewers note it can feel somewhat scripted at times. The New York Historical Society backing gives the show institutional credibility and access to scholars that independent podcasts can't always match. The 4.6-star rating from 367 reviews suggests a smaller but appreciative audience. This is a good podcast for someone who wants to learn about a wide range of American history topics in bite-sized chunks, especially if you enjoy hearing directly from the people who have spent their careers studying these subjects. It's not flashy, but it's consistently solid and well-produced.

Bill Hemmer of FOX News hosts this show timed to America's 250th birthday, counting down the most impactful moments in the nation's history. Each weekly episode covers roughly five moments, bringing in historians, military commanders, climate journalists, and other subject-matter experts to provide context. The format is interview-driven, with Hemmer guiding conversations through the significance of each event. Episodes run about 33-38 minutes and are produced with the polish you'd expect from a major news network. The show launched in 2025, so it's still relatively new with only 7 episodes available so far, and the 3.9-star rating from just 7 reviews means it hasn't built a significant listener base yet. That makes it hard to judge definitively. The premise is ambitious -- 250 moments is a lot of ground to cover -- and the countdown structure gives the show a built-in sense of momentum. Hemmer is a capable interviewer who keeps things moving, though the FOX News branding will inevitably color some listeners' expectations about editorial perspective. If you're looking for a broad survey of American history organized around pivotal moments rather than chronological narrative, and you're comfortable with the FOX News lens, this could fill that niche. It's early days, though, so it's worth checking back as more episodes accumulate and the show finds its footing.

John Dickerson is one of those rare political commentators who is genuinely more interested in history than hot takes, and Whistlestop is the proof. The show focuses on memorable, quirky, and consequential moments from presidential history -- grand speeches, emergency strategies, baby-kissing campaigns, and backstabbing rivalries. Dickerson narrates with a storyteller's instinct and a historian's attention to detail, and his genuine enthusiasm for presidential trivia comes through in every episode. With 99 episodes across 11 seasons, the show has an irregular publishing schedule, which is both a feature and a bug. You never know when a new batch will drop, but each episode is clearly the product of real research, with credit to researchers Brian Rosenwald and Elizabeth Hinson. The 4.8-star rating from nearly 1,400 reviews puts it in elite territory. Dickerson's day job as a political correspondent for Slate's Political Gabfest gives him a perspective that most pure history hosts lack -- he understands how the political dynamics he's describing still operate today. Episodes are concise and well-structured, perfect for anyone who wants presidential history in focused, digestible servings. Some reviewers have noted occasional political bias in the interpretation, but the overwhelming consensus is that Dickerson tells great stories about presidents. If you enjoy the intersection of political journalism and American history, and you appreciate a host who can make Rutherford B. Hayes interesting, Whistlestop delivers.

Scott Rank holds a PhD in history and has turned History Unplugged into one of the most prolific history podcasts around, with over 1,100 episodes since 2017. The format mixes two styles: long-form interviews with bestselling historians and authors, and call-in segments where listeners pose questions directly to Rank. That hybrid approach keeps the show varied and gives it a community feel that pure interview shows often lack. Topics span widely -- WWII military campaigns, alternative history scenarios, maritime exploration, Revolutionary War figures -- though American history is a recurring focus. The weekly publishing schedule means there's always something new, and the sheer volume of the back catalog means you can search for almost any historical topic and probably find an episode about it. Rank is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, though some listeners note he speaks quickly and episodes can run long. The 4.2-star rating from nearly 3,900 reviews is solid but not spectacular, and that middling score probably reflects the trade-off between quantity and consistency that comes with producing this much content. Not every episode will grab you, but the ones that hit are genuinely informative. If you want a history podcast that functions almost like a living encyclopedia -- something you can dip into whenever a specific topic catches your interest -- History Unplugged fills that role better than most.

Two British guys ranking every American president sounds like it shouldn't work, but Rob and Jamie have made American Presidents: Totalus Rankium into something genuinely charming and informative. The concept is straightforward: they work through each president, tell the story of their life and presidency, and then score them across several categories. The show has a tournament structure with group stages, semifinals, and finals, which adds a fun competitive element to what's essentially a biographical history podcast. With 117 episodes covering every president from Washington through Trump, plus ranking episodes, the show is substantial. Episodes range from 45 minutes to over two hours depending on the president. What makes it work is the outside perspective. Rob, being British, approaches American history without the assumptions that American listeners bring, and his reactions to the stranger moments of U.S. presidential history are often genuinely funny. Jamie plays the straight man well, and their banter keeps things light without undermining the historical content. The 4.8-star rating from 759 reviews is exceptional. They've also launched a sister series, Pirates: Totalus Rankium, and are scheduled as keynote speakers at the Intelligent Speech Conference in 2026. If you want a comprehensive tour of every American president that's educational and entertaining without taking itself too seriously, this is a great pick.

Formerly known as The American History Podcast, Rejects & Revolutionaries focuses on the people who became Americans -- and the messy, complicated process of building a nation from scratch. Host Sarah Tanksalvala takes a deep look at colonial history and early American development, with particular attention to the political and social forces that shaped the country before it was even a country. With 106 episodes across four seasons, the show has carved out a specific niche that bigger history podcasts tend to gloss over.

Tanksalvala has earned a 4.9 rating from 50 reviewers, and those numbers reflect the passionate response from listeners who appreciate her approach. She works from primary sources to investigate lesser-known historical debates and developments, spending time on individual colonies -- like Maryland's legal system formation or early fights over church-state separation -- with a level of detail that reveals how much complexity existed before the Revolutionary War even started.

The name change to Rejects & Revolutionaries signals the show's real focus: the outsiders, dissenters, and unlikely figures who shaped American identity. Tanksalvala is accessible without dumbing things down, and her research is clearly extensive. If you already know the broad strokes of American history and want to understand the colonial underpinnings that textbooks usually compress into a single chapter, this podcast fills that gap with care and intelligence. It's a smaller show that deserves a bigger audience.

Lillian Cunningham of The Washington Post created Presidential as a countdown to the 2016 election, producing one episode per week for 44 weeks, each dedicated to a different president. The result is a remarkably consistent and well-structured series that gives every commander-in-chief roughly equal time and attention. The guest list alone makes this worth listening to: Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Jon Meacham all appear, alongside Washington Post journalists including Bob Woodward. Each episode runs about 30-40 minutes and follows a similar format: how the president reached office, what decisions defined their term, and what legacy they left behind. With 60 total episodes (including bonus content beyond the original 44), the show has continued in some form through 2024. The 4.4-star rating from over 3,600 reviews reflects broad appreciation, though some listeners noted that hosting style preferences vary. What makes Presidential special is its completeness. You can listen to the entire series and come away with a genuine understanding of every American presidency, told by the people who literally wrote the books on them. Cunningham also created Constitutional and Moonrise, following a similar model of deep-dive limited series. If you want a single podcast that covers every president in order, with top-tier expert commentary, Presidential is the definitive version of that idea.

Mark McLay and Malcolm Craig are university professors from Edinburgh, and American History Too! is what happens when two Scottish academics with a genuine love of American history start arguing about it on microphones. The show has a debate and discussion format, with McLay and Craig pulling back the curtain on the great controversies and interpretive fights that define how we understand America's past. Their outsider perspective -- similar to Totalus Rankium's British hosts -- gives the show a different angle than you'll get from American-hosted shows. They're not burdened by the same cultural assumptions, and they're willing to ask questions that American hosts might skip over. With 71 episodes produced between 2014 and 2020, the show appears to have concluded, which means you can treat it as a finite series. Notable runs include a six-part deep dive on Lyndon Johnson's America and a recurring A-Z format covering diverse topics. Episodes range from short to substantial, and the conversational chemistry between the hosts is genuine. Early episodes had some audio quality issues that were later resolved. The 4.0-star rating from 37 reviews reflects a very small audience, and the explicit rating means they don't hold back in their discussions. This is a niche recommendation for listeners who enjoy academic conversation about American history and appreciate hearing it filtered through a non-American lens. It's not polished like the big-network shows, but the intellectual content is solid.