The 15 Best Us History Podcasts (2026)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ed Helms -- yes, Andy Bernard from The Office -- hosts a podcast about history's greatest screw-ups, and it's more fun than it has any right to be. SNAFU (Situation Normal, All... you know the rest) takes colossal blunders from American and world history and examines them with a mix of genuine curiosity and the comedic timing you'd expect from a professional funny person. Lost nuclear weapons. The Great Molasses Flood. The Teapot Dome scandal. The Mona Lisa heist. These are real things that actually happened.

Now in its fourth season with 65 episodes and a 4.6-star rating from over 1,600 listeners, SNAFU has evolved over time. The earlier seasons featured deeper narrative storytelling with heavy research and production, while Season 4 has shifted toward a more conversational format with celebrity guests. Opinions are split on which approach works better -- longtime fans tend to prefer the original deep dives, but the guest episodes have their own charm.

Helms brings a specific energy that makes the show work: he's genuinely fascinated by how badly things can go wrong and isn't afraid to sit with the absurdity of it all. The show is part history lesson, part group therapy for the human race. The iHeartPodcasts production backing keeps everything sounding professional, and Helms is a good enough interviewer to pull interesting observations out of his guests. It's lighter than most history podcasts, and that's a feature, not a bug.

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.

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.

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.

BackStory stands out because it was hosted by actual working historians -- Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly, and Joanne Freeman -- who brought real academic rigor to a public audience without making it feel like a lecture. Based at Virginia Humanities in Charlottesville, the show took current events and traced them back through American history, using stories, interviews, and listener conversations to show how the past shapes the present. The result was 265 episodes of some of the most intellectually honest history podcasting ever produced.

The show holds a 4.5 rating from nearly 2,900 reviewers, and longtime listeners talk about it with real affection. Episodes ran 40 to 80 minutes and covered topics from racial health disparities to Charles Dickens's influence on American culture to the history of true crime. The four hosts brought different specializations, so you'd often get multiple historical perspectives on a single topic within one episode.

BackStory wound down its regular production in 2020, though some newer episodes have appeared on the feed since then. That means the archive is the main draw now, and it holds up remarkably well. The conversations between the hosts feel genuinely collegial -- these are people who respect each other's expertise and enjoy the back-and-forth. If you want history presented by historians who can actually communicate with normal humans, the BackStory archive is a treasure. The show proved that academic knowledge and accessible podcasting aren't mutually exclusive.

Presidencies of the United States does exactly what the title promises: it works through every American president, administration by administration, from George Washington forward. Hosted by Jerry on the Evergreen Podcasts network, the show takes a methodical, story-driven approach to presidential history. With 295 episodes releasing monthly, it covers not just the presidents themselves but their cabinets, vice presidents, and the key decisions that defined each era.

The show has a 4.7 rating, though from a smaller pool of 113 reviewers -- it's more of a dedicated niche podcast than a mainstream hit. That smaller audience is fiercely loyal, though, and reviews consistently praise the depth of research and thoroughness of coverage. Jerry doesn't just hit the highlights; he traces each president's path to office, their personal finances, their leadership style, and the crises they navigated.

The monthly release schedule means this is a slow build. One reviewer joked that at the current pace, covering all the presidents would take roughly a century. But for people who want that level of detail, there's nothing else quite like it. The show handles lesser-known presidents with the same care as the famous ones, which means you'll learn just as much about Franklin Pierce as you will about Abraham Lincoln. If presidential history is your thing and you have patience for a long journey, this podcast rewards the commitment.

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.

Most American history podcasts gravitate toward the founding era, the Civil War, or World War II. Logan Rogers went the other direction. From Boomers to Millennials covers modern US history -- the kind that happened within living memory but rarely gets the podcast treatment it deserves. Think the 1960s through the early 2000s: the cultural upheavals, political shifts, and social changes that shaped the country your parents or grandparents grew up in.

With 52 episodes, this is a more modest production than the mega-shows on this list, but Rogers has found an audience that appreciates the specific focus. The show covers an era that falls into an awkward gap: too recent for traditional history podcasts, too old for current events shows. Rogers fills that gap with solid research and a conversational delivery style that keeps things moving.

The appeal here is generational. If you've ever wondered why Boomers and Millennials see the world so differently, or how the political landscape shifted so dramatically between the Reagan era and the Obama years, Rogers traces those connections episode by episode. The show pairs well with broader survey podcasts because it zooms in on the decades that most other shows speed through. It's not flashy, and it doesn't have a massive production budget, but the content is thoughtful and fills a real need in the history podcast space.