309 | Northern Ireland: Past, Present, Future

In the latest in our series on the fate of the Union, we talk to historians Richard Bourke and Niamh Gallagher about the history of Northern Ireland's relationship to the rest of the UK. From the Anglo-Irish Union to Partition to the Troubles to the Peace Process to Brexit and beyond, we discuss what makes Northern Irish politics so contentious and whether consensus is possible. Plus we ask if Irish re-unification is coming and what it might look like.

277 | Robert Harris and V2

A Sunday extra with the novelist Robert Harris to talk about the V2 campaign of terror against London during WII and the parallels with today.  Plus we discuss the big questions of counterfactual history - could Hitler really have won the war? - and we ask whether Boris Johnson is anything like his political heroes, Cicero and Churchill.

247 | Dan Snow on Covid History (and Cummings)

David and Helen talk to the historian Dan Snow about the parallels for the current crisis.  Is it like past pandemics or is it more like a war?  What has it exposed about the weak spots in our societies?  And what have we learned about the role of political leadership?  Plus we explore the value of Churchill comparisons on the 80th anniversary of his great WWII speeches and we dip our toes into the Cummings affair.