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The Rest is History podcast; subscriber only.

(17 Posts)
MayBee70 Mon 29-Sept-25 23:50:36

I listen to lots of podcasts, especially history ones. Most of them are free. But what I don’t understand about The Rest is History is that whenever there’s a new one if it’s one that I really want to listen to it’s subscriber only. I’m beginning to think that they have inside information into the things that really interest me and want to lure me into subscribing. Or am I being paranoid?

Whitewavemark2 Tue 30-Sept-25 02:56:39

No! It is annoying me. They’ve cottoned onto an income stream and all the “the rest” podcasts are doing it now😡😡. I listen to a wide variety and at £7 a month for each one, it would all add up

PaynesGrey Tue 30-Sept-25 09:26:09

Are we talking about the same podcast?

I listen through free Castbox and am up to episode 604 Greek Myths Part 3.

Apple is showing Part 4 drops 2 October but subscribers can have early access.

foxie48 Tue 30-Sept-25 09:33:02

Yes. TRIP podcasts have subscriber only content and the podcasts come without the ads and earlier, which is useful for the political ones. Fair enough tbh I listen to This American Life and they are going the same way.

keepingquiet Tue 30-Sept-25 09:48:30

Yes, it is becoming more common across the board- very annoying as I already pay my license fee and subscription to spotify.

There's still some good free ones around though but you have to dig...

MayBee70 Tue 30-Sept-25 10:54:06

PaynesGrey

Are we talking about the same podcast?

I listen through free Castbox and am up to episode 604 Greek Myths Part 3.

Apple is showing Part 4 drops 2 October but subscribers can have early access.

It isn’t subscriber only early access which I’m used to on The Rest is Politics. That doesn’t bother me as I’m ok with waiting a day or so to listen to it. It’s just that, as I scroll through the available TRIH podcasts every time I see one that I really want to listen to its subscriber only. It’s as if it knows the things that really interest me or if they’re aware of my browser history. What I’m not sure about is whether they remain subscriber only or if after a while I’ll be able to listen to them. To be honest I prefer the History Extra podcast these days and I also like the Dan Snow one and In Our Time ( although that one can be a bit dry). If I am going to subscribe to one it will be the Folk on Foot podcast because all the money goes back into making them and it also means you can watch each podcast as well as just listening to it.

MayBee70 Tue 30-Sept-25 10:57:20

I’ve just looked again. It’s the ‘bonus extra’ episodes I’m thinking about. And they seem to be about things that I’m specifically interested in.

PaynesGrey Tue 30-Sept-25 11:06:19

Without knowing what app you are listening through, I can't say. I suppose it is possible that there's an algorithm tracking your preferences which triggers a paywall.

All I can add is that listening through the Castbox app, all the TRIH episodes are free. All content on Castbox is free. Why not try it to see if those TRIH episodes you are being asked to pay for are free there.

castbox.fm/?country=gb

Folk on Foot is there too.

MayBee70 Tue 30-Sept-25 11:13:55

Thanks. I listen via the Apple podcast app. Being one of the few people that actually enjoyed King and Conqueror my eyes lit up when I saw they had done a podcast about it only for my heart to sink when I saw it was subscriber only and my first thought was ‘ oh not again’.

Washerwoman Wed 01-Oct-25 16:38:54

I'm a bit confused because I listen ylto The Rest is History on BBC Sounds and there seem to be new ones almost weekly .Or are they older episodes ?The recent one is The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln but maybe I'm behind more current releases. Anyway I listen to every one because much like the guests on Dessert Island Discs that don't initially appeal they often end up being the most interesting.

PaynesGrey Wed 01-Oct-25 17:08:15

TRIH is one of a number of podcasts produced for Goalhanger Podcasts Ltd founded by Gary Linkeker, Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport.

It goes out on several different platforms.

The Abraham Lincoln episodes, numbers 590 and 591 were released on Apple and Castbox mid August. The BBC seems to be a few weeks behind.

The latest are Greek Myths episodes 602, 603, 604, 605.

Can you see this? It shows what's coming up.

castbox.fm/channel/The-Rest-Is-History-id5521088?country=gb

MayBee70 Wed 01-Oct-25 18:56:28

Washerwoman

I'm a bit confused because I listen ylto The Rest is History on BBC Sounds and there seem to be new ones almost weekly .Or are they older episodes ?The recent one is The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln but maybe I'm behind more current releases. Anyway I listen to every one because much like the guests on Dessert Island Discs that don't initially appeal they often end up being the most interesting.

I didn’t realise I could access it via BBC Sounds. Having said that when I looked they only seemed to have a limited selection of them. The ones I wanted to listen to, King and Conqueror, one about the Acropolis ( because my daughter has just come back from Greece) and one about The Hobbit are all subscriber only. They are all quite recent. I forget to look on utube. I just listened to a fascinating one about the Kellogg family on You’re Dead to Me ( possibly because Ed Byrne was on the podcast and he was so funny but it was also fascinating informative and I can’t recommend it highly enough).As often happens I see one that doesn’t look very interesting and it will be great eg The Rolling Stones on TRIH and the one they did about the 1960’s.

Washerwoman Wed 01-Oct-25 20:01:15

Back in May on BBC Sounds there were several episodes The road to 1066 and the Shadows of War that I found made understanding the King and Conqueror programme easier to understand. And yes I agree about the Rolling Stones one.

MayBee70 Wed 01-Oct-25 20:04:31

Washerwoman

Back in May on BBC Sounds there were several episodes The road to 1066 and the Shadows of War that I found made understanding the King and Conqueror programme easier to understand. And yes I agree about the Rolling Stones one.

The whole era was incredibly complicated wasn’t it! I’m still finding new podcasts in an attempt to know more about it. It makes The Wars of the Roses seem positively simple.

CanadianGran Wed 01-Oct-25 20:33:29

I listen to The Rest is History but just bypass anything with subscription since I can't be bothered. It's like scrolling through television channels that I don't have. I can see what is programmed, but it's not enough to tempt me to pay more.

Does anyone know of a French history podcast that is in English?

CanadianGran Wed 01-Oct-25 20:37:05

Answered my own question by way of Google. The French History podcast is available.

My ancestry is French and I admit I know almost nothing except what was covered in school of the Revolution.

MayBee70 Wed 01-Oct-25 23:11:54

Ed Byrne was saying on You’re Dead to Me that, being Irish he knows absolutely nothing about English history other than the fact that the kings had numbers which made remembering them a bit easier. Watching King and Conqueror, even though it wasn’t historically accurate, I realised how little I knew about French history and what I did know came from watching Versailles and Vikings ( when Rollo* got involved).
* or, as spellcheck wants me to call him Rollover confused