Who were the Cholas who ruled in South India from the 9th century?What was the Medieval Indian equivalent of the Iron Bank in Game of Thrones? William and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined by @akanisetti.bsky.social to discuss the beginnings of the Chola dynasty. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

New from @empirepoduk.bsky.social LORD OF THE DANCE: THE RISE OF THE CHOLA EMPIRE- MEDIEVAL INDIA'S GAME OF THRONES With Anirudh @akanisetti.bsky.social linktr.ee/empirepoduk

William and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined once again by @alexvont.bsky.social author of Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, & The Crisis That Shook The World, to explore the invasion that Britain and France inflicted on Egypt in 1956 and the lies that Eden told the public linktr.ee/empirepoduk

Finally! My copy of #Heiresses has arrived! Grateful for generous endorsements from @anitaanand.bsky.social @axrenton.bsky.social @patersonjoseph.bsky.social @corinnefowler.bsky.social @alanlester.bsky.social & the late great Marika Sherwood.

This @empirepoduk.bsky.social with @anitaanand.bsky.social and @willdalrymple.bsky.social completely blew my mind:

🇵🇰 Our @EmpirePodUK series on how five partitions shaped modern India continues today, the 78th anniversary of the Great Partition🇮🇳🇵🇰 @anitaanand.bsky.social & @willdalrymple.bsky.social are joined by @SamDalrymple123 to ask why the Partition of India and Pakistan was so rushed in 1947? 🇮🇳🇵🇰

Just caught up on the bonus episode of @empirepoduk.bsky.social about Roanoke. Just wow. This is why I love history, new discoveries constantly changing how we view the past. Thanks @anitaanand.bsky.social and @willdalrymple.bsky.social!

And again…. I’m still not in the Canadian government 🙄 and never have been.

Listen as @willdalrymple.bsky.social and @anitaanand.bsky.social explore the early history of the colonisation of Canada and how European settlers of the 16th century thought they had found China... (hence why these rapids near Montreal are still called "Lachine"!) linktr.ee/empirepoduk

Can’t tell you how much I enjoyed our session on Making empire with the fabulous @anitaanand.bsky.social & @willdalrymple.bsky.social Speaking in the @britishlibrary.bsky.social as part of the Jaipur Lit Fest made it even more special. 🙏🏼🇮🇪🇮🇳 @voicestcd.bsky.social

Listen as @willdalrymple.bsky.social and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined by Eleanor Barraclough, author of Embers of The Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age, to discuss how the Norse made their way westwards to Greenland. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

In this special bonus @empirepoduk.bsky.social episode, William and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined by author Elif Shafak to discuss her new book, There Are Rivers in the Sky, and how she weaves history into her storytelling. podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/e...

Well the Empire podcast recently had five Yalta episodes which will keep them engrossed @empirepoduk.bsky.social @anitaanand.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

William and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined once again by Giles Milton, author of Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World, to discuss the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, and the way in which the Iron Curtain hardened towards the end of the 1940s.

Also on this week’s pod! How did The Big Three divide Germany? Why did Poland see the Yalta conference as “The Great Betrayal”? On @empirepoduk.bsky.social out now! 2/2

Who created the United Nations? It was supposed to be the legacy of a dying American president. It was supposed to ensure world peace. In today’s @empirepoduk.bsky.social, @willdalrymple.bsky.social and I discuss the back room deals that got the UN plan over the line. 1/2

William and @anitaanand.bsky.social discuss the first day of the Yalta conference and the unlikely alliances that begin to form as The Big Three redesign Europe…

I’m still not the Canadian Foreign Minister chaps… though this is only going to confuse matters …

🙌🏻 William Dalrymple and Anita Anand’s @empirepoduk.bsky.social is unbelievably good. I’ve learned so much about India, Iran and Middle East already. Now they turn their attention to #Ireland. This is going to be AMAZING 🔥 #irishhistory #historypodcast #colonialism

It was a delight to do the terrific Empire podcast with the splendid William Dalrymple and Anita Anand podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

New from @EmpirePodUK VICTORIAN NARCOS 2: SEX, DRUGS & THE OPIUM AGENCY podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/v...

Listen @empirepoduk.bsky.social as @anitaanand.bsky.social and William discuss how the East India Company competed with the opium growers of Malwa and the Parsi traders of Bombay to sell Indian opium to China despite it being strictly outlawed…

William and @anitaanand.bsky.social explore how the British love of tea led to the East India Company running an international drug cartel than made Pablo Escobar look as innocent as Wallace and Gromit podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/v...

As more & more British money disappeared into Chinese pockets to pay for tea, there developed a vital need to sell something to China to stop the haemorrhage of gold. From 1780,  the East India Company realised that India already produced a product the Chinese would willingly pay for: opium.

By the late 18th century, tea ‘had become so much the national drink’ that in 1784 Parliament passed a law requiring the East India Company to hold a year’s supply of it in strategic reserve. The customs duty on tea earned the government as much as all land, property & income taxes put together

Tea is said to have been introduced to England by the wife of King Charles II, Catherine of Braganza. In her dowry, Catherine brought with her two things that would prove to be of world-historical importance: a casket of tea & six small islands that would later become Bombay

In 1636 Peter Mundy noted that some locals along the Pearl River “gave us a certaine Drinke called Chaa, which is only water with a kind of herbe boyled in itt.” He wasn’t terribly impressed, noting “It must bee Drancke warme and is accompted wholesome.”

At @empirepoduk.bsky.social @anitaanand.bsky.social & I examine how a drink which for nearly four thousand years had been associated with China, and the lifestyle of Confucian literati & Buddhist monks suddenly became, in the course of the 18th century, Britain's national drink 🫖 🍵

New episode from @EmpirePodUK 🍵 🫖 THE PRICE OF A CUP OF TEA 🫖🍵 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/v...

Listen @empirepoduk.bsky.social as William and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined by Alastair Campbell of @restispolitics.bsky.social the lead strategist for Tony Blair’s New Labour government at the time, to discuss what it was really like to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland in 1998.

3/3 To conclude our series on Ireland & Empire, Anita and William are joined by the brilliant @fotoole.bsky.social , author of We Don’t Know Ourselves, to reflect on how Irish society has transformed since the 1950s, and how the country’s colonial past informs its future. @empirepoduk.bsky.social

Why were women imprisoned in “Magdalene Laundries” in Ireland until 1996? How did Irish society grapple with abuse within the Catholic Church? 2/3 @empirepoduk.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social

How did Ireland go from a farming economy to the home of Big Tech and Big Pharma in Europe in a few decades? Our new episode on @empirepoduk.bsky.social with me and @willdalrymple.bsky.social 1/3

In the final chapter of our Ireland story @willdalrymple.bsky.social and @anitaanand.bsky.social are joined by the brilliant @fotoole.bsky.social to discuss how Ireland has transformed since the mid-20th century. Ireland Transformed: From Banning Condoms to Exporting Viagra ✨EPISODE OUT TODAY✨

The truly excellent @anitaanand.bsky.social, @willdalrymple.bsky.social, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and @empirepoduk.bsky.social series on The Troubles finishes strong by highlighting how even terrorist groups must operate within powerful political constraints on their behaviour (*a thread*)…

3/3 And just who was Jean McConville, and why did her disappearance have such a profound impact. Join Patrick Radden Keefe @willdalrymple.bsky.social and me on our latest episode on Northern Ireland on @empirepoduk.bsky.social - out now.

2/3 We are joined again by Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing, to discuss the infamous IRA bombings in London in 1973, and the hunger strike that changed the trajectory of The Troubles…

EPISODE 3 OF OUR MINISERIES IS OUT TODAY The Troubles: London Bombings, Hunger Strikes, & The Graveside Grenade. @empirepoduk.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social 1/3

Oh how I wept. Episode 4 The Troubles @willdalrymple.bsky.social @anitaanand.bsky.social @praddenkeefe.bsky.social

Alistair Campbell telling the story of the #GoodFridayAgreement makes for an absolutely fascinating episode of @empirepoduk.bsky.social Bravo, @willdalrymple.bsky.social @anitaanand.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/4j4U...

3/3 And just who was Jean McConville, and why did her disappearance have such a profound impact. Join Patrick Radden Keefe @willdalrymple.bsky.social and me on our latest episode on Northern Ireland on @empirepoduk.bsky.social - out now.

2/3 We are joined again by Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing, to discuss the infamous IRA bombings in London in 1973, and the hunger strike that changed the trajectory of The Troubles…

EPISODE 3 OF OUR MINISERIES IS OUT TODAY The Troubles: London Bombings, Hunger Strikes, & The Graveside Grenade. @empirepoduk.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social 1/3

And just to remind you, our special guest star in this mini-series on the troubles @empirepoduk.bsky.social is @praddenkeefe.bsky.social , the author of Say Nothing, now a major series on @netflix.com He had @willdalrymple.bsky.social had me spellbound.

What were The Troubles and why did they lead to 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland? And why did the British government deploy troops on the streets of Belfast? Join @willdalrymple.bsky.social and the marvellous @praddenkeefe.bsky.social and me. Out now! @empirepoduk.bsky.social

In these episodes @anitaanand.bsky.social and William are joined by Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing, to discuss the beginning of The Troubles, as @praddenkeefe.bsky.social introduces his three key characters: Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams, and Dolours Price.

Don't miss the amazing Patrick @praddenkeefe.bsky.social speak to @anitaanand.bsky.social & @willdalrymple.bsky.social on @empirepoduk.bsky.social about Say Nothing, his extraordinary deep dive into the dark heart of The Troubles

Empire UK Live Tour: The podcast is going on a UK tour! William and Anita will be live on stage in Glasgow, Birmingham, York and Bristol, discussing how the British Empire continues to shape our everyday lives. Tickets are on sale NOW, to buy yours head to empirepoduk.com

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, and a weekly newsletter! Head to empirepoduk.com to sign up.