Talking History celebrates 20 years on Newstalk

Newstalk’s specialist history programme Talking History marked its 20th anniversary on 1 October 2026, having aired continuously since its first live broadcast from Warrington House in 2006.

The show began after Newstalk secured the national radio licence and sought to adapt a Trinity College lecture series called Contesting History for a wider audience. Presenter Garret Harte agreed to a new live‑format panel discussion, launching Talking History with a two‑hour slot each Sunday evening.

From its early days, the programme featured two presenters with differing research backgrounds, the original co‑host being historian Lindsey Earner‑Byrne, then a lecturer at UCD. Their dynamic interviewing style contributed to the show’s early success, including a PPI National Radio Award in 2009 for a special on the Hillsborough disaster.

Producer Susan Cahill helped shape the series, ensuring a broad remit that covered ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary history, as well as music, film, literature, science and art, with no subject deemed off‑limits.

Talking History has attracted leading scholars such as Classics expert Mary Beard and Nazi‑history authority Richard J. Evans, who have appeared as guests. The programme continues to be recorded from Newstalk’s Digges Lane studio.

Source: Newstalk. Photo: andrea nonni / Pexels.