Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is an independent American history podcast created and hosted by journalist Dan Carlin since 2006. Its first episode, Alexander Versus Hitler, came out on July 26, 2006.

The podcast covers major wars, ancient civilizations and the collapse of societies through long, chronological storytelling without the breaks of commercial radio. Early episodes in 2006 ran 15 to 40 minutes, but later ones grew to several hours each and came out four to seven months apart. Carlin tells the stories in a dramatic style he calls theater of the mind, dwelling on what ordinary soldiers and civilians went through during historical disasters rather than only on the decisions of leaders.

Multi-part series became the core of the catalog, starting with the six-part Death Throes of the Republic about ancient Rome, released between 2010 and 2011. Between 2012 and 2013, Carlin published Wrath of the Khans, five episodes on the Mongol Empire and Genghis Khan. From October 2013 to May 2015 came Blueprint for Armageddon, a six-part history of World War I running over 23 hours in total. From 2018 to 2021, Carlin released Supernova in the East, six episodes on the Pacific war of World War II.

The podcast won Best Classic Podcast in the iTunes Best of 2014 list and Best Educational Podcast at the Podcast Awards in 2015. In 2018, it won Best History Podcast at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. In 2019, Carlin published a companion book with HarperCollins, The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses. The same year, he premiered War Remains, a virtual reality work set on the Western Front, at the Tribeca Film Festival.