A podcast presented by Old Malvernian Dominic Sandbrook (1.88-93) and fellow historian Tom Holland, has been awarded a prestigious award by The British Academy – the national body for humanities and social sciences. The Rest is History was bestowed the 2023 President’s Medal in recognition of the podcast’s work to promote and popularise history to a global audience and is the first time a podcast has received such an award.
The President’s Medal – the Academy’s highest honour – is awarded annually in recognition of services to the humanities and the social sciences. Previous recipients include historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, author Margaret Atwood, and journalist Gillian Tett.
On receiving the British Academy’s President’s Medal, hosts Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland said: “It’s an enormous honour to be awarded the President’s Medal, and one we could never have anticipated when we began our podcast. At a time when historical debates are often so strident and simplistic, our goal has always been to share our enthusiasm for the past, with all its thrilling complexity, with the widest possible audience. We love history, and we love talking about it.”
2023 marks the first time the Medal has been awarded to a podcast or any type of broadcast programme, in recognition of The Rest is History’s work to present historical research in an engaging and accessible way to a wider audience and provide a platform for a range of academics to engage the public with their expertise. Since first airing in late 2020, The Rest is History has provided in-depth explorations into a diverse and complex set of historical topics ranging across time and place from antiquity and the ancient world to “the architect of Modern China”, Deng Xiaoping and the life and death of John F. Kennedy. Since its launch, the podcast has been downloaded an incredible 150 million times globally.
Dominic Sandbrook will be returning to Malvern College on Thursday 9th May 2024 to give the College’s annual Blumenau Lecture, to which Old Malvernians will be invited to – booking details to follow.
Photo by Chris Floyd (l-r: Tom Holland, Dominic Sandbrook) via The British Academy