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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

From Viking raiders to the most feared knights in Europe, in just five generations. Episode 1 of The Norman Conquests, with Eleanor Barraclough, is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. [link] #EmpirePodcast #BayeuxTapestry linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Within three generations, Rollo's heirs spoke French, built abbeys and fought on horseback like Franks. How Viking were they by 1066? With the brilliant Eleanor Barraclough, we discuss Rollo and the Viking river invasions of Western Europe linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In 911 a French king who couldn't beat him gave Rollo the land around Rouen instead. Normandy literally means "land of the Northmen." Legend says Rollo refused to kneel and kiss the king's foot, and his man tipped the king backwards off his throne. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The Bayeux Tapestry shows one of the defining moments in English history. But look closer at its dragon-prowed ships: why does the Norman invasion look so much like a Viking raid? Who were the Normans , and how much of their Norse past did they carry across the Channel? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A New Series From @EmpirePodUK where we dive deep into THE NORMAN CONQUESTS Episode 1: Rollo & the Viking Conquest of Normandy linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Fiona Hill is the leading authority on Russia & has been in the room with Putin & Trump. She joins Anita & I to discuss how Stalin’s violent legacies have impacted Putin's approach to authority, and why he is reappropriating Stalin’s memory in Russia linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

What are the links between Stalin’s purges and the poisonings of Putin’s enemies in recent decades? How has Putin charmed Trump? And how does the memory of World War II affect both sides of the war in Ukraine today? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Final Episode in our @EmpirePodUK Stalin series: Stalin: A Poisonous Legacy With the remarkable Fiona Hill

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com.

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Antony Beevor wrote the definitive book on the Battle of Stalingrad. He joins Anita Anand & I to discuss how Hitler and Stalin’s armies faced gruelling winter conditions in the siege of the city, and how the battle became a decisive turning point in World War II. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

What was the experience of soldiers on either side during the brutal urban warfare? How did women survive stuck within the siege? Did Hitler obsess over capturing the city because it bore Stalin’s name? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

New from @EmpirePodUK STALINGRAD With the great Sir Antony Beevor linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Don't miss our Stalin double bill: KILLING TROTSKY & THE GREAT TERROR linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

New from @empirepoduk.bsky.social Stalin: The Great Terror linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

What is the darker story behind his marriage to the young Nadya Alliluyeva? In Episode 2 @anitaanand.bsky.social and I are joined by Giles Milton, author of The Stalin Affair, to discuss Stalin’s role in the fledgling Soviet Union during the violence that birthed it. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Despite later mythology, Stalin was effectively a nobody during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Unlike Trotsky and Lenin, he was not on the frontline amongst the revolutionaries. How did he reveal his penchant for violence during the Russian Civil War in the following years? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In the final episode of this series, @anitaanand.bsky.social & I are joined by CNN’s national security analyst Peter Bergen the producer of bin Laden’s first television interview, to untangle the tragic countdown and massive intelligence failures leading to September 11th. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

How did the CIA fail to tell the FBI that known Al-Qaeda terrorists were already training inside the United States? What does new evidence tell us about how a Saudi official assisted the hijackers on US soil? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Friday marked 25 years since 9/11. Our @empirepoduk.bsky.social Road to 9/11 series concludes with the final days before the attack. The CIA knew two hijackers were in the US and never told the FBI. Our final episode traces the summer the system was, in the CIA director's own words, "blinking red."

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This is really VERY exciting for us all @EmpirePodUK! With thanks to everyone who has listened in...

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

We've added a second @empirepoduk.bsky.social session today at 1pm- Three Ayatollahs: An Iranian Dynasty With the great Ali Ansari

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

So so proud of Sam Dalrymple making the Cundill Prize shortlist! Huge achievement for anyone, but for a first book written in your mid-twenties it's properly astonishing. (Proud father broadcast ends here.)

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Before al-Qaeda, there was one preacher: Abdullah Azzam, who declared jihad in Afghanistan a duty for every Muslim on earth and built the network that funnelled money and fighters into Peshawar. His story — with @burke_jason — in our new episode linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Christmas Eve, 1979: Soviet tanks cross into Afghanistan. Within months, a young Saudi is travelling to the border— the start of a global jihad, and the first wave of "Arab Afghans" who'll go home trained and radicalised. New episode with @Burke_Jason is live now. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

New from @empirepoduk.bsky.social The Road To 9/11: Part 2: The Soviet-Afghan War

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Summer sale is here: get an annual Empire Club membership for an extra 20% off with code SUMMER26. That's ad-free listening, early-access, every bonus episode, and full access to our exclusive members' series. Sale ends August 31st, so grab it before summer's over. Empirepoduk.com

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Joined by our old friend Jason Burke_ — journalist, author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam — to trace the road from a hanged Egyptian ideologue to a cage, a coup, and a assassin's bullet. Where does it end? Kabul. Listen now 🔗https://linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

New series. We're telling the whole story of how 9/11 was built — not as an intelligence failure, but as a human drama spanning 50 years and 3 continents. Episode 1 is live now: the origins of al-Qaeda. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

A church dance in small-town Colorado, 1949. A shy Egyptian scholar watches — and writes that he has seen a civilisation stripped of its soul. Out of that disgust came a book written in Nasser's prison cells — and, half a century later, 9/11. 🎧 The Road to 9/11 begins. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

New from @empirepoduk.bsky.social The Road To 9/11: Part1: The Origins of Al-Qaeda

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

In Episode 6 of this series, @anitaanand.bsky.social and I are joined by Dr Eleanor Barraclough, author of Embers of the Hand, to discuss the sunset of this era, and how Vikings infused Christianity into their own spiritual practices. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Odin hung on the World Tree for nine days to win sacred knowledge for humanity. Christ died on the Cross to redeem it. The Viking settlers of the Danelaw saw the parallel. They put both on the same stone at Gosforth and let them speak to each other. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Sigurd the dragon-slayer, hero of Norse legend, carved on a Christian grave marker. At Gosforth in Cumbria: a 14.5-foot sandstone cross showing the Crucifixion on one face and Loki bound beneath the earth on another — his wife Sigyn holding a bowl to catch the venom. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

The Danelaw covered half of England. Its people worshipped Odin and Thor. Within two generations they were building Christian churches. And carving their gods on the walls. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

In 865 AD a Viking army the size of a small city landed in East Anglia. Within a decade they had conquered York, partitioned England and begun settling the land that would become the Danelaw. They brought their gods with them. 🪓 linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

New from @EmpirePodUK Viking Britain: Thor, Ragnarok & Jesus Christ linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Don't miss our @EmpirePodUK exploration of the gods, religions and mythologies of Viking Age Britain

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Thursday is Thor's Day. Wednesday is Woden's Day. Every time you say either word you are invoking a Norse god. In Episode 5 of this series, @anitaanand.bsky.social and I dismantle Viking stereotypes, and explore how the raiders reshaped British society. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Dublin. Waterford. Limerick. Wexford. Cork. Every major port city in Ireland was founded by Vikings. The people we think of as destroyers of civilisation were also its builders. This week on Empire: @EleanorBarraclough on the Vikings who came to raid & stayed to trade. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

When I was 17, I spent two summers excavating a Viking mass grave in a vicar's garden in Repton Derbyshire. 264 elite warrior with hideous weapon wounds. This week on Empire: the Great Army arrives, England is partitioned, and nothing is ever the same again. 🪓 linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Why did the Vikings invade Britain, and how did they mix into society? What did they do with the gold they stole from churches? Which Viking stereotypes are true - and which ones are total myths? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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William Dalrymple @willdalrymple.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The Book of Kells. Arguably the greatest manuscript in the medieval world. Made in Ireland, right? No! This week @anitaanand.bsky.social & I talk to the archaeologist who thinks it was made in Scotland — in a Pictish monastery on the Moray Firth. linktr.ee/empirepoduk

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