# Hardcore History by Dan Carlin

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Hardcore History by Dan Carlin and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Long-form history podcast that listeners find engaging, deep and worth the time. Critics say the history is weaker than the presentation.

## Why people recommend it

- Excellent, phenomenal podcast (3 comments): "excellent podcast Hardcore History" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47176865)) "Hardcore History is phenomenal." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882939)) "Dan Carlin is exceptional." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074374))
- Deep, in-depth, worth the time (3 comments): "Podcasts that take real effort (Hardcore History, Fall of Civilizations, Gastropod) are absolutely worth my time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882723)) "one of my favorite episodes of a history podcast and definitely worth the listen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47395002)) "They are very good an in depth." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48110364))
- Absorbing long episodes (3 comments): "Highlight of my day. Just finished the last Hardcore History WW2 podcasts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46037217)) "I was enthralled by his series on the Persian Empire" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46412629)) "The long episodes help me lose track of time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47174846))
- Engaging presenter with great voice (2 comments): "Dan Carlin has a great radio voice, and is an entertaining presenter. Hardcore history is really only okay on the history front though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074583)) "Dan Carlin is exceptional." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074374))

## What people warn about

- History weaker than presentation (1 comments): "Dan Carlin has a great radio voice, and is an entertaining presenter. Hardcore history is really only okay on the history front though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074583))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Fall of Civilizations podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fall-of-civilizations-podcast.md): 20 recommend
- [The Rest Is History podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rest-is-history-podcast.md): 14 recommend
- [Revolutions Podcast by Mike Duncan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/revolutions-podcast.md): 12 recommend
- [The History of English Podcast by John McWhorter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/history-of-english-podcast.md): 12 recommend
- [The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/history-of-rome-podcast.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Hardcore History by Dan Carlin", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hardcore-history/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).