Hardcore History by Dan Carlin
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 7 history podcasts by recommenders
Long-form history podcast that listeners find engaging, deep and worth the time. Critics say the history is weaker than the presentation.
Long-form history podcast that listeners find engaging, deep and worth the time. Critics say the history is weaker than the presentation.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Excellent, phenomenal podcast
“excellent podcast Hardcore History”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Google Workers Seek 'Red Lines' on Military A.I., Echoing Anthropic” “Hardcore History is phenomenal.”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “How to Read More Books” “Dan Carlin is exceptional.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “The Mongol Khans of Medieval France” Deep, in-depth, worth the time
“Podcasts that take real effort (Hardcore History, Fall of Civilizations, Gastropod) are absolutely worth my time”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “How to Read More Books” “one of my favorite episodes of a history podcast and definitely worth the listen”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “A Plain Anabaptist Story: The Hutterites” “They are very good an in depth.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “The Greatest Shot in Television: James Burke Had One Chance to Nail This Scene” Absorbing long episodes
“Highlight of my day. Just finished the last Hardcore History WW2 podcasts.”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “New Dan Carlin – Common Sense” “I was enthralled by his series on the Persian Empire”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Best Podcasts of 2025?” “The long episodes help me lose track of time.”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “What podcasts are you listening to?” Engaging presenter with great voice
“Dan Carlin has a great radio voice, and is an entertaining presenter. Hardcore history is really only okay on the history front though.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “The Mongol Khans of Medieval France” “Dan Carlin is exceptional.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “The Mongol Khans of Medieval France”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
History weaker than presentation
“Dan Carlin has a great radio voice, and is an entertaining presenter. Hardcore history is really only okay on the history front though.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “The Mongol Khans of Medieval France”
Other history podcasts people recommend
The four most recommended other history podcasts, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall of Civilizations podcast | 20 | 1 | 95% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Rest Is History podcast | 14 | 1 | 93% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Hardcore History by Dan CarlinThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Revolutions Podcast by Mike Duncan | 12 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The History of English Podcast by John McWhorter | 12 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I found Dan Carlin's "Logical Insanity" episode of Hardcore History to be a really interesting look into the logic of dropping the two nukes.”
“Hardcore History is phenomenal.”
“Podcasts that take real effort (Hardcore History, Fall of Civilizations, Gastropod) are absolutely worth my time”
“we don't constantly have Siri interrupting Hardcore History”
“They are very good an in depth.”
“one of my favorite episodes of a history podcast and definitely worth the listen”
“excellent podcast Hardcore History”
“The long episodes help me lose track of time.”
“I think he already suffers from the length of some of his series.”
“it works great as a gateway drug”
“Dan Carlin has a great radio voice, and is an entertaining presenter. Hardcore history is really only okay on the history front though.”
“Dan Carlin is exceptional.”
“I was enthralled by his series on the Persian Empire”
“Highlight of my day. Just finished the last Hardcore History WW2 podcasts.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.