THE GOD OF PODS

Having become a spoken word superstar with The Rest is History, self-confessed bookworm Dominic Sandbrook is launching a fiction podcast with Gen Z co-host Tabby Syrett. From Wuthering Heights to Normal People, expect (polite) fireworks

- MATT NIXSON

DESCRIBED by a recent interviewer as “middle-aged, balding and bespectacled... a picture of ordinariness”, Dominic Sandbrook makes an unlikely superstar. But if there was a Top of the Pops for podcasters, the 51-year-old would be a fixture.

Having made his name in a series of well-received postwar histories of Britain with a sideline in perceptive newspaper columns, five years ago he pivoted to the spoken word - launching The Rest Is History podcast with fellow archive diver Tom Holland.

And the rest, as they say, really is history.

From the Fall of the Aztecs and History’s Greatest Monkeys, to Jack the Ripper and General George Custer — of whom a single episode spawned an extraordinary 11-part series — 20 million downloads a month have sent them into the stratosphere.

Listeners have come to love their repartee as they debate, explain and bicker wittily over the past. Quite frankly, Dom and Tom, 58, are the gods of pod. As well as the sellout tours, recently appearing at the Sydney Opera House, Australia, they have merchandising, YouTube videos, spin-off books and a supporters’ club. So how does it feel to be a rock star historian?

“It’s f***ing brilliant and you can quote me,” chuckles Dominic. “I mean, what’s not to like? When you go into history or writing books, it’s just you and the computer. You never imagine these kinds of experiences. It’s not something we plotted or planned for.”

Launched in November 2020 by Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger company, 800-plus episodes later and The Rest Is History is the jewel in the crown of a lucrative business.

Two years ago, it was estimated the amiable co-hosts were each pocketing a cool £1million a year. Since then they’ve at least doubled their audience.

From being fairly well known in academia and among history book buyers, they’re now genuinely famous right down to being asked for selfies.