The book series i'll be listening to most

is Will Durant's 11 volumes Story of Civilization, which in later volumes were co-authored by his wife I believe Ariel. It's a charming encapsulation of history, that began being published around the 1950s with a volume on some Eastern parts, but the rest of the series mostly is concerned with Western culture. It was unfinished but got up to Voltaire, and Rousseau, so that covers pretty much the entirety of history of note. The trailblazing 19th century would have been fascinating to hear being encapsulated, but you cannot get everything you want, and it's basically just popularized history. Will was a kind of Alain de Botton of those bygone decades of the past century, likeable imo. All in all over 400 hours of good reliable but introductory stuff, perfect for a delightful romp through the ages.