Podcast Episodes

Meteorite!

Episode 1293

The first meteorite to crash land into Earth - and have its date recorded - impacted the hamlet of Ensisheim (in modern-day France, then Austria) on 7th November, 1492. The stone's descent created a …

Published on 10 hours ago

How '24' Changed TV

Episode 1292

Real-time thriller ‘24’, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, debuted on Fox on 6th November, 2001. The show’s use of split screens, constant tension, and ticking clocks became its signature sty…

Published on 1 day, 10 hours ago

Kublai Khan's Kamikaze Climbdown

Episode 1291

The Mongols attempted to invade Japan on 5th November, 1274. Despite having a fleet of 900 ships, they failed - in part due to a ‘kamikaze’ typhoon that whooshed their boats back to Korea.

Then they …

Published on 2 days, 10 hours ago

Digging Up King Tut

Episode 1290

Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by a water boy who serendipitously stumbled on a buried staircase in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings on 4th November, 1922. It marked the greatest triumph in archaeologi…

Published on 3 days, 10 hours ago

Phil Spector's 'Phantom Voice'

Episode 1289

The Crystals hit number one with their version of Gene Pitney’s ‘He’s a Rebel’ on 3rd November, 1962, but it was actually another of Phil Spector’s girl-groups, The Blossoms, who had recorded the son…

Published on 4 days, 10 hours ago

The BBC's Halloween Hoax

Episode 1287

‘Ghostwatch’, a Halloween drama in the style of a documentary, reached 11 million viewers on its first and only UK broadcast on BBC 1, on 31st October, 1992. It starred Sarah Greene, Craig Charles, M…

Published on 1 week ago

The Slave Rebellion

Episode 1286

Nat Turner, leader of the deadliest slave rebellion in U.S. history, was captured on 30th October, 1831. For over two months, he’d hidden out in the woods of Virginia, having led a violent uprising t…

Published on 1 week, 1 day ago

The M25 - Britain's Biggest Carpark

Episode 1285

Margaret Thatcher finally opened London’s first ring road - construction on which had begun in the 1970s - on 29th October, 1986, declaring: "I can't stand those who carp and criticise when they ough…

Published on 1 week, 2 days ago

Jane Austen and the Profligate Prince

Episode 1284

George IV’s impressive Library included all the novels of Jane Austen, for whom he had a particular fondness. But what was not known (until a receipt was discovered in the Royal Archives in 2018) wa…

Published on 1 week, 3 days ago

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Episode 1283

The brutal murder of Alan R. Schindler Jr. on 27th October 1992 revealed the harsh realities faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the military. Schindler, a young Navy radioman, who suffered bullying and i…

Published on 1 week, 4 days ago