Podcast Episodes

The book that changed Norway’s view of immigrants

In 2010, a book came out in Norway that transformed the way people looked at paperless immigrants. The author, a 25-year-old Russian woman, fled North Ossetia as a child with her parents. They were n…

Published on 4 months ago

One man’s escape from McCarthyism

In 1951, at the height of the McCarthy era, a time when the US government pursued suspected communists, Victor Grossman was drafted into the army. A committed communist since his teens, he hid his po…

Published on 4 months ago

Spot the Dog

In 1978, British artist Eric Hill designed an interactive book about a yellow puppy for his two-year-old son, Chris.

Eric had noticed Chris kept lifting up the paper he was working on to see what was …

Published on 4 months ago

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: The banned author of Indonesia

In 1969, Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer was imprisoned without trial in the notorious labour camp on Buru Island. He spent 10 years there.

He is best known for his novels about the rise of In…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

Jakarta’s ban on dancing monkeys

In 2013, Jakarta's governor moved to outlaw the use of dancing monkeys on the city’s streets.

The Indonesian tradition saw macaques made to perform for passers-by - often restrained by chains and dres…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

Discovery of the 'Hobbit'

In 2003, archaeologists on the island of Flores, in Indonesia, discovered the skeleton of a new species of human - Homo floresiensis.

It was nicknamed the 'Hobbit', because they were just over a metre…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

Borobudur Temple

In 1983, Borobudur Temple in Indonesia reopened.

The worlds’ largest Buddhist monument is in the shadows of an active volcano and was once lost to the jungle.

In 1973, major restoration work started …

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

The Santa Cruz Massacre

On 12 November 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists in East Timor's capital, Dili.

During a protest march to the Santa Cruz cemetery after a memorial service for an independen…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

1965 Singaporean independence

On 9 August 1965 Singapore announced it had left the Federation of Malaysia and become an independent sovereign state. Explaining the separation at a news conference, the prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew…

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Brazil’s biggest bank heist

In August, 2005, a gang of robbers tunnelled their way into a Brazilian bank vault in a heist straight out of the movies.

Three months before, the thieves had set up a landscaping business, Grama Sint…

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago