Podcast Episodes

The Battle of the Beanfield

On 1 June 1985, a convoy of New Age Travellers set off for the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge in the south of England. They were planning to hold a festival there for the summer solstice, but the…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

The legacy of The Pirate Bay

On 31 May 2006, police launched one of the largest raids in Swedish history, seizing servers from The Pirate Bay - a hugely popular but highly controversial file-sharing website.

Co-founder Peter Sund…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

Chinua Achebe’s revolutionary book Things Fall Apart

In 1958 Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, published his first book, Things Fall Apart.

Set in pre-colonial rural Nigeria, it examines how the arrival of foreigners led to tensions within traditional Ig…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

The Tragically Hip's final gig

In 2015, rockstar and Canadian icon Gord Downie was given months to live, after doctors found he had a terminal brain tumour.

But instead of quietly exiting the stage, Gord and his band, the Tragical…

Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago

'I wrote the Champions League anthem'

In 1992, European football was at a turning point. The European Cup was going to be replaced with a new format: The Champions League.

European football’s governing body, Uefa wanted a classical them…

Published on 6 months, 4 weeks ago

Vivian Maier: Secret street photographer

It is only since Vivian Maier's death in 2009 that the 150,000 photographs she rarely showed to anyone have come to light.

Working as a nanny in the suburbs of Chicago in the United States in the 195…

Published on 7 months ago

The founding of Magnum Photos

In the aftermath of World War Two, a group of famous photographers brought their individual styles into one powerful collaboration, over a celebratory bottle of champagne.

On 22 May 1947 the agency, …

Published on 7 months ago

Martín Chambi: Peru's pioneering documentary photographer

Martín Chambi is regarded as one of the most important indigenous Peruvian photographers of the 20th century. Famous for his black and white images of local Andean people and the surrounding countrys…

Published on 7 months ago

Nigerian photographer’s iconic 'Hairstyles' series

J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, who was known as Nigeria’s top photographer, started documenting women’s hairstyles in 1968. He built up a portfolio of around 2,000 negatives revealing the elaborate ways Afri…

Published on 7 months ago

Lunch atop a Skyscraper

In 1932, a photo was taken showing 11 New York ironworkers casually eating their lunch while sitting on a steel beam at the top of a skyscraper. No safety harnesses, no helmets. Their legs dangle fre…

Published on 7 months ago