Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe discovery of nerve growth factor
During World War Two, Italian scientist Dr Rita Levi-Montalcini was forced to do experiments in her bedroom after being banned from universities beca…
8 months ago
My dad created Mr Men and Little Miss
In 1971, advertising writer Roger Hargreaves's eight-year-old son Adam asked him an unusual question: 'What does a tickle look like?'
Inspired, Roger …
8 months ago
Austria's wine scandal
In 1985, government scientists discovered anti-freeze in bottles of fine Austrian wine.
No one died or fell ill from drinking the poisoned wine, but …
8 months, 1 week ago
Jimmy Carter visits Cuba
In May 2002, former US President Jimmy Carter paid a controversial visit to Cuba, which had been subject to a US trade embargo for more than 40 years…
8 months, 1 week ago
Cuba's Mariel boatlift
In April 1980, thousands of Cubans tried to escape the country by claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy in Havana.
In response, Cuban President Fid…
8 months, 1 week ago
The 'Jugroom Fort' rescue mission
In 2007, four British servicemen perched on the wings of an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, in an audacious mission to rescue a fallen comrade.
Lan…
8 months, 1 week ago
Ötzi: The Iceman of Bolzano
In September 1991, two German hikers found a dead body while walking through Europe’s Ötzal Alps. It turned out to be a perfectly preserved 5,000-yea…
8 months, 1 week ago
The Kaohsiung Incident
On 10 December 1979, pro-democracy activists clashed with police in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The incident, which happened during Taiwan's martial law period…
8 months, 1 week ago
Chile's 'Penguin Revolution'
In 2006, hundreds of thousands of school children in Chile took over their schools and marched in the streets, in a protest about inequality in educa…
8 months, 2 weeks ago
The liberation of Auschwitz
On 27 January 1945, prisoners at the Nazis’ largest death camp were freed by the Soviet Union’s Red Army.
General Vasily Petrenko commanded one of the…
8 months, 2 weeks ago