Podcast Episodes

Assassination of Malcolm X

Sixty years ago, on 21st February 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in Harlem, New York as he was preparing to speak there.

In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to Herman Fergus…

Published on 10 months ago

Murder at the Berlin Wall

On 29 March 1974, Czesław Kukuczka stormed into the Polish embassy in East Berlin, threatening to detonate a bomb unless he was allowed to escape to the West.

Shot at point-blank range while trying t…

Published on 10 months ago

Bolivia’s first indigenous president

In December 2005, Evo Morales made history in Bolivia when he became the country’s first indigenous president.

The country is one of the poorest in South America and has the highest proportion of in…

Published on 10 months ago

Bo: The death of a language

In 2010, one of the oldest languages in the world died after the death of its last remaining speaker.

For 40 years, Boa Senior from the Indian Andaman Islands was the only person who spoke the Bo lang…

Published on 10 months ago

The world's longest kiss

In 2013, Guinness World Records deactivated the record for the longest kiss after 15 years, saying it had become too dangerous and some of the rules conflicted with their current updated policies.

It…

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

Eva Peron: Argentina’s Evita

Eva Peron – otherwise known as Evita - became an icon in 1940s Argentina, famous for her passionate speeches and populist rhetoric.

Born into poverty, she moved to Buenos Aries at the age of 15 to be…

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

Paul Keating's Redfern speech

On 10 December 1992, Australia’s Prime Minister, Paul Keating, addressed a crowd in a Sydney suburb called Redfern, to mark the UN’s International Year of the World’s Indigenous People. What started …

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

Mary Fisher's 'A Whisper of Aids' speech

When Mary Fisher was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 she did not represent the typical stereotype of someone HIV-positive. She was white, heterosexual and contracted the disease in marriage. She used her …

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

Eisenhower's farewell address

In January 1961, US President Dwight Eisenhower ended his time in the White House with a farewell address regarded as one of the greatest speeches made by a US president.

He warned Americans against …

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

La Pasionaria: Heroine of the Spanish civil war

Dolores Ibárruri was nicknamed La Pasionaria for her fiery speeches to the anti-fascist forces during the Spanish civil war. The fighting had begun in July 1936. Troops, led by General Francisco Fran…

Published on 10 months, 2 weeks ago