Podcast Episodes

Luana Mansilla: Changing gender aged six

In 2013, a six-year-old from Argentina became one of the youngest people in the world to legally have their gender changed on official documents through self-declaration.

It followed the introduction…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

India's capsule coal mine rescue

In November 1989, mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill saved 65 miners from the Mahabir Coal Mine, in India.

The miners, who had been trapped for three days after a flood, were winched out one by one us…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

How Greece got rid of their king

In 1974, Greece held a referendum to decide the future of the country’s monarchy, and whether Constantine II would remain their king.

Constantine had come to the throne in 1964, but he’d inherited a d…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Pakistan mountain massacre

In 2013, 11 people were shot dead in base camp of the Nanga Parbat mountain in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.

The gunmen were associated with the Pakistani Taliban and the group were set up…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The invention of the ‘Baby’ computer

In June 1948, the ‘Baby’ was invented. It was the first stored-program computer, meaning it was the first machine to work like the ones we have today.

It was developed in England at the University o…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The woman who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto

Irena Sendler was a Polish social worker who risked her life to save 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War Two.

Irena, a Catholic, was able to enter the ghetto because of her …

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

The Shah of Iran's party

In 1971, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian Empire by throwing a huge three-day party.

Trees were planted, birds imported, and a runway built in the middle…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

In exile from Iran

On 16 January 1979, the Shah of Iran and his wife, Farah Pahlavi, left Iran for the last time. There had been increasingly violent protests against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime.

Ayatollah Khomeini …

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Iran hostage crisis

One of the most dramatic moments from the Iranian revolution took place in November 1979. Young insurgents stormed the US embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran, taking 52 Americans captive. Barry Ros…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Siegfried and Roy tiger attack

For nearly 40 years, the magicians Roy Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher wowed audiences in Las Vegas with their death-defying tricks involving white lions and tigers.

But in 2003, their show at the Mira…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago