Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchOne 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 …
1 year, 1 month 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 lifti…
1 year, 1 month 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…
1 year, 2 months 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 fo…
1 year, 2 months 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…
1 year, 2 months 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 th…
1 year, 2 months 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 c…
1 year, 2 months 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…
1 year, 2 months 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 thi…
1 year, 2 months ago
The Assam-Tibet earthquake
On 15 August 1950, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake shook the Himalaya mountains – wiping out whole villages in Tibet and north-east India.
The death toll …
1 year, 2 months ago