Podcast Episodes

Dyke and Dryden: Cosmetic kings

In 1969, a new sound began to dominate the airwaves in the UK, reggae.

This was terrible news for two Jamaican men, Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden who were making their money selling 'slices of home' reco…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Fleeing Afghanistan alone as a child

In 1999, Waheed Arian left his family in Afghanistan to seek refuge in the UK. He was just 15.

He was escaping violence, poverty and the threat of being recruited as a child soldier.

He tells Vicky Fa…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Rose Revolution in Georgia

In November 2003, the people of Georgia ousted veteran president Eduard Shevardnadze.

Protestors stormed the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi, holding flowers in their hands.

It would become…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The Sunflower Movement

Between 18 March and 10 April 2014, more than 500,000 people in Taipei, Taiwan, protested against a new trade deal with China.

It was one of the largest social movements in Taiwanese history.

Rachel Na…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

'Robocops’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo

After the death of her brother, engineer Thérèse Izay Kirongozi got to work handmaking huge robots to direct traffic and save lives.

In 2013 they were installed on the streets of Kinshasa, in the Dem…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

How the QR code was invented

In 1994, bar codes were in widespread use in businesses around the world, but the Japanese car component company, Denso Wave, wanted something quicker.

So they asked one of their engineers, Masahiro H…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The world's first general purpose electronic computer

In 1946, one of the world’s first electronic computers was unveiled in Philadelphia, in the USA.

It was called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, and was initially designed t…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

WABOT-1: The first humanoid robot

Scientists at Waseda University in Japan built the world's first humanoid robot in 1973. They called it the 'WABOT', the Waseda robot. It could see, walk and even talk. It was a huge leap forward in …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Eliza: When chatbots started

Eliza is the name of a 1966 invention by German born scientist, Joseph Weizenbaum, that is said to be the first chatbot.

Eliza worked by someone typing their feelings into a computer keyboard, and the…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

The longest plane hijacking in Latin America

In 1973, two men pretending to be Colombian guerrillas took a plane and flew across Latin America for 60 hours. It was the longest hijacking of an aircraft in the region.

The SAM Airlines plane stoppe…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago