Podcast Episodes

First spacewalk

On 18 March 1965, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to spacewalk.

He spent around 10 minutes floating above the Earth, tethered to the s…

1 year, 3 months ago

The rocket that revived Brazil’s space programme

In 2003, 21 people died when a space rocket exploded at Brazil’s Alcantara Launch Centre, three days before its planned flight. It was the country’…

1 year, 3 months ago

Bardo Museum attack in Tunisia

On 18 March 2015, 22 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.

Hamadi Ben Abdesslem…

1 year, 3 months ago

The Gambia’s ‘Queen of Recycling’

In 1997, Isatou Ceesay, who lives in The Gambia had an idea to make bags and purses out of old discarded plastic.

Her idea to help the environment sta…

1 year, 3 months ago

The Capitol Crawl

By the beginning of 1990, the United States Congress stalled on passing the Americans with Disabilities Act, a piece of legislation aimed at prohibit…

1 year, 3 months ago

King Kong: South Africa's first all-black musical

In 1959, Todd Matshikiza composed the score for King Kong, it was South Africa’s first musical with an all-black cast and it opened to critical accla…

1 year, 3 months ago

The invention of GPS

There are few inventions that we rely on as much as the Global Positioning System, also known as GPS. But, when it was created in the late 1970s, nob…

1 year, 3 months ago

How bloodshed in Selma led to the US Voting Rights Act 1965

In March 1965, hundreds of peaceful civil rights protesters in Selma were brutally beaten by Alabama state troops.

They had been marching to demonstra…

1 year, 3 months ago

The Great Toyota War

In 1987, a decades-long war in Chad reached a dramatic turning point in what would come to be known as the Great Toyota War.

Named after the rugged p…

1 year, 3 months ago

The US invasion of Panama

In December 1989, more than 20,000 US soldiers descended on the tiny Central American country of Panama.

The Americans sought to remove the country’…

1 year, 3 months ago