Podcast Episodes

The Schengen Agreement

On 14 June 1985, five politicians met on a boat in the town of Schengen, in Luxembourg, to sign an agreement to get rid of border checks between thei…

1 year, 4 months ago

Ronald Reagan’s ‘Tear down this wall’ speech

In 1987 Uunied States President Ronald Reagan spoke at the Berlin Wall. In his speech he called on the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev …

1 year, 4 months ago

Lonesome George: The celebrity tortoise

In 2012, Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his species died.

George, from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, was a global symbol of…

1 year, 4 months ago

The woman born in a prisoner of war camp

After the Sino-Indian war in 1962, around 3,000 men, women and children were incarcerated in a disused World War Two prisoner of war camp. Indians of…

1 year, 4 months ago

World War Two’s Rome escape line

Between September 1943 and June 1944 in World War Two, the Italian capital Rome was occupied by German soldiers.

Italy had surrendered and thousands o…

1 year, 4 months ago

Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘utopian’ town

In 1948, the foundation was laid for a “utopian” community of houses designed by a man described as America’s greatest ever architect.

Frank Lloyd Wri…

1 year, 4 months ago

The discovery of the first exoplanets

On 9 January 1992, astronomers Alex Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced they had discovered the first two exoplanets, or planets outside our solar sys…

1 year, 4 months ago

Favela life: The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus

Carolina Maria de Jesus was a poor, single mother-of-three who lived in a derelict shack and spent her days scavenging for food.

Her diary, written be…

1 year, 4 months ago

The world’s largest model train set

In 2000, nightclub owners and twins Frederik and Gerrit Braun went from the neon lights of a Hamburg nightclub to building the world’s largest model …

1 year, 4 months ago

Dolly Rathebe: South Africa’s first international film star

South Africa’s first feature film aimed at black audiences was released in 1949, launching Dolly Rathebe’s career.

The actress and jazz musician was …

1 year, 4 months ago