Podcast Episodes

Ukraine's 'museum of corruption'

In February 2014, Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country.

His estate was abandoned by security guards, so for the first time ordinary people got to see inside Mezhyhirya, the e…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

How to win friends and influence people

In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote one of the world’s most popular self help books - How to Win Friends and Influence People.

The idea was suggested by a book editor who had attended one of Dale’s public sp…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

How the Milgram 'obedience' experiment shocked the world

In 1961, the American psychologist Stanley Milgram began a series of controversial experiments on ‘obedience to authority’.

His study aimed to show how ordinary people could be capable of committing e…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Finding the victims of Stroessner's Paraguay

It’s 70 years since General Alfredo Stroessner seized power in Paraguay in a military coup.

Stroessner remained in power for almost 35 years, before being toppled in 1989.

More than 450 people were mu…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Oliver Tambo returns to South Africa from exile

On 13 December 1990, the anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile.

As the president of the banned African National Congress (ANC), he had lived in Zambia…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Brenda Fassie: Madonna of the townships

Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's biggest pop stars in the late 1980s. The singer’s career nosedived in 1990, but her comeback saw her dubbed the 'Madonna of the townships' by Time magazine.

Yvo…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

Sarah Baartman's 200-year journey back home

In August 2002, the remains of an indigenous South African woman called Sarah Baartman were returned to South Africa after almost 200 years away. Sarah died in Paris in 1815 after being forced to per…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

Soweto uprising: Children who marched against apartheid

When South African schoolchildren marched in protest against having to study Afrikaans in 1976, they were gunned down by the police.

The killings sparked a cycle of protests across the country against…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

South Africa's referendum on apartheid

On 18 March 1992, white South Africans overwhelmingly backed a mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.

It was a high-stakes referendum comin…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

Major Charity Adams and the Six-Triple-Eight

Major Charity Adams was the first African-American woman to lead a World War Two battalion. It was known as the Six-Triple-Eight (6888).

The 6888 was a majority African-American women’s unit, the wome…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago