Podcast Episodes

Srebrenica massacre

It's 30 years since a massacre of Bosnian Muslims during the war in the former Yugoslavia.

The Srebrenica massacre, recognised by the United Nations as a genocide, was the shocking climax of the war …

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

The invention of the balloon-expandable stent

An estimated 2 million stents are implanted into people’s hearts around the world each year – making it one of the key treatments for heart disease.

The treatment was invented by Argentinian doctor …

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Death of a priest

The 1977 murder of Father Rutilio Grande sent shockwaves through El Salvador. The 48-year-old Jesuit priest was an outspoken champion of the poor in the deeply divided central American nation.

In the…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

The man who invented the scratch card

In May 1974, scratch cards went on sale for the first time in the US State of Massachusetts.

Free giveaway and coupon games from stores had been commonplace across the USA during the 1950s and '60s …

Published on 1 month, 4 weeks ago

GLP-1: A breakthrough for diabetes and obesity

In the 1980s, scientists made a discovery that would eventually lead to the development of drugs now used worldwide to treat diabetes and to help people manage obesity through weight loss injections.…

Published on 2 months ago

The UK’s first black-owned music studio

Sonny Roberts, a Jamaican carpenter, arrived in Britain in the 1950s. It was a time of racial disharmony, including the Notting Hill riots and the murder of Kelso Cochrane. In this tense atmosphere, …

Published on 2 months ago

Wangari Maathai: The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

In 2004, the Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, a grass-roots organisation empowerin…

Published on 2 months ago

The British oil tanker sunk in Indonesia

In 1958, the British oil tanker, SS San Flaviano, was sunk in the harbour of Balikpapan, Indonesia, while a rebellion was underway against President Ahmed Sukarno.

It’s reported the bomb was dropped …

Published on 2 months ago

My aunt created The Moomins

The first Moomins story about a family of nature-loving white round trolls was published in 1945 during World War Two. The Moomins and the Great Flood was created by writer and artist Tove Jansson as…

Published on 2 months ago

Helen Fielding: The creator of Bridget Jones

In 1995, a single 30-something woman with big knickers and blue soup first appeared in a weekly column, published by British newspaper The Independent.

Initially written anonymously by journalist Hele…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago