Podcast Episodes

World's first solar-heated home

In December 1948, a family of Hungarian refugees moved into the world's first home to be heated entirely by solar power.

What made the Dover Sun House, in Massachusetts, United States, even more speci…

Published on 2 years ago

Tanzania adopts Swahili to unite the country

After Tanzania, then called Tanganyika, became independent from Britain in 1961, the country's leader, Julius Nyerere, made Swahili the national language to unite its people.

Walter Bgoya tells Ben He…

Published on 2 years ago

Cameroon’s mysterious lake deaths

On 21 August 1986, hundreds of villagers in a remote part of Cameroon mysteriously died overnight, along with 3,500 livestock.

In the weeks-long investigation that followed, scientists tried to work o…

Published on 2 years ago

The bird that defied extinction

In 1969, a Peruvian farmer called Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird called the white-winged guan that had been regarded as extinct for a century.

After years of searchi…

Published on 2 years ago

Cabbage Patch Kids

In 1983, all hell broke loose when a new toy hit stores in the United States.

Cabbage Patch Kids were so popular that people were getting injured when they tried to buy them.

But Martha Nelson Thom…

Published on 2 years ago

The Mumbai attacks

On 26 November 2008, 10 gunmen from the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba carried out coordinated attacks on Mumbai's busiest hotspots including the Taj and Oberoi hotels, a train stati…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

The Paris heatwave

In August 2003 Europe was hit by the hottest heatwave for hundreds of years. Tens of thousands of people died.

Not built to withstand two weeks of extreme heat, Paris turned into a death trap for i…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Kennedy’s nail-biter election victory

On 22 November 1963, United States President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Lucy Williamson looks back to 8 November 1960, when Richard Nixon and JFK went toe to toe at the polls in…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

The invention of bubble tea

In 1987, a tea shop in Taiwan named Chun Shui Tang began selling pearl milk tea, or bubble tea, as it’s often called.

It would revolutionise the tea-drinking world.

Ben Henderson speaks to Liu Han-Ch…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

The independence of Zambia

In 1964, Zambia became a republic. It was the ninth African state to leave British colonial rule.

Simon Kapwepwe was one of the leaders in the fight for independence, along with his childhood friend K…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago