Podcast Episodes

Jean-Michel Basquiat bursts onto the New York art scene

In the early 1980s, the young black graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat took the New York art world by storm. Soon, his paintings were selling for huge sums of money, but he would die before the dec…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's diamonds scandal

In 1979, French journalist Claude Angeli and his colleagues discovered Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the French President, received gifts of diamonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from the grisl…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Sarajevo’s haven of peace

After the collapse of former Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in 1992. More than a quarter of a million people lived under almost constant bombardment and …

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

The Great Train Robbery

On 8 August 1963, a gang of thieves held up a British Royal Mail train on its journey from Glasgow to London.

They stole more than £2 million.

It was the biggest ever raid on a British train.

Most of …

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Brownie Wise: The creator of Tupperware parties

In the 1950s, self-made businesswoman Brownie Wise transformed the fortunes of Tupperware by inspiring thousands of housewives to sell it at parties.

Her methods for motivating staff included selling …

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Dinosaur in court

In 2012 a dinosaur skeleton became the subject of both a restraining order and a court case.

Mongolian palaeontologist, Dr Bolortsetseg Minjin helped stop the dinosaur falling into the hands of a priv…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Treehouse on the Berlin Wall

In the 1980s, a Turkish worker in Germany, Osman Kahlin, provoked controversy when he turned a patch of disputed land against the Berlin Wall into a makeshift farm.

The land was owned by East Germany…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

Birth of a new language

In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own.

It was a remarkable achievement, which allowed experts a unique insight into how human communication…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

First dinosaur eggs identified in India

In 1982, nests of dinosaur eggs were identified for the first time in India.

They were found in Jabalpur, on a historic fossil site and former British military cantonment.

The eggs were from Titanosa…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago

José Mujica: Prison break to president

In the 1960s and '70s, José Mujica was a leading member of a notorious left-wing militant group in Uruguay called the Tupamaros. He survived multiple bullet wounds, torture, and executed a daring pri…

Published on 2 years, 4 months ago