Podcast Episodes

Pan-European picnic

In 1989, a picnic was held on the border between Austria and Hungary, as a demonstration for peace and European integration.

It prefigured the end of…

3 years, 6 months ago

Escaping national service in Eritrea

In 2002, the Eritrean government extended its programme of compulsory national service to make it open-ended.

Instead of serving 18 months as the gov…

3 years, 6 months ago

A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time, the best-selling book written by the renowned theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking, was published in March 1988.

In thi…

3 years, 6 months ago

The first photo sent from a phone

On 11 June 1997, French software engineer Philippe Kahn shared the first ever photo from a mobile phone.

It was of his newborn daughter, Sophie.

He c…

3 years, 6 months ago

Godfather of manicures

In November 1975, Vietnamese Navy commander Minh Nguyen, left behind his macho military life and retrained as a manicurist. He migrated from Vietnam …

3 years, 6 months ago

How Bengaluru became India’s Silicon Valley

The city of Bengaluru in southern India, previously called Bangalore, is renowned for its huge technology companies and buzzy start-up culture.

But, …

3 years, 6 months ago

The windmill that revolutionised wind power

In 1978, with energy prices rocketing due to the oil crisis, a group of volunteers in Denmark took matters into their own hands and built a wind turb…

3 years, 6 months ago

Keiko: Freeing 'Free Willy'

In 1998, Keiko became the first ever killer whale to be released back into the wild after a life of captivity.

Keiko shot to fame as the star of the 1…

3 years, 6 months ago

The man who lived in an airport

In 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, from Iran, flew into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris intending to transfer onto a flight to London.

But he wasn’t …

3 years, 6 months ago

DDLJ: India’s longest running movie

In 1995, Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released to critical acclaim.

It premiered at the Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai. It's been…

3 years, 6 months ago