Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe man who invented the Pill
In 1951, in a lab in Mexico City, Austrian chemist Dr Carl Djerassi created a synthetic hormone from wild yams. It would go on to become the Pill's a…
3 years, 7 months ago
When Tunisia led on women's rights
In 1956, Tunisia became the first country in the Muslim world to legalise civil divorce and abortion. President Bourguiba also gave women the vote an…
3 years, 7 months ago
Poland's strict abortion law
In 1993 Poland introduced some of the most stringent abortion laws in Europe. It followed the fall of Communism in 1989. Ewa Kowaleska was among thos…
3 years, 7 months ago
How abortion was legalised in Great Britain
In the 1960s, a young mother, Diane Munday became well-known in Britain for her work demanding abortion rights for women. She and others in the campa…
3 years, 7 months ago
The US’s first gay election candidate
In 1961 the first openly gay person ran for public office in the United States. He was called Jose Sarria and he was a drag queen. He was determined …
3 years, 7 months ago
How the smear test was invented
In 1928 Dr George Papanicoloau, a Greek immigrant living in New York, discovered he could detect pre-cancerous cell changes in the cervix. This led t…
3 years, 7 months ago
Escaping Nigeria’s Civil War
The south-east region of Nigeria declared itself to be the independent state of Biafra. In response, Nigerian forces invaded the state on 6 July 1967…
3 years, 8 months ago
Japanese university student riots
In 1968 and early 1969 university students across Japan fought pitched battles with riot police after they barricaded themselves into their lecture h…
3 years, 8 months ago
The Higgs Boson: A scientific discovery that explains how the universe works
It is 10 years since scientists in Geneva said they believed they had found the Higgs boson - known by some as the God particle. In July 2012 after m…
3 years, 8 months ago
Hong Kong: Abandoned children
In the 1950s and '60s hundreds of thousands of Chinese people fled to the British colony of Hong Kong to escape famine. Conditions for the arrivals w…
3 years, 8 months ago