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The Permian Extinction: When Life Nearly Died
Episode 584
It was the biggest mass extinction event in Earth’s history. 250 million years ago, a 252 million years ago, Earth faced its deadliest crisis. 97% of…
11 months, 2 weeks ago
541 AD: The Worst Year in History
Episode 583
Was this the worst year in human history? Bubonic plague sweeps across the Mediterranean. The sun vanishes behind volcanic ash. Crops fail, famine bi…
11 months, 2 weeks ago
Fall of the Sumerians
Episode 582
Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of th…
11 months, 3 weeks ago
The Minoan Eruption: Bronze Age Cataclysm
Episode 581
More than 3,500 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption devastated Thera - modern day Santorini - engulfing the Bronze Age world in ash and fire. Enti…
11 months, 3 weeks ago
How Greece Shaped Rome with Mary Beard
Episode 580
Professor Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins join Tristan in this episode all about Greece and Rome - the two greatest civilisations of classical antiq…
11 months, 4 weeks ago
The Sumerians
Episode 579
More than 5,000 years ago, in what is today southern Iraq, one of the world’s first civilisations emerged. A civilisation often credited with the inv…
1 year ago
The Sea Peoples
Episode 578
Tristan Hughes sits down with Professor Eric Cline to explore the enigmatic Sea Peoples, often blamed for the catastrophic Bronze Age collapse over 3…
1 year ago
Origins of Homo Sapiens
Episode 577
Where do we come from? The origins of modern humans stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, and new discoveries are reshaping how we understand …
1 year ago
Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria
Episode 576
Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a sch…
1 year ago
The White Huns
Episode 575
The Huns weren’t just Attila’s warriors in Europe — in Central Asia, the White Huns built the most powerful Hunnic empire, ruling for a century and d…
1 year ago