Podcast Episodes

Freeing American prisoners from Iran

How a former prisoner in Iran fought to free her friends, a 200-year-old Antarctic mystery, eradicating small pox, the first mobile phone and rebel …

5 years, 10 months ago

Saving Antarctica

In October 1991, an international protocol to protect the world’s last wilderness, Antarctica, from commercial exploitation was agreed at a summit in…

5 years, 10 months ago

The publication of Harry Potter

A look back at some of the most influential books of modern times, including an interview with the publisher who first spotted Harry Potter's potenti…

5 years, 10 months ago

London's first black policeman

The prejudice faced by London's first black policeman, how a new sign language emerged in 1980s Nicaragua, the Native American casino boom, plus the …

5 years, 11 months ago

The early days of the European Union

The hurried signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 which led to greater European unity, plus 1992 - when the British royal family started to reform it…

5 years, 11 months ago

The mystery of the disappearing frogs

This week we're looking at extinction. The deadly fungus that's killing amphibians, the story of the Dodo, plus why discovering that whales 'sing' he…

5 years, 11 months ago

Storming the Stasi HQ

The fall of East Germany's secret police; racism, injustice and a child execution in the US, plus the killing of Osama Bin Laden; the woman who negot…

5 years, 11 months ago

The Computers for Schools revolution

In 2009, Uruguay became the first country in the world to give a laptop computer to every child in state primary schools. We hear from the man whose …

6 years ago

The book that warned of an end to civilisation

In 1972 a book which outlined the possible future of the world became a best-seller. 'The Limits to Growth' was based on computer modelling which sug…

6 years ago

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

On 24th December 1979 Soviet troops poured into Afghanistan in support of an anti-government coup. The Soviet occupation would last for nine years.

P…

6 years ago