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Prehistoric cave art: everything you want to know
Episode 1574
The palaeolithic period stretches across a vast period of space and time, but if there’s one thing that really brings the prehistoric era to life for us today, it’s cave art. Professor Paul Pettitt a…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
"A secret Nazi plot to kill the ‘Big Three’
Episode 1573
What would have happened if Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt had all been assassinated at the height of World War Two? Speaking with Elinor Evans, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Wild places & wild people: a short history of common land
Episode 1572
Common land – land which wasn’t settled or farmed – used to exist right across Britain, and provided a vital shared resource for local communities. However, it was also seen by some as a wild place f…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
The forgotten years that forged Wales
Episode 1571
In Welsh history, the period that lies between the medieval era of resistance to English occupation, and the rapid industrialisation of the 18th and 19th centuries, is often forgotten. Yet, there was…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
How six women programmed the world’s first modern computer
Episode 1570
During the Second World War, six talented mathematicians were brought together to make history. These women had one mission: to program the world’s first and only supercomputer. Speaking with Rachel …
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Tattoos: a 5,000 year history
Episode 1569
Throughout history, people have got tattooed for a huge range of reasons, whether religious devotion, artistic expression, or to demonstrate cultural belonging – or cultural difference. Dr Matt Lodde…
Published on 2 years, 11 months ago
Railway history: everything you wanted to know
Episode 1568
What was it like to travel on the earliest trains, before open carriages, and even toilets? When was the first rail accident? And how did railways transform nations and continents? Christian Wolmar a…
Published on 2 years, 11 months ago
Forgotten histories of the Holocaust
Episode 1567
According to historian Dan Stone, popular understanding of the Holocaust, in all of its horror and complexity, is often incomplete or fractured. Speaking with Matt Elton, Dan explores some of the ove…
Published on 2 years, 11 months ago
An audacious kidnapping in 1970s Paris
Episode 1566
On 23 January 1978, Baron Édouard-Jean Empain was snatched from the streets of Paris, in an audacious kidnapping attempt. Before long, a ransom of 80 million francs was demanded. And to show they mea…
Published on 2 years, 11 months ago
Blood, sweat & marble: examining ancient bodies
Episode 1565
Imagine an ancient Greek or Roman body, and the first picture that pops into your head is probably made of marble or stone – perhaps an austere bust, or a gleaming, musclebound sculpture, polished, c…
Published on 2 years, 11 months ago