Archive on 4

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

Radio 4,699 episodes

Episodes

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A People's History of Gaza
Gaza's history, from the 1940s to the 2010s, told through the memories of ordinary people
18 Oct 2025,57 mins
War & Peace: The UN at 80
At 80, does the peacekeeping organisation still have a role to play?
11 Oct 2025,57 mins
One Last Chance to See
Katherine Rundell rediscovers Douglas Adams' epic journeys in search of threatened species
04 Oct 2025,57 mins
Nine Votes that Count
Mark Damazer puts the US Supreme Court under the microscope.
13 Sep 2025,57 mins
Pauline Cutting: Surgery Under Siege
Saleyha Ahsan tells the story of the woman who inspired her career and life.
06 Sep 2025,57 mins
Freud v Klein: The Battle For Our Children's Minds
Tanya Byron explores how two remarkable women transformed the way we understand children.
30 Aug 2025,57 mins
Outrage Inc
PR guru Mark Borkowski on the part stunts have played in the history of direct action.
23 Aug 2025,57 mins,
Damage and Repair
Hilary Ineomo-Marcus hears powerful stories of restorative justice in the UK.
16 Aug 2025,57 mins
Exposing Hiroshima
The forgotten story of the first Western journalist to report on the Hiroshima atom bomb.
02 Aug 2025,57 mins
Pétain on Trial: From Hero to Traitor
Allan Little explores the legacy of the trial that divided and shook France to its core.
26 Jul 2025,57 mins
Time, Paper, Bone
The story of anti-apartheid activist James Booi's disappearance and reburial.
19 Jul 2025,57 mins
100 Years of Mein Kampf
John Kampfner read the world’s most notorious book so you don’t have to.
05 Jul 2025,57 mins,
Simpson's Dictators
John Simpson looks back at the dictators he's met: the mad, the malign and the meek.
28 Jun 2025,57 mins
We Were the Mods
Pete Townshend and Phil Daniels look back on Quadrophenia with their modern-day mirrors.
21 Jun 2025,57 mins,
Here We Go! The Art of the Football Chant
Les Back charts the history of football chants and asks if they’re modern-day folk songs.
14 Jun 2025,57 mins,
Into the Sharkiverse
Jon Harvey celebrates 50 years of Jaws with a hilarious history of shark fiction.
07 Jun 2025,57 mins
The Braveheart Effect
Susan Morrison takes a cynical swipe at the most successful film about Scotland ever made.
24 May 2025,57 mins
Philadelphia's Forgotten Bomb
Why did the Philadelphia police drop a bomb on an occupied house in 1985?
10 May 2025,57 mins,
Against the Current: The Great Gatsby at 100
Sarah Churchwell marks the centenary of F Scott Fitzerald’s The Great Gatsby.
26 Apr 2025,57 mins
Masters of the Impossible
Richard Wiseman explores the strange world of mind magic and the life of David Berglas.
19 Apr 2025,57 mins
Kenneth Williams: Said the Actor to the Bishop
Kenneth Williams recorded excerpts from the Bible. They've not been broadcast until now.
12 Apr 2025,57 mins
Nato: Then, Now, Now What?
Michael Goldfarb looks back at 75 years of Nato's collective defence.
05 Apr 2025,57 mins
A Child of Rover
Nathalie Olah revisits the story of Britain's leading volume car producer.
29 Mar 2025,57 mins
Section 28: Right to be Gay
Michael Cashman tells the story behind the culture war over sex education.
22 Mar 2025,57 mins
No Blacks No Irish
A personal ear-popping history of Irish and Caribbean people through culture and society.
01 Mar 2025,57 mins,
Trouble Staying Still: ADHD's Identity Crisis
Sally Marlow reveals the changing faces of ADHD and why it remains so contentious.
22 Feb 2025,57 mins
A Brief History of Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy - what is it good for? And who is it good for?
25 Jan 2025,57 mins
Ronald v Donald
Phil Tinline asks what Ronald Reagan's re-election can tell us about a second Trump term.
18 Jan 2025,57 mins
Do You Speak English?
How the BBC taught the world English through radio and television
11 Jan 2025,57 mins
Upon the Education of the People
Sathnam Sanghera explores social and emotional after-effects of the 1944 Education Act.
04 Jan 2025,57 mins