The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.
World Service,·763 episodes
Charting the seismic transformation of our lives caused by mobile communications
22 Apr 2023,·48 mins
The politics, power and engineering behind monumental dams
23 Mar 2023,·39 mins
One of the world’s most astonishing military leaders, but was he brilliant or brutal?
16 Mar 2023,·39 mins
Why rituals and ceremonies enthral us and endure through the ages
09 Mar 2023,·48 mins
The story of Brazil’s counter-cultural push of the late 1960s
02 Mar 2023,·42 mins
How standardising the humble shipping container revolutionised world trade
23 Feb 2023,·39 mins
Recent scientific breakthroughs have overturned received wisdom about our ancient cousins
16 Feb 2023,·39 mins
Little-known conflict that shaped Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the First World War
09 Feb 2023,·39 mins
The concept of the office is being reimagined. What can we learn from its history?
02 Feb 2023,·39 mins
Hungary, 1946, where prices doubled every 15 hours
26 Jan 2023,·43 mins
How Silent Spring, a book about DDT use, changed the way we think about the environment
19 Jan 2023,·39 mins
How this unnatural cycle came to organise our lives
12 Jan 2023,·45 mins
How the courage and audacity of an Iranian writer continues to inspire
05 Jan 2023,·39 mins
Itinerant philosophers who advocated leading radically simplified lives.
29 Dec 2022,·39 mins
The invisible force that shapes the way we feed ourselves
22 Dec 2022,·43 mins
History of Belarus from the Middle Ages to Lukashenka
15 Dec 2022,·39 mins
The controversial campaigner who founded Planned Parenthood and helped develop the pill
08 Dec 2022,·39 mins
The pioneer of early cinema who was overlooked by history
01 Dec 2022,·39 mins
One of the oldest works of literature can speak to us even today
24 Nov 2022,·39 mins
How FIFA's global sporting spectacle began
17 Nov 2022,·43 mins
The much maligned moth – pest or saviour?
10 Nov 2022,·39 mins
One of the earliest examples of globalisation, and why it came crashing down
03 Nov 2022,·41 mins
Exploring the past, present and future of opinion polling
27 Oct 2022,·39 mins
The 16th century Ottoman sultan who shaped a vast empire across three continents
20 Oct 2022,·39 mins
Why 1950s Rome was the birthplace of the paparazzi
13 Oct 2022,·39 mins
William Cobbett: Industrialization and its impact on England’s rural population
06 Oct 2022,·39 mins
Understanding the star that makes all life on Earth possible
29 Sep 2022,·39 mins
The first person to link CO2 with global warming, and why she vanished from history
22 Sep 2022,·39 mins
How our sleeping visions have wielded great influence throughout history.
15 Sep 2022,·39 mins
Bridget Kendall and guests on the glamorous world of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent
08 Sep 2022,·39 mins
