Unemployment, benefit cuts, the rise of facism, royal mishaps and lack of quality housing...No it's not present day Britain, but the era of the Great Depression, the 1930's. In a truly hodgepodge episode, we pick out some of the things around the decade that piqued our interest. So come and learn about how history truly seems to be repeat itself.
Bienvenue les amis and welcome to an episode all about one of the greatest catastrophes in France's history. The decimation and near extinction of its wine industry. All caused by a tiny visitor from the new world wreaking havoc. Makes a change form the usual...Come and learn how this crisis was averted and European wine was left forever changed.
Back in the 1930's three upper class blokes got together to start the first big social history project in Britain. The fruit of their work was Mass Observation, a project that gathered the real thoughts and opinions of ordinary working people on everything from the public to the very private... Hear the exciting story.
The firs English colony in North America ended in a mystery that has entranced people for centuries. Colony leader John White left and returned three years later to find no trace of hundreds of people, including his own daughter. We trace the brief history of the colony's from it's early beginnings to its slightly mysterious end...
One of the most controversial social psychological experiments ever, Milgram's Obedience tests shocked the real world for its results, and the psychological world for his methods. Find out what they were, their impact and also who the people were behind them.
Sex, politics, Russians, dodgy police. This story has it all. Tory sex scandals may not be an eyebrow raiser anymore, but here's where it all began. This is the affair that rocked the British political establishment and gave birth to the media lust for saucy stories. Find out all about this crazy cast of characters featuring a socialite osteopath, a cabaret star and a horny Tory MP among others.
How about a nice cup of Rosy Lee, cha, builders or just a plain brew? Tea is one of the mos popular drinks in the world, the second as it stands, but how much do we know about where its from? How its made? Or even what the right amount of milk (if any) we should pop in it. Join us as a we take a brief tour from its origin to the modern day, that takes us to China, India and back to Blighty.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a silver beach ball with extensions. It's Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite, launched by the USSR on October 4th 1957 to the shocked, amazed and terrified world. Come here the story of how it was made possible, fuelled by a fierce intellectual rivalry between a charismatic ex-Nazi and a former enemy of the Russian state, turned hero.
We tend to think of serial killers as a modern thing and indeed the term is very recent (in the grand scheme of things!) but what about before we knew the term? Were there serial killers roaming the streets of...well Rome? Was saucy Jack just copying some French nobles and claiming to be original? Join us as we look at some of the worlds "first" serial killers from the ancient world to the middle ages.
Although they've been gone over 700 years, the Knights Templar fascinate and inspire many across the globe. We take a look at the real organisation, how they began, what they got up to and their grisly downfall. Sadly the real story is less mysterious and magical as popular legends suggest, but if you love prayer and horses, you're in for a treat!
Where would the world be without the trusty post? The medium of many a crank, soppy poet and aggressive coupon chancers everywhere. We take a look at one of the longest running public mail systems, a national institution (quite literally), that enabled communications far and wide across Britain and beyond for half a century. It wasn't quite the world's first public system, but had some notable firsts including the postmark and the stamp. Not too shabby.
Wotcha saveloy? Were going to get a bit Piccadilly today aren't as we delve into the wondrous world of cockney, the people and the slang, so hold on your Alan Wickers for the Harry Lime of your fork and knife. Translation: Cockney history fun.
Life for women in the 19th century was hard, really hard. As a married woman you basically didn't exist, everything that was yours, was actually your husbands, even your kids. Then along came Caroline Norton, a strong minded, intelligent author who challenged the laws of her day after suffering at them first hand. Hear her story and how she helped champion the first pieces of feminist legislation in the UK.
Come discover the birth of Great Britain and learn about the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England, which the Scottish totally, honestly, wanted... and launched one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen.
The wonderful succulent world of fruit awaits. We've been scoffing it for centuries, but how did the fruit we all come to know and admire from afar on our kitchen tables (or tv's in some cases...) get there in the first place. So prepare to go bananas and enjoy an appealing bunch of juicy facts.
When we think of great Prime Ministers, Lord North is probably close to the bottom of the list. A corpulent and charismatic figure, he led the British Government during the war of American Independence, a staggering defeat that finally knocked him out of office after 12 years in power (and after attempting to resign several times before he finally managed to...). Learn about the man and his motivations and whether history was right to be less than kind to his legacy.
Ancient, pointy, symmetrically impressive, no this is not Keith Richards, but the Pyramids. Engineering marvels from one of the oldest and greatest nations to exist. Find out how, why and who built this majestic tombs in the episode, but honestly the short version is, if you want something built to last and built right, call an Ancient Egyptian.
Is it "fantastic?" A truly 21st century invention, although actually, plastics go back centuries and most modern plastics were actually discovered in the 19th century...however it certainly embodies the sprit of capitalist consumerism. From our soda bottles, to our clothes, plastic is everywhere, and has made our society possible. Find out the fascinating history of how it went from wonder material to villainous turtle killer (which is ironic in a way....)
The story of Enron is one of greed, corruption, incompetence and toxicity, all the hallmarks of a successful American enterprise. One of the biggest financial scandals in business history kicked off the 21st century. Once described as "the smartest guys in the room", admittedly by themselves, the big brains at Enron did at least change the course of history, by showing us all how a business should never, ever be run.
The Great War has ended, thousands of citizens from across the colonies have answered the call of the Empire, but now the dust has settled, the troops are home, they are no longer welcome. Despite also existing as communities for centuries in Britain, Black and Arab people found themselves the target of racial violence and were told to "go home", as tempers flared ostensibly over jobs. Race riots that were never thought possible on Britain's shores, became a reality, erupting in major cities, including Cardiff and Liverpool.