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© 2024 Since the World's been Turning
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This podcast series is a journey through history, one guided by the lyrics of Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire". Join us for an educational and fun exploration of the events, people, and inventions that helped to shape the modern world during the Cold War. These roughly half-hour episodes place a microscope on each of Billy Joel’s lyrics, discovering the rich detail that helps breathe life into the past. Narrated by Robin Harrison, each episode also features interviews with guest speakers, including experts in the field and friends and family of the people being discussed. Together, we’ll learn why Billy Joel wrote the lyrics he did and hopefully come to understand what he meant when he sang “We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning, since the world’s been turning.”
112 Episodes
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In this episode we’re looking at foreign debts in the 1980s, as we explore the economic system introduced by American President (and former B movie actor) Ronald Reagan. The 80s also saw a massive debt crisis in Latin America, where it’s known as La Decada Perdida or the Lost Decade. Money might seem like a dry topic compared to some of the many colorful events and personalities we’ve profiled on this podcast: but in the increasingly globalized world of the late 20th century, every...
Throughout modern history, there have been few things in popular culture as stigmatised as heavy metal music. Coated in all forms of macabre imagery and dealing with dark and provocative themes - metal has always sought to test the limits of what is socially acceptable. In this episode, we’ll be telling many tragic stories about people who’ve suffered the ultimate loss and wound up putting their grief into the wrong places. We’ll examine how this stigma affected heavy me...
In the early 1980s, more than a decade after the Moon Landing, America saw the stratospheric rise of Sally Ride, the third female astronaut and the first woman from the United States to go into space. Overnight, she became a national hero: but she never felt comfortable with her celebrity status. She also became a pioneer when it came to promoting science education, particularly for girls. Here with us to discuss Sally Ride is a very special guest, former NASA official from the Office of...
This time we’re focussing on one of the more seemingly innocuous inclusions in Billy Joel’s lyrics, the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. Thriving off a deceptive simplicity, and a healthy amount of audiences yelling at their TV screens, this spruced up version of Hangman was at one point the highest rated television show in all of syndication. However, the story of Wheel and its creator is far more complex than you might expect.
In this episode, we return to the Middle East and explore the country known as the Graveyard of Empires: Afghanistan. More than 30 years before America’s War on Terror began, Russian troops invaded the mountainous region and plunged the country into conflict. Joining us to talk about the Russian presence in Afghanistan is special guest, British military historian and author of over 60 books Anthony Tucker-Jones. He takes us through the background to, and the main events of the war –...
In this episode we’re back in the Middle East and one of the world’s most hotly-discussed countries – the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today, it’s often depicted in Western media as a closed and repressive society. But prior to the Revolution of 1979, Iran looked very different. We’re joined by a very special guest, Ervand Abrahamian, to discuss the downfall of the Shah, Iran’s last monarch, and the rise of the Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Ervand Abrahamian is widely regar...
In this episode, we’re returning to a time before restrictive airline security, where - if you had a ticket - you could stroll onto a plane carrying anything you wanted. The 1960s - 70s are known now as the golden age of airline hijacking. It was a time of political crime, of massive, subversive, system challenging actions. It was also a time of personal crime, borderline petty grievances elevated to extreme lengths. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this era is just how seemingly...
In this episode we’re returning to the Middle East and taking on a contentious and sad topic: the history of Palestine. We’re joined by a very special guest, the Israeli-born historian Ilan Pappe [Eelahn Pah-pay] who is a Professor of History and the director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. Prof Pappe shares his time between the UK and Israel. He’s also the author of a number of books including The Biggest Prison ...
This episode we’re tossing on our cowboy hats and riding horseback all the way from Sunset Boulevard to the White House. The first celebrity U S president, Ronald Wilson Reagan, marked a turning point in world history. From the aggressive deregulation of Reaganomics, to the massive consequences of his aggressive foreign policy, Reagan’s influence on the world is undeniable. Working as a Military Filmmaker, Movie Star, Labour Organiser, Governor, and the President of the Unit...
In this episode, we’re traveling back to the Middle East, and the birth of modern Israel. Key to the founding of the state of Israel in the 1940s was Menachem Begin – a soldier, a right-wing zealot and a Zionist.Joining us to discuss the controversial figure who was Menachem Begin is special guest Avi Shilon. Avi is a historian who specializes in Israel studies. His published works include Menachem Begin: A Life, published by Yale University Press, and a biography of Begin’s fellow Isra...
While it struggled for radio play, Punk managed to take over the world anyway. Digging its teeth into the pillars holding up “respectable society”, it leaked its way out of the world’s cultural centres to disenfranchised, embittered youth and gave them the tools to fight back. This is music as war, music as identity, music as freedom. So, Cheers to our hundredth episode - let’s talk about Punk. We have special guest Legs McNeil, co-author of the book Please Kill Me, which is inarguably ...
This time we’re doing something a little unconventional for us. The Watergate Scandal, even all these years on, is still a controversial issue; in the historical community, potentially more controversial than ever. So, we’re making two separate episodes hearing from guests with two different perspectives on the issue. We are joined by very special guest Geoff Shepard who was the youngest lawyer for Nixons White house staff . He has written three books on the topic of Watergate and g...
In this episode, we’re heading to the world’s most famous music festival, Woodstock. This pivotal moment in cultural history was held in the summer of 1969, and more than 50 years later it still has a mesmeric hold over our imaginations. At the time though, it was an unlikely success. With the help of special guest Joel Makower, we go behind the scenes. Joel is a journalist by training and the author of Woodstock: The Oral History, which is available in paper form and on audio...
In this episode we look into the epic story of how man got to the moon. Our guest is historian David Whitehouse, author of “Apollo 11: The Inside Story.” David is a former BBC science editor and Asteroid ‘4036 Whitehouse’ is named after him.
This episode, we’re telling the story of one of the most tumultuous events in contemporary American political history - the 1968 presidential election. Our guest for this episode it Dr Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Chapman University, California. His area of specialty is the Cold War, the modern presidency, and U.S. political and diplomatic history, from John F. Kennedy through Watergate. Dr Nichter’s latest book, The Year that Broke Politics, has just been released and is all ab...
We’re returning to South East Asia and the theme of colonialism, as we explore the story of Ho Chi Minh – the Communist leader who passed away before he could see the end of the Vietnam War. It’s difficult to cover Ho Chi Minh’s history in one episode, but to help us we’re joined by special guest Professor Tuong Vu, who gives us a snapshot of Ho Chi Minh’s life and activities. Tuong is a professor of political science at the University of Oregon and he has written extensively about...
In this episode we explore one of the most significant medical advances of the mid-20th century: hormonal birth control. The Pill is commonly associated with better family planning, and a rise in women going out to work, as well as the more relaxed attitude towards sexuality that became more prevalent in the swinging 1960s, and the hippy movement of the 70s. But which came first: the Pill itself, or the drive for social change? Our special guest, Lara [Fray] Friedenfelds, is a histo...
This episode, we’re examining one of the most hotly debated events in American history. Over the past fifty plus years, the assassination of President John F Kennedy, has become increasingly defined by the litany of conspiracy theories that have sprung up around it. The sheer and wide reaching tragedy of the event itself, has, for many, faded with age. And so we’ll attempt to turn the clock back to the 1960s, and try to recapture how this was felt at the time, by the Kennedys, by ...
In this episode we take a look at one of the juiciest scandals of the mid-20th century: the Profumo affair. It’s the media circus that ushered in the swinging 60s: and it’s got everything – English politicians, Cold War spies, wild parties, young showgirls and even a high society osteopath.We’re joined by special guest Stephen Dorrill, who talks us through the colorful characters and events of the time. Stephen is the co-author of Honeytrap: The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward, and a...
This episode we’re looking at the life and work of one of America’s most polarising political and religious figures, Malcolm X. Also known as Malcolm Little, and el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, Malcolm X was a prominent voice in Black empowerment and served as a more provocative and anti-establishment counterpart to Civil Rights Leaders such as Martin Luther King.
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