Podcasts

Nagasaki: Friendly Fire

Warning: The events recounted in this episode may be distressing to some listeners

At 11.02 am on August 9 1945, America dropped the world's...

Samuel Pepys

The great diarist Samuel Pepys was an avid collector of books, news and gossip, and reading was a major part of his life and the lives of his...

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb

On August 6 and 9, 1945, US B-29 bombers, dropped their nuclear bombs on the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands...

Ancient Americas: Debunking The Maya Apocalypse

One of the most famous, and sophisticated, cultures of Mesoamerica, why are the Maya known only for predicting the end of the world?

In the...

Transistors & Telecommunication Satellites: Bell Labs

The transistor; solar panels; the first telecommunications satellite; cell phone networks; UNIX code; information theory. All these and more were...

A History of Britain in 50 Documents

How do you go about finding your way around the history of a nation and a national identity? For the barrister and author Dominic Selwood,...

Abortion in the UK

As the right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy is challenged on the other side of the Atlantic, today Betwixt the Sheets we are looking...

Hiroshima: A Survivor's Story

Warning: The events recounted in this episode may be distressing to some listeners

Keiko Ogura was just eight years old on August 6 1945...

Anne Frank's Step Sister: 'How I Survived the Holocaust' Part 2

2/2. Eva Schloss remembers her days as a girl in Amsterdam playing in the street with the other children including Anne Frank who, for a time,...

Hannibal vs Rome: Hannibal's Greatest Victory

One of the most studied military victories in history, and arguably one of the worst Roman defeats - what went wrong for the Romans at...

Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army

The New Model Army was one of the most formidable fighting forces ever assembled. It played a crucial role in overthrowing King Charles I,...

Anne Frank's Step Sister: 'How I Survived the Holocaust' Part 1

1/2. On the morning of the 4th of August 1944, exactly 78 years ago today, the Frank family cowered behind a bookshelf in Amsterdam, listening to...