The Forum Podcast
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.
Episodes to download
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Ice cream: A cool history
Thu 16 Jun 2022
How snow and ice were transformed into one of the world鈥檚 most popular desserts
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The Popol Vuh: Central American epic that survived Spanish conquest
Thu 9 Jun 2022
One of the most mind-bending mythological sagas ever written
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The Koryo Kingdom: Medieval dynasty that united Korea
Thu 2 Jun 2022
Progressive, pluralistic and united 鈥� the remarkable era of the Koryo Kingdom
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Insulin: The discovery that transformed diabetic care
Thu 26 May 2022
Tracing the discovery of a hormone that has helped millions manage diabetes
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Vikings and their quest for silver
Thu 12 May 2022
How Viking trade and raids transformed medieval economy and society
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Fertiliser and poison gas: The legacy of chemist Fritz Haber
Thu 5 May 2022
The scientist who helped feed billions, and unleashed a new kind of death
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Emperor Nero: Bad boy of Ancient Rome
Thu 28 Apr 2022
Historical accounts of the notorious Roman emperor skew our interpretation of his legacy
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Mirror Mirror on the wall: The history of the looking glass
Thu 21 Apr 2022
The magical role of the mirror that's revealing ground-breaking secrets of the universe
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Kwame Nkrumah: Ghana鈥檚 Pan-African idealist
Thu 14 Apr 2022
Assessing the complex legacy of a man who campaigned for a United States of Africa
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The Truman Doctrine: Beginnings of the Cold War
Thu 7 Apr 2022
The speech that committed the USA to a 40-year struggle with the Soviet Union
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Margaret Fuller: Early feminist and war correspondent
Thu 31 Mar 2022
A brilliant American journalist determined to live her life to the full
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Money: From coin to cryptocurrency
Sun 20 Mar 2022
The origins of coins, paper money, shares and other financial instruments
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Pinocchio: The real story of the mischievous wooden puppet
Thu 17 Mar 2022
The original Italian novel about the wooden puppet with the growing nose
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Vincent van Gogh: The struggling artist
Thu 3 Mar 2022
Charting the highs and lows of the influential Dutch post-Impressionist painter
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Franz Liszt: Hungarian pianist and painter in sound
Thu 24 Feb 2022
A charismatic musician who transformed classical concerts
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Joseph Heller's Catch-22: A novel of twisted logic and absurd bureaucracy
Thu 17 Feb 2022
Bridget Kendall explores a novel that gave rise to a new term in the English language
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Sofya Kovalevskaya: The eventful life of a maths pioneer
Thu 10 Feb 2022
A brilliant Russian whose scientific discoveries helped to reshape European universities
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Pleasure and pain: The philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
Thu 27 Jan 2022
The radical ideas of the 18th-century legal reformer Jeremy Bentham
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Copper: From mining to microprocessors
Thu 20 Jan 2022
The shiny red metal our lives depend on that has powered human development
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Writer Agatha Christie: Murder and mystery
Thu 13 Jan 2022
How the queen of crime achieved her extraordinary success
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Boudica, warrior queen
Thu 6 Jan 2022
The Iron Age English warrior queen who led a rebellion against the Romans
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Harry Houdini: Escape artist and showman
Thu 30 Dec 2021
Pulling back the curtain on the master of illusion
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Antarctic Treaty: Protecting the icy continent
Thu 23 Dec 2021
Safeguarding peace and wilderness with the Antarctic Treaty
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Don Quixote: Spanish masterpiece
Thu 16 Dec 2021
The multi-layered masterpiece by Miguel de Cervantes
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The original Goths
Thu 2 Dec 2021
How did a Germanic tribe come to inspire an architectural style and a global subculture?
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Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece
Thu 25 Nov 2021
An intrepid sea captain who commanded daring naval attacks with her own fleet of ships
Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?
We鈥檇 love to hear your views on charm and charisma for a future Forum.
