In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram tested how far ordinary Americans would go when an authority figure told them to hurt someone. His disturbing experiment revealed the power of obedience and…
Charles Dickens made the Victorian workhouse famous, but the reality behind Oliver Twist was even worse than fiction. This episode tells how workhouses treated Britain’s poorest people, and how…
He wears a red hat, carries a stick, and laughs as he beats almost everyone he meets. This episode tells the odd, violent story of Punch and Judy, the puppet show that began in Italy and became a…
In 1788, King George III began speaking without pause, talking to trees, and frightening his court. He is often remembered as the “Mad King” who lost America, but his life was far more complex and…
A million years ago, in a cave in South Africa, our ancestors did something no other animal has ever done: they controlled fire. Fire cooked our food, shrank our guts, grew our brains, and gave us the…
In 1881, a 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona made Wyatt Earp a legend of the Wild West. Earp was a gambler, a lawman, a fugitive, and later a showman who told his own legend for cash. So who…
In 1975, a French mercenary landed in the Comoros, a chain of small islands off East Africa, and decided he was going to run the place. Bob Denard staged four coups, converted to Islam, built a farm,…
How did a small band of Norman soldiers in 1170 begin 800 years of English control over Ireland? It started as a deal between rival Irish kings. It ended in plantation, dispossession, and a divided…
Who should decide if you are guilty: the state, or a group of 12 ordinary citizens? England is now considering getting rid of jury trials for thousands of cases. It would be the biggest change to the…
When Thomas Aikenhead was hanged in 1697 for questioning the Bible, it was the last time someone was executed for blasphemy in Britain. But it didn't mean that debates around blasphemy went away. In…
