The Forum Podcast
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.
Episodes to download
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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
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Mary Somerville: The queen of 19th-Century science
Thu 18 Nov 2021
The 19th-Century polymath who popularised science for generations of readers
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The Devils: Dostoevsky鈥檚 novel of political evil
Thu 4 Nov 2021
Dostoevsky鈥檚 study of terrorism and poisoned ideals in pre-revolutionary Russia
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A focus on spectacles
Thu 28 Oct 2021
Looking at the history of an invention many of us take for granted
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Sarah Bernhardt: Queen of stage and screen
Thu 21 Oct 2021
The 19th Century French actress who defined modern celebrity
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A dirty history of diamonds
Thu 14 Oct 2021
The complex and sometimes shocking story of the diamond industry throughout history
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Sushi: The Japanese dish with an ancient tradition
Thu 30 Sep 2021
Sushi originally started in East Asia as a means of preserving fish
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Toni Morrison: The legacy of a literary legend
Thu 23 Sep 2021
How her influence as a writer extends across the globe
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Algorithms: From the ancients to the internet
Thu 16 Sep 2021
The 4,000-year history of the mathematical operations that now govern our daily lives.
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Louder! How the electric guitar conquered popular music
Thu 9 Sep 2021
The origins and early years of making the guitar electric
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Luigi Pirandello: Italian dramatist who brought chaos to the stage
Thu 2 Sep 2021
The radical, convention-breaking plays of an architect of modern 20th century theatre
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Mars: A history of the Red Planet
Thu 26 Aug 2021
When might we send humans to one of our closest neighbours in our solar system?
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A radiant light: The Indonesian poet Amir Hamzah
Thu 19 Aug 2021
The romantic works and tragic life of a noble writer from Sumatra
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Sailing by the stars: The pioneering voyages of David Lewis
Thu 12 Aug 2021
One man's intrepid quest to revive ancient navigation
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Inside the mind of crime writer Patricia Highsmith
Thu 5 Aug 2021
A 20th century master of the psychological thriller
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Ibn Sina: The Persian polymath
Mon 2 Aug 2021
Best known for his Canon of Medicine, Avicenna helped shape modern science
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The Panama Canal: The real story behind the engineering triumph
Thu 29 Jul 2021
The Canal that joined up the Atlantic and Pacific oceans but how did it impact Panama?
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Ida Pfeiffer: 19th Century globetrotter
Thu 22 Jul 2021
The eccentric traveller and collector who circumnavigated the globe twice
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Rain or shine? A short history of the weather forecast
Thu 15 Jul 2021
A century and a half of scientific meteorology
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Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone
Thu 8 Jul 2021
How mass-produced audio discs transformed our sound world
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The Wizard of Oz: A homegrown American fairy tale
Thu 24 Jun 2021
The magical story of Dorothy, a plucky American heroine who follows the yellow brick road
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Falconry: The history of hunting with birds of prey
Thu 17 Jun 2021
From nomads to nobles, the working relationship between humans and raptors
What鈥檚 your favourite movie theatre?
We鈥檇 love to know what a particular cinema building means for you and why.
