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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 Communications, Alan Ladwig. Alan worked with Sally on numerous occasions at NASA, in the private sector, and in the academic world.
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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.
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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 – and how the conflict helped both to end the Cold War and led to the growth of militant Islam in the Middle East.
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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 regarded as a leading historian of modern Iran, and he’s lectured at the City University of New York for 40 years.
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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 insignificant the causes of some of these hijackings actually were.
We’ll receive some help telling this story from our guest, author and journalist Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking.
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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 on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories and The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which challenge some conventional Israeli narratives about Israel and Palestine.
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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 United States, Reagan’s career is an erratic one, full of all sorts of strange pivots and turns - including a walk across the aisle. A man of contradictions and controversy, revered and hated in equal measure - this is the story of Ronald Reagan.
Were joined by special guest Dr Ross Baker, distinguished professor of Political Science at Rutgers University New Jersey -
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 Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.
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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 the book on Punk Rock -
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 gives a different perspective to how the history remembers the scandal.
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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 audiobook, through Audible.
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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 about the 1968 presidential election.R
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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 political movements in Vietnam, including the Communist revolution.
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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 historian of reproduction, health and parenting in America, and she joins us to discuss the development and the impact of The Pill.
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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 America and by the world at large.
Our guest on this episode is Phillip Shenon, author of “A Cruel and Shocking Act: The True History of the Kennedy Assassination.” Phillip was also a reporter at the New York Times for more than twenty years, where he provided extensive political coverage of affairs in the heart of Washington. -
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 recently retired lecturer and honorary research fellow at the University of Leicester.
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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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In this episode, we’re telling the story of one of Catholicism's least remembered, yet most relevant, figures of the 20th century.
Pope Paul VI, who was born Giovanni Montini, arguably changed the relationship Lay-Catholics have with Church Leadership forever, with his determination to uphold traditional Church teachings on Birth Control. Yet Pope Paul’s career and legacy cannot be boiled down to just this one decision, however impactful. A multifaceted and complex figure, Pope Paul made a variety of socially progressive changes and thoroughly helped bring the Catholic Church into the 20th century.
Our special guest for this episode is Michele Dillon a professor of Sociology and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire.
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This episode, we go back to the ring and explore the tumultuous and complex world of American Professional Boxing in the 1960s.
Sonny Liston’s challenge of Floyd Patterson, is one of the most high profile, vicious, and tragic stories in the history of boxing. With tendrils extending out into organised crime, and even the oval office, it proves that sport can be as political as anything else, and that behind any important game, there’s a great story to be told.
So enter the ring with us, as we navigate just what happened when Sonny Liston beat Floyd Patterson.
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