History

Welcome Money
Journalist Malcolm Jack tells a little-known story from the fall of the Berlin Wall.
04 Nov 2019,28 mins
Junior Historians
Dunrossness Primary and the Braer Oil Disaster
Pupils from around Scotland delve into local history and produce their own documentary.
12 Nov 2019,28 mins
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Reading between the Lines
Beyond the Reading Wars
Michael Morpurgo how the contemporary debate has been informed by past teaching methods.
29 May 2012,28 mins
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The Lost Women of British Jazz
Shining a light on the earliest female jazz pioneers, who were erased from music history.
16 Sep 2014,30 mins
The Stasi Jigsaw Puzzle
Chris Bowlby tells the story of the attempt to rescue East Germany's Stasi secret files.
14 Sep 2012,30 mins
A Slick of Red Lippie
Cathy Macdonald explores the history and glamour of red lipstick.
14 Feb 2017,28 mins
Silk
Episode 2
Steph discovers how silk's global spread has driven industrial and technological change.
30 Oct 2013,28 mins
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Two Thousand Years of Puzzling
Series 1
On the Grid
Chris Maslanka traces the history of mankind's seemingly insatiable delight in puzzles.
26 Jan 2018,12 mins
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I Was There
I Was There ... When Radio Wales Began
In celebration of Radio Wales' 40th anniversary Chris Stuart reunites its first presenters
13 Nov 2018,28 mins
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The Tudor Tarantino
Dominic Arkwright charts the life of Thomas Middleton, the bad boy of Renaissance drama
11 May 2010,30 mins
The Art of Walking into Doors
Do dyslexia and dyspraxia affect the way you draw? Chris Ledgard investigates.
28 Sep 2015,30 mins
The Remarkable Resistance of Lilo
Lilo and her husband Erich Gloeden hid Jews from the Nazis in wartime Berlin
26 Jan 2020,28 mins
Wittgenstein's Jet
A jet engine built by Ludwig Wittgenstein in Manchester is investigated by Cassie Newland.
02 Jan 2015,30 mins
A Call from Joybubbles
How phone phreaking teenagers hacked the USA's phone system.
13 Mar 2017,30 mins
Shadow of War - A Tainted Anatomy
Why is the brain of a Scottish soldier in a German archive, 80 years after his death?
21 Jan 2025,42 mins
Taking Art To The People
Michael Symmons Roberts on the life and legacy of the philanthropist Thomas Horsfall.
02 Nov 2015,30 mins
Edinburgh 70: Nothing Short of a Miracle
Jim Naughtie reflects on the origins of the Edinburgh Festival.
05 Aug 2017,26 mins
My Family’s Fight For Civil Rights
Oona King discovers her family's role in the fight for equality for African Americans.
02 Jul 2014,30 mins
Forbidden Families
Anne Askew
Tudor housewife Anne Askew's conversion to Protestantism tore her family apart.
13 Aug 2008,30 mins
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Kitch!
Musician and poet Anthony Joseph tries to get to the heart of Calypso star Lord Kitchener
13 Jan 2015,30 mins
Boundaries of Blood
How does the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, which created Bangladesh, still resonate today?
13 Dec 2011,40 mins
Brand Cuba
Allan Little analyses some of the factors that have given Cuba such a prominent image.
30 Dec 2008,40 mins
A Man's a Man for a' That: Frederick Douglass in Scotland
Opera singer Andrea Baker explores the impact of Frederick Douglass' time in Scotland.
25 Oct 2015,30 mins
The Raising of Coventry
Telling the story of the bombing of Coventry 80 years ago on November 14th, 1940.
16 Nov 2020,28 mins
Good King George
Simon Heffer re-evaluates the reign of George V.
14 Apr 2010,30 mins
Donald Duck Gets Drafted
Gerald Scarfe explores the Walt Disney Studio's activity during the Second World War.
02 Sep 2015,30 mins
The Manchester Ballads
Folk singer Eliza Carthy discovers Manchester's 19th-century broadside ballads.
05 Oct 2015,30 mins
The Frock and the Church
Women bishops? Will the Church of England approve them and can it cope with the fallout?
01 Jul 2012,28 mins
A History of the World Special
The story of the portrait of a private soldier's sweetheart, painted for him in Auschwitz.
18 May 2011,30 mins
Gift Of The Gods
Beekeeper Martha Kearney explores the importance of honey in antiquity.
27 Jan 2017,30 mins