Since the World's been Turning

 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...

 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.

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 do...

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...

 In this episode, we’re looking at the life of an American legend: a fighter pilot, astronaut, and  politician.  He’s John Glenn, the man who left an indelible impression on 20th century US history.  We’re joined by special guest, American political and presidential historian Jeff Shesol. Jeff’s the author of Mercury Rising, John Glenn, John Kennedy and the Cold War. 

This time, we return to the United States and the battle for Civil Rights.   This conflict would involve President Kennedy, and his Attorney General brother. It would lead to the mobilisation of several (30,000) troops, the most for a single disturbance in United States history.  While racism still exists in the United States today, and is in many ways as dangerous as ever, the desegregation of Un...

 In this episode, we look at the astonishing rise of The Beatles  – the band once described as “Bigger than Jesus”.  We’re joined by special guest Dr Kenneth L. Campbell, a history professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey where he teaches a course on Beatles’ history. Dr Campbell is also the author of “ The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution and Social Change”, and “American Popula...

For the second time this series, or third if you count our episode on Doctor Zhivago, we find ourselves discussing the work of film director David Lean. Famous for his epics that pushed the limits of Hollywood technology and budgets, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is undoubtedly his most ambitious work,  an epic amongst epics. Here to talk about the man who works out those specifics, is our guest Steven Cat...

 In this episode, we return to Cuba and to the regime of socialist leader Fidel Castro. We’re traveling to the Bay of Pigs, the site of a botched invasion carried out by Cuban exiles, and financed by the US Government.  Today, it’s remembered as a minor disaster, but it’s one of the most significant early events of the Cold War. 

This time we’re heading to the turbulent city of Berlin. Over its four-hundred-year lifetime, Berlin has been through unparalleled amounts of change. Finding itself at the epicentre of two world wars, and then split in half by the Cold War, history never takes a break in Berlin.  Here to talk about Berlin  is our guest on this episode, retired British army officer and author Sir Barnabas (Barney)...

In this episode we take a look at an enigmatic cultural icon and a Nobel Prize-winner, who’s been well-known for six decades – he’s Bob Dylan, one of the world’s most famous singer- songwriters.  We’re joined by special guest Dennis McDougal, a music journalist based in Memphis, Tennessee, and the author of Dylan: The Biography. 

In this episode, we’re seeing Earth through the eyes of a Martian named Smith, and everything looks a little bit off. Robert A. Heinlein’s seminal science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land was released on the first of June, 1961, and to this day remains an influential and pivotal work in the history of science fiction and American Literature at large.  Its story, of a human born on Mars com...

This episode takes us into the 1960s, as we return to the legacy of WWII, and look at a chilly figure who has fascinated historians for decades.  He’s Adolf Eichmann, the man responsible for the transportation network that took hundreds of thousands of people to the Nazi death camps. In 1960, he’s finally captured in Argentina.   Here to help us unpack Eichmann is special guest Giacomo Lichtner, a...

In this episode we explore the life of iconic 20th century fiction writer – Ernest Hemingway. Throughout his life Hemingway cultivated an image of hyper-masculinity: he was a heavy drinker, a big game hunter, a deep sea fisher, and a war correspondent.  He was present at some of the most significant conflicts of the 20th century, and they influenced his work.  But the larger-than-life writer also...

We return to the theme of colonialism as we visit the Belgian Congo. It’s a tale of two countries: one a huge territory deep inside the equatorial rainforest, and the other a tiny European nation, led by a King with imperial dreams. We’re joined by a special guest Adam Hochschild, a writer, historian and the author of King Leopold’s Ghost, the story of King Leopold and the Congo.

A cultural touchstone and masterpiece of suspense, this week’s episode features Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal film, Psycho.   Perhaps more than any film we’ll discuss during this series, Psycho is a film so completely entrenched in the cultural consciousness that it’s hard to separate the film from its myth. Here to talk about the history of Psycho is Andrew Hunt, a professor of history at the Univer...

In this episode we’re talking about the Twist .  The dance that took the teenage world by storm in the 1950s and 1960s.  More broadly, we’re talking about its various different recordings, and the artist whose cover of the song made it into a smash hit phenomenon, Chubby Checker. Here, helping us with this episode is Musicologist, Music Historian and Rock Musician, Dr Alexander Carpenter of the Un...

Today many people know about his assassination, and his rumoured affair with Marilyn Monroe – but there was a lot more to Kennedy than that.  Special guest Frederik Logevall, JFK’s biographer, a professor at Harvard University, joins us to tell us about John F Kennedy: his politics, his family, and his time. 

Todays episode looks into the process of paying for radio time which is called Payola .  A dominant trend in the 1930s onwards, Payola was a core part of the music industry and a huge influence on the dominant trends in popular music. Interestingly, while the practice is illegal, and suggests a rich-get-richer musical hierarchy, it played a surprisingly positive role in  pushing forward songs from...

In this episode we go back to the origins of the split between North and South Korea, as we learn about another famous statesman: Syngman Rhee. He was a gifted scholar, a revolutionary, a prickly, authoritarian ruler – and a dangerous driver.  We’re joined for this episode by special guest David Fields, a historian and associate director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Wi...

In this episode we’re looking at the revolutionary spy plane that defined post World War 2 military surveillance, the Lockheed U-2.  The U-2 is still a key device today in the gathering of military intelligence. Its intensely aerodynamic design allows it to fly incredibly high, right near the edge of the atmosphere.

In this episode we’re looking at debatably the most notorious product failure in American history. A flop that puts Crystal Pepsi and Google Glass to shame, the Ford Edsel has become synonymous with failure.  A new line of cars designed by Ford to try and compete in the upper-middle budget range, the Edsel suffered from poor planning, poor marketing, and even poorer design. Only collected nowadays...

 In this episode we return to the Cold War and discuss yet another controversial political figure - Fidel Castro, the revolutionary firebrand who came to power in Cuba in the late 1950s.  To some he’s a tyrant, and to others, he’s the hero who deposed a corrupt regime and defied America for decades. We’re joined by a very special guest, the historian and journalist Tony Perrottet. Tony is the auth...

In this episode we’re spinning the story of one the world’s most timelessly popular toys, the Hula Hoop.  While it’s often thought of today as a fad of the past, the Hula Hoop has actually existed in a variety of different forms for centuries, and is debatably still as popular today as ever.  Joining us to talk about it is Bunny B Star, the founding director and owner of Australian Hula Hoop compa...

This episode explores one of the darkest versions of the American Dream -  the deadly world of the Mafia.  For more than a century, the organized crime groups also known as the Cosa Nostra have inspired fear and fascination in America, as they change and evolve along with society.  We’re joined by a very special guest, former journalist and accomplished author Geoff Schumacher - the vice president...