logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
30m 31s

1. Virginia Hall’s Great Escape

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode
How did the American spy Virginia Hall mastermind an astonishing prison break, leading her to become the Gestapo’s most wanted target? Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage. A BBC Studios Podcast production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. ... Show More
Up next
Oct 7
History's Toughest Heroes: Trailer
Ray Winstone tells stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge. Ten tales of fearsome heroes from across history including arctic explorers, medieval knights and Hollywood stuntwomen. 
2m 25s
Sep 30
Miss La La and Kaira Fly Through the Air
A nineteenth century circus performer and her acrobatic partner defy convention to become icons of the ring, as well as artistic muses.Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from a ... Show More
27m 39s
Sep 23
BONUS: The Marvels of Madam C.J. Walker Part 2
How did Madam C.J. Walker transform the beauty industry with her haircare empire? And how have the politics of beauty changed since her time? Alex talks to Alka Menon, assistant professor of sociology at Yale University.Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to ... Show More
30m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 14
Bletchley Park
During World War II, a country house in Buckinghamshire hosted some of the UK’s top minds as they worked to crack enemy communications, most famously the German Enigma cipher. It is estimated that breakthroughs at Bletchley Park shortened the conflict by at least two years, savin ... Show More
57m 32s
Jul 28
276. The Biggest Corruption Scandal in French History (Part 4)
How was George Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower involved in a huge corruption scandal associated with the Panama Canal? How many workers died during the French attempt to build the canal? And who was Bunau-Varilla and how did this smooth-talking moustache-wielding French engineer manag ... Show More
32m 1s
Mar 2025
30. The Spy Who Betrayed Oppenheimer: Showdown with MI5 (Ep 4)
What happens when the world’s most valuable spy is finally caught? How did British and American intelligence hunt him down? And, was Klaus Fuchs a hero, a villain, or something in between? Klaus Fuchs' final days as a free man were marked by growing suspicions, clandestine exchan ... Show More
46m 52s
Aug 26
77. The Hunt for Pablo Escobar: The Medellin Cartel vs Colombia (Ep 4)
By the autumn of 1989, the hunt for Pablo Escobar and the Medellín cartel was intensifying. With the US military and intelligence agencies now directly involved, a new, more aggressive phase of the War on Drugs had begun. Join Gordon and David as they explore how Escobar, facing ... Show More
50m 52s
Aug 17
74. The Hunt for Pablo Escobar: Rise of a Drug Lord (Ep 1)
Colombia in the mid-20th century was a place of beauty and bloodshed - where jungle mountains sheltered rebels, the cities were ruled by oligarchs, and outlaw legends became folk heroes. Into this world stepped Pablo Escobar. Charming, calm, and calculating, he would become one o ... Show More
58m 56s
Sep 17
601. Scandal in the White House
Who was Grover Cleveland, and why is he one of the most controversial American Presidents of all time? Why was the run up to his first term, in 1884 at the height of the Gilded Age, so pivotal to American politics? How did he rocket to the heights of political power? What dark se ... Show More
1h 11m
Oct 2024
The Rise and Fall of Jane Boleyn
In 1542 Jane Boleyn was executed for having aided and abetted Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard to commit adultery. It was the second time Jane Boleyn had been connected with charges of treason as just six years earlier, she had allegedly asserted a charge of incest agains ... Show More
34m 50s
Jun 2025
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte. Was he a tiny tyrant who ruled with an iron first? Or a military mastermind who revolutionised warfare forever? Russell Kane reads from Napoleon's romantic fiction, tells of his battlefield exploits, and even shocking party trick that left women in tears. Cely ... Show More
40m 41s
Sep 28
The Victorians, Part 2 of 2
The Victorian era transformed Britain into the world’s foremost industrial and imperial power. The rise of factories saw the expansion of sprawling cities, inhabited by a working class trapped in grinding poverty. But while the ever-growing ranks of impoverished residents were do ... Show More
55m 45s