In our series exploring the sights and stories of Europe’s most fascinating historic cities, Russell Shorto explores the Dutch capital famed as a centre for trade, art and pleasures of the flesh
In episode four of our series exploring the sights and stories of Europe’s most fascinating, enduring and historic destinations, travel journalist Paul Bloomfield i ... Show More
Jul 2023
352: Amsterdam: Kings, Canals, and Coffee Houses (Part 2)
A city which played a fundamental role in the Dutch Golden Age and in the birth of the Dutch monarchy, Amsterdam has also stood in the avant-garde of European liberalism since the Second World War. Join Tom and Dominic on the second part of our walking tour through Amsterdam, as ... Show More
55m 34s
Jul 2023
351: Amsterdam: Miracles, Money, and Mud (Part 1)
A city built on water, Amsterdam has often set the tone of European modernity. It first gained prominence as a miraculous centre for pilgrimage, and then stood out for its relationship with the Reformation, and for its role in the birth of modern capitalism. Join Tom and Dominic ... Show More
41m 11s
Jan 2024
The Silk Road: everything you wanted to know
The Silk Road is one of the most famous trade routes in history, a vast interconnected network along which not only goods but ideas, knowledge and culture flowed. Sam Willis joins Rebecca Franks to discuss its remarkable history and answer listener questions on the subject, spotl ... Show More
32m 14s
Oct 2022
The Vagabond Travel Ethos
<p>Travel can often be approached as just another consumer good; travelers quickly dive in and out of a place, check off the things they want to see, harvest the requisite pictures to prove they were there, and wear their trip as a status symbol.</p><p>My guest, Rolf Potts, think ... Show More
45m 37s
Aug 2020
Ulrike Freitag, "A History of Jeddah: The Gate to Mecca in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" (Cambridge UP, 2020)
Ulrike Freitag’s A History of Jeddah: The Gate to Mecca in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Cambridge University Press), offers a rich urban and biographical history of Jeddah.
Known as the 'Gate to Mecca' or 'Bride of the Red Sea', Jeddah has been a gateway for pilgrims t ... Show More
1h 15m