The D-Day planners said that everything would depended the weather. They needed 'a quiet day with not more than moderate winds and seas and not too much cloud for the airmen, to be followed by three more quiet days'. But who would make the forecast? The Meteorological Office? The US Air Force? The Royal Navy? In the event, it was all three. In this diary pie ... Show More
Feb 4
Jessica Mitford’s Handbag
When Jessica Mitford (aka Decca) was eleven, in 1928, she opened a Running Away Account at Drummonds Bank. A few years later she ran away to Spain to help in the fight against Franco, and not long after that moved to the US where she became a naturalised citizen and joined the Co ... Show More
50m 44s
Jan 21
Buckley, MAGA’s Patron Saint
‘Anti-communist dandy, scourge of Ivy League administrators, magazine chieftain, amanuensis to Joe McCarthy, father-confessor of the Nixon White House, Ronald Reagan consigliere: is it any wonder that William F. Buckley is still the patron saint of the American right?’, Thomas M ... Show More
47m 30s
May 2023
Mystery In The Mojave - Case Closed?
In April 2021, dozens of US Marines stationed at the sprawling Twentynine Palms base in the Mojave desert witnessed what they describe as an unusual array of lights in the night sky. These Marines, many of whom work directly with flares and other ordnance, were at the base for an ... Show More
1h 3m
Dec 2020
Listener Mail: Weather Modification, the Denver Airport and a Bizarre Leap through Time
<p>A meteorologist writes in to break down the (very real) science of cloud seeding, as well as chiming in on Ben's dream of lightning achieving sentience. A listener provides updates on the bizarre art of the Denver airport. In a moment straight out of the Twilight Zone, a man f ... Show More
44m 46s