William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of a murky cabal of British aristocrats, but with the crown’s blessing, finds himself and his crew frustrated by the absence of pirates in the waters off Madagascar during October 1696. With mutiny brewing on his ship The Adventure, Kid ... Show More
Nov 20
309. Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets
How did the young journalist with the quiff haircut and his companion Snowy The Dog feature in Nazi propaganda in the 1940s? What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The Adventures of Tintin? How did an unlikely friendship transform Hergé’s life and ... Show More
45m 37s
Jun 2025
Pirates: Myths vs Reality
<p>When it comes to our perception of pirates, Treasure Island has a lot to answer for. They didn't make their enemies walk the plank, they didn't keep parrots as pets, and they didn't bury their treasure. But that doesn't mean the golden age of piracy wasn't an era of swashbuckl ... Show More
38m 1s
Aug 13
Was the “Pirate King” also the King’s Spy?
In 1695, “The Pirate King” Henry Every pulled off a heist, evaded a global manhunt, and vanished with his newfound treasure. He was never found…or was he? A new theory suggests the King of England not only knew what happened to Henry – he hired the “missing” pirate as a spy. Keep ... Show More
43m 16s
Nov 4
Pirates of the Caribbean: Fact vs. Fiction
The real Pirates of the Caribbean were far more complex—and sometimes more brutal—than the swashbuckling legends in movies. From the late 1600s to the early 1700s, this region was a hotspot for piracy, where sailors turned outlaw raided ships for gold, goods, and freedom. Figures ... Show More
8m 14s
Feb 2025
539. Horror in the Congo: The Crimes of Empire (Part 2)
“A secret society of murderers with a king for a ringleader”.
In 1885 King Leopold of Belgium; an awkward, ruthless, selfish man, was recognised as the sovereign of the Congo. Long determined to carve out his very own private colonial domain, he had alighted upon the Congo - Afr ... Show More
58m 59s
Feb 2025
538. Horror in the Congo: The Nightmare Begins (Part 1)
The story of King Leopold of Belgium’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State, during the late 19th century, is one of the darkest and most important in global history. It is a story of horror - the murky depths of the human soul pushed to its primal limits, European colonialism a ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 2025
543. Death in the Amazon: Aguirre, the Wrath of God
“Anyone who even thinks of abandoning this mission will be cut up into a thousand pieces…I am the wrath of God!”
At the height of the age of exploration, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one story in particular gripped the imagination of European colonialists: El Do ... Show More
1h 7m
Feb 2025
540. Horror in the Congo: A Conspiracy Unmasked (Part 3)
Exposing the dark pit of human suffering, cruelty and corruption that had long been secretly festering in King Leopold’s Congo, would reveal one of the greatest abuses of human rights in all history, and instigate a human rights campaign that would change the world. Having establ ... Show More
1h 4m