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 established it as what was essentially his own private colonial fiefdom in 1885, Leopo ... Show More
Sep 13
705. Queen Victoria’s Revenge: The Mad Emperor of Abyssinia (Part 1)
Who was Emperor Tewodros II, the colourful and controversial Emperor of Abyssinia? Why did he brutally imprison a number of British emissaries, and how did Queen Victoria respond? And, how would this spark one of the most ambitious expeditions undertaken by the British Empire…? J ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 9
704. Roman Civil War: Master of the Republic (Part 4)
Who was Gaius Marius’ son, and how did he set out to bring down his father’s rival, Sulla? Which two rising stars in Sulla’s faction, Crassus and Pompey, would go on to bring down the Republic, with Julius Caesar? And, how did a momentous battle in the East see Sulla elevated to ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 6
703. Roman Civil War: Marching on the Senate (Part 3)
What shocking, unprecedented act did Sulla commit with his legions after having his ambitions frustrated once more by his bitter rival, the tribune Marius? How did Marius escape capture and death? And, would Marius retaliate…? Join Tom and Dominic as they unfold the mounting riva ... Show More
1h 13m
Jun 2021
Leopold II Pt. 2: Belgium
With the newly formed Free Congo State in his possession, Leopold II was determined to extract all the ivory and rubber he could. But in the process, his colonial agents wreaked havoc on the indigenous people, slaughtering, torturing, and enslaving Africans. Learn more about your ... Show More
42m 50s
Oct 2023
Congo River
The Congo River is the world’s deepest and most powerful waterway. In its basin, a wilderness bigger than Alaska, natural resources abound - oil, gold, diamonds, rubber. But this river, more than any other, is also linked with some of the darkest times in human history – with sla ... Show More
51 m
Aug 2020
The Red Paint on Leopold II
<p>Leopold II, King of the Belgians, was a man obsessed with the profits that came with colonization. Using smokescreens of charities and shell corporations, he claimed a private landholding 76x larger than his own nation, and unleashed decades of horror on the land's inhabitants ... Show More
43m 9s
Feb 2024
Friends of the Congo: The Congolese Struggle for Self-Determination
<p>Passy and Maurice from <em>Friends of the Congo</em> join Breht to discuss the history and the present of the Congo. Together, they discuss their organization, Passy's on-the-ground organizing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the history of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba a ... Show More
1h 20m
Apr 2023
46. The Mau Mau, the court case, and the hidden documents
The Mau Mau emergency began in 1952. Over the next eight years, the British abused thousands of Kenyans; detaining them, torturing them, murdering them. Yet, when Caroline Elkins published her book detailing this in 2005, she was slated for a lack of documentary evidence. Now, on ... Show More
50m 51s
Nov 2020
Reckoning with a colonial past
<p>As protests following the killing of George Floyd in the US reverberated around the world this summer, Belgium, like many other countries, experienced its own reckoning: with a brutal colonial past, with the systemic racism that inhibits its black citizens today and with the q ... Show More
26m 8s
Mar 2022
Show 68 - BLITZ Human Resources
The Atlantic Slave Trade mixes centuries of human bondage with violence, economics, commerce, geo-political competition, liberty, morality, injustice, revolution, tragedy and bloody reckonings. That sounds like a lot, yet this show merely scratches the surface of this enormous su ... Show More
5h 39m