How did Bangladesh separate from Pakistan in 1971? When did India and Pakistan go from sharing intelligence to being at the brink of nuclear war? Why did George Harrison from the Beatles organise a concert for Bangladesh?
William and Anita are joined once again by Sam Dalrymple, author of Shattered Lands: Five Partitions And The Making of Modern Asia, to di ... Show More
Mar 26
345. Chairman Mao: The Cultural Revolution (Ep 6)
What were Mao’s motivations for launching The Cultural Revolution? Who were the Red Guards, and why did Mao indoctrinate teenagers? How did Mao die, and who came next? Anita and William are joined once again by Rana Mitter, author of A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the ... Show More
49m 1s
Mar 20
Christiane Amanpour On Iran & Trump’s Miscalculations
William and Anita are joined by renowned British-Iranian journalist, Christiane Amanpour, to discuss the war in Iran, and how it has echoes of the events she has covered since leaving Tehran in 1979. How did the Iran-Iraq War of 1980 shape the military tactics of today’s Islamic ... Show More
34m 18s
Aug 2025
593. The Fight of the Century
Why did two men - John Heenan and and Tom Sayers - illegally meet in a field in Hampshire, in 1860, to brutally fight one another, captivating Britain in the process? What can the fight tell us about the nature of Britishness in the 19th century? Was this the birth of boxing? Who ... Show More
57m 19s
Feb 2025
Building Empire Records & Repping Your Community | Live Quartertones With Ghazi Shami & Suhel Nafar at Sole DXB 2024
<p>This episode of Quartertones was recorded live on the Sole DXB stage in Dubai on December 13, 2024. Founder of Empire Records Ghazi Shami, and head of Empire Iwana Sohail Nafar explore the challenges and future of the Arab music industry, from Ghazi's connection to Palestinian ... Show More
57m 38s
Sep 2025
731 The Brothers Karamazov Reclaimed (#19 Greatest Book of All Time)
Responding to a special request from a listener, Jacke discusses Fyodor Dostoevsky, his novel The Brothers Karamazov, and the search for meaning in a meaningless world. This episode was originally released as episode #250 on October 7, 2020. For reasons Jacke discusses, it has no ... Show More
1h 21m
Jul 2017
The Cricketer Who Lost His Team
Bonus pod! Amir Elahi, the great uncle of Columbia University historian Manan Ahmed, became rivals with his former Indian teammates when he left for Pakistan. Image: Amir Elahi and Dattaram Hindlekar, members of the All-India cricket team, 1936 Credit: Getty Images
3m 51s