logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2018
26m 42s

The Unknown Soldier

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Moira Stuart tells the astonishing story of the idea of the Unknown Soldier - a powerful prism for national grief, a brilliant interplay between anonymity and universal recognition, an icon which spread across the globe. But even from the beginning the concept of the Unknown Soldier was not without its critics. Some saw it as emblematic of the callousness of states and their governments in wartime - the Unknown could be read as figure of righteous anger, of the terrible, mass anonymity of countless young men lost without trace.

Up next
Today
Why it's good for men to talk
Across the world, there’s often a stigma when it comes to men discussing their emotions. “We’re taught here as men that a man shouldn’t cry,” says Kholekile, who chairs the ManKind Project, a support group for men in South Africa. Across the world, there’s often a stigma when it ... Show More
24m 48s
Yesterday
France’s new Christians
The number of adults getting baptised in France has tripled in the last three years. Why are so many more adults joining the Church in France? We meet two of France’s new Christians, one baptised this Easter, one last Easter, and hear the strong stories they have to tell about th ... Show More
26m 27s
Jul 10
Ark of the dry lands
Researchers in Morocco are developing dry-land agriculture at ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). It is home to a gene bank, in which around 150,000 different seed-types are kept in perfectly calibrated cold vaults, and duplicated to prot ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2019
The Known Unknown
The tradition of the Tomb of the Unknowns goes back only about a century, but it has become one of the most solemn and reverential monuments. When President Reagan added the remains of an unknown serviceman who died in combat in Vietnam to the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Na ... Show More
45m 14s
Nov 2023
The Known Unknown [rebroadcast]
Roman note: This is one of my favorite episodes of all time. Should be a movie. Enjoy!The tradition of the Tomb of the Unknowns goes back only about a century, but it has become one of the most solemn and reverential monuments. When President Reagan added the remains of an unknow ... Show More
45m 21s
Jun 2014
Music in the Great War: Wilfred Owen - The Soldiers' Poet
Wilfred Owen wrote that he was a 'poets' poet'. He also wrote, in the preface to 'War Poems', 'Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War'. Owen is, then, a soldiers' poet, and the people who figure in his poems are all soldiers. In this Betw ... Show More
31m 24s
Dec 2022
Introducing Gundog
From the writer of The Book of Eli and co-writer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story comes an all-new sci-fi epic performed by Shannon Woodward (Westworld, The Last of Us Part II).In the near future, Earth has been conquered by a race of brutal alien machines known as the Mek. When a ... Show More
1h 1m
Feb 2024
Anonymity - Self-creation
Anonymity and self creation: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas DeGloma, Associate Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, about hidden identities and how and why we use anonymity, for good or ill. He explores a wide range of hist ... Show More
29m 9s
Jan 2024
The Ghost Army of World War 2
In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—including such future luminaries such as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd He ... Show More
41m 39s
Feb 2024
The Heroes, Legends, and Liars Who Fought in WW2
Veterans of World War 2 are called the Greatest Generation for their uncommon courage and self-determination. Whether this descriptor is true or part of America’s self-mythologizing during the 20th century is a challenging question, one that Andrew Biggio, a veteran of the wars i ... Show More
35m 37s
May 2022
The Humble Heroics of Four of WWII's Most Decorated Soldiers
The Medal of Honor is the military's highest and most prestigious decoration and is awarded to a member of the United States Armed Forces who "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."During World ... Show More
53m 40s
Apr 2023
Fictional Women Around the World: Mara Jade (Part 1)
Assassin. Spy. Emperor's Hand. Smuggler. Jedi. In the Legends Universe of Star Wars, Mara Jade was a deadly, competent Force-Sensitive who managed to escape Darkside brainwashing (after a confrontation with a certain clone named Luuke Skywalker, and that is not a typo) and discov ... Show More
25m 10s