The Forum Podcast
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.
Episodes to download
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The story of throwaway living
Sat 23 Dec 2023
How disposable and single-use items conquered the world
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What makes a good boss?
Sat 28 Oct 2023
An exploration of how we can get the best out of people in the workplace.
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The joy and sorrow of roads
Sat 23 Sep 2023
Dirt tracks to expressways: how roadbuilding changed the world
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A deep dive into deepfakes
Sat 27 May 2023
Misinformation spread by faked images is almost as old as film itself
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How the mobile phone changed everything
Sat 22 Apr 2023
Charting the seismic transformation of our lives caused by mobile communications
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Alexander the Great or not so great?
Thu 16 Mar 2023
One of the world’s most astonishing military leaders, but was he brilliant or brutal?
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Rituals: Our anchors in a changing world
Thu 9 Mar 2023
Why rituals and ceremonies enthral us and endure through the ages
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Tropicália: the movement that defied Brazil’s dictatorship
Thu 2 Mar 2023
The story of Brazil’s counter-cultural push of the late 1960s
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How the shipping container changed the world
Thu 23 Feb 2023
How standardising the humble shipping container revolutionised world trade
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Neanderthals: Meet the relatives
Thu 16 Feb 2023
Recent scientific breakthroughs have overturned received wisdom about our ancient cousins
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Cavalry and code-breaking: The Polish-Soviet war
Thu 9 Feb 2023
Little-known conflict that shaped Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the First World War
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How we work: Redesigning the office
Thu 2 Feb 2023
The concept of the office is being reimagined. What can we learn from its history?
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When money died: The world's worst inflation
Thu 26 Jan 2023
Hungary, 1946, where prices doubled every 15 hours
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The writer Rachel Carson who fought insecticide wars
Thu 19 Jan 2023
How Silent Spring, a book about DDT use, changed the way we think about the environment
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Why do we have a seven-day week?
Thu 12 Jan 2023
How this unnatural cycle came to organise our lives
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Forugh Farrokhzad: A trailblazing voice for women in Iran
Thu 5 Jan 2023
How the courage and audacity of an Iranian writer continues to inspire
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The Cynics: Counter-culture from Ancient Greece
Thu 29 Dec 2022
Itinerant philosophers who advocated leading radically simplified lives.
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Calories: How to fuel a human
Thu 22 Dec 2022
The invisible force that shapes the way we feed ourselves
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Belarus: The crossroads of Eastern Europe
Thu 15 Dec 2022
History of Belarus from the Middle Ages to Lukashenka
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Margaret Sanger: Mother of birth control
Thu 8 Dec 2022
The controversial campaigner who founded Planned Parenthood and helped develop the pill
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Alice Guy: The first female movie mogul
Thu 1 Dec 2022
The pioneer of early cinema who was overlooked by history
Do you remember your first portable radio? Or a boombox? A cassette player?
We would love to hear about your first portable music player for an upcoming Forum.
