
Programme Archive
Talking Sport: 90 Years of Commentary |
My Life in the Shadow of Al Capone |
Witness: First World Festival of Black Arts |
Spectrum: How Spiders Hear |
Red Lights and Red Lines |
Sporting Witness: Aboriginal Boxing Legend Lionel Rose |
Lost World of the Suffragettes |
Sporting Witness: South Korea's King of Computer Gaming |
Shine Like Tokyo: Northern Soul Goes East |
Witness: The Birth of Rolling Stone Magazine |
It's My Story: Getting Bi |
Witness: Kermit the Frog |
Icelandic commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson tells the story of how sports commentary developed in different parts of the world. Gudmundur, whose excitement over a late goal by Iceland against Austria at Euro 2016 sent his own commentary viral, hears from a variety of commentators and experts as he charts the history of commentating. |
US mobster Al Capone died 70 years ago having spent several years in the notorious prison of Alcatraz for tax evasion. Of all that's known about the original scarface, many won’t have heard the story of a woman who was related to Al Capone and who went to extraordinary lengths to keep the stigma of her family under wraps. |
In April 1966 thousands of artists and performers from all over Africa descended on the Senegalese capital, Dakar, for the first World Festival of Black Arts. Ibrahim el-Salahi and Elimo Njau are two leading African artists who took part in that first festival. |
A sentence that might fill you with dread: spiders can hear you coming across the room. New research from Cornell University in New York has found evidence that the perceived wisdom they could only sense vibration may not be true. For Spectrum, the arachnaphobic Ashley Byrne has been speaking to them about their findings and how it could be used in the real world to help us all. |
Despite both liberal and conservative reforms in different countries being hailed as the answer to stamping it out, Europe seems to be losing the battle against sex trafficking. Why do these countries, which work successfully together against other crimes, struggle to combat sexual exploitation and forced prostitution? |
In February 1968, the aboriginal fighter Lionel Rose was cheered by Australians of all races when he won the world bantamweight boxing title. Ashley Byrne talks to Rose's rival and later friend, Noel Kunde. |
In the 1970s, historian Sir Brian Harrison embarked on a huge project to record the experiences of women who had been part of the UK suffragette movement in the early part of the 20th Century. Presenter Dan Snow, whose great, great grandfather was Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George, listens through the tapes. |
In the early 2000s, competitive computer-gaming, or eSports, began to take off in South Korea before spreading to the rest of the world. Ashley Byrne talks to e-gamer, Lim Yo-hwan, nicknamed Boxer, one of the biggest names in the new sport. |
Northern Soul is often thought to be firmly rooted in place and time but four decades on from the opening of the Wigan Casino, Annie Nightingale discovers how it's capturing the imagination of people as far east as Japan. She looks back at the roots of Northern Soul before hearing from DJs spinning their discs in Kobe, a Northern Soul band in Tokyo and regulars at night spots in several Japanese cities. |
In November 1967 an iconic popular culture magazine was launched in the US. It quickly became known for its music coverage, interviews with stars and in depth political reporting. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Michael Lydon, the first managing editor of 'Rolling Stone' Magazine. |
Tom Robinson was the first rock star to be out-and-proud from the off and in early 1978, at the height of his fame he released the song 'Glad To Be Gay'. It reached the Top 20 and made him an overnight gay icon. But then in the mid 80s something happened which changed Tom's life overnight - he fell in love with a woman! The tabloid press had a field day and he was booed when he appeared on stage at the 1987 London Gay Pride Festival. In this programme, Tom assesses his own changing attitudes to bisexuality and asks if it's still a bit of a taboo in Britain today? |
It's more than 60 years since the frog puppet first appeared on an American children's TV show. His creator Jim Henson became famous, and Kermit became the star of the Muppets franchise. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to veteran puppeteer Bob Payne. |
