The Forum Episodes Episode guide
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The writer Rachel Carson who fought insecticide wars
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?
How this unnatural cycle came to organise our lives
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Forugh Farrokhzad: A trailblazing voice for women in Iran
How the courage and audacity of an Iranian writer continues to inspire
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The Cynics: Counter-culture from Ancient Greece
Itinerant philosophers who advocated leading radically simplified lives.
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Calories: How to fuel a human
The invisible force that shapes the way we feed ourselves
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Belarus: The crossroads of Eastern Europe
History of Belarus from the Middle Ages to Lukashenka
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Margaret Sanger: Mother of birth control
The controversial campaigner who founded Planned Parenthood and helped develop the pill
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Alice Guy: The first female movie mogul
The pioneer of early cinema who was overlooked by history
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The Epic of Gilgamesh: A quest for immortality
One of the oldest works of literature can speak to us even today
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Uruguay 1930: The first football World Cup
How FIFA's global sporting spectacle began
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Moths: The story of the butterfly of the night
The much maligned moth 鈥� pest or saviour?
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The end of civilisation: Bronze Age collapse
One of the earliest examples of globalisation, and why it came crashing down
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From straw poll to opinion poll
Exploring the past, present and future of opinion polling
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S眉leyman the Magnificent: longest-reigning Ottoman sultan
The 16th century Ottoman sultan who shaped a vast empire across three continents
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How the paparazzi transformed photojournalism
Why 1950s Rome was the birthplace of the paparazzi
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William Cobbett: Champion of rural workers
William Cobbett: Industrialization and its impact on England鈥檚 rural population
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The Sun: Myths and magnetism
Understanding the star that makes all life on Earth possible
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A forgotten founder of climate science: Eunice Newton Foote
The first person to link CO2 with global warming, and why she vanished from history
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Dreams: Prophecy, propaganda and psychoanalysis
How our sleeping visions have wielded great influence throughout history.
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Yves Saint Laurent: Fashion revolutionary
Bridget Kendall and guests on the glamorous world of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent
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Brazil's Palmares: A beacon of freedom
An inspirational settlement of people seeking freedom from slavery
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Bluegrass: Virtuoso music of Appalachia
The rich history of music from America's rural south
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The Art of War: Ancient Chinese guide to victory
A manual for achieving success on the battlefield, and in life
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Gandhi: Architect of Indian independence
How a shy, mediocre schoolboy went on to shake the British Empire and inspire the world
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Making scents: The story of perfume
How fine fragrance became what it is today
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Eleonora Duse: The first great modern actress
The early feminist icon who challenged theatrical convention
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La Malinche: Mexico's great 'traitor'
The indigenous slave girl who helped the Spanish conquer the Aztecs
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Taras Shevchenko: The slave who became a symbol of Ukrainian independence
The life and work of Ukraine's national bard
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The unstoppable orange
The golden fruit that became a symbol of love and wealth
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Radio waves and plants: The life of JC Bose
How physics and biology entwined in JC Bose's search for the unity of all life on Earth
