The Forum Episodes Episode guide
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Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece
An intrepid sea captain who commanded daring naval attacks with her own fleet of ships
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Mary Somerville: The queen of 19th-Century science
The 19th-Century polymath who popularised science for generations of readers
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The Malayan Emergency
One of the earliest Cold War conflicts in Asia
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The Devils: Dostoevsky鈥檚 novel of political evil
Dostoevsky鈥檚 study of terrorism and poisoned ideals in pre-revolutionary Russia
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A focus on spectacles
Looking at the history of an invention many of us take for granted
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Sarah Bernhardt: Queen of stage and screen
The 19th Century French actress who defined modern celebrity
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A dirty history of diamonds
The complex and sometimes shocking story of the diamond industry throughout history
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The story of Evita
The life, work and remarkable afterlife of Eva Peron
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Sushi: The Japanese dish with an ancient tradition
Sushi originally started in East Asia as a means of preserving fish
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Toni Morrison: The legacy of a literary legend
How her influence as a writer extends across the globe
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Algorithms: From the ancients to the internet
The 4,000-year history of the mathematical operations that now govern our daily lives.
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Louder! How the electric guitar conquered popular music
The origins and early years of making the guitar electric
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Luigi Pirandello: Italian dramatist who brought chaos to the stage
The radical, convention-breaking plays of an architect of modern 20th century theatre
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Mars: A history of the Red Planet
When might we send humans to one of our closest neighbours in our solar system?
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A radiant light: The Indonesian poet Amir Hamzah
The romantic works and tragic life of a noble writer from Sumatra
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Sailing by the stars: The pioneering voyages of David Lewis
One man's intrepid quest to revive ancient navigation
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Inside the mind of crime writer Patricia Highsmith
A 20th century master of the psychological thriller
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The Panama Canal: The real story behind the engineering triumph
The Canal that joined up the Atlantic and Pacific oceans but how did it impact Panama?
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Ida Pfeiffer: 19th Century globetrotter
The eccentric traveller and collector who circumnavigated the globe twice
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Rain or shine? A short history of the weather forecast
A century and a half of scientific meteorology
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Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone
How mass-produced audio discs transformed our sound world
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Tracing the roots of ancient trees
What can we learn from the oldest trees on earth?
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The Wizard of Oz: A homegrown American fairy tale
The magical story of Dorothy, a plucky American heroine who follows the yellow brick road
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Falconry: The history of hunting with birds of prey
From nomads to nobles, the working relationship between humans and raptors
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Aramaic: An imperial language without an empire
A history of one of the oldest living languages in the world
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X-rays: New ways of seeing
The discovery of X-rays in 1895 and how it transformed our world
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Machiavelli, master of power
The life and reputation of Niccol貌 Machiavelli鈥檚 The Prince
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The birth of the modern car
Design milestones in the early history of motor vehicles
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Ukulele - a history of Hawaii's national instrument
The mini guitar that came to symbolise Hawaiian culture
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Tadeusz Kosciuszko, groundbreaking fort builder
The engineer who championed freedom on two continents
