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Art That Made Us episode 3

Art That Made Us episode 3

Art / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Art That Made Us episode 3: In the 16th century, the British Isles experienced a religious revolution, as the kingdoms of England and then Scotland turned Protestant. Artists and experts today reveal how, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Protestants and Catholics used art, language and new technology to wage a battle for power in the Isles, creating surprising and often radical works.     Author Stephanie Merritt reassesses John Foxe’s grisly Book of Martyrs as a work of history and nationalist propaganda, with passages performed by actress Morfydd Clark, and we meet the indefatigable William Morgan, who undertook the […]

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The China Century episode 4

The China Century episode 4

History / 2 minutes of reading / / By

The China Century episode 4: After 150 years of British occupation, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. We examine how the territory has always been defined by the contest of influence between China and the West and how that tension plays out today.     The forces that have powered China’s rise are rarely explored, while the lives of Chinese people barely get a mention. Beyond the headlines what do we really know about China and its 1.4 billion citizens? An in-depth examination of China’s place in world politics and the global economy, from a face-off with America

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Art That Made Us episode 2

Art That Made Us episode 2

Art / 4 minutes of reading / / By

Art That Made Us episode 2: An alternative history of the Black Death of the Middle Ages and its bitter – but profoundly creative – aftermath. Contemporary artists and performers, alongside historians and curators, reveal how a century of creative renewal emerged from the chaos of plague as survivors found their voice, questioning authority and challenging status and class. Above all, writing in English was revived by works including Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, William Langland’s angry satire The Vision of Piers Plowman and breakthrough works by women like the spirited pilgrim Margery Kempe.     Poet laureate Simon Armitage

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The China Century episode 3

The China Century episode 3

History / 2 minutes of reading / / By

The China Century episode 3: China’s return to imperial power after a century of humiliation. The forces that have powered China’s rise are rarely explored, while the lives of Chinese people barely get a mention. Beyond the headlines what do we really know about China and its 1.4 billion citizens?     An in-depth examination of China’s place in world politics and the global economy, from a face-off with America to its clampdown in Hong Kong and hacking and surveillance. The China Century episode 3   China, officially the People’s Republic of China, is a country in East Asia. It

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Art That Made Us episode 1

Art That Made Us episode 1

Art / 5 minutes of reading / / By

Art That Made Us episode 1: This episode immerses us in the turbulent era that followed the Roman occupation of Britain. Once known as the ‘dark’ ages, in reality it’s a time of glittering art and extraordinary cultural fusions. This alternative history of the British Isles, told through art, brings together encounters between contemporary artists and ancient art, and interviews with experts and curators, to trace how Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Norse peoples fought for supremacy, leaving behind mysterious fragments of art that still haunt our landscapes and imagination.     Sculptor Antony Gormley meets Spong Man, a unique clay figure

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The China Century episode 2

The China Century episode 2

History / 2 minutes of reading / / By

The China Century episode 2: The story of China’s meteoric economic growth and its earth-shattering repercussions. The forces that have powered China’s rise are rarely explored, while the lives of Chinese people barely get a mention. Beyond the headlines what do we really know about China and its 1.4 billion citizens?     An in-depth examination of China’s place in world politics and the global economy, from a face-off with America to its clampdown in Hong Kong and hacking and surveillance.   The China Century episode 2   China, officially the People’s Republic of China, is a country in East

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The China Century episode 1

The China Century episode 1

History / 3 minutes of reading / / By

The China Century episode 1:  Chinese President Xi Jinping understands the greatest threat to the authoritarian state is not an invading army but the free minds of its people. This episode explores the fight for freedom of thought in China. How do you control the beliefs and desires of a population as vast and diverse as China’s?     In his first address as president, Xi Jinping declares the new vision of the people: The China Dream. Never before in the history of Communist Party rhetoric has the word ‘dream’ been uttered by a leader. Why now? What is The

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Guns Germs And Steel episode 3

Guns Germs And Steel episode 3

History / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Guns Germs And Steel episode 3: So far, Jared Diamond has demonstrated how geography favoured one group of people – Europeans – endowing them with agents of conquest ahead of their rivals around the world. Guns, germs and steel allowed Europeans to colonize vast tracts of the globe – but what happened when this all-conquering package arrived in Africa, the birthplace of humanity?     Jared’s journey begins on a steam train in Cape Town, designed to carry civilization to the heart of the so-called ‘dark continent’. In the Cape, Jared discovers a landscape and way of life that feels

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Guns Germs And Steel episode 2

Guns Germs And Steel episode 2

History / 2 minutes of reading / / By

Guns Germs And Steel episode 2: On November 15th 1532, 168 Spanish conquistadors arrive in the holy city of Cajamarca, at the heart of the Inca Empire, in Peru. They are exhausted, outnumbered and terrified ? ahead of them are camped 80,000 Inca troops and the entourage of the Emperor himself. Yet, within just 24 hours, more than 7,000 Inca warriors lie slaughtered; the Emperor languishes in chains; and the victorious Europeans begin a reign of colonial terror which will sweep through the entire American continent.*     Why was the balance of power so unequal between the Old World,

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Guns Germs And Steel episode 1

Guns Germs And Steel episode 1

History / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Guns Germs And Steel episode 1: Jared Diamond’s journey of discovery began on the island of Papua New Guinea. There, in 1974, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question: Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people had little cargo of our own??     Why were Europeans the ones with all the cargo? Why had they taken over so much of the world, instead of the native people of New Guinea? How did Europeans end up with what Diamond terms the agents of conquest: guns, germs and steel? It

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The Ascent of Money episode 6

The Ascent of Money episode 6

History / 3 minutes of reading / / By

The Ascent of Money episode 6: Since the 1990s, once risky markets in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe have become better investments than the UK or US stock market. The explanation is the rise of ‘Chimerica’ – the economic marriage of China and the United States. But does it make sense for poor Chinese savers to lend to rich American spenders?     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you on an epic tour of the financial world. A professor in History and Business

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The Ascent of Money episode 5

The Ascent of Money episode 5

History / 3 minutes of reading / / By

The Ascent of Money episode 5: It sounded so simple: give state-owned assets to the people. After all, what better foundation for a property-owning democracy than a campaign of privatisation encompassing housing? An economic theory says that markets can’t function without mortgages, because it’s only by borrowing against their assets that entrepreneurs can get their businesses off the ground. But what if mortgages are bundled together and sold off to the highest bidder?     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you on an epic

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