The last Viceroy of India
The daughter of the last British Viceroy in India, Lord Mountbatten, remembers the transfer of power in 1947. Lady Pamela Hicks accompanied her father as he attended celebrations in both Karachi and Delhi. She remembers encounters both with Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, and Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. Lady Hicks spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2012.Photo shows Lord and Lady Mountbatten travelling by carriage and shaking hands with crowds in the streets of New Delhi on the 15th August 1947. Credit: Getty Images.
17 Aug 202210min
India's Partition - Part Two
The partition of India led to millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs fleeing their homes during horrific religious violence. This is the second of two programmes remembering that time.Lucy Williams spoke to Chandra Joashi, was only 12-years-old when his family was caught on the wrong side of the dividing line.This episode was first broadcast in 2010.Photo: Millions of families became refugees after the partition of India in 1947 Credit: Keystone-France / Contributor
16 Aug 202210min
India's Partition - Part One
The partition of India led to millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs fleeing their homes amid horrific violence. This is the first of two programmes remembering that time.Listen to the story of Saleem, who was only five-years-old when his family tried to escape to the new Muslim country of Pakistan. This programme was first broadcast in 2010.Photo: Wrecked buildings after communal riots in Amritsar, Punjab, during the Partition of British India, March 1947 Credit: Keystone Features / Stringer
15 Aug 202210min
The nightclub that changed Ibiza
In June 1973, the nightclub Pacha opened in Ibiza. Other clubs with the capacity to fit thousands of people on the dancefloor opened in the years after, turning Ibiza into a destination for music and party lovers from around the world. Vicky Carter speaks to Carlos Martorell who organised Pacha’s opening party and Francis Van Orden, a Dutch hippy who danced all night on the opening night.(Photo: Sunset over the sea with boats in the distance. Credit: BBC and Minnow Films)
12 Aug 202210min
Discovering Hale Bopp
Hale Bopp is one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century. Its discovery in 1995 resulted in huge advances in science. Russell Crewe spoke to astronomer Dr Alan Hale who discovered the comet alongside Tom Bopp. This is a Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service.(Photo: Hale Bopp Comet in the night sky. Credit: Getty Images)
11 Aug 20229min
Indonesia's forest fires
Twenty five years ago in Indonesia, some of the worst forest fires in history devastated the environment and resulted in a smog which engulfed South East Asia for months. The fires, which were set deliberately, burned out of control for months. Mesdiono Matali Samad, known as Memes, worked on the Indonesian Red Cross relief effort helping people in East Kalimantan, Borneo. He's been speaking to Laura Jones.
10 Aug 202210min
Sweden’s pronoun battle
Sweden has a long history of championing LGBTQ+ rights. But campaigners spent years battling to get the gender-neutral personal pronoun ‘hen’ included in Swedish dictionaries. The word was finally added in 2015. Maddy Savage spoke to Nasim Aghili from the "queer" art collective Ful, which rallied to get the word recognised. This is a Bespoken Media production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: Nasim Aghili. Credit: Thomas Straub)
9 Aug 20229min
The resignation of President Nixon
On 8 August 1974 Richard Nixon became the first US president in history to resign from office, following the Watergate scandal. In 2014, Farhana Haider spoke to journalist Tom DeFrank, who watched the drama unfold minute by minute.(Photo: Nixon announces his resignation on national television. Credit: Getty Images)
8 Aug 20228min
