Swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy
In 2009, hundreds of teenagers’ lives were changed forever, when a vaccine designed to protect them against swine flu appeared to trigger a sleep disorder. It affected people in various countries including Sweden.Maddy Savage speaks to Christopher Tyvi from Stockholm, who is one of those who experienced problems. A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.(Photo: Swine flu vaccine. Credit: Getty Images)
20 Jan 20239min
France's nuclear tests in Algeria
Between 1960 and 1966, France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara. High levels of radioactivity, and a failure to safely dispose of nuclear waste, have left a dangerous legacy. Dan Hardoon speaks to Abdelkrim Touhami, who was just a teenager when the French authorities announced a nuclear test near his home. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service. (Photo: Dummies at the nuclear testing site in the Algerian Sahara. Credit: Getty Images)
19 Jan 20238min
Kosovo’s house schools
In 1990s Kosovo, a generation of Albanians received their education crammed into thousands of private homes. When Slobodan Milosevic’s Serb nationalist regime forcibly evicted them from schools and universities, Kosovan Albanians responded with improvised house schools in their apartments, attics and cellars. The spontaneous reaction to their ethnic exclusion quickly evolved into a nationwide education system that would endure for the best part of a decade. Linda Gusia, a pupil in the house schools, and university professor Drita Halimi speak to Jack Butcher. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.(Photo: A Kosovan house school. Credit: Shyqeri Obërtinca)
18 Jan 20239min
Europe's horse meat scandal
In 2013, horse meat was discovered in Irish beef burgers. The scandal snowballed and within six weeks horse meat was found in beef products in more than a dozen European countries. The story revealed how complex and unregulated Europe’s meat industry was, making it a target for fraudsters. Ben Henderson speaks to Alan Reilly, former Chief Executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority, who uncovered the scandal.(Photo: Meat inspection in a French supermarket. Credit: Sebastien Bozon via Getty Images)
17 Jan 20239min
Miracle on the Hudson
On 15 January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York, after geese struck both its engines shortly after take off.All 155 people on board survived.Rachel Naylor speaks to Dave Sanderson, the last passenger to be rescued.(Photo: Passengers and crew aboard US Airways Flight 1549 await rescue. Credit: AP)
16 Jan 20239min
World’s first tidal power station
The world’s first tidal power station is on the estuary of the River Rance in France. It was opened in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle and has been capturing the natural power of the oceans’ tides and turning it into electricity ever since. Alex Collins hears how the project to build it was a cause for national pride and how the facility is now a tourist attraction, as he speaks to Brittany historian Marc Bonnel.(Photo: La Rance tidal power station. Credit: Getty Images)
13 Jan 20238min
Galápagos Islands’ sea cucumber dispute
A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galápagos Islands, where the protein-rich ocean creature was found in abundance. The high price being paid for the sea cucumbers led to a gold rush on the South American archipelago, a chain of 21 islands home to many unique species. In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to a Galapagos fisherman Marcos Escaraby and conservationist Alan Tye, who found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute.(Picture: Sea cucumber. Credit: Getty Images)
12 Jan 20238min
Paul Robeson and the transatlantic phone line
In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, making high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 people squeezed into St Pancras Town Hall in London to listen to a transatlantic concert.The person performing, Paul Robeson, was a globally renowned singer, but he’d been banned from travelling outside the USA. So, he made use of the new transatlantic telephone line to perform to his fans in the UK.Ben Henderson speaks to John Liffen, who curated an exhibition on TAT-1 and the concert at the Science Museum in London.(Photo: Engineers build repeaters used in TAT-1. Credit: Russell Knight/BIPs via Getty Images)
11 Jan 20238min
