Italo disco

Ten years ago, Syrian government soldiers surrounded Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, bombing buildings and searching for people opposed to President Assad. Hundreds of people died over four days. Mohamad Zarda was there and has been speaking to Laura Jones. This episode contains descriptions of violence.(Image shows a Syrian government tank in Darayya in 2016 during the four year siege. Credit: Getty Images)

23 Aug 20229min

In 1997, Bulgaria was in financial meltdown with hyperinflation making money in the country worth a lot less. Bulgaria had emerged out of communism following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Like other post-Soviet regimes in eastern Europe, the country found the transition from communism to capitalism harder than expected. The President of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, knew he had to do something and a recovery plan from one of Ronald Reagan’s former economic advisers was on the table. But would it work? Matt Pintus has been speaking to the economist, Steve Hanke.Photo: Steve Hanke and Liliane Hanke meet Petar Stoyanov. Credit: Steve Hanke

22 Aug 202210min

In August 1941, one of the greatest poets India has ever produced died. Known as the "Bard of Bengal", Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.Farhana Haider spoke to Professor Bashabi Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies, in 2017.Photo: June 1921, Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore in London. Credit: Getty Images

19 Aug 20229min

In May 1964 India's first prime minister and the man who led India to independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, died. On the 50th anniversary of his death in 2014, Nehru's niece, the writer Nayantara Sahgal, shared memories of her famous uncle with Louise Hidalgo. Photo: Indira Gandhi paying her respects at the body of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.(AFP/Getty Images)

18 Aug 202210min

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

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

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

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