World War One in Africa
At the start of World War One, British and German colonial forces went into battle in East Africa. Tens of thousands of African troops and up to a million porters were conscripted to fight and keep the armies supplied. We hear very rare recordings of Kenyan veterans of the King's African Rifles, talking about their experiences of the war. The interviews were made in Kenya in the early 1980s by Gerald Rilling with the help of Paul Kiamba. Photo: Locally recruited troops under German command in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (then part of German East Africa), circa 1914. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
11 Nov 20209min
Makaton - the signing system that changes lives
In the 1970s, British speech therapist Margaret Walker invented a revolutionary system of communication for children and adults with special needs. Makaton uses simple signs to reinforce spoken speech and make it easier for people with learning difficulties to understand the meaning. Makaton is now used by millions of people in around 40 countries around the world; it helps everyone from children with Down’s Syndrome to pensioners with dementia. Margaret Walker talks to Simon Watts.PHOTO: A Makaton user (credit: The Makaton Charity)
10 Nov 202010min
The Guerrilla Girls
In 1985, a group of anonymous female artists in New York began dressing up with gorilla masks on their heads and putting up fly-posters around the city's museums and galleries. It was part of a campaign to demand greater representation for women and ethnic minorities in the art world. The guerrilla girls' campaign later went international. Laura Fitzpatrick has been talking to the activists known as "Frida Kahlo" and "Kathe Kollowitz".PHOTO: Some of the Guerrilla Girls in 1990 (Getty Images)
9 Nov 20208min
The church that rose from the rubble
In 2005 Dresden’s Lutheran church, the Frauenkirche, opened its doors to the public for the first time in 60 years. The Frauenkirche in the East German city of Dresden was destroyed in 1945 by British and American bombing. The church remained in ruins for over 40 years. Then, in 1993, a painstaking project began to piece the church back together and restore it to its former glory. Josephine Casserly talks to Thomas Gottschlich who was one of the architects leading the reconstruction.Ruins of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany after the WWII bombing in 1945. Credit: Probst/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images
6 Nov 202010min
The 1945 Pan-African Congress
The 5th Pan-African Congress was held in Manchester in 1945 to shape the post-war struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination. Prominent black activists, intellectuals and trade union leaders from around the world attended the meeting - among them Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, the future leaders of independent Ghana and Kenya. We delve into the archive to hear from one of the delegates, the late ANC activist and writer Peter Abrahams, and we speak to the historian Prof Hakim Adi from Chichester University about the significance of the meeting.Photo: The 5th Pan African Congress, 1945 (Manchester Libraries)
5 Nov 202013min
The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
On November 4th 1995 the Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen sang at a peace rally in Tel Aviv alongside Israel's leader Yitzhak Rabin. Moments later the Prime Minister was shot. Aviv Geffen spoke to Louise Hidalgo about that night, and its effect on his life.This programme was first broadcast in 2010.Photo: Yitzhak Rabin in 1993. Credit: Getty Images.
4 Nov 202010min
'I just wanted to be white'
In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, thousands of children were born to white German women and black American soldiers who were stationed in Allied-occupied Germany. The mixed-race infants were viewed with contempt by many Germans and endured constant abuse and racism. Black activist and author Ika Hügel-Marshall was one of the so-called "occupation babies". She tells Mike Lanchin about the painful struggle to discover her own identity as a result of the racism she experienced growing up black in post-war Germany.Photo: Ika as a young girl (Courtesy of Ika Hügel-Marshall)
3 Nov 202010min
The sex musical that wowed New York and London
In 1969, a theatrical revue called Oh Calcutta opened in New York featuring extensive male and female nudity. Created by renowned critic Kenneth Tynan, a London version followed the next year and the show ran in both cities for thousands of performances. Vincent Dowd talks to Margo Sappington and Linda Marlowe, two members of the original cast.PHOTO: The Oh Calcutta cast from the New York Production in 1981 (Ron Galella/Getty Images)
2 Nov 20208min
