Best Indian Leaders Reforms Podcasts (2025)

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The death of Franco 10:32

Play Pause

12m ago10:32

10:32

General Francisco Franco died in November 1975, ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain. The general had been in power since 1939 after winning the country’s bloody civil war, and his death followed a long illness. He was mourned by conservative Spaniards but those on the left celebrated, calling him a fascist who had once been an ally of Hitler…

1
Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules 10:47

1d ago10:47

10:47

In the summer of 2015, there was a surge in the number of people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking asylum in Europe. Social Democrat politician Aydan Özoğuz was Angela Merkel's minister of state concerned with immigration, refugees and integration from 2013 to 2018. She describes to Josephine McDermott visiting her father's home city of Kil…

1
Reagan and Gorbachev: The Geneva Summit 10:18

19m ago10:18

10:18

Forty years ago, in November 1985, two of the world’s most powerful leaders met for the first time. With Cold War tensions running high and the nuclear arms race dominating global politics, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came together for the first time at the Geneva Summit. Using archive recordings, Megan Jones expl…

1
When Maldives' ministers met underwater 10:51

9m ago10:51

10:51

On 17 October 2009, the Maldives’ top government officials donned their scuba gear for the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting. Fish floated around while ministers communicated with hand gestures, white boards and special underwater pencils. Meanwhile on the surface, journalists jostled to see what was happening. The watery meeting was filmed …

1
Bataclan attack in Paris 10:33

2d ago10:33

10:33

On 13 November 2015, 90 people were shot dead by gunmen at the Bataclan theatre in France during an Eagles of Death Metal concert. A further 40 people were killed in co-ordinated terror attacks by jihadists across the city on the same night. Rachel Naylor speaks to British couple Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott, who managed to escape the venue …

1
Prosecuting Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials 11:09

10m ago11:09

11:09

In November 1945, the first major war crimes trial in history opened in the German city of Nuremberg. Senior Nazis who had committed atrocities during World War Two were prosecuted by the victorious Allied powers of Britain, the USA, France and the Soviet Union. In 2014, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Benjamin Ferencz, who helped unearth evidence of mass …

1
Birth of the G7 10:35

12m ago10:35

10:35

In November 1975, a summit took place at Rambouillet, France, where the heads of six of the world’s most industrialised nations and their finance ministers came together. The leaders of the US, France, Germany, Britain, Japan and Italy hoped to solve the ongoing economic crisis. The summit marked the birth of an institution now known as the G7. Fra…

1
Breaking the sound barrier 10:30

8d ago10:30

10:30

On 14 October 1947, American Chuck Yeager became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound. Despite having two broken ribs, Chuck reached Mach 1.06 – a speed of more than 1,100km per hour. He flew an orange, single-seated, rocket-powered Bell X-1, 13,000m above the Mojave Desert in California. Produced and presented by Rachel Naylor, in…

1
Discovering the largest dinosaur ever 10:41

5d ago10:41

10:41

In 2012, a shepherd uncovered a bone belonging to a new species of dinosaur on a ranch in Patagonia, in Argentina. A team from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio found more than 150 bones, belonging to six skeletons. The Patagotitan, a type of titanosaur, was 40 metres long, 20 metres tall and weighed 77 tonnes. Rachel Naylor spoke to Dr Di…

1
The ‘father of e-books’ 10:22

6h ago10:22

10:22

In 1971, an American historical document typed out on a university computer played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books. It became the foundation of Project Gutenberg. Michael Hart, the visionary behind the project, later became known as the ‘father of e-books’. His close friend, Greg Newby, who was Project Gutenberg’s CEO and…

1
The creation of Miffy 10:47

12d ago10:47

10:47

It's 70 years since Miffy was created. The little rabbit with two dots for eyes and an X for a mouth went on to feature in 32 books translated into more than 50 languages. The Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna reveals in his own words from the BBC archive that in the beginning, his black outlined illustrations with bold colours were controver…

1
President Clinton is impeached 10:48

2d ago10:48

10:48

In 1999, the US Senate chamber in Washington DC was turned into a court to put President Bill Clinton on trial, after he admitted lying about an affair with an intern called Monica Lewinsky. In 2011, Bill Clinton’s former press secretary spoke to Neil Razzell. Joe Lockhart recounted the impeachment and the fight to save his presidency. Eye-witness …

1
The brains behind Thunderbirds 10:41

10d ago10:41

10:41

In 1965, a groundbreaking children's show using cutting-edge puppets first blast onto television screens. Thunderbirds was set in 2065 and followed the antics of secret organisation ‘International Rescue’ which was manned by Jeff Tracy, his team of five sons and agent Lady Penelope. Set up to save humanity, the characters travelled in futuristic ve…

1
Emerante de Pradines: Haiti’s musical trailblazer 10:02

19d ago10:02

10:02

Emerante de Pradines was a Haitian singer, dancer and folklorist who became the first person from her country to sign a record deal. She was dedicated to de-demonising vodou music and folklore and went on to teach dance at some of America’s most prestigious universities. Her son Richard Morse speaks to Emma Forde about his mother’s life and her leg…

1
Orson Welles broadcasts The War of the Worlds 10:22

7d ago10:22

10:22

The night before Halloween in 1938, 23-year-old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air performed a radio adaptation of HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds. It would become one of the most notorious radio broadcasts in history. In their own words, from the BBC's archive, Orson Welles, producer John Houseman and writer Howard Koch describe how …

1
Srebrenica massacre 10:17

9d ago10:17

10:17

It's 30 years since a massacre of Bosnian Muslims during the war in the former Yugoslavia. The Srebrenica massacre, recognised by the United Nations as a genocide, was the shocking climax of the war in Bosnia. In 2014, Louise Hidalgo talked to Hasan Nuhanović whose father, brother and mother were among the 8,000 Bosnians killed. Eye-witness account…

1
The invention of the balloon-expandable stent 10:35

14d ago10:35

10:35

An estimated 2 million stents are implanted into people’s hearts around the world each year – making it one of the key treatments for heart disease. The treatment was invented by Argentinian doctor Julio Palmaz, who credits a piece of metal being left by a construction worker in his home as inspiration for the structure of the stent. Collaborating …

1
Death of a priest 10:12

16d ago10:12

10:12

The 1977 murder of Father Rutilio Grande sent shockwaves through El Salvador. The 48-year-old Jesuit priest was an outspoken champion of the poor in the deeply divided central American nation. In the immediate aftermath of his murder, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, took the unprecedented step of holding just one single mass, ordering…

1
The man who invented the scratch card 10:12

26d ago10:12

10:12

In May 1974, scratch cards went on sale for the first time in the US State of Massachusetts. Free giveaway and coupon games from stores had been commonplace across the USA during the 1950s and '60s – but players could easily cheat. The mathematician John Koza was hired to make the games more secure; he succeeded in making the modern-day scratch car…

1
GLP-1: A breakthrough for diabetes and obesity 10:37

27d ago10:37

10:37

In the 1980s, scientists made a discovery that would eventually lead to the development of drugs now used worldwide to treat diabetes and to help people manage obesity through weight loss injections. One of the key scientists behind this breakthrough was Svetlana Mojsov. She discovered that a hormone called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) plays an …

1
The UK’s first black-owned music studio 9:59

21d ago9:59

9:59

Sonny Roberts, a Jamaican carpenter, arrived in Britain in the 1950s. It was a time of racial disharmony, including the Notting Hill riots and the murder of Kelso Cochrane. In this tense atmosphere, black musicians struggled to make a name for themselves. Then in 1961, Roberts set up the UK’s first black-owned music studio, Planetone, in a basement…

1601
Wangari Maathai: The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize 10:52

1M ago10:52

10:52

In 2004, the Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, a grass-roots organisation empowering local women to plant trees. It spread to other African countries and contributed to the planting of over 30 million trees. In 2016, Alex Last spoke …

1
The British oil tanker sunk in Indonesia 10:47

26d ago10:47

10:47

In 1958, the British oil tanker, SS San Flaviano, was sunk in the harbour of Balikpapan, Indonesia, while a rebellion was underway against President Ahmed Sukarno. It’s reported the bomb was dropped by a CIA pilot authorised to aid the rebels, but confirming their involvement has required some investigating. Megan Jones has been looking into it and…

1
My aunt created The Moomins 10:35

22d ago10:35

10:35

The first Moomins story about a family of nature-loving white round trolls was published in 1945 during World War Two. The Moomins and the Great Flood was created by writer and artist Tove Jansson as a source of comfort during bleak times. It highlighted the struggles of those who’d been displaced by war introducing readers into the lives of Moomin…

1
Helen Fielding: The creator of Bridget Jones 11:08

28d ago11:08

11:08

In 1995, a single 30-something woman with big knickers and blue soup first appeared in a weekly column, published by British newspaper The Independent. Initially written anonymously by journalist Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones quickly became a cultural icon, as she tried to make sense of life and love. The book, Bridget Jones’s Diary, became a best-…

1
The trial of Soviet writers Daniel and Sinyavsky 9:51

1M ago9:51

9:51

In 1965, two writers were accused of publishing anti-Soviet material abroad. The arrest of Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky was seen as symbolic of the new era in the Soviet Union. The liberal leader Nikita Khrushchev had been ousted in favour of hardliner Leonid Brezhnev, and dissenting political views were being cracked down on. In a moment consi…

1
Blood & Myth Hulu Documentary 17:29

24d ago17:29

17:29

Join me for an interview with James Dommek Jr. and Kahlil Hudson to talk about Hulu’s haunting new documentary Blood & Myth. The film follows James on a deeply personal journey back to a remote Native village in Northern Alaska, where a series of shocking crimes sparked chilling questions about culture, identity, and the line between myth and reali…

1951
Jorge Luis Borges: 'Father' of Latin American fiction 10:36

1M ago10:36

10:36

In 1961, the Argentine poet and short story writer Jorge Luis Borges won the Formentor Prize for literature. Borges’ stories were characterised by mind-bending plots often featuring labyrinths, dreams and fables. Following his recognition in 1961, his reputation grew to such an extent that he is regarded as one of the most influential Latin America…

2001
Wallander and the rise of Nordic Noir 10:27

1M ago10:27

10:27

Published in 1991, Faceless Killers was the first of Henning Mankell’s crime novels featuring police inspector Kurt Wallander. The series changed the world of crime writing, introducing gritty social realism. The Wallander novels helped establish Scandinavia as the epicentre of crime fiction. Henning Mankell’s former agent Anneli Høier speaks to Be…

2101
How BRICS got its name 9:55

1M ago9:55

9:55

In 2001, a few months after 9/11, economist Jim O’Neill was working at Goldman Sachs when he wrote a report about which countries might become big players in the world economy. That’s when he came up with the name BRIC - short for Brazil, Russia, India and China. At first, nothing much happened. But in 2009, those countries took his idea and ran wi…

1
Japan surrenders in Beijing 10:12

28d ago10:12

10:12

Eighty years ago, in the autumn of 1945, World War II surrender ceremonies took place across the Japanese Empire. The one in China was held at the Forbidden City in Beijing bringing an end to eight years of occupation. Thousands of people watched the incredible moment Japanese generals handed over their swords. The United States, China, Russia and …

1
Family Safety on the Road 27:40

30d ago27:40

27:40

Traveling with your family should be exciting, not stressful — but keeping everyone safe is always top of mind. After seeing several children get lost at a recent Pow Wow, I couldn’t stop thinking about how scary that must have been for them and their parents. It also reminded me of moments when my own daughter was little and how quickly situations…

1
The remote island that was evacuated to 10,000km away 10:43

1M ago10:43

10:43

On 10 October 1961, a volcanic eruption threatened the population of Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, and all 264 islanders were evacuated to the UK. Two years later, the majority voted to return. In an interview she gave to the BBC in 1961, Mary Swain describes what it was like to survive the preceding earthqua…

1
'I designed the Indian rupee symbol' 10:29

1M ago10:29

10:29

By BBC World Service

1
The home video war 10:08

1M ago10:08

10:08

Before streaming and catch-up TV, owning a video recorder was one of the only ways to watch on-demand entertainment. In 1975 Sony launched Betamax with its half-inch-wide tape capable of recording 60 minutes of television. It was the length of most American shows - the perfect run-time. But in 1977, JVC released its VHS: it was bigger and bulkier, …

1
The acquittal of OJ Simpson 10:35

1M ago10:35

10:35

It’s 30 years since American football star OJ Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Ron Shipp was a close friend of OJ Simpson's and also a police officer, he decided to testify against him in the criminal trial. In 2017, Ron spoke to Rebecca Kesby about why he wanted to testify. Eye-witn…

1
'I took the famous photo of JFK and his son' 10:31

1M ago10:31

10:31

On 2 October 1963, American photographer Stanley Tretick took the best picture of his life – a photo of President John F Kennedy working at the Resolute Desk in the White House, with his two-year-old son ‘John-John’ peeking out a secret door underneath. The photo was published in Look magazine a month later, days after the President was assassinate…

1
The strike that shook up India's tea industry 10:42

1M ago10:42

10:42

In September 2015, thousands of women tea pickers went on strike at one of India’s biggest tea producers. They had picked more tea than ever that year but were furious that wages remained low and managers were proposing to cut their bonus. Their action was unprecedented, with the low-caste women protesting in the streets for nine days, against both…

1
The birth of the Excel spreadsheet 10:12

1M ago10:12

10:12

In September 1985, Microsoft introduced Excel, an electronic spreadsheet program that revolutionised the way we organise and analyse data. With its grid of rows and columns, it allows users to sort information, do calculations, and make charts with ease. Today it is used worldwide. Spreadsheets might have a reputation for being dull, but this story…

1
The Cradock Four killings 10:37

1M ago10:37

10:37

On 27 June 1985, four anti-apartheid activists from the rural town of Cradock in South Africa’s Eastern Cape were abducted at a roadblock. Their bodies were later found mutilated and burnt. Known as the Cradock Four, their murders became one of the most notorious cases of apartheid brutality. Fort Calata’s son, Lukhanyo, was just three years old wh…

1
Guinea stadium massacre 10:29

2M ago10:29

10:29

On 28 September 2009, around 50,000 people took part in a rally to protest reported plans by military leader Moussa Dadis Camara to stand in the presidential election. It started peacefully, until troops, under Camara’s rule entered the stadium and opened fire, killing more than 150 people. Many others were left scarred, and women raped. Asmaou Dia…

401
The secretary who made millions from her typos 9:46

1M ago9:46

9:46

In the 1950s, secretary Bette Graham from Texas was struggling to cope with her new electric typewriter. “My fingers would hang heavy on the sensitive keyboard and the first thing I'd know, I'd have a mistake with a deposit of carbon which I simply couldn't erase,” she said. A budding artist, she wondered if there was a way she could paint over her…

1
DDLJ: India’s longest-running film 10:24

2M ago10:24

10:24

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the ultimate Bollywood romance was released to critical acclaim in October 1995, becoming the longest-running movie in Indian cinema history. The premiere was held at the Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai, since then it’s been screened there every day for the past 27 years, stopping only briefly during the Covid pandemic.…

1
The birth of Médecins Sans Frontières 10:42

2M ago10:42

10:42

In 1971, 13 men sat down in a Paris office to launch what would become one of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations: Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors without Borders. The men were among hundreds of volunteers responding to an appeal by the French medical journal, Tonus, after a major cyclone devastated East Pakistan. The campaign sp…

1
The start of Scouting 10:29

2M ago10:29

10:29

In the early 1900s, while serving in the British Army, Lord Robert Baden-Powell laid the foundations for what would become one of the largest international youth movements, Scouting. His vision was to create an organisation that would build friendships, experiences, and skills for life. Gill Kearsley used archive to trace the origins of the movemen…

1
Omar Sharif stars in Lawrence of Arabia 10:31

2M ago10:31

10:31

In 1962, Egyptian actor Omar Sharif made his Hollywood debut in Lawrence of Arabia, a sweeping epic that would become one of cinema’s most popular films. Using archive recordings, Gill Kearsley tells the story of the movie legend’s transformation into the enigmatic Sherif Ali and brings to life the moment he stepped into the desert and onto the wor…

1
The Aswan High Dam 11:02

2M ago11:02

11:02

In the early 1960s, Unesco appealed for scientists to go to Egypt to save antiquities that were threatened by the construction of one of the largest dams in the world, the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. Professor Herman Bell answered that call from the UN. He spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2020. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witne…

1
Egypt criminalises sexual harassment 10:55

2M ago10:55

10:55

In 2014, Egypt’s outgoing president, Adly Mansour, issued a decree which categorised sexual harassment as a crime punishable by a minimum six-month jail term and a fine of 3,000 Egyptian pounds which is around $60. It was a move campaigners welcomed, saying it was the first step towards ending an endemic problem. Among those who made the change hap…

4701
Reforming Egypt’s divorce laws 10:35

2M ago10:35

10:35

In 1979, Egypt’s former first lady Jehan Sadat helped lead a campaign to grant women new rights to divorce their husbands and retain custody of their children. Married to President Anwar Sadat, she wanted to play a more active role than the wives of previous leaders and told her husband it was his duty to make Egypt more equal for women. After some…

4801
Mohamed Morsi: Egypt's first democratically elected president 10:09

2M ago10:09

10:09

In June 2012, Mohamed Morsi, representing the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first democratically elected president. In 2022, Ben Henderson spoke to Rabab El-Mahdi, chief strategist to one of Morsi’s rival candidates. She described what it was like to be involved in the first election of its kind, how Morsi tried to recruit her, and the persona…