Podcasts
Athena’s ‘Man and Baby’ Photoshoot
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The most iconic image of the 80s? Arguably. One of the biggest-selling posters of all time? Unquestionably. Yet ‘L’Enfant’ – captured on 26th May 1986 by photographer Spencer Rowell – was just a workaday, rapid-turnaround project for high street store Athena. The photo, which went on to adorn over five million walls, is often credited …
Shakespeare Unbanned
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Chinese citizens were once again able to read and perform the works of William Shakespeare on 25th May, 1977. Chiang Ching, Chairman Mao’s wife, had instituted the ban eleven years earlier – amidst concerns that the Bard’s works could be reinterpreted to undermine the Party’s rule and ideology. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion …
The Very First Eurovision
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Spectacle, camp and glamour were NOT on the agenda in Lugano, Switzerland on 24th May, 1956: the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast mostly on the radio, and featured a whistling duo as its interval act. Who had to perform twice. Voting controversy, however, was enshrined in the institution right from the outset – as …
Greyhound Hits The Road
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When Carl Wickman started America’s first bus company on 21st May, 1914, they weren’t a bus company, and they weren’t called Greyhound – they were a commuter service for miners in Hibbing, Minnesota. But, despite their ‘dirty dog’ reputation (and the fact they’re now owned by a British conglomerate), the company is still seen as …
The Accidental Vibrator
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When Hitachi launched their ‘personal massager’ on 20th May, 1968, they had no idea (or so they claim) that they were about to, um, go down in sex toy history. The Magic Wand was initially developed to relieve tension and relaxing sore muscles – but soon became celebrated as the most powerful vibrator the world …
Marilyn’s Birthday Surprise
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When Marilyn Monroe delivered her breathy, flirtatious rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to JFK on 19th May 1962, columnist Dorothy Kilgallen remarked, ‘it seemed like Marilyn was making love to the President in front of 40 million Americans.’ In fact the two are said to have never seen each other again, and just three months later …
Dracula! Live on Stage!
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Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first introduced to the world NOT via his canonical novel, but rather in the pages of a seldom-performed – and by all accounts appalling – play-reading at London’s Lyceum Theatre on 18th May, 1897. The stage version was not intended to reach a mass audience; but was rather a clever wheeze …
The Man Who Invented The Wild West
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Gun totin’, horse ridin’ spectacular ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West’ opened in Omaha, Nebraska on 17th May, 1883 – the start of a multi-decade run. With a cast of hundreds, including Calamity Jane, Sitting Bull, and Annie ‘Get Your Gun’ Oakley, it toured the world – and forever shaped the way cowboys and Indians were …
America’s Last Witchtrial
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Can ‘mesmeric’ mental powers harm you from afar? Well, no. But that didn’t stop Lucretia L. S. Brown accusing fellow Christian Scientist Daniel H. Spofford of ‘malicious animal magnetism’ in court; a case that concluded on 14th May, 1878. No doubt bolstered by the fact it took place in Salem, Massachusetts – home of …
The $8 Billion ‘Kill Switch’
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‘WannaCry’, the biggest cyberattack the world has seen, was stopped in its tracks on 13th May, 2017. British blogger Marcus Hutchins found the ‘kill switch’. He was 22. The ransomware had attacked the NHS, Renault, Telefónica, FedEx, and Boeing – causing damage estimated at up to $8 billion. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca …