Blind History

Che Guevara

Che Guevara is a pop icon and an inspiration to the rebels of the world. But many don’t know that he was a medical student, an adventurer, and a husband. This episode of Blind History takes us from Argentina to Guatemala, then from Mexico to Cuba. We even stop in…

6 Oct 2020 23 min

George Washington

George Washington - father of the United States of America, with terrible teeth. He may have led the Continental Army, but poor George never smiled. Find out whether he and Martha had a happy marriage, or children... and if he really was a brilliant military mind.

29 Sep 2020 20 min

Ancient Israel

Ancient Israel, place of mystery and cradle of religion. King David and King Solomon are referred to in the great tapestry of Middle Eastern history as being paragons of kingship. All through the Middle Ages, kings tried to live up to their example. But who were the ancient kings, how…

22 Sep 2020 25 min

The Composers

Mozart, Beethoven and Bach - possibly the three most famous composers of all time. Which one of them had 20 children? Which one died a pauper and was buried in a mass grave? And which one wore the same clothes for up to three weeks at a time, stinking to…

23 Jun 2020 28 min

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin is in the big three of the truly evil people of the 20th century, along with Mao and Hitler. Their combined body count is well over 100 million souls, and most of those weren’t soldiers. Stalin did however raise Russia to power, might and glory - and his…

2 Jun 2020 29 min

Charlemagne

Charlemagne’s reign marks the end of the dark ages and the start of the medieval era. In this episode we explore the origins of France and Germany, the genealogies of all the kings and queens of Europe, and the first emergence of Northwestern Europe from savagery and barbarism, since the…

26 May 2020 23 min

Genghis Khan

During his short but expansive reign, he brought millions of souls under the banner of the Mongol Empire. Riding and fighting on horseback, he and his horde advanced into Persia, eastern Europe and China with such ferocity that even long after his reign had ended, the mere mention of his…

19 May 2020 23 min

Eva Perón

Eva Perón was born poor, unimportant and ordinary, but she was ambitious. Her ambition was so great that it propelled her into power, influence, glamour and wealth. By the time she died at only 33, she received one of the most ostentatious funerals ever held - and ever since, Argentina…

12 May 2020 21 min

King Louis XIV

From his silver throne in the glittering palace of Versailles, Louis XIV watched over his kingdom, resplendent in majesty. Everything about being a king was designed, considered, exalted. He taught the world what kings should look like, sound like, how they should walk and eat. He made himself the centre…

5 May 2020 19 min

The Persian Empire

In central Iran, at the foot of a low hill overlooking a seemingly endless plain, stand a few broken columns reaching impossibly high for ruins. Atop one or two are the stern, proud faces of bulls and eagles, battered by the sands of 2300 years of history. In the great…

27 Apr 2020 22 min

Catherine the Great

In a time of men - of the enlightenment and of extraordinary change, a young German princess found herself at the reins of the great Russian Empire. She was never anyone’s wife or lover - she made the rules. Catherine the Great was precisely that... great.

20 Apr 2020 17 min

The Kennedys

Perhaps no other American family was ever so photographed, written about, talked about, admired, hated and controversial. Were they brilliant, heroic, extraordinary people or arrogant, competitive, self-absorbed children of a wilful, overambitious patriarch? Most people think they know the Kennedys. We’ll tell you what you don’t know.

14 Apr 2020 23 min

Bonus episode: Plagues & Pandemics

History isn’t just stories from the past, it’s also about things that humanity has been through that might be more relevant now than ever. Take great plagues for example: Humankind has faced some truly horrible diseases and pandemics in the past... and as awful as coronavirus is, it’s not nearly…

13 Apr 2020 21 min

Emperor Augustus

Perhaps no other single human has had such a lasting and powerful effect on the idea of civilisation. For his long reign, Augustus mostly wanted to be called ‘First Citizen’, but in effect he was one of the most powerful men to ever walk the Earth. He instituted a period…

7 Apr 2020 18 min

The Wives of King Henry VIII

Anyone who has ever heard of King Henry VIII knows he had many wives. Some even know their names. Their individual stories are complex, beautiful, sad, poignant and remarkable. In an age where women are finally being given their due, these six Queens deserve to be known for more than…

31 Mar 2020 17 min

Idi Amin

There are some names that send a shudder through the air. Some names that have changed whole countries. Names that hang like a dark cloud over history. Idi Amin is such a name. The whole of East Africa - even the world - is still flabbergasted that as recently as…

23 Mar 2020 14 min

The Great Greek Philosophers

Socrates, Aristotle and Plato are the fathers of Western (if not world) philosophy. Despite us knowing so little about their lives, they have an enduring influence on every aspect of our thinking and understanding. The university, the academy, the school... these things all come from the three great philosophers -…

16 Mar 2020 21 min

The Bad Emperors

We end season two of Blind History in Ancient Rome... the place that gave us Hadrian, Augustus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius. But this time we investigate the bad emperors - the ones who murdered, ruined, destroyed and perverted the greatest empire of antiquity. Caligula, Nero, Commodus and Elagabalus were some…

9 Dec 2019 24 min

The Kims

Who is the most powerful Kim in the world? No, it isn’t Kim Kardashian - it’s a small Korean man with a bad haircut. He also has his finger on the button of a dangerous nuclear arsenal and the command of the third largest standing army on earth. Kim Jong-Un…

3 Dec 2019 20 min

The Duke of Wellington

Napoleon’s great adversary, a man of impeccable military credentials, and one of the finest examples of the great British soldier that tends to sound more like myth than fact, Arthur Wellesley was also just a man. He had mistresses, a sense of humour, and an inspirational style of leadership that…

25 Nov 2019 18 min