Alle afleveringen van The History Podcast

How Houdini Made Magic: 5. Protect your brand

19 oktober 2026 · 14 min

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When an authoritarian empire threatens to brand you a fraud and destroy your legacy, how do you fight back? Lees meer

Derren Brown explores the high-stakes legal battles that helped cement Houdini’s European triumph.

Arriving in a hostile Berlin where the Imperial police aggressively censored entertainment, Houdini accepted the ultimate challenge, stripping naked before 300 officers to free himself from German restraints. But when a bitter policeman accused him of cheating and bribery, Houdini did the unthinkable: he sued for slander, turning the highest court in the German Empire into the ultimate theatrical stage.

Houdini brilliantly weaponised the legal system, orchestrating PR campaigns and dramatic courtroom victories that he transformed into powerful marketing posters.

Then, with his success on the rise, he faced a new threat: copycat acts. Again, Houdini used ingenious legal tactics to protect his brand in a distinctly modern approach.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

How Houdini Made Magic: 4. Advertise

19 oktober 2026 · 14 min

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Houdini had made it big in America. At the very start of the 20th century, however, the pinnacle for performers was not the fledgling States, but Europe. So Houdini boarded a ship to London, where he learned how to make noise. Lees meer

Derren Brown explores the brilliant promotional playbook that set Houdini miles ahead of his contemporaries. Stepping off the boat in London and charming the sceptics at Scotland Yard and the Alhambra Theatre, Houdini quickly realised that the secret to superstardom wasn't just the escape; it was the advertising.

We hear about the outrageous stunts that got the world talking: from engineered rivalries on opening night and lines of bald men spelling his name down Parisian boulevards, to ingenious brand partnerships with local businesses and breweries.

While brilliant technical assistants pioneered new tricks behind the scenes, Houdini’s entrepreneurial genius proved his greatest strength in the battle for attention.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

How Houdini Made Magic: 3. Know your audience

19 oktober 2026 · 14 min

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Houdini almost gave up on the act that would make him a star: the handcuff escape. But with his wife’s encouragement, he persisted. And it paid off. Lees meer

Join Derren Brown as we learn how Houdini went from a sideshow hustler to the big time.

In 1899, Martin Beck, a Vaudeville booker, stumbled into a beer hall in St Paul, Minnesota, and changed Houdini’s life. He thought Houdini’s handcuff escape act was uniquely interesting and offered him a run of shows.

Houdini grasped the opportunity with both hands. As his understanding of what his audiences desired increased, so too did his star rise. He became a Vaudeville star.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke
A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

How Houdini Made Magic: 2. Find your voice

19 oktober 2026 · 14 min

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In the late 19th Century, a young Hungarian immigrant called Eric Weisz chose magic as the means to provide for his ageing mother. He found inspiration in the form of a memoir, and his identity morphed: young Eric became Harry Houdini, and a legend was born. Lees meer

But legendary status only came later. And it required persistence to achieve it. Because cutting through the cutthroat magic scene of the time proved tricky. Alongside a rotating cast of magical sidekicks, Houdini tried his hand at card tricks, comedy and even became a fraudulent spirit medium for a short while.

With these acts, he scraped by in dime museums, circuses, and medicine shows. But it was his bigger stunts that finally got the attention he craved, though. One trick he pioneered during his teenage years would go on to form part of his act for the rest of his life.

Join Derren Brown as he explores the ups and downs of a performer dead set on finding his voice and making it big as he first dabbles with the idea of escape.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke
Original music: The Inner Me - Epilogue (Rosie, sweet Rosabel)

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

How Houdini Made Magic: 1. Find your motivation

19 oktober 2026 · 15 min

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One hundred years after his death, how did an ordinary immigrant child transform himself into the most famous magician in history? Lees meer

In episode one of How Houdini Made Magic, psychological illusionist Derren Brown traces the early life of Eric Weisz.

In 1878, Eric’s family voyaged from Budapest to the American promised land of Appleton, Wisconsin. What awaited him was the unforgiving Gilded Age America. But Eric turned hardship and personal tragedy into a motivation that would become the driving force of his life: to keep his ageing mother comfortable.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

How Houdini Made Magic: Trailer

12 oktober 2026 · 3 min

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For a century, Harry Houdini has been safely filed away in the public imagination as a nostalgic variety act: a man in monochrome film escaping handcuffs, water tanks, and straightjackets. Lees meer

This series smashes that myth.

Hosted by “psychological illusionist” Derren Brown, How Houdini Made Magic reframes a penniless immigrant refugee named Erik Weisz as a prophetic, hyper-modern visionary. Long before the birth of Silicon Valley, modern political spin rooms, or algorithmic social media, Houdini cracked the code of modern fame. He didn't just escape physical boxes; he manipulated suspense, pioneered viral guerrilla marketing, employed the legal system to protect his brand, and mastered the dark arts of post-truth media. He created magic in far more ways than you think.

Against a backdrop of vaudeville and societal revolution, Derren explores the lesser-known identities of a magician who continues to inspire him and countless other magicians: Houdini as an advertising guru, a new media innovator, a sceptic… a spy?

We’ll come to realise that today’s world actually closely mirrors the ‘sepia-tinted’ world Houdini operated in: a time of rapid industrialisation, intense social change, massive wealth inequality, widespread social activism, global conflict, cultural revolutions, and immense technological advancement. We are living in an attention economy running on the exact behavioural hacks, artificial friction, and narrative illusions engineered by Harry Houdini over a century ago.

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 10. Downfall

21 september 2026 · 15 min

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Andrew Hunter Murray tracks down Hitler’s faked diaries to the Bundesarchiv – the Federal Archive – in Koblenz. How did these slim A4 notebooks cause such enormous trouble? But the archivists have one more surprise in store. Lees meer

After all these years, are we any closer to understanding the motivation behind this forgery? Was it purely financial, or was it - as some say - a deliberate effort to rehabilitate Hitler? And what does the whole story tell us about our willingness to let ourselves be deceived?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 9. The Trial

21 september 2026 · 14 min

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It’s May 1983, and everything is falling apart for Gerd Heidemann. Now the heat is on forger Konrad Kujau too. How long can he stay incognito? Lees meer

Millions of Deutschmarks are unaccounted for, reputations lie in tatters. Who will take the blame? Who will fall? And why does the world of Nazi memorabilia hold such fascination for collectors inside Germany and across the world?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 8. Bunker Mentality

21 september 2026 · 14 min

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Stern’s editorial and management team dig in, sticking by their story and their journalist Gerd Heidemann. Hugh Trevor-Roper returns to Cambridge shaken, hiding away in the master’s lodge at Peterhouse. Lees meer

Meanwhile, Dr Josef Henke of the Federal archives gets to work – finally with whole volumes of diaries. At last he can run the proper checks and read the text. What kind of Hitler emerges from the pages?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 7. An Opera Set for Hell

21 september 2026 · 14 min

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It’s Monday, 25 April 1983, the day of the big press conference at Stern’s offices in Hamburg. The world’s media is assembled, awaiting the ‘scoop of the century’. The room is packed and Stern’s team, along with British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, are ready to reveal the diaries. Lees meer

History looks set to be rewritten. But not everyone is convinced. In fact, the key authenticator is having doubts and there’s an intervention from the back of the room. Is this coup collapsing before Stern’s eyes?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 6. Final Proofs

21 september 2026 · 14 min

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It’s April 1983 and in Hamburg, Stern is just putting the final touches to its coverage and its promotional film. But for TV producer Barbara Dickmann, something seems very off with her final interviewee – the journalist behind the scoop, Gerd Heidemann. Lees meer

Over in the Sunday Times offices in London, features editor Magnus Linklater is getting pulled onto the biggest story of his life.

In Koblenz, West Germany, Dr Josef Henke finally gets the police results from the forensic tests which will prove whether the Hitler diaries are real or not.

And back in Cambridge, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper is having second thoughts about his seal of approval.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 5. Money for Old Roper

14 september 2026 · 14 min

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It’s spring 1983 and Stern magazine’s inner circle is making frenzied preparations to launch its scoop of the century. Deals are being cut in media empires from London to Paris to New York. Lees meer

The Times and Sunday Times, newly acquired by Rupert Murdoch, are keen. Murdoch wants a quick authentication and calls in Britain’s foremost historian, Hugh Trevor-Roper.

He accepts the mission and flies out to Zurich where the diaries are now locked away in a bank vault. Trevor-Roper has just a few hours to make his judgement.

Meanwhile, TV journalist, Barbara Dickmann, has been commissioned by Stern to make a promotional film starring Gerd Heidemann about his big find.

Dickmann is taken around the homes of old Nazis where Heidemann receives a warm welcome. Even more alarmingly, he starts telling Dickmann that he’s on speaking terms with a senior Nazi who died in 1945.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Execu…

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 4. Fried Potatoes and Forgery

14 september 2026 · 15 min

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It’s early 1981 and the forger Konrad Kujau and the journalist Gerd Heidemann are about to come face to face. Everything’s in motion - Stern management and a small team of editorial staff are on board, sworn to secrecy from colleagues and the outside world. Lees meer

In the next few months, millions of Deutschmarks will travel in suitcases in exchange for diaries, which are – so Kujau says – being smuggled across the iron curtain, from East to West Germany.

Despite Stern’s best efforts, by late 1982, rumours are circulating among memorabilia collectors that significant previously unseen Nazi documents have come to light. The Sunday Times gets a call.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 3. Champagne Connie

14 september 2026 · 14 min

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Andrew Hunter Murray travels to the scene of the crime, just outside Stuttgart, from where the forger Konrad Kujau ran his cottage industry. Lees meer

Who was this man, prone to splash the cash in local bars and have a good time while knocking out forgeries? Curator of the Konrad Kujau museum, Marc Oliver Boger, reveals more.

Our story takes us to 1980 in Hamburg, where the Stern journalist Gerd Heidemann is down on his luck. He has serious money problems, sinking thousands into maintaining Göring’s old yacht and still nothing to show for it. Lucky for him that a huge story is about to become tantalisingly close. All he needs is to persuade his magazine, Stern.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 2. The Bloodhound

14 september 2026 · 13 min

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It’s 1976, Hamburg, and star reporter for Stern magazine, Gerd Heidemann, is entertaining old Nazis on board his boat – formerly Herman Göring’s yacht, the Carin II. Lees meer

Known for his dogged pursuit of a scoop, Heidemann’s patch is slowly but surely shifting from war reporting to gathering old Nazi tales. He’s getting obsessed.

One of his contacts links him up with a memorabilia collector in the south of Germany who has something interesting to show the journalist - the never-before-seen diary of Adolf Hitler.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: 1. The Crash

14 september 2026 · 14 min

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On 21 April, 1945, in the hamlet of Börnersdorf, Eastern Germany, a Junkers plane plummets from the sky. It crashes and bursts into flames. A few iron boxes are salvaged from the wreckage. Rumour spreads that Hitler’s personal effects are in those boxes. Could there have been diaries? Lees meer

In the decades that follow, a trade in Nazi memorabilia springs up where genuine documents and fakes cross hands, making dealers big money in a murky underworld.
Konrad Kujau, in the south of Germany, has carved out a lucrative niche in this world, embellishing objects with forged certificates and documents. In the late 1970s, he decides it’s time to scale up and try for the ultimate prize – Adolf Hitler’s diary. But will anyone believe it?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations.
It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray
Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Story Editor: Andrew Dickson
Sound Design: Joel Cox
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

The Hitler Diaries Scandal: Trailer

7 september 2026 · 3 min

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Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. Lees meer

When Germany’s biggest magazine Stern announced in 1983 that they’d found the long-lost diaries of Adolf Hitler, authenticated by the eminent British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, the world was poised to rewrite history.

Salvaged from the wreckage of a Junkers plane which had crashed escaping Hitler’s Berlin bunker in the dying days of the war, the diaries had been hidden in a hayloft in East Germany for forty years. And remarkably they had now come to light, smuggled across the border into West Germany at the height of the Cold War. One lone journalist, Gerd Heidemann, known as ‘The Bloodhound’, had tracked them down. It had taken two years of secret missions and millions of Deutschmarks to amass all sixty volumes of Hitler’s personal, handwritten journals. The world was about to find the truth of Adolf Hitler’s mind: what he knew, what motivated him, his intimate reflections as the Third Reich rose and fell.

That, at least, was the story – a story which news organisations the world over, including Rupert Murdoch’s newly-acquired Sunday Times, believed. This would be a sensation – assuming, of course, that it was true.

It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Goering’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words. Murray interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart: the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional doc for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

Murray’s mission is to track down the actual books which caused all this chaos, and to get as close as he can to the truth. In …

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 6. America First!

1 september 2026 · 30 min

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It’s 1991 in New Hampshire and a cheerfully pugnacious TV pundit and political insider is announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination. His name is Pat Buchanan and what he is about to say will shock the room. Lees meer

Not only does he challenge sitting President George H W Bush, but the entire post-war order, the vision of America that has persisted for the past half century - America at the head of a free world. Instead, Pat Buchanan says, “It will be time for a new foreign policy that looks out for America first, but not only America first, but also America second and third as well.”

This is the story of the idea that governs America’s new vision of its role in the world — America First — and what it really means.

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 5. Wolfie

25 augustus 2026 · 33 min

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A man sits in the Pentagon terrified. The building is shaking. He thinks it’s an Earthquake. In fact it’s 9/11 and this man senses an opportunity. To drag America out of its post Vietnam stupor and re-assert itself on the world stage. Lees meer

The man’s name is Paul Wolfowitz. He’s an academic and political advisor. And he is obsessed with one idea. One idea he thinks will help America become great again. Invading Iraq.

This is the story of how in the early 2000s America re-established itself as the leader of the free world and the decision to fight a war that did more than anything else to burn that image to the ground.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 4. Rolling Thunder

18 augustus 2026 · 33 min

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March 1965 Vietnam. American fighter jets are taking off to bomb munitions depot in the North. A few days later, American ground troops arrive in the jungle. They would stay there for almost a decade, dropping more bombs on Vietnam than in all theatres of World War Two. How did this happen? Lees meer

The answer lies with someone who has evaded the glare of the spotlight. A liberal development theorist called Walt Rostow. A man who started off by advocating to help developing nations become capitalist and who ended up helping to unleash hell on an unsuspecting civilian population of a country on the other side of the world.

This is a story of how idealism can lead to disaster. Of how America went from defender of freedom to bearer of destruction.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 3. Operation Ajax

11 augustus 2026 · 32 min

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1953 Tehran. An American diplomat called Kermit Roosevely III rides through the city’s streets on his way to see the Shah of Iran. Although he can’t see anything because he’s riding in the boot covered in a Persian carpet. He doesn’t want to be seen because he’s on a top secret mission. A mission from the American government. To overthrow Iran’s popular Prime Minister threatening to nationalise the oil industry — Mohamed Mossadegh. Kermit is organising a coup. Lees meer

This is the story of how America came up with a blueprint of how to fight its communist enemies abroad while still looking like the good guy. How it maintained its role as the virtuous superpower while getting rid of people it didn’t like. They decided to do it in secret, using the ultimate invisible hand - the CIA.

It’s a tale of oil, money, power and marks the start of a toxic relationship between Iran and the US that is still playing out to this day.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production fo…

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 2. The Prophet

4 augustus 2026 · 32 min

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A man wakes up in the middle of the night in Moscow. He is sick. Shivery. Feverish. But he has a mission. A mission that will end up changing the course of world history. Lees meer

After World War Two was over, America was ready for peace. And to continue working with their ideological adversary, the Soviet Union. Franklin Delano Roosevelt even flew to Crimea to make a deal with Churchill and Stalin.

But there was one man who was sounding the alarm, all the way from a freezing Moscow winter. A Chekhov-obsessed diplomat called George Kennan who’s witnessed Stalin’s repressions first hand and would live to 101. More than anyone else, he will set the trajectory of American foreign policy in the 20th Century - with a telegram. A telegram he would come to deeply regret.

This is the story of how the US and USSR went from allies to enemies. And the man who made this happen - starting what would come to be called the Cold War.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th Century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production f…

Invisible Hands: The American Century: 1. Mr Nobody

28 juli 2026 · 32 min

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This is the story of the most important person you've probably never heard of. The man who made the dollar the centre of the world. And America along with it. Lees meer

His name is Harry Dexter White and, as an economist at the Treasury, he had a vision of how to ensure another conflict like World War Two would never happen again.

To do that he had to upend the whole structure of the world financial system - and make the US Dollar the most important currency on Earth. Standing in his way was the greatest celebrity economist of all time, John Maynard Keynes. The battle between these two men - and Harry Dexter White’s eventual victory - would come to define the next 80 years of world history.

And yet, just a few years later, this visionary economist - the man who changed the world - would be dead. Branded as a traitor to his country. Accused of being the worst thing an American could be accused of - a Soviet Spy.

In Series 2 of Invisible Hands: The American Century, David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, America became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the centre of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now, it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you may not know.

These ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Redzi Bernard
Sound Design: Jeff Emtman
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for B…

Invisible Hands: The American Century: Trailer

21 juli 2026 · 4 min

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David Dimbleby introduces the story of how America became a superpower through the invisible hands who made it happen.

Sixty Years of Hurt: Bonus Episode: David Baddiel live at Crossed Wires Podcast Festival Fringe

5 juli 2026 · 58 min

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Ahead of England's 2026 World Cup match with Mexico, David Baddiel and Nick Robinson reflect on what it means to be an England Men's Football fan. Lees meer

They discuss National Anthems and football songs, power vs the underdog, the emotionality of Football, Tuchel’s choice of players, the climate in the Azteca and how taking a penalty is like theatre, plus take questions from the audience.

Sixty Years of Hurt: 6. England v Hope

20 juni 2026 · 28 min

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In the last episode of his series on the history of the England Men's football team, David Baddiel looks at that most magical, and most tantalising of all things - hope. Lees meer

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated.

England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama…

Sixty Years of Hurt: 5. England v Penalties

13 juni 2026 · 29 min

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Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Lees meer

Having put it off as long as he possibly could, David devotes episode 5 to the collective and individual agonies of the the penalty shoot out.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Host: David Baddiel
Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel
Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt: 4. England v The Culture

6 juni 2026 · 29 min

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Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Lees meer

In Episode Four, David looks at the 1990s and 2000s. He sees how Italia 90 was a turning point for perceptions of the sport, before turning his attention to the glamour and promise of the 'golden generation' of English players and the subsequent slow descent of the team (and the country) into uncertainly and anger.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Host: David Baddiel
Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel
Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt: 3. England v Hooligans

30 mei 2026 · 28 min

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Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated. Lees meer

England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Host: David Baddiel
Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel
Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt: 2. England v Mavericks

23 mei 2026 · 28 min

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'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Lees meer

In episode two, England v Mavericks, David shares a theory that he once unsuccessfully shared with England Manager, Terry Venables. England isn’t good at dealing with talent, specifically with maverick talent, talent that doesn’t play by the rules - the best kind of talent. As a result, England men’s football is littered with wonderous players who won very few caps, and never more than in the 1970s. David thinks the team, in this respect, represents the country and gets to the bottom of how various kinds of Englishness fought to keep the genius Brian Clough away from the manager’s job, and Rodney Marsh, the most talented player of his generation, away from the team.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

Sixty Years of Hurt: 1. England v The World

15 mei 2026 · 28 min

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'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Lees meer

“Football is singularly the most important cultural institution in the country for defining Englishness” says Historian David Goldblatt, as the series begins looking at the most famous moment in English football – the world cup win in 1966. Comedian, writer and football fan, David Baddiel, sees how the victory adorned swinging London, and yet the characters in the team spoke to a very different kind of England. David also travels back to the very origins of the game in England (discovering that Henry VIII had a pair of football boots), checks in with Elis James for a view from Wales, and muses on the meaning of national anthems.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

Sixty Years of Hurt: Trailer

8 mei 2026 · 2 min

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'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. Lees meer

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, comedian, writer and football fan David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

The England football team always, somehow, represents a nation. Its dramas are our dramas, its divisions are our divisions, its story is our story. A story about race and history, talent and rivalry, class and courage, violence and beauty. But what exactly is that narrative, who gets to write it and, once the final whistle is blown, what does it all mean?

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Two Nottingham Lads: 4. Last Days in the Donbas

14 januari 2026 · 29 min

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After a show trial in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aiden Aslin has been sentenced to death. He endures months on death row, where his days are filled with further propaganda videos and psychological torment. But in September 2022, his life takes an abrupt and unexpected turn: he is hooded, and led onto a truck, awaiting what his captors term a ‘Russian Surprise’. Lees meer

After making his video with Aiden, Graham Phillips faces his own reckoning. Their story becomes big news in the UK, and possible legal consequences of Graham’s actions become all too real. Will he be able to go back to a normal life outside war reporting, or is this the point of no return?

Our series concludes by exploring the lasting cost of war for both men. How did the encounter between our two Nottingham lads fundamentally change their lives, and cement their status as symbols of a fracturing world?

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Two Nottingham Lads: 3. Six Weeks in Mariupol

7 januari 2026 · 30 min

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The full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins in February 2022, and Aiden Aslin finds himself fighting on the frontline. After a desperate retreat towards the port city of Mariupol, Aiden spends six harrowing weeks defending the massive steelworks, the final sanctuary for Ukrainian forces. As food and ammunition ran out, Aiden is forced to make an agonizing choice. Lees meer

Graham Philips was in the UK when the full-scale invasion began, but quickly makes it back to the Donbas to continue his reporting. And it is not long before he makes his biggest scoop to date: the interview with Aiden Aslin.

We return to this haunting video to understand what was going on behind the scenes, and discover why it was such a sliding doors moment for both men.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Two Nottingham Lads: 2. Damascus to Donetsk

31 december 2025 · 29 min

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Aiden Aslin and Graham Philips take very different routes to get to that prison in Donetsk in 2022 – but their journeys cemented their destinies in Ukraine. Lees meer

For Aiden, his evolution from young truant to soldier takes place in the crucible of war in Syria – volunteering for the free Kurdish forces fighting against ISIS. But after trouble with the British state on his return, another conflict called: Ukraine. Aiden’s time fighting in the Donbas war confirms his commitment to the country, and leads to him being at the heart of some terrifying events.

Meanwhile, Graham is becoming ever more entrenched in his views. In the mid 2010s, his dispatches from the frontline of the Donbas war are becoming more vitriolic, but also more ambitious. He is going further down the rabbit hole, and finding more and more followers in the process – people eager to see the war up close from his unique perspective. This former stand-up comedian is finding his calling – and it will ultimately change his life entirely.

As 2022 draws near, the soldier and the independent journalist are operating just miles apart, both sensing that the regional trench war is about to erupt into all out conflict.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Two Nottingham Lads: 1. From One Nottingham Man to Another

24 december 2025 · 30 min

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Donetsk, April 2022. Two men find themselves face to face in a prison building. One is a prisoner of war, captured fighting for Ukraine. The other is a self-styled independent journalist, filming an interview for his online audience. But these two men are not Ukrainian. They’re British – and they were both born in Nottingham. Lees meer

Graham Philips had been documenting the growing war in the East of Ukraine since 2014, amassing thousands of followers keen to see the war from what appears to be a pro-Russian viewpoint. Aiden Aslin had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018, but was captured not long after the full scale invasion.

This episode begins with a disturbing video - a peculiar, chilling episode which will change the lives of both men forever - and introduces our two protagonists, charting their backstories to understand how they found themselves on opposite sides of a foreign war. What motivated them to go to Ukraine in the first place? And how did their worldviews change so dramatically, when they were born in the same city?

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Two Nottingham Lads: Trailer

11 december 2025 · 4 min

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Aiden Aslin from Nottingham had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018. Graham Phillips, from the same British city, was a self-styled ‘independent journalist’ filming the war up close since 2014, from a viewpoint that appears to be sympathetic to Russia. But just months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the pair had a chilling encounter in a prison in the occupied city of Donetsk. Aiden was now a prisoner of war, and Graham was his interviewer. The 44 minute video filmed by Graham Phillips was uploaded to YouTube - changing both of their lives forever. Lees meer

Two Nottingham Lads begins with this disturbing video, and traces the lives of these two men back to understand how they got there and what motivated them? How did their parallel lives take such different turns, even if they ended up in the same dark place?

What makes you pick a side in a war that’s not your own?

It’s presented by Paul Kenyon, a reporter and author who has covered conflict and corruption for the BBC across his career. Over four episodes he recalls his own memories of the war in Ukraine, something he has followed up close for over a decade. Through interviews with Aiden, his family and comrades – and people who know Graham well – Paul explores the blurred lines between combatant, journalist, and propagandist in the digital age. This is a history series for the present moment—urgent, unfolding, and uncomfortably cle – about a war that is still shaping the lives of our two men from Nottingham.

Two Nottingham Lads is a Message Heard Production for BBC Radio 4

The Arrest: 5. The Arrest

5 december 2025 · 15 min

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Augusto Pinochet is woken by his nurse around midnight and a few minutes later finds a handful of British police officers at the foot of his bed, with an international warrant for his arrest. Lees meer

The dictator is furious, as are his supporters, but among his victims and their families there is joy and relief.

His arrest is unprecedented and is hailed by human rights campaigners as a landmark moment - a "wake-up call to tyrants around the world" - but will the general actually face justice?

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands.
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow.
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

The Arrest: 4. The Warrant

4 december 2025 · 14 min

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When the Spanish judge pursuing Augusto Pinochet learns the dictator is about to leave London - for the safety of Chile - much sooner than expected, he makes a snap decision that will have enormous international consequences. Lees meer

He needs Spain's legal machinery to act, but there's one big problem - it's a Friday afternoon, and almost everyone at Madrid's National Court has gone home for the weekend.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands
The series producer is Simon Tulett
The editor is Matt Willis

The Arrest: 3. The Judge

3 december 2025 · 15 min

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Augusto Pinochet won't be in London for much longer, so the lawyer leading the case against the dictator needs to act fast if he is to secure the help of the UK authorities. But the Spanish judge in charge of the investigation is moving too slowly. Lees meer

Meanwhile, there are powerful figures in the Spanish legal establishment trying to block the case, and the former Chilean dictator himself - now aware of the moves being made against him - has been applying pressure to shut it down.

So the lawyer takes a professional risk and looks to a different judge for help - one with a reputation for fearlessness and ruffling feathers.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands.
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow.
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

The Arrest: 2. The Disappeared

2 december 2025 · 15 min

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When diplomat Carmelo Soria doesn't come home from work in July 1976 his wife, Laura, fears the worst. Augusto Pinochet has been in power in Chile for almost three years and the disappearances of his political opponents have become hard to ignore. Lees meer

The Spaniard's body is found, floating in a Santiago canal, two days later. The police say he'd had a car accident, but his widow is convinced he'd been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.

When, 20 years later, she meets a Spanish lawyer building a complaint against Pinochet, the legal case against the former dictator finds a powerful weapon.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands.
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow.
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

The Arrest: 1. The Lawyer

1 december 2025 · 14 min

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As Augusto Pinochet recovers from minor surgery in London in October 1998, a lawyer for his victims races to seize an unlikely opportunity to bring the Chilean dictator to justice. Lees meer

The general, who seized power in a military coup in 1973, is thought to be responsible for orchestrating the execution of more than 3,000 political opponents, and the torture, kidnapping and disappearance of 40,000 more. Until this point he has been untouchable - safe from prosecution in Chile, and protected by diplomatic immunity abroad.

Two Spanish lawyers have spent the last few years building a case against him, and the authorities in London might now be able to help, but to succeed they’ll need to act fast, pull in some favours, and cut a few corners.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

The Arrest: Trailer

27 november 2025 · 3 min

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When Augusto Pinochet visits London for minor surgery, a small team of lawyers races to seize an unlikely chance to catch the Chilean dictator and, perhaps, bring him to justice.

The House at Number 48: 10. The Last Eisner

24 oktober 2025 · 18 min

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The Eisners prized art work, Eisenwalzwerk, depicting a huge steel factory, was stolen under the Nazis.
"Eisenwalzwerk," Antony says, "is the ultimate representation of the Eisners. And its story was the story of my family."
Can Antony get it back and bring it home? And in this final episode, he gathers his family to tell them what he's discovered about their past. Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 9. The Inheritance

24 oktober 2025 · 17 min

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We meet the descendants of Martin Hartig who are still living in the House at Number 48 today. How much of their family's past did they know about? And what has its legacy meant for them and the younger generation? Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 8. The Gift

24 oktober 2025 · 14 min

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After 80 years since losing a huge and grand property in Germany which used to belonged to his family, Antony sets off to confront the people who now own The House at Number 48. Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 7. Finding The Money

24 oktober 2025 · 15 min

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Antony tries to find out what became of his family's business empire and properties. To help him he hires a brilliant young researcher, Yana Slovona. Within weeks, she has made some startling discoveries. Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 6. Spa Town

24 oktober 2025 · 14 min

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In July 1939, industrialist Rudolph Eisner, his wife Hildegard and their two young children arrive in the small port city of Harwich in England. Life as Germans in the Uk was tough. But what of Antony's relatives who stayed on in Germany, what became of them? Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 5. The Final Ticket

17 oktober 2025 · 15 min

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Antony Easton's relatives, the Eisners were one of the richest Jewish families in Berlin. The patriarch, Rudolph Eisner, has done everything he possibly could to steer them safely through the rise of the Nazis. But now, as the net finally closes in, what will they do? Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.

The House at Number 48: 4. The Silver Arrow

17 oktober 2025 · 14 min

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As the net closes in on the Eisners, Antony's grandfather, Rudolph, has come up with an ingenious plan to save his family and their business empire. Will it work?
And who is this mysterious man who enters the lives of the Eisners? Is he a friend or foe? Lees meer

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.