Dividing the Desert

March 29th, 1923. A new play opens in Berlin, and quietly changes the future. Onstage are workers who never tire, never complain, and never stop. They’re faster, stronger, and more efficient than humans in every way. They’re called robots. A sci-fi play born out of war and indust ...  Show more

March 18, 1879. A crowd gathers around an indoor track in Brooklyn, NY, as an Irish immigrant named Bartholomew O’Donnell attempts a strange feat: walking 80 miles in 26 hours. Newspapers claim he’s eighty years old. Lap after lap, he circles the track: smoking a pipe, sipping ho ...  Show more

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most famous waterways - connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and opening up trade between the East and the West. But ever since its legendary construction in 1869, the Suez Canal has been at the centre of conflict and controversy. Why ...  Show more

Africa is big. Really big. And for thousands of years, people have dreamed of a way to cut through the narrowest part of the Siani Peninsula to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. In the 19th century, that dream was actualized. Since then, the canal has had its own his ...  Show more

Since its inauguration in 1869 the Suez Canal has played an immensely important part in the history, politics and economics of the Middle East and the World.In this episode Sam and Edgar discuss its role in both the occupation of Egypt by the British and its liberation from imper ...  Show more

Stretching across from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, Northern Africa is dominated by the Sahara Desert. The largest hot desert in the world, it's an indomitable force. So how did Ancient Communities manage to traverse it, and who were the people organising and participati ...