Nina Simone | Breakdown | 3

Afua and Peter explore the "Great Famine" of the early 1300s. Triggered by sudden global cooling and torrential rains, Europe's food supply was decimated and up to 70% of its cattle were wiped out through a terrifying bovine plague. This often-overlooked catastrophe didn't just c ...  Show more

A sudden, catastrophic dimming of the sun in 536 AD triggered the coldest decade in two millennia, launching a "volcanic winter" that saw harvests fail from Ireland to China. Peter and Afua explore this environmental shock that directly facilitated the first global pandemic of Ye ...  Show more

The great African-American jazz singer Nina Simone moved to the Liberian capital Monrovia in September 1974. Simone was famous for her vocal support for the civil rights movement in the USA as well as for songs like I'm Feeling Good, Mississippi Goddam and I Wish I Knew How It Wo ...  Show more

An exclusive listen to the new track by Emeli Sandé, available on the new Happy Place album.

In this chat with Fearne, the singer discusses how music can help make a difference to all our lives in these challenging times.

You can hear the full track right now as ...

Edmonia Lewis broke barriers as the first African-American and Native American sculptor to achieve worldwide renown for her neoclassical works in marble and bronze. After her death, her most famous masterpiece lived on, incognito until its relatively recent rediscovery. Learn mor ...  Show more

Sie wollte die erste afroamerikanische Konzertpianistin werden, wurde am Konservatorium aber abgelehnt – trotz ihres überragenden Talents. Später schrieb sie Protestsongs und wurde Aktivistin. Viele ihrer Songs, wie "To be Young, Gifted and Black" wurden zum Soundtrack der Bürger ...  Show more