Elizabeth II: the great survivor

The US Declaration of Independence was formally adopted on one famous day in July 1776. Yet this celebrated event was the product of years of misunderstandings and escalating tensions. On the 250th anniversary of the birth of a nation, this Long Read written by George Goodwin tra ...  Show more

Today, we think of the seven deadly sins as outdated definitions of moral flaws prohibited by the church. But as this Long Read written by Peter Jones reveals, these vices were originally conceived to provide medieval solutions to universal human problems. Today's feature origina ...  Show more

In the seventh century BC, the ancient Assyrian king Ashurbanipal created a gigantic library in his capital city – one that contained centuries of wisdom. And this vast wealth of ancient knowledge can reveal a lot about how the people of the Near East thought about their gods. Dr ...  Show more

Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a scholar, ruling the great Assyrian empire at the height of its power.In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by Assyriologist Dr Sel ...  Show more

Gulbadan Begum was meant to live a quiet life in a Mughal harem. Instead she set off on a daring pilgrimage to Islam's holy cities and, on her return, wrote an extraordinary account of her dynasty. In conversation with Spencer Mizen, Ruby Lal explores the life of a princess who t ...  Show more

The histories of religious reformations across the globe have largely focused on men. But women were also integral to these major transformations. Speaking with Emily Briffett, historian Merry Wiesner-Hanks explains how early modern women strove to shape the world around them – a ...  Show more