Iran | Feat. Christopher de Bellaigue | On Th...

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

Afua and Peter launch their new series on environmental catastrophes by revealing how a massive volcanic eruption in Alaska—10,000 kilometers away—secretly orchestrated the downfall of Cleopatra and the birth of the Roman Empire. They trace the "butterfly effect" from Julius Caes ...  Show more

May 16, 1920. Tens of thousands of people surround St. Peter’s Basilica to honor Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl who died nearly five hundred years before. Joan’s feats in battle—and her visions of God—have become legendary since her heyday during the Hundred Years' War. And t ...  Show more

“The people that history smiles most kindly upon, are the ones who just kept doing the next needed thing.” These words from Sharon McMahon remind us that making a difference is not accomplished through fame or fortune, but by taking consistent action. Sharon joins Rya ...

For much of her life, Angelique Renville had decisions made for her. Where to live, who to live with, where to attend school, what to do with her land. That changed in 1863 when she made a plan and successfully hatched her plan to escape, living the end of her life on her own ter ...  Show more

Today, we share the incredible journey of Hanin Al Qoreishy, whose life story unfolds like a tapestry of courage and determination.  Born into a politically and religiously influential family in Iraq, Baghdad, Hanin's early years were shattered by conflict and personal tragedy, i ...  Show more