Postmark Africa Episodes Episode guide
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The Legend of Valentine
How a Roman myth inspired the annual celebration of love
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The Killer Thriller
James Hadley Chase’s son, Harvey Raymond, on how to write a thriller
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The Key to Flight
How aeroplanes take off from the ground
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The Human Clone
The science and ethics behind human cloning with biochemistry expert Toby Murcott
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The History of the Piano
How the groundbreaking instrument stormed 17th century Florence
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The History of Post
How the Romans inspired the modern postal service
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The Hindenburg Disaster
How airships work and what causes disasters
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The Healing Power of Spices
Spices aren’t just for flavor – they can also do you good
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The Harmful Effects of DDT
Condemned pesticide DDT is still used in some African countries
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The GM Debate
Famine-stricken Zambia rejects GM food aid
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The Gloomiest Song Ever Written
The Hungarian song that drives people to despair
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The Geneva Convention
The international rules of warfare
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The First Broadcast
The search for the first ever radio broadcast
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The First Black African Olympians
Two South African marathon runners competed in 1904
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The Fear of Thirteen
Why are Europeans superstitious about the number 13?
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The Exile of Pascal Lissouba
The exile of former Republic of the Congo President Pascal Lissouba
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The End of the World as we Know it
The death of the sun will be spectacular
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The Birth of Qwerty Keyboards
Who decided how computer keyboard keys are arranged?
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The Beginning of Time
Why all time is measured from Greenwich in London
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The Balkans’ Biggest Losers?
Serbia’s national identity is rooted in the notion that its people always lose
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The Bald and the Beautiful
Why genes, age and testosterone are to blame for male baldness
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The “Famine Reserve Cropâ€
Why the tropical shrub Cassava is one of Africa’s most valuable crops
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Tackling Tobacco Companies
Could African tobacco companies be prosecuted by people with smoking-related illnesses?
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Switzerland’s Golden Secret
How Germany’s WWII defeat led to Swiss banks enacting a “Law of Secrecyâ€
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Stopping a Stammer
Why stammerers don’t stammer when they sing
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Spousal Rape in Nigeria
How the Nigerian legal system prevents women from reporting cases of rape
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Space Exploration: A Waste of Money?
Should governments waste billions on space exploration?
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South Africa’s Mercenaries
Why mercenary group Executive Outcomes is an embarrassment to South Africa
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South Africa’s First Colonies
Dr Deborah Gaitskell looks back at 350 years of European settlement in South Africa
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Songs of Apartheid
Music and songs produced in apartheid era South Africa