Where and when were coffins first introduced? Read more
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Six Feet Under
Where and when were coffins first introduced?
Honeymoon Superstitions
Tying an egg-laying hen to the bed and more newlywed traditions
Desperately Seeking Female Playwrights
Only 13% of entries to the African Performance competition were written by women
No More School Fees!
Students in a Zambian girls’ school put their headmaster under the spotlight
Bright Spark Megawati
The rise of Indonesian politician Megawati Sukarnoputri
The Bald and the Beautiful
Why genes, age and testosterone are to blame for male baldness
The Killer Thriller
James Hadley Chase’s son, Harvey Raymond, on how to write a thriller
A History of Prostitution
From brothels that funded armies to prostitution in places of worship
Gravity Getting You Down?
Gravity explained: why it happens, how it works and who discovered it
Society Ties
How neck ties changed from status symbols to fashion statements
Bold Gestures
How our gestures show what we’re really thinking
Is The Truth Out There?
Extraterrestrial visitations and more highlights from the show in 1999
Is Eden in Africa?
All modern humans are descended from two African ancestors
The Real Robin Hood
Searching for the man behind the legend, who died in 1247
Buddhism in Tibet
The roles of the Dalai Lama and Karmapa Lama within Tibetan Buddhism
Africa’s Second Class Citizens
Women’s restricted access to education, health care and economic empowerment
Soccer or Football?
How American sports evolved from their European counterparts
Africa’s First Coup
When did the proliferation of military coups in Africa begin?
Arming Africa’s Rebels
The fight to promote responsible arms export regimes in the West
Illegal Abortion in Botswana
How to stop unsafe back street abortions in Botswana
Cyclones, Hurricanes and Typhoons
Why some areas are prone to extreme weather events
Pilgrimages to Mecca
The difference between Hajj and Umrah
Doomsday Cults
On average, it only takes four days to brainwash a person into joining a cult
Who’s Winning the Space Race?
Why Russia’s sneaking ahead in the modern day space race
Defining War Crimes
The established rules of war and what constitutes a war crime
Mali’s Musical Historians
Why Mali’s oral historians – the griot - are much more than storytellers
The Music of Apartheid
Nelson Mandela thanks musicians who contributed to the liberation struggle
How Old is Earth?
Why scientists and creationists disagree on Earth’s age by over 4 billion years.
Cycling and Infertility
Can cycling reduce a man’s sperm count and cause infertility?
The Beginning of Time
Why all time is measured from Greenwich in London
The Roma’s Forgotten Holocaust
Half a million Roma are estimated to have died in the holocaust