Have you ever wondered why humans chose to ride horses. This was the moment in history when the future of both species changed forever.  It is a relationship that has endured for over five thousand years and the horse has been described as one of the greatest technologies that man has ever harnessed.  Horses are prized for their speed strength and adaptability, and revolutionised transport, war, farming and so much more, but it hasn't always been a happy partnership.   Listen and enjoy Narrated by Alexandra Tolstoy  Sound editing by Max Watson  Script by Henrietta McMi ..read more

Have you ever wondered who had the bright idea of inventing the light bulb?  Well, it’s credited to a rather unusual man, Thomas Edison. An man who had a gift  – not so much for inventing as for taking an existing idea, and finding ways to make it better, or cheaper, or both. During his lifetime Thomas Edison invented a truly extraordinary range of things – ideas that define our modern world – but he is best known for inventing the electric light bulb. And guess what? He didn’t even invent it. People had been making wires glow with heat since 1761. But he worked out that by using a c ..read more

There’s a group of almost 4000 volunteers known as the White Helmets. They have become famous for their bravery in the Syrian civil war. They are famous too for the white hardhats they wear. Most of the volunteers are men but there are also around 200 women. Before the war the White Helmets were ordinary civilians. They were bakers, tailors, video gamers, engineers, architects, pharmacists, painters, gardeners, carpenters, students and many more.  Their proper name is the Syria Civil Defence. They have been trained to protect and help people during war and disasters. They are unarmed and ..read more

Have you ever considered what an extraordinary invention plastic is? The word plastic means mouldable and therein lies its ingenuity, it can be moulded into every conceivable size shape and colour. It can be thick or thin, large or small, strong or delicate.   Plastic is complicated: it has life saving medical uses but is life threatening to the natural world. Almost every piece of plastic ever made still exists today. Listen and explore how in just 150 years this synthetic material has got into every corner of our lives.  Narrated by Henrietta McMicking  Sound editing ..read more

Have you ever wondered about the power of the moon? Craned your neck and stared, deep, into her mysteries? Like a wolf howling through the night, what questions would you ask of her, what secrets would you try to uncover? The moon has the power to conjure werewolves. It controls the tides of our seas and oceans, and it has inspired mankind to reach for a new frontier. Its power to capture our imagination and to keep us asking questions is legendary...  Narrated by Ben Ellis Sound editing by Max Watson Script by Tom Catchpole Produced by Camilla Akers-Douglas and Henrietta McMicking Theme ..read more

Have you ever wondered what is actually inside a packet of crisps? Potatoes, obviously, you would think. Air, perhaps just as obviously – but it’s not the air you are expecting. There's history in there too, and rivalry. Who made the very first potato crisp? And, what exactly is a crisp? Or potato chip, as they say in America. To be a crisp, does it need to be literally a thin slice of potato? Or can it be a maize – or puff corn – snack, like a Wotsit? And have you ever noticed how eating a crisp is both a savoury, and a sonic, experience? Listen, and discover so much more. Narrated by William ..read more

How do we see? And how do we see colour? Does the world look the same through another person's eyes? In this podcast discover how the human eye works and how it sees colour. You may be surprised to learn that not everyone sees colour in the same way: a few are colour blind; others are tetrachromats which means they have an extra type of cone cell in their eye, and can see as many as 100 million different colours. While dogs' eyes are quite similar to our own, insects have completely different eyes from people, and can see colours of light not visible to the human eye, such as ultra violet and ..read more

Why do we worry? And what can we do about it? This episode explains to children that day-to-day worries are a normal part of life. In fact, sometimes worry is a positive, rather than negative, thing.   When faced with predators, a sense of fear protected our ancient ancestors and, even today, it can push us out of our comfort zone. And when it all gets a bit too much, there are things we can do to relieve some of our worries, as we explain.        This podcast is written, and read to you, by Henrietta McMicking, with special thanks to child and adolescen ..read more

Have you ever wondered why poo is funny? It’s stinky. It’s perfectly revolting, but if you say the word poo a few times, children – and some adults – start to smile, even laugh. And it can, of course, be surprisingly useful – as a food source, a fertiliser and for marking animal territory. But adult humans don’t tend to like talking about poo so we thought we'd do just that instead. This podcast is written, and read to you, by Camilla Akers-Douglas, with sound editing by Max Watson. It was produced by Henrietta McMicking. Our theme music is by James Burrell To contact us, email  ..read more

Have you ever sent a secret message to a friend? Or tried to use a clever code to protect a secret? Have you ever tried to crack a code? There are many ingenious ways to conceal, and reveal, a secret message. Keeping secrets, and code breaking, can be a matter of life and death, as Mary, Queen of Scots found out to her cost. Alan Turing's work as a code breaker during WW11 may have shortened the war by two years and saved 14 million lives. Today super-fast computers give us new ways to encrypt messages but, as ever, there is a constant race between those who create new ..read more