English Learning for Curious Minds

He wears a red hat, carries a stick, and laughs as he beats almost everyone he meets.

This episode tells the odd, violent story of Punch and Judy, the puppet show that began in Italy and became a British seaside symbol.

It looks at how Mr Punch survived for over 300 years, and why many now question whether he still be...

In 1788, King George III began speaking without pause, talking to trees, and frightening his court. 

He is often remembered as the “Mad King” who lost America, but his life was far more complex and tragic.

This episode looks at the devoted farmer-king, his mysterious illness, and what doctors now believe was really wrong with him. <...

A million years ago, in a cave in South Africa, our ancestors did something no other animal has ever done: they controlled fire.

Fire cooked our food, shrank our guts, grew our brains, and gave us the deep sleep and fireside stories that made us human.

This is the story of our species' oldest technology, and how the s...

In 1881, a 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona made Wyatt Earp a legend of the Wild West. 

Earp was a gambler, a lawman, a fugitive, and later a showman who told his own legend for cash.

So who fired first at the OK Corral, and how did Hollywood turn a frontier opportunist into a symbol of American justice?

In 1975, a French mercenary landed in the Comoros, a chain of small islands off East Africa, and decided he was going to run the place. 

Bob Denard staged four coups, converted to Islam, built a farm, and controlled the country from the shadows for over a decade.

It was a story of Cold War deals, shifting loyalties, and one last cou...