Yuri Gagarin: life of the week
HistoryExtra podcast
08/10/26
•46m
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Yuri Gagarin’s journey from a Nazi-occupied Soviet village into outer space make him one of the most famous people on Earth. In this episode, historian Asif Siddiqi tells Danny Bird about the life behind the legend, revealing how Gagarin came to embody the USSR’s postwar ambitions and why his winning smile still evokes the optimism of humanity’s first steps into the cosmos.
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Two television shows – For All Mankind and Star City – imagine an alternative universe in which Soviet cosmonauts completed the first moon landing in 1969 ahead of US astronauts. But how might global history have unfolded if the space race had taken a different course? This article by Matthew Trask explores that question: https://bit.ly/4vBKywv
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Previous Episode
How Christianity conquered the Roman empire
August 9
•32m
The Roman empire was home to a multitude of religious cults in the first century AD. However, only one – Christianity – rose to global domination. But why? That's a question that Tim Whitmarsh sets out to answer in his latest book, Rome's Age of Revolution. In this episode, Tim talks Spencer Mizen through a story that encompasses Christian entrepreneurs, Greek intellectuals and the surprising parallels between Jesus and the Emperor Augustus.
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If you’d like to hear more about the Roman empire in the first century AD, why not check out Spencer Mizen's Life of the Week interview with Edward Watts about one of the most remarkable characters in all of ancient history: the first emperor, Augustus. You'll find that here: https://bit.ly/4uOcNqR
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Next Episode
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•40m
For hundreds of years, people have gathered after dark to drink, dance and escape the pressures of everyday life. But how did 'going out' become a habit across the world? Jon Bauckham chats to Imogen Willetts about the hedonistic history of partying, journeying from 17th-century Japan to Weimar Germany, Cold War Las Vegas and beyond.
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To learn more Berlin, including its role in shaping nightlife, don't miss this episode of our History's Greatest Cities series: https://bit.ly/4hb5Gp1
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