Since the World's been Turning

In this episode we’re traveling back to the Middle East in the 1950s - and to the time when the United States conducted its first major military intervention in the area - in Lebanon. What were the origins of the Lebanese crisis, and what led the Americans to intervene? Looking back today, did it make a difference?

We’re returning to the movies in this episode, digging into the first of David Lean's canonical epic films, The Bridge On the River Kwai. A defining film both in the history of war movies, and in cinema in general, The Bridge On the River Kwai is as grand as it was excessively ambitious. Here to help explain is our guest, Film Historian and Blogger Wendy Whittick.

This episode takes us to communist China in the 1950s, where we explore the life of Premier Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai was the suave revolutionary who became Chairman Mao’s most skilled diplomat. In the West, he’s known as the man who helped foster a warmer relationship between China and America - and who gave a humane face to a brutal regime. We’re joined by special guest Michael Dillon, Professor of History at King’s College, London, and the author of Zhou Enlai: The Enigma Behind Chairman Mao.

In this episode we’re focussing on one of the most often talked about periods of the cold war, the Space Race.  More specifically we’re travelling back to the very start of it, with the launch of the first satellite - Sputnik One. This metal sphere, barely bigger than a beach ball, would not only spark a decades-long scientific arms race between the world's two biggest political powers, but would end up drastically affecting the place of Science and Technology in the modern world.But how did this come to be?Here to help us answer that question we have Roger Launius, the former chief historian for NASA and curator of the National Space Museum at the Smithsonian.

This episode takes us into the life of one of the 20th century’s most iconic authors, edgy beat writer and cultural icon Jack Kerouac. Reading his most famous book, On the Road, is still a rite of passage for many teens and people in their early 20s: and his coming of age tale continues to inspire writers, musicians and actors. We’re joined  by special guest Brian Hassett, a lifelong “beat” and the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac (and numerous other books on Kerouac and the beat generation).

This episode takes us into the life and times of one of the best-known sportsmen of the 1950s, star baseball player Mickey Mantle.Mickey was the charismatic golden boy who rose from the mines of Oklahoma to become perhaps the best-known Yankee slugger of all time. He’s also someone who struggled immensely with fame, and with demons of his own. We take a look at the man behind the myth.

This weeks episode covers Russian Author and Poet Boris Pasternak, whose epic novel Doctor Zhivago, released in 1957, became an instant classic, won him the Nobel Prize, and ended up a weapon in the Cold War. In her book Lara: The Untold Love Story that Inspired Dr Zhivago, Anna Pasternak blows the doors of history wide open and changes the way we remember Boris, both for good and for ill.

This episode we have a unique situation for our podcast.  While we’ve always been blessed with amazing guests, people who are experts in their field - we’re rarely given the opportunity to speak to people directly involved in the events themselves.  Hence, we couldn’t be more excited to share with you that for this episode we’re joined by Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock Nine.Back in 1957 Terrence, alongside eight other teenagers, would be the first Black students to integrate into a previously white high school in the American South.  Caught in the middle of a political battlefield, Terrence and his schoolmates had the eyes of the entire world on them. They faced abuse from their classmates, teachers, and untold numbers of locals who showed up outside the school every morning to protest. But who were the Little Rock Nine?  and What was it like to be there?

This episode takes us to Egypt in 1956, when the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by General Nasser led to the “mother of all conspiracies”. Behind closed doors, Great Britain and France made a secret plot with Israel to gain control of the waterway, and retain their influence in the Arab world. The conspiracy spelled the end of British Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s political career: and the Suez Canal Crisis is considered the nail in the coffin of the British Empire. As we explore this topic we’re joined once more by special guest Khaled Fahmy, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge.

In this weeks episode, we’re taking a look at the bestselling novel that scandalized America in the 1950s, Peyton Place by Grace Metalious.Its themes include abortion, incest and alcoholism, and even today, it probably deserves a trigger warning. It’s also a subversively feminist book: it gives a glimpse into hidden aspects of women’s lives, and it explores society’s changing attitudes towards sex. We’re joined by special guest Dave O. Dodge, the author of The Seasons of Grace: The Unauthorized Backstory of Peyton Place.

This time around, we’re exploring the life and work of movie star, fashion icon, and eventual royal - the princess of Monaco herself, Grace Kelly.  Setting new expectations of poise and - no pun intended - grace, in America after the events of the Second World War, Grace Kelly would define the generation of Post-Affluence.  But what was her inner life like? How did she navigate her short but explosive career in Hollywood?  And what did she leave as her legacy, in the principality of Monaco?

This episode takes us behind the Iron Curtain, as we explore the life and times of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the mercurial figure who was once Josef Stalin’s “court jester”. After Stalin’s death, Khrushchev longed to restore the USSR to the “shining heights of communism”. He dreamed of a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous state. But as Khrushchev navigated national and global events, he was often his own worst enemy: he was clever and compassionate, but also rash, egocentric and impulsive. Later in his life, he was also haunted by his own participation in Stalin’s purges of the 1930s. We’re joined by special guest Professor William Taubman, an academic at Amherst College and a Pulitzer prize-winning Soviet historian, who wrote Nikita Khrushchev’s biography: Khrushchev- the Man and His Era.

This episode takes us into the troubled heart of Alabama in the 1950s: when the state was the scene of racial inequality, tension and violence. It was in Alabama that Rosa Parks, the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” refused to give up her bus seat for a white man, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott was born. The boycott garnered interest from activists all over the world, and it led to the rise of a charismatic young preacher, named Martin Luther King Jr. We’re joined  by special guest Cole Manley, a PhD student at the University of Columbia. Cole is the author of the book, “The Unlikely World of the Montgomery Bus Boycott”, which explores the global impact of the protest.

The Hungarian revolution is a pivotal moment in the Cold War, as the first real example of a Soviet-occupied country attempting to break out from under the iron curtain. It shows us how widely the smallest choice made in the Kremlin could ripple out, and just how drastic the consequences could be.Were joined by Dr Gerhard Schüsselbauer, the director of the Pan-European Studies Institute in Vlotho, Germany.

This episode focuses on one of the most influential and controversial actress/model of the 20th Century, Brigitte Bardot. Throughout her career, Bardot not only changed fashion forever but also ushered in a new era of cultural attitudes towards sex, specifically sexually empowered women.

This week we’re booking our tickets, signing up for Fastpass and heading out into the California countryside to visit Disneyland. Arguably the most singular and innovative idea of Walt Disney, a man known for his singular and innovative ideas, the word Disneyland has become synonymous with adventure, joy, and painfully long queue times. But how did it come to be? Here to help us answer that question is theme-park engineer turned Disneyland historian, Alastair Dallas. Author of the book, Inventing Disneyland, Alastair was such an expert on Disneyland, that he’s inspired us to experiment a little with the format of this episode.

In this episode we discuss the life and times of the uncontested king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley.  From humble beginnings in Mississippi and Tennessee, Elvis shot to superstardom in the 1950s. More than 60 years later, he’s still a household name.  Although his life was tragically short, he lives on in the memories of his fans - some of whom dedicated shrines to him. Our guest is Ray Connolly, the author of ‘Being Elvis: A Lonely Life’. Ray, a veteran music journalist, was one of the only reporters to interview the star, who many people heard and saw, but few truly knew.

In this episode we’re diving into one of the most significant stories of all time, Peter Pan.   A tale as immortal as its ever child-like protagonist, Pan’s adventures have been revamped and retold countless times in the hundred and fifty years since its conception. From its initial telling as a satirical fantasy laced with personal tragedy in turn of the century Britain, through its re-shaping into a hyper Americanized piece of post World War two escapism by both Walt Disney and Broadway, to finally winding up as an ever underperforming piece of IP in the Hollywood Machine, the history of how we tell Peter’s story has become as captivating as the story itself. But where did it come from? And why do we, time and again, find ourselves returning to the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up?

In this episode we explore the man behind the hit 1950’s Disney TV show, the man beneath the raccoon skin cap.This Texas legend is perhaps most famous for his part in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, which served to only build on his prodigious legend. Known in his day as the ‘King of the Frontier’, tales of his exploits would inspire and entertain millions over a century later when he hit television screens in 1950’s America.The Disney TV show was a huge hit. By 1960 Americans had spent, in today's money, two billion dollars on Davy Crockett merchandise.To explore the life of this iconic American we’re joined by Bill Cotter.  Bill is a Disney insider and expert, having worked there for decades and he’ll help guide us through Davy Crockett's reincarnation as a Disney sensation.

This episode takes us into the world of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York baseball team whose rise to glory won them fans around the world - and whose departure, to more profitable pastures, left a legacy of bitterness. We’re joined by special guest Andy McCue, the author of Mover and Shaker: Walter O’Malley, the Dodgers and Baseball’s Westward Expansion.