Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The History Podcast

Andrew Hunter Murray tracks down Hitler’s faked diaries to the Bundesarchiv – the Federal Archive – in Koblenz. How did these slim A4 notebooks cause such enormous trouble? But the archivists have one more surprise in store. After all these years, are we any closer to understanding the motivation behind this forgery? Was it purely financial, or was it - as some say - a deliberate effort to rehabilitate Hitler? And what does the whole story tell us about our willingness to let ourselves be deceived? Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s May 1983, and everything is falling apart for Gerd Heidemann. Now the heat is on forger Konrad Kujau too. How long can he stay incognito? Millions of Deutschmarks are unaccounted for, reputations lie in tatters. Who will take the blame? Who will fall? And why does the world of Nazi memorabilia hold such fascination for collectors inside Germany and across the world? Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

Stern’s editorial and management team dig in, sticking by their story and their journalist Gerd Heidemann. Hugh Trevor-Roper returns to Cambridge shaken, hiding away in the master’s lodge at Peterhouse. Meanwhile, Dr Josef Henke of the Federal archives gets to work – finally with whole volumes of diaries. At last he can run the proper checks and read the text. What kind of Hitler emerges from the pages? Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s Monday, 25 April 1983, the day of the big press conference at Stern’s offices in Hamburg. The world’s media is assembled, awaiting the ‘scoop of the century’. The room is packed and Stern’s team, along with British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, are ready to reveal the diaries. History looks set to be rewritten. But not everyone is convinced. In fact, the key authenticator is having doubts and there’s an intervention from the back of the room. Is this coup collapsing before Stern’s eyes? Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s April 1983 and in Hamburg, Stern is just putting the final touches to its coverage and its promotional film. But for TV producer Barbara Dickmann, something seems very off with her final interviewee – the journalist behind the scoop, Gerd Heidemann. Over in the Sunday Times offices in London, features editor Magnus Linklater is getting pulled onto the biggest story of his life. In Koblenz, West Germany, Dr Josef Henke finally gets the police results from the forensic tests which will prove whether the Hitler diaries are real or not. And back in Cambridge, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper is having second thoughts about his seal of approval. Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s spring 1983 and Stern magazine’s inner circle is making frenzied preparations to launch its scoop of the century. Deals are being cut in media empires from London to Paris to New York.

The Times and Sunday Times, newly acquired by Rupert Murdoch, are keen. Murdoch wants a quick authentication and calls in Britain’s foremost historian, Hugh Trevor-Roper.

He accepts the mission and flies out to Zurich where the diaries are now locked away in a bank vault. Trevor-Roper has just a few hours to make his judgement.

Meanwhile, TV journalist, Barbara Dickmann, has been commissioned by Stern to make a promotional film starring Gerd Heidemann about his big find.

Dickmann is taken around the homes of old Nazis where Heidemann receives a warm welcome. Even more alarmingly, he starts telling Dickmann that he’s on speaking terms with a senior Nazi who died in 1945.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s early 1981 and the forger Konrad Kujau and the journalist Gerd Heidemann are about to come face to face. Everything’s in motion - Stern management and a small team of editorial staff are on board, sworn to secrecy from colleagues and the outside world.

In the next few months, millions of Deutschmarks will travel in suitcases in exchange for diaries, which are – so Kujau says – being smuggled across the iron curtain, from East to West Germany.

Despite Stern’s best efforts, by late 1982, rumours are circulating among memorabilia collectors that significant previously unseen Nazi documents have come to light. The Sunday Times gets a call.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

Andrew Hunter Murray travels to the scene of the crime, just outside Stuttgart, from where the forger Konrad Kujau ran his cottage industry.

Who was this man, prone to splash the cash in local bars and have a good time while knocking out forgeries? Curator of the Konrad Kujau museum, Marc Oliver Boger, reveals more.

Our story takes us to 1980 in Hamburg, where the Stern journalist Gerd Heidemann is down on his luck. He has serious money problems, sinking thousands into maintaining Göring’s old yacht and still nothing to show for it. Lucky for him that a huge story is about to become tantalisingly close. All he needs is to persuade his magazine, Stern.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s 1976, Hamburg, and star reporter for Stern magazine, Gerd Heidemann, is entertaining old Nazis on board his boat – formerly Herman Göring’s yacht, the Carin II.

Known for his dogged pursuit of a scoop, Heidemann’s patch is slowly but surely shifting from war reporting to gathering old Nazi tales. He’s getting obsessed.

One of his contacts links him up with a memorabilia collector in the south of Germany who has something interesting to show the journalist - the never-before-seen diary of Adolf Hitler. Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

On 21 April, 1945, in the hamlet of Börnersdorf, Eastern Germany, a Junkers plane plummets from the sky. It crashes and bursts into flames. A few iron boxes are salvaged from the wreckage. Rumour spreads that Hitler’s personal effects are in those boxes. Could there have been diaries?

In the decades that follow, a trade in Nazi memorabilia springs up where genuine documents and fakes cross hands, making dealers big money in a murky underworld. Konrad Kujau, in the south of Germany, has carved out a lucrative niche in this world, embellishing objects with forged certificates and documents. In the late 1970s, he decides it’s time to scale up and try for the ultimate prize – Adolf Hitler’s diary. But will anyone believe it?

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Göring’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words.

Andrew interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart - the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional documentary for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material.

In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last 50 years?

Gerd Heidemann tapes part of the Gerd Heidemann collection, Hoover Institute, copyright Stanford University.

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams Story Editor: Andrew Dickson Sound Design: Joel Cox Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton Executive Producers: David Prest and Robert Nicholson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Whistledown production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Hunter Murray uncovers last century’s biggest ever publishing scandal, a forgery which rocked the world and destroyed reputations. When Germany’s biggest magazine Stern announced in 1983 that they’d found the long-lost diaries of Adolf Hitler, authenticated by the eminent British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, the world was poised to rewrite history. Salvaged from the wreckage of a Junkers plane which had crashed escaping Hitler’s Berlin bunker in the dying days of the war, the diaries had been hidden in a hayloft in East Germany for forty years. And remarkably they had now come to light, smuggled across the border into West Germany at the height of the Cold War. One lone journalist, Gerd Heidemann, known as ‘The Bloodhound’, had tracked them down. It had taken two years of secret missions and millions of Deutschmarks to amass all sixty volumes of Hitler’s personal, handwritten journals. The world was about to find the truth of Adolf Hitler’s mind: what he knew, what motivated him, his intimate reflections as the Third Reich rose and fell. That, at least, was the story – a story which news organisations the world over, including Rupert Murdoch’s newly-acquired Sunday Times, believed. This would be a sensation – assuming, of course, that it was true. It’s a tale of greed, obsession and mass delusion. It includes Hermann Goering’s yacht, Nazi-themed honeymoons, Idi Amin’s underpants, and more details almost too unbelievable for words. Murray interviews the people who were there as the diaries were announced to the world, and as the story fell apart: the archivist tasked with authenticating the diaries in Germany, the TV producer led around the homes of retired Nazis to film a promotional doc for the scoop, and the Fleet Street editor given 24 hours to create a world-beating story based on fraudulent material. Murray’s mission is to track down the actual books which caused all this chaos, and to get as close as he can to the truth. In our own time of AI, fake news and disinformation, are there any lessons we can take from the greatest hoax of the last fifty years?

Presenter: Andrew Hunter Murray Producer: Ruth Abrahams

A Whistledown Production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

It’s 1991 in New Hampshire and a cheerfully pugnacious TV pundit and political insider is announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination. His name is Pat Buchanan and what he is about to say will shock the room.

Not only does he challenge sitting President George H W Bush, but the entire post-war order, the vision of America that has persisted for the past half century - America at the head of a free world. Instead, Pat Buchanan says, “It will be time for a new foreign policy that looks out for America first, but not only America first, but also America second and third as well.”

This is the story of the idea that governs America’s new vision of its role in the world — America First — and what it really means.

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

A man sits in the Pentagon terrified. The building is shaking. He thinks it’s an Earthquake. In fact it’s 9/11 and this man senses an opportunity. To drag America out of its post Vietnam stupor and re-assert itself on the world stage.

The man’s name is Paul Wolfowitz. He’s an academic and political advisor. And he is obsessed with one idea. One idea he thinks will help America become great again. Invading Iraq.

This is the story of how in the early 2000s America re-established itself as the leader of the free world and the decision to fight a war that did more than anything else to burn that image to the ground.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

March 1965 Vietnam. American fighter jets are taking off to bomb munitions depot in the North. A few days later, American ground troops arrive in the jungle. They would stay there for almost a decade, dropping more bombs on Vietnam than in all theatres of World War Two. How did this happen?

The answer lies with someone who has evaded the glare of the spotlight. A liberal development theorist called Walt Rostow. A man who started off by advocating to help developing nations become capitalist and who ended up helping to unleash hell on an unsuspecting civilian population of a country on the other side of the world.

This is a story of how idealism can lead to disaster. Of how America went from defender of freedom to bearer of destruction.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

1953 Tehran. An American diplomat called Kermit Roosevely III rides through the city’s streets on his way to see the Shah of Iran. Although he can’t see anything because he’s riding in the boot covered in a Persian carpet. He doesn’t want to be seen because he’s on a top secret mission. A mission from the American government. To overthrow Iran’s popular Prime Minister threatening to nationalise the oil industry — Mohamed Mossadegh. Kermit is organising a coup.

This is the story of how America came up with a blueprint of how to fight its communist enemies abroad while still looking like the good guy. How it maintained its role as the virtuous superpower while getting rid of people it didn’t like. They decided to do it in secret, using the ultimate invisible hand - the CIA.

It’s a tale of oil, money, power and marks the start of a toxic relationship between Iran and the US that is still playing out to this day.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

A man wakes up in the middle of the night in Moscow. He is sick. Shivery. Feverish. But he has a mission. A mission that will end up changing the course of world history.

After World War Two was over, America was ready for peace. And to continue working with their ideological adversary, the Soviet Union. Franklin Delano Roosevelt even flew to Crimea to make a deal with Churchill and Stalin.

But there was one man who was sounding the alarm, all the way from a freezing Moscow winter. A Chekhov-obsessed diplomat called George Kennan who’s witnessed Stalin’s repressions first hand and would live to 101. More than anyone else, he will set the trajectory of American foreign policy in the 20th Century - with a telegram. A telegram he would come to deeply regret.

This is the story of how the US and USSR went from allies to enemies. And the man who made this happen - starting what would come to be called the Cold War.

David Dimbleby tells the story of how in the middle of the 20th Century one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you have probably never heard of.

In the 20th Century, these ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

This is the story of the most important person you've probably never heard of. The man who made the dollar the centre of the world. And America along with it.

His name is Harry Dexter White and, as an economist at the Treasury, he had a vision of how to ensure another conflict like World War Two would never happen again.

To do that he had to upend the whole structure of the world financial system - and make the US Dollar the most important currency on Earth. Standing in his way was the greatest celebrity economist of all time, John Maynard Keynes. The battle between these two men - and Harry Dexter White’s eventual victory - would come to define the next 80 years of world history.

And yet, just a few years later, this visionary economist - the man who changed the world - would be dead. Branded as a traitor to his country. Accused of being the worst thing an American could be accused of - a Soviet Spy.

In Series 2 of Invisible Hands: The American Century, David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, America became a superpower and shaped the world around it.

It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the centre of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now, it is under threat.

So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people. People you may not know.

These ‘invisible hands’ wrote the story America came to believe about itself. A story of moral leadership leading to prosperity and peace. But is it a story that has run out of steam?

Presenter: David Dimbleby Producer: Redzi Bernard Sound Design: Jeff Emtman Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina Story Editor: Joe Sykes, Dasha Lisitsina, and Peggy Sutton Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4

David Dimbleby introduces the story of how America became a superpower through the invisible hands who made it happen.

Ahead of England's 2026 World Cup match with Mexico, David Baddiel and Nick Robinson reflect on what it means to be an England Men's Football fan.

They discuss National Anthems and football songs, power vs the underdog, the emotionality of Football, Tuchel’s choice of players, the climate in the Azteca and how taking a penalty is like theatre, plus take questions from the audience.

In the last episode of his series on the history of the England Men's football team, David Baddiel looks at that most magical, and most tantalising of all things - hope.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated.

England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

Having put it off as long as he possibly could, David devotes episode 5 to the collective and individual agonies of the the penalty shoot out.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

In Episode Four, David looks at the 1990s and 2000s. He sees how Italia 90 was a turning point for perceptions of the sport, before turning his attention to the glamour and promise of the 'golden generation' of English players and the subsequent slow descent of the team (and the country) into uncertainly and anger.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated.

England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men. Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Host: David Baddiel Producers: Rich Power and David Baddiel Assistant Producer: Isaac Fisher

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

In episode two, England v Mavericks, David shares a theory that he once unsuccessfully shared with England Manager, Terry Venables. England isn’t good at dealing with talent, specifically with maverick talent, talent that doesn’t play by the rules - the best kind of talent. As a result, England men’s football is littered with wonderous players who won very few caps, and never more than in the 1970s. David thinks the team, in this respect, represents the country and gets to the bottom of how various kinds of Englishness fought to keep the genius Brian Clough away from the manager’s job, and Rodney Marsh, the most talented player of his generation, away from the team.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

“Football is singularly the most important cultural institution in the country for defining Englishness” says Historian David Goldblatt, as the series begins looking at the most famous moment in English football – the world cup win in 1966. Comedian, writer and football fan, David Baddiel, sees how the victory adorned swinging London, and yet the characters in the team spoke to a very different kind of England. David also travels back to the very origins of the game in England (discovering that Henry VIII had a pair of football boots), checks in with Elis James for a view from Wales, and muses on the meaning of national anthems.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

The producers are Rich Power and David Baddiel.

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on their shirts. It takes in the view from England’s sporting rivals, from Wales to Argentina, and asks what light the success of England’s Woman casts on the story of England’s Men.

Across the series, comedian, writer and football fan David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

The England football team always, somehow, represents a nation. Its dramas are our dramas, its divisions are our divisions, its story is our story. A story about race and history, talent and rivalry, class and courage, violence and beauty. But what exactly is that narrative, who gets to write it and, once the final whistle is blown, what does it all mean?

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

After a show trial in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aiden Aslin has been sentenced to death. He endures months on death row, where his days are filled with further propaganda videos and psychological torment. But in September 2022, his life takes an abrupt and unexpected turn: he is hooded, and led onto a truck, awaiting what his captors term a ‘Russian Surprise’.

After making his video with Aiden, Graham Phillips faces his own reckoning. Their story becomes big news in the UK, and possible legal consequences of Graham’s actions become all too real. Will he be able to go back to a normal life outside war reporting, or is this the point of no return?

Our series concludes by exploring the lasting cost of war for both men.  How did the encounter between our two Nottingham lads fundamentally change their lives, and cement their status as symbols of a fracturing world?

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins in February 2022, and Aiden Aslin finds himself fighting on the frontline. After a desperate retreat towards the port city of Mariupol, Aiden spends six harrowing weeks defending the massive steelworks, the final sanctuary for Ukrainian forces. As food and ammunition ran out, Aiden is forced to make an agonizing choice.

Graham Philips was in the UK when the full-scale invasion began, but quickly makes it back to the Donbas to continue his reporting. And it is not long before he makes his biggest scoop to date: the interview with Aiden Aslin. 

We return to this haunting video to understand what was going on behind the scenes, and discover why it was such a sliding doors moment for both men.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Aiden Aslin and Graham Philips take very different routes to get to that prison in Donetsk in 2022 – but their journeys cemented their destinies in Ukraine.

For Aiden, his evolution from young truant to soldier takes place in the crucible of war in Syria – volunteering for the free Kurdish forces fighting against ISIS. But after trouble with the British state on his return, another conflict called: Ukraine. Aiden’s time fighting in the Donbas war confirms his commitment to the country, and leads to him being at the heart of some terrifying events.

Meanwhile, Graham is becoming ever more entrenched in his views. In the mid 2010s, his dispatches from the frontline of the Donbas war are becoming more vitriolic, but also more ambitious. He is going further down the rabbit hole, and finding more and more followers in the process – people eager to see the war up close from his unique perspective. This former stand-up comedian is finding his calling – and it will ultimately change his life entirely.

As 2022 draws near, the soldier and the independent journalist are operating just miles apart, both sensing that the regional trench war is about to erupt into all out conflict.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Donetsk, April 2022. Two men find themselves face to face in a prison building. One is a prisoner of war, captured fighting for Ukraine. The other is a self-styled independent journalist, filming an interview for his online audience.  But these two men are not Ukrainian. They’re British – and they were both born in Nottingham.

Graham Philips had been documenting the growing war in the East of Ukraine since 2014, amassing thousands of followers keen to see the war from what appears to be a pro-Russian viewpoint. Aiden Aslin had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018, but was captured not long after the full scale invasion. 

This episode begins with a disturbing video - a peculiar, chilling episode which will change the lives of both men forever - and introduces our two protagonists, charting their backstories to understand how they found themselves on opposite sides of a foreign war. What motivated them to go to Ukraine in the first place? And how did their worldviews change so dramatically, when they were born in the same city?

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4

Aiden Aslin from Nottingham had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018. Graham Phillips, from the same British city, was a self-styled ‘independent journalist’ filming the war up close since 2014, from a viewpoint that appears to be sympathetic to Russia. But just months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the pair had a chilling encounter in a prison in the occupied city of Donetsk. Aiden was now a prisoner of war, and Graham was his interviewer. The 44 minute video filmed by Graham Phillips was uploaded to YouTube - changing both of their lives forever.

Two Nottingham Lads begins with this disturbing video, and traces the lives of these two men back to understand how they got there and what motivated them? How did their parallel lives take such different turns, even if they ended up in the same dark place?

What makes you pick a side in a war that’s not your own?

It’s presented by Paul Kenyon, a reporter and author who has covered conflict and corruption for the BBC across his career. Over four episodes he recalls his own memories of the war in Ukraine, something he has followed up close for over a decade. Through interviews with Aiden, his family and comrades – and people who know Graham well – Paul explores the blurred lines between combatant, journalist, and propagandist in the digital age. This is a history series for the present moment—urgent, unfolding, and uncomfortably cle – about a war that is still shaping the lives of our two men from Nottingham.

Two Nottingham Lads is a Message Heard Production for BBC Radio 4

Augusto Pinochet is woken by his nurse around midnight and a few minutes later finds a handful of British police officers at the foot of his bed, with an international warrant for his arrest.

The dictator is furious, as are his supporters, but among his victims and their families there is joy and relief.

His arrest is unprecedented and is hailed by human rights campaigners as a landmark moment - a "wake-up call to tyrants around the world" - but will the general actually face justice?

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands. The series producer is Simon Tulett. Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell. The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow. The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

When the Spanish judge pursuing Augusto Pinochet learns the dictator is about to leave London - for the safety of Chile - much sooner than expected, he makes a snap decision that will have enormous international consequences.

He needs Spain's legal machinery to act, but there's one big problem - it's a Friday afternoon, and almost everyone at Madrid's National Court has gone home for the weekend.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands The series producer is Simon Tulett The editor is Matt Willis

Augusto Pinochet won't be in London for much longer, so the lawyer leading the case against the dictator needs to act fast if he is to secure the help of the UK authorities. But the Spanish judge in charge of the investigation is moving too slowly.

Meanwhile, there are powerful figures in the Spanish legal establishment trying to block the case, and the former Chilean dictator himself - now aware of the moves being made against him - has been applying pressure to shut it down.

So the lawyer takes a professional risk and looks to a different judge for help - one with a reputation for fearlessness and ruffling feathers.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands. The series producer is Simon Tulett. Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell. The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow. The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

When diplomat Carmelo Soria doesn't come home from work in July 1976 his wife, Laura, fears the worst. Augusto Pinochet has been in power in Chile for almost three years and the disappearances of his political opponents have become hard to ignore.

The Spaniard's body is found, floating in a Santiago canal, two days later. The police say he'd had a car accident, but his widow is convinced he'd been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.

When, 20 years later, she meets a Spanish lawyer building a complaint against Pinochet, the legal case against the former dictator finds a powerful weapon.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands. The series producer is Simon Tulett. Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell. The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow. The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

As Augusto Pinochet recovers from minor surgery in London in October 1998, a lawyer for his victims races to seize an unlikely opportunity to bring the Chilean dictator to justice.

The general, who seized power in a military coup in 1973, is thought to be responsible for orchestrating the execution of more than 3,000 political opponents, and the torture, kidnapping and disappearance of 40,000 more. Until this point he has been untouchable - safe from prosecution in Chile, and protected by diplomatic immunity abroad.

Two Spanish lawyers have spent the last few years building a case against him, and the authorities in London might now be able to help, but to succeed they’ll need to act fast, pull in some favours, and cut a few corners.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands The series producer is Simon Tulett. Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell. The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.

When Augusto Pinochet visits London for minor surgery, a small team of lawyers races to seize an unlikely chance to catch the Chilean dictator and, perhaps, bring him to justice.

The Eisners prized art work, Eisenwalzwerk, depicting a huge steel factory, was stolen under the Nazis. "Eisenwalzwerk," Antony says, "is the ultimate representation of the Eisners. And its story was the story of my family." Can Antony get it back and bring it home? And in this final episode, he gathers his family to tell them what he's discovered about their past. The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

We meet the descendants of Martin Hartig who are still living in the House at Number 48 today. How much of their family's past did they know about? And what has its legacy meant for them and the younger generation?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

After 80 years since losing a huge and grand property in Germany which used to belonged to his family, Antony sets off to confront the people who now own The House at Number 48.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

Antony tries to find out what became of his family's business empire and properties. To help him he hires a brilliant young researcher, Yana Slovona. Within weeks, she has made some startling discoveries.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

In July 1939, industrialist Rudolph Eisner, his wife Hildegard and their two young children arrive in the small port city of Harwich in England. Life as Germans in the Uk was tough. But what of Antony's relatives who stayed on in Germany, what became of them?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

Antony Easton's relatives, the Eisners were one of the richest Jewish families in Berlin. The patriarch, Rudolph Eisner, has done everything he possibly could to steer them safely through the rise of the Nazis. But now, as the net finally closes in, what will they do?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

As the net closes in on the Eisners, Antony's grandfather, Rudolph, has come up with an ingenious plan to save his family and their business empire. Will it work? And who is this mysterious man who enters the lives of the Eisners? Is he a friend or foe?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

Antony Easton begins to investigate his family's history. What he finds astonishes him: his relatives were owners of a huge steel empire worth billions today. But what has happened to this family fortune?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

After the death of his enigmatic and distant father, Antony Easton finally gets to go through his Dad's secret suitcase: "This was his life," Antony says. As he forensically trawls through its contents, Antony discovers a series of clues which are about to change his life forever. And, after decades, a woman from Antony's childhood gets in touch. For her, time is running out. She says she must see him one last time... The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. The Editor is Matt Willis.

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic father passes away, he goes through his Dad's suitcase, filled with cryptic clues: neatly stacked German money, a family tree he doesn’t recognise, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father’s birth certificate, but bearing a different name. Confronting his dad’s double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth. Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family’s dark history as he attempts to reclaim his grandfather’s property and art empire, and expose the historic robbery and murder of his relatives. Antony is determined to find the descendants of those who looted his family’s assets, and continue to live off their wealth today. He wants to meet them face to face.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott. The series producer is Jim Frank. Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell. Music by Anna Papadimitriou. The Editor is Matt Willis.

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic and distant father passes away, he begins sorting through suitcase filled with cryptic clues.

Neatly stacked German money, a family tree he doesn’t recognise, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father’s birth certificate, but bearing a different name.

Confronting his dad’s double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth.

Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family’s dark history.

Large numbers of his relatives were murdered by the Nazis and a vast fortune was stolen from his grandparents - factories, property and art – which now lie scattered across Germany.

Antony is determined to find the descendants of those who looted his family’s assets and continue to live off their wealth today. He sets out to meet them face to face.

Ragnar and the family try to understand what the confession from the basement means. Is it the truth? Or was it just another story that Jimmy spun? Determined to find something to disprove the statement, they head to the National Archive in search of answers.

While the family have been grappling with the confession and what it means for them, Louise Shorter has been going through the evidence around the case with an experienced Kings Council. And what they have to say could put new life in a story that’s over 80 years old. The question is, do the O’Connors have one more fight in them?

Presenter: Ragnar O’Connor Producer: Emily Esson, Victoria McArthur Research: Elizabeth Ann Duffy, Louise Yeoman Script Assistant and Additional Research: Marisha Currie Script Writers: Emily Esson, Jack Kibble-White Original Music: Lomond Campbell Theme Music: Barry Jackson Addition mixing and sound effects: Charlie McPhee, Kayleigh Raphel Story Consultant: Jack Kibble-White Script Editor: Graham Russell Executive Editor: Gillian Wheelan Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

Thanks to Cheryl Field, Richard Field and Kirsty Williams

In 1995, a mysterious man phones the O’Connors. He wants to get something off his chest. Sensing something potentially huge, Nemone secretly records their meeting. What happened next could have change everything. The secret the mysterious man wants to share? He knows who killed Donk Ambridge.

Meanwhile Ragnar is forced to confront everything he thought he knew about this case and his father. Hidden in the family archive is an account of the night Donk Ambridge was murdered that could turn everything upside down.

Presenter: Ragnar O’Connor Producer: Emily Esson, Victoria McArthur Research: Elizabeth Ann Duffy, Louise Yeoman Script Assistant and Additional Research: Marisha Currie Actors: Cameron Jack, Irene Macdougall Script Writers: Emily Esson, Jack Kibble-White Original Music: Lomond Campbell Theme Music: Barry Jackson Addition mixing and sound effects: Charlie McPhee, Kayleigh Raphel Story Consultant: Jack Kibble-White Script Editor: Graham Russell Executive Editor: Gillian Wheelan Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

Thanks to Cheryl Field, Richard Field and Kirsty Williams