Biography

When British India collapses, India embraces it’s state of free rule, but it isn’t the outcome Gandhi had campaigned for. Religious rivalries and disagreements lead to a split between Muslim and Hindi, dividing the territory in two.

Guest: Dr Thomas Weber (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)

The salt march is the most iconic event from Gandhi's campaign of non-violent resistance. In 1930 Gandhi and his followers began a month-long march to the coast where he made salt, defiantly breaking a British law related to the taxation of salt production.

Explaining his choice, Gandhi said that "Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life."

Guest: Dr Thomas Weber (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)

When Gandhi returned to India twenty years had passed, and it was a different country to the one he had left. He embarked on a mission not just to better his country and help it stand on its own, but to better himself.

Guest: Dr Thomas Weber (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)

Gandhi is a figure who is known across the world as the father of the nation, the man who achieved independence in the Indian subcontinent through non-violent resistance. He was also a thinker and a philosopher, and the name he was given, ‘Mahatma’, means great soul, and reflects the reverence with which he was seen.

Guest: Dr Thomas Weber (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)

With his victory at Salamis, Themistocles is now the hero of the Hellenic world. he's recognised and lauded across the lands, but with this power comes jealousy and competition. The hero of Athens will have to turn to its greatest enemy for sanctuary.

Guest: Professor Christopher Mackie (Ancient Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University)

Themistocles has established himself as a respected politician within ancient Athens, but he isn't without rivalry. He has political enemies from within who hope to bring him down, and there's always the threat of Persia, readying itself to take on the Hellenic states.

Guest: Professor Christopher Mackie (Ancient Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University)

Themistocles lived during a time of change and progress in Athens. The monarchy was coming to an end, the republic was on the rise, and a self-made man from modest beginnings can make crucial contributions to an entire civilisation.

Guest: Professor Christopher Mackie (Ancient Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University)

Ely S. Parker was born to a prominent Seneca family on an Indian reservation near New York, and to many was considered a man between two worlds. Working first as a tribal diplomat, and later forming a close friendship with Ulysses S. Grant during the civil war, he came to be the first Native American to hold the position of Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Guest: Dr Claudia Haake (History, La Trobe University).

Frida attains fame within her lifetime, and her relationship with Diego Rivera remains passionate and explosive. Since she died her fame has attained new heights, as people see the part of Frida they want to see - she now belongs to the world.

Guest: Emeritus Professor Barry Carr (History, La Trobe University).

Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico's greatest artists but spent most of her career working in the shadow of her husband, the larger than life artist and muralist Diego Rivera.

After a bus accident left her injured for life she took up painting, and became known for her surreal artwork and self-portraits which show a conflicted artist.

Guest: Emeritus Professor Barry Carr (History, La Trobe University).