
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Millions of people every year visit sites of death, tragedy and destruction, from nuclear disaster zones to genocide memorials. Why do we go? Is it an effort to understand the darker parts of our history, or are we just indulging our morbid curiosity?
Mary-Ann Ochota becomes a dark tourist herself to try and find out, visiting the former Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. She also goes to Grenfell Tower in west London, the scene of a deadly fire that tore through a residential apartment in the summer of 2017. Since the night the fire started, people with smartphones congregated to capture the moment and they are still coming. Mary-Ann speaks to local residents to find out about the impact and ethics of their visits.
(Image: Teenage tourists at Auschwitz, Credit: Getty Images)
By BBC World Service4.6
182182 ratings
Millions of people every year visit sites of death, tragedy and destruction, from nuclear disaster zones to genocide memorials. Why do we go? Is it an effort to understand the darker parts of our history, or are we just indulging our morbid curiosity?
Mary-Ann Ochota becomes a dark tourist herself to try and find out, visiting the former Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. She also goes to Grenfell Tower in west London, the scene of a deadly fire that tore through a residential apartment in the summer of 2017. Since the night the fire started, people with smartphones congregated to capture the moment and they are still coming. Mary-Ann speaks to local residents to find out about the impact and ethics of their visits.
(Image: Teenage tourists at Auschwitz, Credit: Getty Images)

78,636 Listeners

10,927 Listeners

26,197 Listeners

7,639 Listeners

375 Listeners

876 Listeners

1,046 Listeners

5,520 Listeners

1,799 Listeners

1,763 Listeners

1,049 Listeners

1,920 Listeners

599 Listeners

965 Listeners

849 Listeners

4,159 Listeners

3,177 Listeners

720 Listeners

15,592 Listeners

2,306 Listeners

767 Listeners