
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)

78,422 Listeners

11,038 Listeners

26,222 Listeners

7,583 Listeners

375 Listeners

887 Listeners

1,045 Listeners

5,463 Listeners

1,801 Listeners

1,764 Listeners

1,047 Listeners

2,089 Listeners

602 Listeners

975 Listeners

851 Listeners

4,160 Listeners

3,187 Listeners

720 Listeners

15,285 Listeners

2,311 Listeners

739 Listeners