Hindsight

Charming, gregarious, ready to please. These are the disarming traits of one of Africa’s most violent dictators. For eight years, Idi Amin ruled Uganda with terrifying consequences. Switching alliances became a game and the former boxing champion liked to play. 

*Some scenes might be disturbing to some listeners. 

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Indira Gandhi’s path to becoming the first female prime minister of India was inevitable. As the daughter of the country’s first independent leader, she learned from a young age the cost of fighting for one’s beliefs. Her beliefs and desire to continue the family's political dynasty would be both her making and her undoing.

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For more than 40 years one man ruled Libya. Muammar Gaddafi.  He was no ordinary tyrant. Clever and creative, he designed a handbook to build a new society and woe to anyone who objected to his philosophy in life.  From national hero to a hunted recluse, Gaddafi’s ironic transition from freedom fighter to dictator culminated in a horrific defeat. 

Narrated by Charles Dance.

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From the mother of radioactivity to the 'mad dog of the Middle East', hear from history's heroes and villains in season 3 of Hindsight. Charles Dance of The Crown and Game of Thrones returns as narrator. Have a listen to what's coming.

New season begins January 25th. 

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When Gibran Khalil Gibran was 12 years old, he boarded a ship from Lebanon to the United States with his mother and three siblings. Within a few years only two of them would be alive. Shaped by loss and a distrust of religious and political powers, Gibran's insatiable rebellious soul would go on to create his seminal work, The Prophet. But it didn’t come without sacrifice. 

“...the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness…”

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As an Iranian woman, writing poetry about her own love and lust launched Forough Farrokhzad into infamy. She broke the barriers of sex and society in her poetry, but would suffer for it during her short life. Sin would get her in trouble but it would also be her ultimate salvation. So too for those desperate to read about it. 

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Without knowing it, you have probably heard of or read Rumi’s words before. Perhaps you were between pain and letting go or wanting and finding love. Wherever you are, the story and words of this great 13th-century Persian poet still expresses what we feel today.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there”.

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In a single move, Huda Shaarawi cemented her legacy in Egypt's women's movement. She stepped down from a train in Cairo and before a crowd, pulled back her veil. For an upper-class woman in 1923, revealing her face was a daring and decisive act. But Huda wasn't afraid of pushing the social norms. 

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Few are born with as much natural charm and talent as Omar Sharif. The Egyptian actor, with his gap-toothed grin, catapulted to international fame with leading roles in epic Hollywood films such as Dr Zhivago. But a gambling addiction and temper would leave its mark on his third act in life. Still, as dramatic as his opening scene in Lawrence of Arabia, listening to the story of Omar Sharif’s life is also worth the wait.

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How many entertainers can hold an audience’s attention for hours with a single song? Egypt’s Umm Kulthum could, but she was extraordinary - conservative, strategic and positively revered by the masses. This is the rags-to-riches story of the Star of the East. Umm Kulthum at the height of her fame was a magnet for Egypt’s upper class, preeminent poets, composers and politicians. But her rise to superstardom came with its stumbles.

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