Sideways

Sideways episodes:

• 03.27.2024

  62. Lost and Found

  In 1984, on the eve of the Winter Olympics, Joe Boylan gets lost in a blizzard on an Austrian mountainside. Joe will have to fight with everything he has to survive and be reunited with his family. How he does...

  
• 03.20.2024

  61. Brain Strain

  In 1972, at the liberal Vassar College in New York, 18-year-old Rick Shenkman stood out for his unwavering support of Richard Nixon, especially as the Watergate scandal unfolded. His unconditional allegiance raises a perplexing question - why would a bright,...

  
• 03.13.2024

  60. For the love of maths

  As a child, Kate Ertmann starred in commercials, in soap operas and on Broadway. But acting wasn’t her first love - mathematics was. She considered it to be “a balm" for her brain. And yet societal and teenage pressures made...

  
• 03.06.2024

  59. What's Your Name?

  What's your name? You might think you know, but in this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed discovers the answer could be more complicated than you first assume. That's what Hajar found out, after spending her whole life searching for...

  
• 02.28.2024

  58. The Keeper of Lost Memories

  In 2020, David Gutenmacher began to buy old photographs and videos that he came across in second hand shops. He was sad about the prospect that families had been severed from their treasured memories, and so he founded the Museum...

  
• 02.21.2024

  57. Grudge Match

  Lee and Drew have been like brothers ever since adolescence. So when Drew betrays Lee in the heat of a tumultuous night in Glasgow, the two men find themselves entangled in a bitter grudge that went way beyond what they...

  
• 02.15.2024

  Sideways: Season nine - coming soon...

  Matthew Syed kicks off the new season of Sideways with a story of one of the most brutal grudges ever seen in pro wrestling. Matthew asks us to consider when it's time to let go of a grudge and how....

  
• 12.06.2023

  56. A Cinderella Story

  On a summer's day in 1974, Norwegian actor Knut Risan steps up to the mic for a voiceover job. It's for a Cinderella movie that's just been acquired by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, from the country known at the time...

  
• 11.29.2023

  55. Perfectly Mediocre

  Cornell University is known for it's elite a cappella scene. It was even the inspiration for the hit film Pitch Perfect. But in 2018 a new group arrived on the scene - Mediocre Melodies. This is the story of...

  
• 11.22.2023

  54. Copy Cat

  David Henty had a talent for art from a young age. He grew up poring over Hogarth drawings. For a long time, it didn’t feel like something that he could easily pursue. But after two prison sentences spent painting as...

  
• 11.15.2023

  53. Stories of a Father

  Violinist and composer Diana Yukawa lost her father, Akihisa Yukawa, in the Japan Air Lines Flight 123 plane crash of August 1985. The crash was just five weeks before she was born. As she grew up, Diana wanted to get...

  
• 11.08.2023

  52. First Loves

  After Kate and Guenther shared their first kiss on Torquay's pier in the summer of 1989, their blossoming love was soon interrupted by the distance between Yorkshire and Bavaria. Two years later, they had to let go of their early...

  
• 11.01.2023

  51. The One Star Chef

  When chef and independent restaurateur Davide Cerretini first opened his restaurant, it was a dream come true. But that dream quickly soured when he came head to head with ever more pushy and demanding customers. And then online reviews came...

  
• 10.30.2023

  Sideways: Season eight - coming soon...

  First loves, harsh critics and a celebration of mediocrity - Sideways returns with six new stories about seeing the world differently and the ideas that shape our lives. Presented by Matthew Syed.

  
• 08.09.2023

  50. Take the First Step

  In 2014 Angela Maxwell was feeling stuck. She wanted something fresh, something exciting. After a chance encounter she landed upon her goal - she was going to set off on one of the largest adventures imaginable: a walk around the...

  
• 08.02.2023

  49. Inside Marjorie's Parlour

  Every Sunday afternoon for over 30 years now, Marjorie Eliot has played a jazz concert in her Harlem apartment for anyone who comes. It all began on a Sunday morning back in 1992, after she was faced with an unimaginable...

  
• 07.26.2023

  48. Love Thy Villain

  Three different women, who lead three very different lives, but all became villains...or did they? In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores what happens when we indulge in the darker, supposedly more "villainous" parts of ourselves. He looks...

  
• 07.05.2023

  47. China's Ping Pong Power: Episode 3

  In the final episode of this mini series from Sideways, former professional ping pong player, Matthew Syed, tells the story of how ping pong fared in a more open China. After Chairman Mao's death in 1976, his successor Deng...

  
• 07.05.2023

  46. China's Ping Pong Power: Episode 2

  Former England international table tennis player, Matthew Syed, continues this three-part mini series from Sideways, with a moment that changed the course of China-US relations - when the hippie American player Glen Cowan met the world's greatest table tennis star...

  
• 07.05.2023

  45. China's Ping Pong Power: Episode 1

  Matthew Syed is a former Olympic table tennis player for Great Britain. As Matthew travelled in China, competing against some of the world’s greatest players, he realised that ping pong is a game that has played a huge and fascinating...

  
• 06.28.2023

  Introducing - China's Ping Pong Power

  Matthew Syed is a former Olympic table tennis player for Great Britain. As Matthew travelled in China, competing against some of the world’s greatest players, he realised that ping pong is a game that has played a huge and fascinating...

  
• 03.22.2023

  44. Matthew’s been telling tales

  There’s a story Matthew Syed likes to tell. And he’s told it a lot. It’s about a turning point in his life. It’s about learning from a failure and working hard to overcome his shortfalls and come back stronger. ...

  
• 03.15.2023

  43. Do I really sound like that?

  Julie Matthias is in the middle of a regular shift at her hairdressing salon when she begins to feel really strange. Julie is taken to hospital with the symptoms of a stroke, but doctors can find no evidence she has...

  
• 03.08.2023

  42. The Big Reward

  When Kevin Burkart dove into a murky lake to find a lost wedding ring, he did it for nothing. But did he really gain something much more? In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores our preoccupation with rewards...

  
• 03.01.2023

  41. A Small Bowl of Rocket

  Lydia Harris has always struggled with food. For as long as she can remember, she has avoided fruit and vegetables - their texture simply disgusts her. But one day, that began to change, with a small bowl of rocket leaves....

  
• 02.22.2023

  40. The Embodiment of Music

  A musician is halfway through a public performance when they realise they might not make it to the end. Their body is fighting them, they’re in extreme pain. But stopping is not an option so they push on. No one...

  
• 02.15.2023

  39. Please, I beg you.

  When Ben Taylor receives a Facebook message from a stranger in Liberia, asking in badly spelled English for financial or business assistance, he quickly assumes it’s a scam. But instead of just ignoring the message, he decides to find out...

  
• 02.08.2023

  38. Past Your Peak

  John Nunn learnt to play chess aged four. Since before he can remember, he’s had an exceptional talent for maths. In 1970, aged just 15, he started a degree in mathematics at the University of Oxford. In this episode of...

  
• 02.01.2023

  Season Six – Coming soon…

  Matthew Syed introduces season six, which explores stories about letting your guard down and making a leap of trust, reaching the peaks of our powers, and finding what truly motivates us to do good things.

  
• 12.07.2022

  37. My Last 5p

  It’s December 2013 and Toni Osborne is struggling, emotionally and financially. She’s five pence short of keeping her electricity on over Christmas. As she heads out into the night to ask her local shopkeeper for help, a homeless man...

  
• 11.30.2022

  36. All in a Name

  In the 1970s, Sandra Bundy was working hard at her job at the Department of Corrections in Washington DC. She loved her job, but just turning up to work was becoming unbearable. Sandra’s male supervisors kept propositioning her for sex,...

  
• 11.23.2022

  35. The Riddle

  In 2113, a riddle will be solved under the Eiffel Tower. Matthew Syed tells the story of a riddle hidden in the video game Trials Evolution (Ubisoft Redlynx) that became a worldwide treasure hunt that’s yet to be solved, as...

  
• 11.16.2022

  34. It Takes a Village

  In the early 1970s, Al Garthwaite and some friends move in together in Leeds. They’re about to embark on a big experiment.  They’re living communally, sharing clothes, cooking, and housework. But that’s not all. Inspired by that oft repeated...

  
• 11.09.2022

  33. Doc and Jim: A Beautiful Partnership

  The story of how Dr William Key and his super smart horse “Beautiful” Jim Key became one of the biggest acts in America, only to disappear into historical obscurity. But not before they made a profound impact on millions of...

  
• 11.02.2022

  32. The Social Contagion

  On Armistice Day 2015, Mel gets a phone call from her son’s school, asking her to come in. When she arrives, she finds the car park filled with ambulances and police cars, emergency services buzzing around. It began with...

  
• 10.26.2022

  Sideways Season Five – Coming soon…

  Matthew Syed introduces season five, which looks at being less cynical, family and legacy.

  
• 08.24.2022

  31. To Absent Friends

  Nicosia, Cyprus, 2018. Kiri Sofocleous sits down to write a Facebook message to a man she has never met. It has been 40 years since Kiri saw her childhood best friend but she has never forgotten her. Could this be...

  
• 08.17.2022

  30. The Woman in the Portrait

  Matthew Syed follows the story of Bernice Bennett, a woman driven to uncover the truth behind a treasured family portrait. When Bernice was growing up, she was always told how much she looked like her grandmother, Mattie Kemp Alexander....

  
• 08.10.2022

  29. Fooling the Opposition

  In 1980, underdog English table tennis player John Hilton stunned audiences with his style of play, effortlessly confounding talented European opponents. In this episode of Sideways, Matthew puts his tactics under the microscope to discover how Hilton used deception to...

  
• 08.03.2022

  28. Exiting the Bunker

  A pigeon sparks a spy hunt. The clock is ticking and the bunker is calling. In this final episode of our four part nuclear series, Matthew Syed examines the current nuclear landscape. In this complex, multiplayer context how do we...

  
• 07.27.2022

  27. A Blip on the Radar

  Angie Zelter is on her way to Loch Goil in Scotland. It’s a beautiful summer’s day, and her friends have packed a picnic. But that’s not the real reason they’re there. Angie has an urgent message to deliver to the...

  
• 07.20.2022

  26. War Games in the Pink Tower

  In 1961, a group of American officials decided to play a game of war. Sitting around a table, they tried imagining a nuclear crisis - and how it could be resolved. The outcome of their thought experiment surprised them all,...

  
• 07.13.2022

  25. A Nuclear Awakening

  It’s a little girl’s eighth birthday. She wakes to a sight that looks like the end of the world. A radioactive mushroom cloud rises 130,000 feet in the air. And the world wakes up to the devastating fallout of...

  
• 07.06.2022

  The Nuclear Reckoning

  In this new mini series from Sideways, Matthew Syed is calling for a nuclear awakening. Since the end of the Cold War, when relations between two of the world’s nuclear superpowers - the former USSR and the USA - seemed...

  
• 12.22.2021

  24. Sweet Harmony

  James Campbell's family were unusual. They were the 'singing family'. Everyone on their street knew it - and heard it. They would sing at the drop of a hat and James' father had a barbershop quartet. Every Monday evening...

  
• 12.15.2021

  23. Oostvaardersplassen: A Wild Idea

  Flevoland, the Netherlands, 1968. A new patch of land is being carved out of the sea. Destined initially for agriculture or industry, when nature begins to take over, authorities decide to protect the new Earth as a nature reserve -...

  
• 12.08.2021

  22. Inspiring Bill Strickland

  Back in the 1960s, Bill Strickland was a listless teenager but life as he knew it was about to change forever. One afternoon, while skipping class, something caught his eye - the door to one of the art rooms...

  
• 12.01.2021

  21. The Woman Who Brought Down the Mob

  On a January night in Manhattan, a team of lawyers is working to crack open an organised crime case. And at the centre of it all, is Eunice Carter - the first black woman to graduate from Fordham Law and...

  
• 11.25.2021

  20. An appointment with Dr Leech

  Boston, Massachusetts, 1985. Dr Joe Upton is struggling to reattach a severed ear onto a little boy. Using incredible skill and the best in modern equipment he re-attaches the arteries, but the veins are proving difficult. Blood keeps getting congested...

  
• 11.17.2021

  19. Is This What Success Looks Like?

  Lee Chambers is an undeniable success. From his parents' single bedroom, with the boiler humming away day and night, he founds an e-commerce video games business that gives him a healthy bank account in seven months. Next comes the car,...