Have you ever wondered why football is called the beautiful game, why male footballers are paid so much, and female footballers much less so?

As the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Championships are hosted in Switzerland we look at the rise and fall and rise again of the women's game. 

Why was the First World War a golden age? What was the impact of the ban from the FA in 1921? And can England's Lionesses retain their 2022 trophy? 

Today 2.3 million girls play football around the world - are you one of them? 

Narrated by Georgia Vyvyan  

Why are naughty children so appealing as characters?

Do you have to be a nice person to write children's books?

Was Walt Disney a villain?

We ask Sam Leith, the author of 'The Haunted Wood, A History of Childhood Reading' these questions, and many more 

Produced by Camilla Akers-Douglas and Henrietta McMicking 

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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It is one of the most famous, and mysterious, stone circles in the world but who built it, and why?

Was it an ancient calendar? A place of worship, or pilgrimage? Or a burial ground? Or, as some people have even suggested, a landing pad for alien spaceships?

What remains of this 5,000-year-old monument – which sits within a sacred landscape on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England – offers us some extraordinary clues. 

Narrated by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Script by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Produced by Henrietta McMicking 

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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One hundred years before the computer was even invented, Ada wrote the first-ever computer program. She was also a brilliant mathematician and an aristocratic Victorian. 

We tell the remarkable true story of a digital pioneer, who was also the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. Every time we play a computer game, or listen to a podcast, we are a part of her legacy. 

Narrated by Henrietta McMicking 

Script by Henrietta McMicking 

Produced by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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Have you ever thought about the importance of wee? Urine, to give it its proper name, has flowed through human history. 

The Romans used it to whiten their togas as well as their teeth. Children in the Middle Ages worked as piss collectors because it was such a valued product in the leather and wool industries.

There is so much more to wee than the waste liquid we flush down the toilet each day.  

Narrated by Laura Howarth 

Script by Henrietta McMicking 

Produced by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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Have you ever wondered why we love playing games – board games, card games, computer games, even playground games like It and Kick the Can?

Games let us experiment and take risks in a safe, fun way. Many games involve luck – like the throw of the dice, the draw of the cards – but they also involve maths. And, sometimes, using maths can help you win…

Narrated by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Script by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Produced by Henrietta McMicking 

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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What would it be like to discover a whole city hiding in the cloud forest? 

This podcast – for parents and their children – tells the thrilling story of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu, the Andean citadel built by the Incas in 1400. 

For hundreds of years, it was covered in undergrowth and known only to local people in a small corner of Peru. Then the American adventurer, Hiram Bingham, found it in 1911. The extraordinary mountaintop city has now been designated one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. 

Narrated by Jamie Chetwood 

Script by Henrietta McMicking  

Produced by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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Are pirates daring adventurers of the high seas or simply ruthless thieves who plunder ships, attack innocent passengers and send shivers down the spines of ordinary sailors?

This podcast – for parents and their children – reminds us that pirates can be dastardly and daring in equal measure, brave yet fuse-burningly terrifying, and not nearly so  jolly as one might like to think.

Narrated by Oliver Akers-Douglas

Script by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Produced by Henrietta McMicking 

Sound editing by Lou Sawdy 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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Did you know that people with dyslexia can make very good spies? And people with autism are likely to have been the driving force of human creativity for the last 100,000 years?

Dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD and autism are often misunderstood as negative conditions, when really they indicate strengths as well as struggles.

This episode is narrated by the comedian Rory Bremner who has ADHD. He encourages children – parents and teachers too – to think differently about neurodiversity, reminding us that like a fingerprint we all have a brain that is individual to us. People think differently and process information differently because their brain is wired differently. And, in the right circumstances, that's a strength. 

Narrated by Rory Bremner

Script by Camilla Akers-Douglas

Produced by Henrietta McMicking 

Sound editing by Max Watson 

Theme music by James Burrell Music

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Have you ever wondered why humans chose to ride horses? It was a moment in history which changed the future of both species forever. 

This relationship has endured for over five thousand years, and the horse has been described as one of the greatest technologies that man has ever harnessed. 

Horses are prized for their speed, strength and adaptability, and revolutionised transport, war, farming and more. But it hasn't always been a happy partnership.  

Listen and enjoy

Narrated by Alexandra Tolstoy 

Sound editing by Max Watson 

Script by Henrietta McMicking 

Produced by Henrietta McMicking and Camilla Akers-Douglas 

Theme music by James Burrell Music 

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