About this season
Program about historical dissemination, presented by Paolo Mieli. Each episode sees a historian interacting with the presenter and three young university students.
Episodes (144)
1. The Defeat of the Dardanelles
Aired 10 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Gallipoli campaign, that took place during World War I.
2. Nicolaj II, the Last Tsar
Aired 11 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the life and death of Nicolaj II, the last Tsar of Russia: from his initial attempts at solving the needs of the people, passing through the tragic choice to join WWI, up to his arrest and execution, together with his family, by the Bolsheviks in 1917.
3. The Trains of the Sun: Italy's Internal Migration in the 1950s
Aired 12 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the phenomenon of Italy's internal migration, from Southern Italy to the North that took place during 1950s and 1960s, recounting the reasons behind and the effects this phenomenon had on Italian society.
4. Duce and America
Aired 13 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the relations between Fascist Italy and the United States: from the initial harmony between the American democracy and the dictatorial regime, passing through the 1936 Italo-Ethiopian War and the approach to Nazi Germany, until 1940 (the date on which Italy enters World War II alongside the Axis).
5. Charlemagne
Aired 16 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Charlemagne, historical leader and first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire: from his rise to power to the relations with the Arab and Byzantine world, passing through the creation of what became the core of modern Europe.
6. Caporetto: Before the Battle
Aired 17 October 2017 • 40 min
First of three episodes dedicated to the centenary of the Battle of Caporetto (1917): an analysis of how Italy and Austria-Hungary approach the clash, from the internal to the military situation on the field, passing through the reconstruction of the 1917 war events.
7. Battle Name: Lenin
Aired 18 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Vladimir Ilic Uljanov, better known as Lenin: from his exile in Switzerland and his return home (which took place with the help of Germany), passing through the failure of the first revolutionary attempt in July 1917, until the success of the October Revolution and the first steps of what will become the Soviet Union.
8. Italian Prisoners of the Allies
Aired 19 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the vicissitudes of Italian soldiers who were taken prisoner during World War II: the living conditions of prisoners before and after Italy's surrender, the relationship with the Badoglio Government and their difficult return home after the war.
9. Discord's Final: 1976 Davis Cup in Chile
Aired 20 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the 1976 Davis Cup final, played in Santiago between Chile and Italy: from the tight debate on whether or not to boycott the final, in protest against the newborn Pinochet regime, to the decision to participate, marked by the Italian victory and by the "protest" of Panatta and Bertolucci's double.
10. Caporetto: the Battle
Aired 23 October 2017 • 40 min
Second of the three episodes dedicated to the centenary of the Battle of Caporetto (1917): a detailed analysis of the clash, resulted in the clamorous defeat of the Italians and in their tragic fall back to the Piave river.
11. Tucci, Duce's Explorer
Aired 24 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the figure of Giuseppe Tucci, a scholar of the East, a great connoisseur of languages and civilizations such as Indian, Tibetan or Nepalese, but also an indomitable explorer of regions that were still largely unexplored.
12. Anne Frank, a Denied Memory
Aired 25 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the figure of Anne Frank, a young Dutch Jew who went down in history thanks to her diaries, in which she tells her life as a teenager before and during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
13. Trotsky, the Impossible Revolution
Aired 26 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Lev Davidovic Bronstein, better known as Trotsky: refined intellectual and theoretician of permanent revolution, father of the October Revolution, hated, fought, deported, exiled and then chased all over the world, until a hitman reaches him in Mexico.
14. Charles VIII in Italy
Aired 27 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Charles VIII's 1495 military campaign in Italy: from the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples to the coalition of the major and minor Italian states (helped by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Maximilian I of Habsburg), created for the purpose of defeating the French king.
15. Martin Luther, the Rebel
Aired 30 October 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Martin Luther, "father" of the Protestant Reformation: from his initial studies in Germany to his growing opposition to the practice of indulgences and to the Vatican's practices of the time, culminating in the publication of the 95 theses.
16. Caporetto's Refugees
Aired 31 October 2017 • 40 min
Last of the three episodes dedicated to the centenary of the Battle of Caporetto (1917): an analysis of the massive and disorganized exodus of the Italian population, after the German-Austro-Hungarian occupation of almost all Veneto, and the repercussions on the new war front on the Piave river.
17. Stalin, the Age of Terror
Aired 1 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, better known as Stalin, that went down to history as one of the bloodiest dictators of the 20th century: from his youth in the seminary, passing through his rise to power in the years following Lenin's death, his contribution in transforming the USSR into a military and industrial power, the non-aggression pact with Hitler, to the post-war years of terror and gulags.
18. The Fascist Woman
Aired 2 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to women under Fascism: a status poised between dictatorship's attempt to force them to stay at home and be prolific mothers (discouraging their employment as much as possible) and the regime's drive towards a new "self-consciousness" through Fascist associationism.
19. Lawrence of Arabia, Prince of the Desert
Aired 3 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as "Lawrence of Arabia": history and myth of the British colonel, secret agent and principal architect of the Arab revolt against Ottoman domination (for the benefit of the British), who died in a motorcycle accident in May 1935.
20. Memoirs of Deportation
Aired 7 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the reconstruction of the deportations of Jews and other prisoners during World War II: the stages through which the memory in Italy of these events was formed, starting from the Nuremberg trial to the publication of the testimonies of the survivors, first among them Primo Levi's memoirs.
21. Dunkirk: "Operation Dynamo"
Aired 8 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the so-called "Operation Dynamo", the gigantic evacuation operation of Anglo-French troops from Dunkirk beach in the early months of World War II.
22. Pitigrilli, Writer and Spy
Aired 9 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Dino Segre, also known as "Pitigrilli": one of Turin's most read writers who, in 1930s, became a spy for OVRA (the Fascist regime's political police), although he himself often had problems with the regime, that considered him "immoral" and his novels "not very Italian".
23. The Assembly Line
Aired 10 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the assembly line, the innovation in the industrial production by Frederick Taylor, at the base of the incredible productivity growth of nowadays "consumer society", but also of the workers' protests against the alienation and the ever-increasing use of machines.
24. Lyndon B. Johnson
Aired 14 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States: from his first political experiences, passing through the election as senator and the vice-presidency under Kennedy, until his unexpected appointment as president, his commitment to civil rights, his management of university protests and his involvement in the Vietnam War.
25. Nikita Khrushchev
Aired 15 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Nikita Khrushchev, Secretary of the CPSU and successor of Stalin to the leadership of the USSR: from the denunciation of Stalinism, passing through the suppression of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, up to the Cuban missile crisis, after which it will be ousted and confined to a dacha until his death.
26. Giorgio La Pira, Politics and Utopia
Aired 16 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Giorgio La Pira, politician of the Italian Republican Party and historic mayor of Florence: an important and original figure, who strove in the (somewhat utopian) attempt to contribute to overcoming historical conflicts through peaceful means.
27. Ernest Hemingway
Aired 17 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Ernest Hemingway, one of the most important writers of the 20th century, who committed suicide at the age of 62. On the front of World War I, of the Spanish Civil War (on the side of the Republicans and against the Francoists) and of World War II, his adventurous life also filters through his very successful novels.
28. Elizabeth and Philip
Aired 20 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her prince consort Philip of Edinburgh: from their marriage in 1947, for which Philip renounced the succession to the thrones of Greece and Denmark, to Elisabeth's ascent to the throne in 1952, on the background of the disintegration of the former British Empire and the new role of the United Kingdom after World War II.
29. The Inquisition and the Cathars' heresy
Aired 21 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Cathars and the Inquisition, a special institution created by the Catholic Church to repress and counter the heretical movements that, from 12th century on, spread throughout Europe.
30. Italian Military Internees: Voices from Captivity
Aired 22 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the "Italian Military Internees", the Italian soldiers captured by the Germans after September 8, 1943: refusing to continue fighting alongside the Nazi-fascists, they were denied the status of prisoners of war; used in the Axis war industry, abused and unable to receive help from the Red Cross, after the end of the war they were "forgotten" until 1997, when their figure was eventually rehabilitated.
31. Gaddafi
Aired 23 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Muammar al-Gaddafi: one of the most discussed and controversial Arab leaders in history, for 42 years in command of Libya, starting with the coup d'état of September 1, 1969 (carried out at just 27 years), and at the center of countless unworkable political designs and military conflicts.
32. Women During Italy's Economic Boom
Aired 24 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the new role of women during Italy's "Economic Boom": the effect of economic well-being and mass consumerism on the behaviours and habits of women, but also of new means of communication (television, above all) and newborns beauty contests, which promise occasions of fame and social mobility.
33. Ippolito Nievo, Between Novels and Garibaldi
Aired 27 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Ippolito Nievo, Italian writer and patriot.
34. Pope Luciani
Aired 28 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Pope John Paul I, who ruled as a Pontiff for only 33 days, enough to enter the hearts of the faithful, above all for his very informal style and his being far from spotlight; paradoxically, however, his sudden death will attract worldwide attention.
35. September 1943: an Army in Disarray
Aired 29 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Italian WWII armistice on September 8, 1943: from the negotiations started after Allied landing in Sicily, through Operation Alaric (the Nazi occupation of the Italian peninsula) and the provisions on how to react to the probable German retaliation after the armistice, which however were never officially given, leaving the Italian commands on their own without orders.
36. The Suez Canal
Aired 30 November 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Suez Canal, the pharaonic work that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea: from its construction in the 19th century until 1956, the year in which Egyptian president Nasser decided to nationalize it; this decision is followed by the so-called "Suez crisis", which marked the definitive decline of France and the United Kingdom as World powers and the escalation of the clash between Arab countries and Israel.
37. The Palazzo D'Accursio Massacre
Aired 1 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to one of the most tragic events of Italy's "red biennium" (1919-1920): the Fascist assault on Palazzo D'Accursio in Bologna on November 21, 1920, where Fascist gangs shot and bombed the crowd, killing 10 and wounding 58; the event marks the irreversible crisis of socialism in Bologna and paves the way for the so-called "black biennium (1921-1922).
38. The Holy Grail
Aired 4 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the myth of the Holy Grail, a mythical object endowed with an extraordinary power, and even capable of bestowing immortality to those who possess it: first cited in a Chrétien de Troyes 12th-century poem, the myth had a great success throughout the Middle Ages, but returned more recently to the limelight only with Richard Wagner's Parsifal.
39. Kennedy vs Nixon
Aired 5 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the 1960 US Presidential elections televised debates, contested between the Democratic Irish-American candidate John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the incumbent Republican Vice-president (and, to that point, likely to win) Richard Nixon: from the political differences to the novelty of the television debate, that Kennedy will be able to exploit to his full advantage.
40. Tina Anselmi, a Life For Democracy
Aired 7 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Tina Anselmi, historical figure of Italy's Christian Democracy: from her early years as a trade unionist, through her efforts as a partisan during World War II and in her party after the war, to her appointment as Italy's first-ever female Minister in 1976.
41. Cavour's Legacy
Aired 8 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and to the lesser-known aspects of his figure: from his work behind the scenes of the Italy's Risorgimento to his death by malaria (June 6, 1861), which caused a huge void in the Italian political scene; his project continued however in the following decade, with the conquest of Veneto and Rome.
42. Giotto and the Discovery of Reality
Aired 11 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Giotto, one of the most famous and revolutionary artists in the history of art, even if his biography is often incomplete: from the fragments we know of his personal history to the most important testimonies of his work, such as the frescoes in the Basilica of Assisi and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
43. Khomeini's Iran
Aired 12 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the 1979 Islamic Revolution: from his opposition to Shah Reza Pahlavi's regime to the success of his Revolution, up to the 1980 hostage crisis and the 1980s war between his country and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
44. Tambroni and the Street Demonstrations
Aired 13 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Ferdinando Tambroni and his troubled, short-lived Government, that lasted only four months in 1960.
45. Evita Perón
Aired 14 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Maria Eva Ibarguren, better known as Evita Perón: illegitimate daughter of the Argentine landowner Juan Duarte, she will experience throughout her life indignation in front of diversity of treatment and injustice, becoming one of the most important figures of Argentine politics, together to her husband Juan Domingo Perón.
46. The Women of Italy's Constituent Assembly
Aired 15 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to the 21 women elected to Italy's 1946 Constituent Assembly, four of whom elected in the so-called "Commission of the 75", charged with writing the republican Constitution: formal equality between men and women is thus sanctioned, the first stage of a long journey towards de facto equality.
47. The Emigrants and Marcinelle
Aired 18 December 2017 • 40 min
Episode dedicated to Italian emigration to Belgium: from the agreement of June 23, 1946 (with which Italy and Belgium agree on the transfer of 50,000 Italian miners in Belgium, in exchange for 2,500 tons of coal every 1,000 miners) to the disaster of Marcinelle (August 8, 1956) in which 262 people died.
48. James of England and the Gunpowder Plot
Aired 19 December 2017 • 40 min
49. When Lenin Sang with Mussolini
Aired 20 December 2017 • 40 min
50. Dino Grandi, the Man Who Defeated Mussolini
Aired 21 December 2017 • 40 min
51. Tunisia: Roots of the Uprising
Aired 22 December 2017 • 40 min
52. Garibaldi and The Thousand
Aired 8 January 2018 • 40 min
53. Italian Constitution: the Togliatti Case
Aired 9 January 2018 • 40 min
54. Italo Balbo, an Inconvenient Fascist
Aired 10 January 2018 • 40 min
55. The Conquest of the West
Aired 11 January 2018 • 40 min
56. Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China
Aired 12 January 2018 • 40 min
57. The 1968 Belice Earthquake
Aired 15 January 2018 • 40 min
58. Emperor Hadrian
Aired 16 January 2018 • 40 min
59. The Night of the Long Knives
Aired 17 January 2018 • 40 min
60. The Battle of El Alamein
Aired 18 January 2018 • 40 min
61. Rosie and the American Women at War
Aired 19 January 2018 • 40 min
62. Arduin, King of Italy
Aired 22 January 2018 • 40 min
63. Paul VI and the Rebel Priests of 1968
Aired 23 January 2018 • 40 min
64. 1938: the Italian Racial Laws
Aired 24 January 2018 • 40 min
65. Jews Escaping From Nazism
Aired 25 January 2018 • 40 min
66. Eichmann, the Extermination Accountant
Aired 26 January 2018 • 40 min
67. The Battle of Actium
Aired 29 January 2018 • 40 min
68. Gandhi, the Great Soul
Aired 30 January 2018 • 40 min
69. Stasi, GDR's Secret Eye
Aired 31 January 2018 • 40 min
70. Alba de Céspedes, the Voice of Clorinda
Aired 1 February 2018 • 40 min
71. The Montesi Affair, a Political Scandal
Aired 2 February 2018 • 40 min
72. Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles
Aired 6 February 2018 • 40 min
73. Edda Ciano, the Duce's Daughter
Aired 7 February 2018 • 40 min
74. Churchill and His King
Aired 8 February 2018 • 40 min
75. The Julian-Dalmatian Tragedy: From Massacres to Exodus
Aired 9 February 2018 • 40 min
76. Piave River Was Murmuring
Aired 12 February 2018 • 40 min
77. Diderot, Raynal and the Slave Trade
Aired 13 February 2018 • 40 min
78. Nenni and Mussolini
Aired 14 February 2018 • 40 min
79. Sadat, New Egypt's Rais
Aired 15 February 2018 • 40 min
80. Giacomo Lercaro, the Deposed Cardinal
Aired 16 February 2018 • 40 min
81. Masaniello and the Revolt of Naples
Aired 19 February 2018 • 40 min
82. The Merlin Act
Aired 20 February 2018 • 40 min
83. The London Blitz
Aired 21 February 2018 • 40 min
84. Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady
Aired 22 February 2018 • 40 min
85. The Ruse of the Trojan Horse
Aired 26 February 2018 • 40 min
86. Saddam Hussein
Aired 27 February 2018 • 40 min
87. The America of Jazz: From New Orleans to the World
Aired 28 February 2018 • 40 min
88. 1968: the Battle of Valle Giulia
Aired 1 March 2018 • 40 min
89. D'Annunzio, the Aesthete of Politics
Aired 2 March 2018 • 40 min
90. Silvio Pellico and His Imprisonment
Aired 5 March 2018 • 40 min
91. Gino Bartali, the National Righteous
Aired 6 March 2018 • 40 min
92. Cinecittà, Hollywood on the Tiber River
Aired 7 March 2018 • 40 min
93. Carla Lonzi and Feminism
Aired 8 March 2018 • 40 min
94. Anita Garibaldi, Heroine of the Italian Risorgimento
Aired 9 March 2018 • 40 min
95. 1527: the Sack of Rome
Aired 12 March 2018 • 40 min
96. Edward and Wallis, a Forbidden Love
Aired 13 March 2018 • 40 min
97. Pope Paul VI
Aired 14 March 2018 • 40 min
98. Housing in Italy's 1960s
Aired 15 March 2018 • 40 min
99. Aldo Moro: the Negotiation
Aired 16 March 2018 • 40 min
100. The Five Days of Milan
Aired 19 March 2018 • 40 min
101. The Balfour Declaration: the Origins of Israel
Aired 20 March 2018 • 40 min
102. The Trial of Giordano Bruno
Aired 21 March 2018 • 40 min
103. Lenin and the Defeat of Socialism in Italy
Aired 22 March 2018 • 40 min
104. The Orthodox Church
Aired 29 March 2018 • 40 min
105. The Holy Sepulchre
Aired 30 March 2018 • 40 min
106. The Spring Festivals
Aired 2 April 2018 • 40 min
107. 1968 in the Eastern Bloc
Aired 3 April 2018 • 40 min
108. Martin Luther King
Aired 4 April 2018 • 40 min
109. The 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis
Aired 5 April 2018 • 40 min
110. Orazio Antinori and Colonial Exploration
Aired 6 April 2018 • 40 min
111. Luigi Giussani, Servant of God
Aired 10 April 2018 • 40 min
112. Workers between 1968 and the "Hot Autumn"
Aired 11 April 2018 • 40 min
113. The Attempted Murder of Togliatti
Aired 12 April 2018 • 40 min
114. The 1948 Italian General Elections
Aired 13 April 2018 • 40 min
115. Roberto Ruffilli, Killed by Red Brigades
Aired 16 April 2018 • 40 min
116. Louis XIV, the Sun King
Aired 17 April 2018 • 40 min
117. Radios of Free Italy
Aired 18 April 2018 • 40 min
118. Pope Benedict XVI
Aired 19 April 2018 • 40 min
119. The Red Scare
Aired 20 April 2018 • 40 min
120. Southern Italy and the Italian Unitary State
Aired 23 April 2018 • 40 min
121. The 1938 Football World Championship
Aired 24 April 2018 • 40 min
122. The Scouts and the Resistance
Aired 25 April 2018 • 40 min
123. The Chernobyl Catastrophe
Aired 26 April 2018 • 40 min
124. The Battle of Stalingrad
Aired 27 April 2018 • 40 min
125. Charles Albert, the Reformer Sovereign
Aired 30 April 2018 • 40 min
126. 1968 in Milan
Aired 1 May 2018 • 40 min
127. 1938: Hitler in Italy
Aired 2 May 2018 • 40 min
128. France's May 68
Aired 3 May 2018 • 40 min
129. Karl Marx: Revolutionary Thinking
Aired 4 May 2018 • 40 min
130. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Aired 7 May 2018 • 40 min
131. Prague Spring and Dubcek's Socialism
Aired 8 May 2018 • 40 min
132. Killing of Aldo Moro: the Day After
Aired 9 May 2018 • 40 min
133. Pearl Harbour, 1941: Attack to America
Aired 10 May 2018 • 40 min
134. Law 180: the Basaglia Revolution
Aired 11 May 2018 • 40 min
135. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits
Aired 14 May 2018 • 40 min
136. Giovanni Giolitti: the Statesman
Aired 15 May 2018 • 40 min
137. The Church of John Paul II
Aired 16 May 2018 • 40 min
138. Guglielmo Giannini, the Ordinary Man
Aired 17 May 2018 • 40 min
139. Propaganda During the Great War
Aired 18 May 2018 • 40 min
140. Nero, Emperor of Rome
Aired 21 May 2018 • 40 min
141. 194: the Law of Discord
Aired 22 May 2018 • 40 min
142. The 1992 Mafia Bombings
Aired 23 May 2018 • 40 min
143. 1918: the Explosion of a Factory
Aired 24 May 2018 • 40 min
144. 1848 and the Roman Republic
Aired 25 May 2018 • 40 min