The sacred song of war
Misha Glenny's final programme on Russia - what it is and where it came from - looks at the country's attitude to war. What has been the lon...
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The Compass
The Compass - exploring our world.
The Compass Podcast Guide
Listen to The Compass, a News & Politics podcast by BBC. Stream 310 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Episodes
20 of 310 episodesCatherine the Great and the question of Europe
It was Peter the Great who created a new capital on the Baltic, and Catherine the Great who extended Russian influence south and west. Swede...
The Invention of Russia: The empire strikes back
Russia's massive empire was not like that of Britain or France. It expanded across the land, making it more like the United States of Americ...
The invention of Russia: A tale of two Ivans
Countries look so cohesive on the map - sturdy borders, familiar shapes. Don't be misled. They didn't always look like this. This is the sto...
Sounds of the city: Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv is a bustling place and for a blind person it can be a little daunting, as BBC journalist, Peter White, discovers. The narrow stree...
Sounds of the city: Los Angeles
In a new series of Sounds of the City Peter White, who has been blind since birth, uses the sounds to guide him as he explores new parts of...
Bhopal: Part one
When one of journalist Rajkumar Keswani's friends dies at the Union Carbide plant after exposure to toxic gas, he decides to investigate. Lo...
How to be a former president: Part three
Giles Edwards looks inside the private clubs of former world leaders to see how they are still trying to influence global politics. (Photo:...
How to be a former president: Part two
Giles Edwards investigates the many opportunities offered by globalisation, and speaks to some of the former presidents and prime ministers...
How to be a former president: Part one
What happens to presidents and prime ministers when they stop running their countries, and leave politics behind? Giles Edwards has spent 10...
Stories from the New Silk Road: Mexico
The town of El Triunfo in Tabasco state is not far from the Mexican border with Guatemala. Translated from Spanish, ‘El Triunfo’ means ‘The...
Stories from the New Silk Road: Jamaica
From highways to hospitals, Chinese construction firms continue to work on a number of high-profile projects across Jamaica. In the face of...
Stories from the New Silk Road: Panama
The Panama Canal is a great feat of engineering and a place of huge global significance for trade and shipping. An artificial waterway that...
Stories from the New Silk Road: Ecuador
The Cordillera del Condor mountain range in the east of Ecuador is where the mountains meets the jungles and the Andes meets the Amazon. In...
On the Border: Narva
Tim Marshall on Narva where The EU, Europe and Nato meet the Russian Federation. It's a city in Estonia where 95% of the population are ethn...
On the Border: Kinshasa and Brazzaville
Tim Marshall delves into the strange story of Kinshasa and Brazzaville the only capitals straddling a border. Their peoples share a common c...
On the Border: Niagara Falls
Tim Marshall considers Niagara Falls, the busiest crossing point on the world’s longest border. The fortunes of the two cities either side o...
On the Border: Maastricht
Tim Marshall profiles Maastricht, the city where 30 years ago the European Union was born. Have these economic measures dented relations bet...
Life in soil: Tasting the earth in France
Writer and environmentalist Isabelle Legeron is in France to see how cultivating a healthy soil, teeming with fungi and microbes, can enhanc...
LIfe in soil: The death of soil
Isabelle Legeron travels to Giessen in Germany, to the original laboratory of Justus Von Liebig the brilliant 19th century chemist whose wor...