The Compass

Mar 07 2023 310 ep. 49.1k
The Compass Podcast artwork

Surprising stories from unusual places. With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about the environment and politics, culture and society.

  Society & Culture
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The sacred song of war

Mar 07 2023 27 mins  
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 long lasting effect of the great patriotic wars against Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte? Plus the Poles, the Mongols, and the British in Crimea. With contributions from Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad, Robert Service, author of the Last Ts

Catherine the Great and the question of Europe

Feb 28 2023 27 mins  
It was Peter the Great who created a new capital on the Baltic, and Catherine the Great who extended Russian influence south and west. Sweden, Poland, and the Ottomans all felt the Russian expansion in a century of geopolitical drama. This, says presenter Misha Glenny, is all part of the build up to today's war in Ukraine.With contributions from Virginia Rounding, biographer of Cat

The Invention of Russia: The empire strikes back

Feb 21 2023 28 mins  
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 America. And from very small beginnings, it became the biggest contiguous landmass in the world. Presenter Misha Glenny speaks to James Hill of the New York Times about travelling to the edges, and also to Janet Hartley, author of Siberia: A History

The invention of Russia: A tale of two Ivans

Feb 14 2023 28 mins  
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 story of Russia, biggest contiguous country on the planet, told from the time when it was still very small. With contributions across the series from Janet Hartley, author of a history of the Volga; Rhodric Braithwaite, former ambassador to Moscow

Sounds of the city: Tel Aviv

Jan 10 2023 27 mins  
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 streets in the older parts of town are full of open air cafes, buskers and people visiting the markets and local shops. It is a lively place and Peter's first challenge comes when he tries to navigate the local busses, only to find that without bein

Sounds of the city: Los Angeles

Jan 03 2023 27 mins  
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 the globe.In Los Angeles the sea quickly beckons and although it's a struggle, Peter dons a wetsuit and prepares for his first surfing lesson! He also explores the huge metropolis by metro, comes across tales of political intrigue and meets up

Bhopal: Part one

Dec 20 2022 27 mins  
When one of journalist Rajkumar Keswani's friends dies at the Union Carbide plant after exposure to toxic gas, he decides to investigate. Local government officials dismiss him, but safety reports smuggled to him open his eyes to the potential for disaster. Rajkumar Keswani wrote his first article 40 years ago, warning of the dangers posed by safety lapses and poor maintenance at t

How to be a former president: Part three

Dec 13 2022 28 mins  
Giles Edwards looks inside the private clubs of former world leaders to see how they are still trying to influence global politics.(Photo: Helen Clark speaks at a 2022 meeting of the Global Leadership Foundation)

How to be a former president: Part two

Dec 06 2022 27 mins  
Giles Edwards investigates the many opportunities offered by globalisation, and speaks to some of the former presidents and prime ministers who have run, or worked for, international organisations from civil society to the United Nations.(Photo: Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, June 2022. Credit: Ritzau Scanpix/Philip Davali/Reuters)

How to be a former president: Part one

Nov 29 2022 27 mins  
What happens to presidents and prime ministers when they stop running their countries, and leave politics behind? Giles Edwards has spent 10 years finding out what they do next. He shares some of his conversations with former world leaders, takes us inside their organisations and helps us understand their thinking.Giles begins at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, wher