Leonard Grigoryan

Oct 31, 2023 | tttpodcast.com | Leonard Grigoryan

One of the most traumatic air disasters of the twentieth century happened on a stormy October night in 1930. By numbers, the crash of the airship ‘R101’ seems almost inconsequential when set against the huge numbers of those who fell during the First World War. But the 48 who died when R101 came down over the French countryside represented something important for Great Britain. At a time of growing unease, they symbolised the end of a dream.

Jun 13, 2023 | tttpodcast.com | Leonard Grigoryan |Mike Jay

By the 1880s customers could buy all sorts of branded pills, lozenges and ‘tabloids’ in these shops. These variously promised to relieve aliments like stomach cramps, sore throats and exhaustion and they were very often marketed under cheerful names like ‘Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup’. But in these bottles was danger as well as relief. Their ingredients were not usually listed, but in them were powerful substances like opium, alcohol and cocaine.