Legacy
From Wondery and Goalhanger Podcasts, Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan tell the wild stories of some of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived – and ask whether they have the rep they deserve. Should Nina Simone’s role in the civil rights movement be more celebrated than it is? When you find out what Picasso got up to in his studio, can you still admire his art? Was Napoleon a hero or a tyrant - or both? (And, while we’re at it, was he even short?) Legacy is the show that looks at big lives from the perspective of now – and doesn’t always like what it sees. Listen to Legacy on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/legacy now.
Episodes
Legacy lands Wednesday 15th November. Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan tell the wild stories of some of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived – and ask whether they have the rep they deserve.
Amazon Prime members can binge entire seasons early on Amazon Music. Wondery+ subscribers can binge full seasons early in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.
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A Corsican boy, an outsider, seizes his chance to make a name for himself when France is turned upside down by a long and bloody revolution. He’s relentless in his pursuit of power, and in the pursuit of one woman.
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It’s not enough for Napoleon to dominate France. He fights right across Europe before sweeping into Notre Dame, Josephine at his side, to claim an imperial crown, watched by Europe’s elite.
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Napoleon’s military success has cowed a continent but, in Russia, he meets almost unimaginable horror. He was defeated, he says, not by the Tsar, but by winter. His subjects aren’t so sure. And his enemies see an opportunity.
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After escaping exile on Elba, Napoleon marches back to power. But the British Duke of Wellington is on his way to Waterloo to end the Napoleonic era. When the battle subsides, what’s left of Napoleon’s legacy? And what is his legacy today?
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A sickly vicar’s son travels from England to Africa to join the diamond rush. Cecil Rhodes wants to make his fortune. But he also wants to extend the British Empire. Drama in his private life threatens to undermine both ambitions.
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Rhodes dashes back to Kimberley to be with his dying friend. He then redoubles his colonial efforts, using ruthless tactics to trick the indigenous population out of their land. But an ill-fated scheme to take on the Boers is about to hurt him.
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Rhodes deals with the fallout from the Jameson Raid as questions about his conduct reach the British parliament. He finds a new cause to further his ambition but years of ill-health are starting to catch up with him.
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More than a century after Rhodes' death students in South Africa and Britain thrust his name back into the spotlight. Should statues of colonialists like him be torn down? And, in Africa, how is Rhodes' legacy felt today?
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His father wants him to become a great classical painter, but teenage Pablo Picasso has other ideas. He joins the heady bohemia of Barcelona and Paris, where tragedy transforms his art and puts him on the road to fame.
Artwork:
The Little Yellow Picador, Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1889)
The First Communion, Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1896)
La Vie, Pablo Picasso (1903)
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Picasso finds inspiration in an unlikely setting and changes art forever. He also finds his first muse, then his second... and then his third - leaving a trail of suffering behind him.
Artwork:
Family of Acrobats with Monkey, Pablo Picasso (1905)
Portrait of Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso (1905-6)
The Young Ladies of Avignon, Pablo Picasso (1906)
Olga in an Armchair, Pablo Picasso (1917)
The Dream, Pablo Picas...
Death is ever more present in Picasso’s work, as horrific events in his home country inspire him to create one of the defining paintings of the 20th century. Meanwhile his own mortality weighs on him as he approaches old age.
Artwork:
Guernica, Pablo Picasso (1937)
The Weeping Woman, Pablo Picasso (1937)
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A bombshell memoir by a former lover annoys and embarrasses Picasso in his final years. But it is only half a century after his death that his misogyny is seen as truly problematic. And leaves many now grappling with how to separate the art from the artist.
Artwork:
The Woman in a Chair, Pablo Picasso (1948)
Seated Woman in Green, Pablo Picasso (1953)
Self Portrait Facing Death, Pablo Picasso (1972)
Shaped by the brutality of the Stalin regime, Gorbachev’s childhood was one of poverty and hardship. But the communist system also works to his strengths, and allows him to reach the very top. All along, he remains a true believer but knows change must happen.
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With the levers of power now in his control, Gorbachev steps out on the international stage with one aim: to avoid a nuclear war. He forges a new relationship with US President Reagan, but will it be enough to remove the shadow of armageddon?
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On a spring morning in 1986 one of the most catastrophic events in global history occurs - Chernobyl. It brings chaos to the environment, chaos to Europe and chaos to Mikhail Gorbachev's premiership. Will he survive this?
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Under Gorbachev's leadership the once sprawling empire that was the Soviet Union collapses. Is this his true legacy? Or was it all inevitable? And with present day Russia looking to the past for glory, what lessons can we learn from history's last Soviet leader?
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Born in the Jim Crow South, Nina Simone's talent is obvious from an early age. She dreams of becoming the first black classical pianist but after a life-changing rejection, she has no choice but to reinvent herself...
You can listen to the songs mentioned in this series here: https://music.amazon.co.uk/playlists/B0CVXPPT7G or search 'Nina Simone: The Legacy Playlist' in the Amazon Music app.
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Nina Simone's star is rising - however cracks in her personal life are starting to show. Meanwhile, the civil rights movement is catching up with her. Where does she stand in the midst of this? And will she be on the right side of history?
You can listen to the songs mentioned in this series here: https://music.amazon.co.uk/playlists/B0CVXPPT7G or search 'Nina Simone: The Legacy Playlist' in the Amazon Music app.
Amidst marital and financial problems, Nina escapes the US for an eclectic life abroad - finding love in Barbados, happiness in Liberia, and a better education for her daughter in Switzerland. But mental health struggles soon come to the fore and before soon Nina Simone will reach a new low.
You can listen to the songs mentioned in this series here: https://music.amazon.co.uk/playlists/B0CVXPPT7G or search 'Nina Simone:...
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