Biography

From the day he burst onto the scene, Muhammad Ali changed boxing history.

But he also influenced the American civil rights movement, the perception of Islam, the view of the war in Vietnam, and the self-branding of athletes themselves.

So how did his beliefs affect his career? What drove him to keep fighting for so long – even when boxing itself was taking away the gifts that made him famous?

And was he really th...

Frida Kahlo is as much a modern icon for her personal flair as she is for her paintings.

But how did her style develop, and what did she intend it to communicate? What was so subversive about her work, and the subjects she chose to portray?

And why is she such an enduring figurehead for feminists, women with fertility issues, the queer community, and those living with disabilities and chronic pain?

This is a biography of F...

No single writer has shaped the way we speak and think more than William Shakespeare.

Whether we’re being cruel to be kind, wearing our hearts on our sleeves, or wrestling with the green eye’d monster — it’s almost impossible to use the English language without quoting him.

But who was Shakespeare? And what vaulting ambition drove a young writer from a sleepy town in the West Midlands to stardom in Lon...

Pocahontas is probably the best known Native American in history. But the true story of her life has been eclipsed by a fictionalised version, played out as a romance between an intrepid English captain and a wild native princess.

So what is known about the real Pocahontas, and her life before the arrival of the white colonisers? How did she spearhead a period of truce between her tribe and the Europeans?

And did she truly ha...

Abraham Lincoln’s life reads like an American folk tale: the story of a boy born into poverty, whose drive and determination saw him become the most powerful man in the nation.

But how did he navigate a path for a youthful country so deeply divided over slavery? What was his role in the devastating civil war?

And how did one man attract both public adoration and murderous wrath all at the same time?

This is a biograp...

Vincent van Gogh was one of the most important and influential figures in the history of art. But though he created thousands of drawings and paintings, his life was one of commercial failure, instability and unhappiness.

Who was Van Gogh before he discovered his passion for art? What caused him so much suffering?

And who were the people who supported him, right up to his tragic death at the age of just 37?

This is a biogr...

Albert Einstein overhauled our understanding of the universe—from the sub-atomic level to beyond the edges of the cosmos.

Today his ideas are in evidence everywhere, from televisions and GPS systems, to our understanding of black holes and the Big Bang.

But who was Einstein as a person? What were his theories that upended established scientific beliefs?

And how did his work inadvertently contribute to some of the twe...

The last of the Ptolemaic Pharoahs, Cleopatra has captivated our imaginations for centuries.

Though some write her off as a manipulative femme fatale, her competence as a ruler restored her country to superpower status.

But what were the early experiences that shaped her? How did she form both political and personal alliances with two great Roman generals?

And what is the true story of her dramatic death? 

This is ...

As one of the great pioneers of air travel, Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

She pushed aviation technology to its limits, broke countless records, and became famous throughout the world for her skill, bravery and determination.

But what prompted her to take to the skies, despite the overwhelming risks?

And what really happened on her mysteriuos final flight—an enduring puzzle that ...

As the Queen’s family life grew more complex, the relationship between palace and press intensified.

But balancing the need for security and privacy against her very public responsibilities was never simple.

So who was the real woman beneath the crown? How did she deal with the darkest years of her reign, and the grief of losing her beloved husband?

And how will history remember her extraordinary seven-decade reign?

Spanning seventy years, Queen Elizabeth II’s reign saw the world change beyond recognition.

From her earliest public appearances, representing her father King George VI, to her roles as sister, wife, mother, and mother-in-law, she was never far from the headlines.

But what was life like for the young princess, who dreamed of a baby brother who might take the throne instead?

How did she modernize an ancient role to fi...

In 1509, at just seventeen years old, Henry VIII was crowned King of England. Over the next four decades, he would burn through six marriages, bankrupt the nation, and vandalise his country’s cultural heritage in his quest for supreme power.

But how did England’s most eligible bachelor degenerate into a bloated despot, and one of the worst husbands in history?

Was Henry simply a psychopath, or a complex man who dr...

Forged by the Great Depression, Bonnie and Clyde became icons of lawlessness, thrilling and shocking America with their crime sprees and doomed romance.

But what drove them to lives of such violence? How did they evade the full might of the police for so long? And what finally brought their adventure to an end?

This is a biography of Bonnie and Clyde.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Paul McGann.

Written by Danny ...

Despised by the English, mistrusted by the Scottish nobles, and revered by his countrymen, William Wallace is synonymous with the battle for Scottish freedom.

But scratch away at the legend, and even the most basic details are disputed. Where he was born, who he married, and what he did after his famous battle at Stirling Bridge. Thanks to the brutal nature of his death, he doesn’t even have a grave.

What can we really ...

By the time she died in 2005, Rosa Parks was known around the world as an icon of activism. Her act of defiance one ordinary Thursday afternoon in Montgomery, Alabama catapulted her to the forefront of the battle for racial equality in America.

But what was her story before that fateful moment in 1955? And what course did her life take afterward?

This is a biography of Rosa Parks.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Pau...

In the early eighteenth century, one man made his name as the most notorious pirate of all time.

The legend of Edward Thatch, aka "Blackbeard", has spawned television shows, novels, and major motion pictures. Stories abound of his wild eyes striking fear into enemy hearts, of the six pistols strapped to his chest, and of his arrival in battle with his jet-black beard set ablaze.

But how much is fact and how much fiction?

T...

The so-called “Queen of Crime”, Agatha Christie remains the best-selling novelist of all time, as well as one of the most prolific. Across 66 novels, 14 short-story collections, and 20 stage plays, she depicted the evil lurking in the hearts of ordinary people with forensic precision.

But how did this homeschooled daughter of a privileged English family learn so much about poisons, psychopaths and murder? What in her...