The Secret Palace
We visit the Mezhyhirya estate in Ukraine.
The vast estate covers over 340 acres. That’s just shy of the area of Monaco. The glamorous and opulent principality has a lot in common with Mezhyirya. Except Monaco is home to 38,000 people. Mezhyhirya was most recently home to just one family.
This is the story of the former president of Ukraine - Victor Yanukovych, his extravagant lifestyle and the construction of his monument to greed; The Mezhyhirya palace and estate. Now known as the world’s only 'Museum of Corruption'.
Lone Actor Terrorism
We speak to Dr. Francis O’Connor, an expert on lone actor radicalisation. Dr. O’Connor and his colleagues have been funded by the EU Commission to research lone actor attacks. They have collected what they think is the largest dataset of lone actor attacks and attackers in the western world, dating from 1990 until the present.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
I wanted to see inside this secretive world and get a sense of what it feels like to serve. I talked to 7 former jurors about their 7 separate trials. I also talked to a practicing criminal law barrister for his thoughts on the jury system. We’ll explore the selection process, the characters in the courtroom and the atmosphere in the jury deliberation room. We’ll also do a deep dive into a few cases and hear them told from a juror's perspective in their own words.
Kyiv Calling
It is Day 6 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I talk to an old friend of the podcast, our tour guide from the Chernobyl episode. He agreed to give an update on what he’s been up to since we last saw each other. He talks about the Russian takeover of the Chernobyl exclusion zone and what it's like to be staying put in Kyiv during the invasion.
The Stalker
"I had no contact with this man. All I ever said was hello to him. It's stalking. And it builds and builds."
These are the words of my mother, Eileen Byrne. She’s going to recount her ordeal with a stalker.
I was just a kid at the time. I knew very little about it, until lately when she started talking about the incident. It was a recent Irish news story that triggered her memory. The murder of Aisling Murphy in broad daylight, sparked a national conversation not just about violence against women but also about the level of harassment and intimidation women are forced to endure on a daily basis. Aisling’s murder added fuel to a prominent campaign to make stalking a criminal offence in Ireland.
The Highest Cyclist in the World
In 2007 the legendary Scottish track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy set out to break the 1km time trial world record. The record and then only sub one minute 1km time was set by Hoy's longtime rival- Arnaud Tournant. Hoy was determined to go sub one minute himself and even more determined to snatch the record away from the french cyclist.
Hoy embarked on a journey to the most remote cycling venue on the planet- The Alto Irpavi Velodrome, high in the Bolivian Andes. The fastest track on earth. Hoy's attempt pushed the boundaries of what his body could take. Throw in the very real risks of altitude sickness, a shoestring budget, an extremely tight deadline, unpredictable weather conditions, malfunctioning airplanes, some very curious locals and join us as we revisit the circus atmosphere that surrounded Chris Hoy when he became the highest cyclist in the world.
Escape from Madrid
Pablo De Miguel tells the little known story of how Turkish diplomats saved the lives of 1,000 refugees during the Spanish Civil War’s longest siege. It involves espionage, international negotiations and murder but above all else it's a story about the fight for survival and the determination to get home.