Legacy

Wondery

<p>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.</p><p>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 <a href="https://wondery.com/links/legacy">wondery.com/links/legacy</a> now.</p>

  • 47 minutes 32 seconds
    Mystics | Nostradamus: The Arophecary | 1

    Nostradamus has predicted every major disaster in history — or so the internet would have you believe. Peter and Afua get behind the myth to meet the real man: a plague-era apothecary, rejected by the medical establishment, whose greatest invention wasn't prophecy — it was selling certainty to an anxious world.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    28 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 36 minutes 1 second
    The Age Of Cargo | The TEU | 3

    Malcolm McLean was a frustrated truck driver who thought there had to be a better way. The metal box he invented now carries 90% of the world's traded goods — and quietly runs the global economy.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    23 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 38 minutes 7 seconds
    The Age Of Cargo | Globalisation and the Oceans | 2

    From colliers carrying coal out of Newcastle to Marshall Plan grain crossing the Atlantic, Peter and Afua trace how the movement of goods by sea built the modern world. This is the story of bulk cargo — and why the ships that carried it changed everything.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    21 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 43 minutes 30 seconds
    The Age Of Cargo | The Cargo Ship | 1

    The cargo ship didn't just move goods — it moved civilisations. Peter and Afua trace 2,000 years of maritime trade, from Roman grain ships and spice routes to the Hanseatic League, the sugar plantations of Madeira, and the brutal economics of the triangular trade.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    16 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 38 minutes 24 seconds
    Facelifts | The Gory Truth Behind the Celebrity Glow | 2

    Afua and Peter explore the "undetectable" world of deep plane facelifts, examining why celebrities are finally trading surgical secrecy for viral transparency. They dissect the astronomical costs of modern "tweakments" and the rising pressure to match AI-generated perfection as surgery recipients get younger than ever before.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 28 minutes 10 seconds
    Facelifts | From Jericho to Kardashian | 1

    Peter and Afua delve into the surprising 9,000-year history of facial modification, spanning from ancient trephining rituals in Jericho to the "eerily impressive" modern results seen on Kris Jenner. They analyze how surgical techniques have evolved through a symbiotic relationship between wartime reconstruction and a global, often problematic, pursuit of Eurocentric beauty norms.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    9 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 42 minutes 37 seconds
    Global Impact Of Economic Shocks | The Reconfiguration of the World of 1973 | 4

    From the formation of OPEC to the Yom Kippur War, Peter and Afua trace how oil-producing nations finally seized control of their most powerful weapon — and how the shock of 1973 sent the entire global economy into freefall, from petrol queues in Europe to coups in Africa.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    7 April 2026, 1:00 am
  • 47 minutes 47 seconds
    Global Impact Of Economic Shocks | 1973 - Oil and the 20th Century | 3

    From the geology of the Gulf to the CIA-backed coup that toppled Iran's elected prime minister, Peter and Afua trace how oil became the defining force of the 20th century — and why the West's century-long obsession with Iranian oil still shapes the crisis unfolding in 2026.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 April 2026, 2:00 am
  • 55 minutes 26 seconds
    Global Impact of Economic Shocks | The Cataclysm of Suez | 2

    In this second installment of their series on economic shocks, Peter and Afua dissect the 1956 Suez Crisis, where Gamal Abdel Nasser's bold nationalization of the canal stripped the British Empire of its remaining credibility. They reveal the clandestine "Protocol of Sèvres" conspiracy and explain how a furious President Eisenhower leveraged the International Monetary Fund to bring a bankrupt Britain to its knees.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    31 March 2026, 2:00 am
  • 52 minutes 11 seconds
    Global Impact of Economic Shocks | 1915 and the Dardanelles | 1

    Afua and Peter examine the brutal 1915 closure of the Dardanelles, revealing how a single geographic choke point strangled the Russian economy and paved the way for the Bolshevik Revolution. Drawing haunting parallels to modern conflicts in the Strait of Hormuz, they explore how Winston Churchill’s over-ambitious naval gambles led to a devastating legacy of human and financial loss.


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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 March 2026, 2:00 am
  • 45 minutes 27 seconds
    Great Environmental Shocks in History | How An Earthquake Splintered The World | 4

    Afua and Peter examine the terrifying 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, revealing how a massive geological rupture in Japan unexpectedly triggered a radical energy revolution in Germany and shifted the scales of European geopolitics. From the heroic struggle of the "Fukushima 50" to the strategic vulnerabilities exposed by a reliance on Russian gas, they explore the sobering reality that even our most advanced engineering remains at the mercy of the Earth's shifting plates


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    Stay connected with Legacy:

    Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

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    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

    legacy.supportingcast.fm


    Stay connected with Legacy:

    Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

    TikTok: @legacy_productions


    Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 March 2026, 2:00 am
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