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 the greatest of all time?This is a biography of Muhammad Ali.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Kate Harrison. With thanks to Jonathan Eig, author of the award-winning biography Ali: A Life.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions. No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 London?Was he born great, or did he have greatness thrust upon him?This is a biography of William Shakespeare.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr Anjna Chouhan, Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 biography of Abraham Lincoln.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to David S Reynolds, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, and author of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 twentieth century’s most devastating acts of warfare?This is a biography of Albert Einstein.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Dan Smith. With thanks to David Bodanis, author of Einstein’s Greatest Mistake, and E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 has spawned countless conspiracy theories?This is a biography of Amelia Earhart.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Susan Butler, author of East to the Dawn: the Life of Amelia Earhart.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 fit a changing world, while managing a family so often overshadowed by scandal?This is the first in a special two-part biography of Queen Elizabeth the Second.This is a biography of Queen Elizabeth II.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by Paul McGann.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Dr. Tracy Borman, author of Crown and Sceptre; and Dr. Tessa Dunlop, author of Elizabeth and Phillip.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Marshall, with thanks to Paul Schneider, journalist and author of Bonnie and Clyde – The Lives Behind The Legend.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Paul McGann.Written by Kate Simants. With thanks to Dr. Danielle McGuire, historian and author of At the Dark End of the Street, and Kim Trent, President of the Rosa Parks FoundationThis episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 personal life informed such a sinister view of ordinary people? And how did she manage to trigger a real-life mystery in 1926, which saw the whole country turn amateur detective?This is a biography of Agatha Christie.A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah.This episode was originally featured on Short History Of...Noiser+ members get ad free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions.No part of this podcast may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Noiser Ltd expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.