River Nile

Short History Of...

Noiser

History

4.7 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Snaking across 4,000 miles and 11 African countries, the River Nile is perhaps the most famous river on planet earth. The 80 billion gallons of water that flow through its banks each day give life to countless animals and ecosystems - from crocodiles and hippos, to rare species of fish, plants, and people. But who has tried to harness the power of this river, and why have so many failed? What cultures have grown from the Nile’s waters? And why are emperors, prophets, writers, Kings and Queens, drawn to its famous banks? This is a Short History Of the River Nile. Written by Paul Kerensa. With thanks to Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile: A Biography of the World’s Greatest River. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noisier.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Imperial War Museum London's new Blavatnik Art Film and Photography Galleries are now open and free to all.
0:06.5	Discover how visual practitioners are powerful narrators who shape how we think and feel about conflict and the role of art, film and
0:14.7	photography in influencing public opinion. The Blavattnick Art Form and
0:19.1	Photography galleries explore the seismic cultural, political and social impact of war through over 500 works on display.
0:26.0	Plan your visit to Imperial War Museum London today.
0:30.0	It's the 3rd of August 1858.
0:37.0	British Army Officer John Hanning Speak is pushing through a humid forest in what is now Tanzania in Central Africa. It has been a hard weeks long hike
0:46.8	through Arab trading posts and unfriendly territory. And it's not getting any easier. The
0:52.2	incline makes each step tougher than the last as he and his men march deep into the continent's high ground.
1:00.0	Speak, both looks and feels older than his 31 years.
1:06.0	Beneath his thick blonde beard and ragged clothing, is a man barely surviving.
1:12.0	He's exhausted, half death from stabbing a beetle in his ear canal and even his eyesight
1:17.7	is faltering a side effect of malaria and yet he persists years into his overall mission.
1:27.0	With local porters by his side, speak brushes aside greenery hoping with every step for a glimpse of the promised blue waters he's searching for.
1:37.0	Emerging from the jungle into a plantation flattened by elephants, he pauses for a few moments.
1:45.5	His ribs still ache from the 11 spears he received in Somaliland,
1:50.3	in a camp attack that gave his fellow explorer Richard Francis Burton, a cheek-to-cheek skeering.
1:57.0	Burton is now out of action, 200 miles to the south, struck down with syphilisphilis after much local promiscuity.
2:05.8	And deep down speak is glad to be the last man standing, because if his guides are correct,
2:11.0	the waters should be right over the next hill. This moment belongs to him.
2:17.0	After just a few minutes more walking, it comes into view. The blue blur of a vast ocean-like lake stretching right to the horizon
2:29.9	as far as his poor eyes can see.
	...

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