Tag Archives: 70s

Inside the Mary Whitehouse diaries

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Samira Ahmed

Archive on Four Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse is on Radio 4 March 5th 2022 at 8pm (Updated Feb 26th 2025 to reflect latest developments in the John Smyth abuse scandal) It was back in summer 2019 that I first found out … Continue reading →

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Oh Boy! Why certain Radio 1 DJs are missing believed wiped

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Samira Ahmed

If you sat down to watch a night of lost pop music TV shows from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, what would you expect to find?  Fun, nostalgia, eye popping colour and experimentation, some great music. What I didn’t expect … Continue reading →

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The economics of burkas, bikinis & The Nice Guys

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Samira Ahmed

  According to a recent BBC World Service programme about Malawi, the nation’s population hit 17.6 million this year and is expected to double by 2040, which the country’s finance minister described as “scary”. “A ticking timebomb of poverty and … Continue reading →

Posted in Business/Economics, Comedy, Culture, Film, Media, Religion, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How the Space Shuttle Broke My Heart

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Samira Ahmed

  This weekend’s Radio 4 Extra Floating In Space 3-hour special (9am and 7pm Saturday Mar 1th and iplayer after) with Simon Guerrier explores the history and the fantasy of manned space exploration from the cosmonauts to dreams of Mars … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Culture, Design, Film, History, Politics, Radio, Science, Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Dressed Ziggy Stardust – revisited

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Samira Ahmed

I Dressed Ziggy Stardust is getting a re-broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday afternoon. Here’s a bit about why: When I pitched I Dressed Ziggy Stardust to Radio 4 back in 2012 there was nothing more to it than a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, History, Music, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bye Bye Baby: The Bay City Rollers & the lost innocence of the 70s

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Samira Ahmed

Three ageing rockers are holding up big glasses of milk in a toast. There’s always something poignant about seeing how teen stars have aged, but the Bay City Rollers really were angelic faced teeny boppers, and I am stung by … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Justice, Culture, Music, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The 70s in brief: If you don’t want it pinched, don’t flaunt it so.

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Samira Ahmed

The 70s. WTF. The Channel 4 documentary series It Was Alright In the 70s that aired over the last 2 Saturdays drew on the extremes. Rape jokes galore, and X-rated child safety information films that terrified us. For those interested … Continue reading →

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Why doesn’t Wonder Woman wear a mask?

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Samira Ahmed

Originally written for a recent Radio 4 programme pilot about “masked men”.  In bicentennial year 1976 on first trip to the USA, I first confronted the conundrum of Wonder Woman and masks in three comics I bought. While most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Uncategorized, War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Didn’t we do well? Gameshows & the Iron Curtain

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Samira Ahmed

  The Generation Game 1974: The conveyor belt (start at 6.30″) You’ve won a crystal decanter and glasses! (Big ooh from the audience). Back in the 1970s and 80s when the Independent Broadcasting Authority capped the value of commercial tv … Continue reading →

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The Iran hostage crisis, the Stasi and why the past cannot be left behind

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Samira Ahmed

I ate my first Passover Seder meal recently, as a guest of Rabbi Jonathan Romain at his synagogue. I had had the ingredients and their symbolic meaning on the seder table memorized since that sheet Miss Thick gave me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Justice, Germany, History, Religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments