Football

Paul Sinha looks through all of human history and examines how we came to be where we are.

He starts with something every day, something we all know to be true; he then reveals the quirks of history and the fascinating stories that led up to this point.

Paul kicks off with Football, taking as his starting point the World Cup Final in June 2014.

It was the biggest sporting event on the planet, a billion people watching 25 or so Germans and Argentinians play football in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

How did we end up here? It's a story that takes in 15th-century explorers, the slave trade, mass immigration, industrialisation, and British Army medical tests. Because no-one and nothing exists in a vacuum.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha.

Paul is an acclaimed stand-up who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy award for his show Saint or Sinha? He frequently appears on The News Quiz, The Now Show, and Fighting Talk. He is a resident 'chaser' on the ITV quiz show The Chase with several of his own series on BBC Radio 4.

Producer: Ed Morrish.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.