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Episode details

World Service,26 Feb 2019,53 mins

The wild world of Germany’s punk princess

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Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis is a German aristocrat who became a celebrity when, as a 20-year-old, she married a much older German prince. She soon earned the nickname Princess TNT because of the wild parties she threw, and the wild outfits she wore. Michael Jackson and Andy Warhol were in her circle. Multi-million dollar diamonds were her style, and her hair was dramatically styled with mohawks, yellow quiffs and pink curls. John Kitime is a guitarist and singer who became a household name in Tanzania in the 70s and 80s. The music he made is strongly associated with the era of post-independence in his country, and he's now working on a new album to bring back the sounds of that time. William Kamkwamba was born in a small village in Malawi, which he transformed in a quite ingenious way. When William was fourteen there was a drought and a terrible famine, and he was forced to leave school because his parents could no longer afford the fees. Despite this, he'd go on to build various contraptions, like a homemade wind turbine, that would improve conditions in his community. He's since been to university in the USA, and he's now the subject of a new film. (Image: Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis. Photo credit: Getty Images/Ron Galella )

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