Episode 37: The African Cup of Nations

In 1956 when the Confederation of African Football was founded, four African nations were members of FIFA: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Africa. The first Cup of Nations was played in Sudan between three of these, with South Africa's apartheid supporting Football Association immediately excluded from both CAF and the new tournament, not to return for nearly forty years.

In those forty years, the competition grew. Within a decade of that first three-team tournament dozen of countries had shaken off the last remnants of their colonial pasts, and most had set their sights on the biggest sporting prize the continent had to offer. Three teams became four, eight, twelve, sixteen and now twenty-four competing for the glittering gold trophy. Legends were born, many becoming household names at Europe's biggest clubs but returning every two years - whether their clubs liked it or not - for another go at the Cup of Nations.

Along the way there was tragedy and controversy, heartbreak and joy - never more so that the tale of Zambia rising like a phoenix from the unimaginable horror of their national team's 1993 plane crash that took the lives of most of a golden generation of talent. If 1994 was extraordinary for them, 2012 was a destiny fulfilled when within touching distance of the spot in the Atlantic Ocean where their heroes were lost they upset the odds and won it all.

Sport can be utterly extraordinary, and the African Cup of Nations more so than most.

Episode 36: The PDC World Darts Championship - "This darts match will make you happy!"

Every Christmas thousands cram into Alexandra Palace in fancy dress to scream in unison at a little black, white, red and green board on the wall. In this episode, we trace how that surreal festive tradition came to be - from darts as a pub pastime, through the birth of the televised World Championship, to the civil war that split the game and created the PDC’s neon-lit circus at Ally Pally.

Along the way we meet the swaggering heroes and fragile geniuses of the oche - Bristow, Jocky, Taylor and Barney through to van Gerwen, Smith, Humphries and Littler - and dig into how walk-ons, nicknames, Sky money, global tours and life-changing prize cheques turned a smoky, working-class obsession into a worldwide Christmas staple.

It’s about the sound of “One hundred and eighteeee!”, but also about class, rebellion, reinvention and a sport that somehow stayed true to its roots even as it wrapped itself in fireworks and confetti - and whether it can maintain that as more and more money pours into the game, fuelled now more than ever by the so-called "Littler Effect".

It’s gaudy, raucous, sometimes ridiculous, often sublime - and at Christmas, it somehow belongs to all of us.

Episode 35: Our Ashes XI (The Ashes, Part 3) - Why We Love Cricket

In Part 3 of our Ashes series, we reflect on almost 30 years of being cricket fans, and the players who’ve inspired us, shaped our love of the game, and delivered moments of both joy and agony.

To do that, we stick on our selectors caps and pick an Ashes XI drawn from our time as fans. Some choices come easily - Shane Warne, Steve Smith, Stuart Broad: shoo-ins, no debate needed.

Others, though, need a proper argument. Does Jimmy Anderson’s stellar Test career earn him a place when his Ashes record is so uneven, especially with Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc looming in the background? Can Joe Root realistically compete with Steve Waugh when the pairs Ashes numbers suggest the older man belongs on a higher shelf - and are those numbers even telling the full story?

We even make a brief detour to Headingley in 1981 to bridge eras, but make no mistake: while the legends of series past matter deeply, it’s the personalities, moments and memories we’ve lived through that made us fall in love with this wonderful game - and with the Ashes most of all.