In this episode of Talking History on Newstalk, we're looking at the history of the Leaving Certificate - 100 years old this year - and debating its impact on Irish education .

Featuring: Dr Orla McCormack, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Limerick; Deirdre Mac Mathuna, Past President and now Public Relations Officer for the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland and a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin in History Pedagogy; Dr Hazel Murray, cybersecurity lecturer at Munster Technological University; and Dr Colm Mac Gearailt, postdoctoral researcher on the ‘Cartlann’ archive at University of Galway.

In this D-Day special, Talking History explores the D-Day landings on the 80th anniversary of the Longest Day, and how they changed the course of the Second World War.

Joining host Patrick Geoghegan is: Prof Richard Overy, professor of history at the University of Exeter, and author of ‘World War II: The Definitive Visual History Volume I: From the Munich Crisis to the Battle of Kursk 1938-43'; Dr Mark Jones, Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global History at University College Dublin; Professor Jonathan Fennell, Professor of the History of War and Society at King’s College London and co-founder of the Second World War Research Group; and Dr Rachel Lance, author of 'Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever'.

Patrick Geoghegan and his panel explore the life, times and legacy of William The Conqueror. Was he a hero who instituted great changes, brought in legal and administrative innovations, and unified England, or a villain and invader who conquered it in a dramatic overthrow?

Featuring Prof George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford; Prof Virginia Davis, Professor of Medieval History, Queen Mary University of London; Prof Seán Duffy, Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History, Trinity College Dublin; Dr Marc Morris, a historian who specializes in the Middle Ages; and Prof Hugh M. Thomas, author of The Norman Conquest: England after William the Conqueror.

In this episode, we're telling the story of Ireland through its records with Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives of Ireland; we'll also find out about the life and legacy of Roger Casement, with Roland Philipps, author of Broken Archangel: The Tempestuous Lives of Roger Casement; we'll discuss the formation of the RNLI 200 years ago and its key early personnel with Helen Doe, historian and author of ‘One Crew: The RNLI's Official 200-Year History’; and we'll analyse the Anglo-French War of the late 13th century with David Pilling, historian and author of Edward Longshanks' Forgotten Conflict - The Anglo-French War 1294-1303.

In this episode of Talking History, we're looking at the life and music of Tchaikovsky and debating his remarkable artistic legacy. Joining Patrick Geoghegan is Prof Philip Ross Bullock, Professor of Russian Literature and Music, University of Oxford; Dr Ciarán Crilly, Associate Professor, UCD School of Music, and Artistic Director of the UCD Symphony Orchestra; and Dr Tamsin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Music and Head of the Centre for Russian Music at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In this episode, we're exploring the Library of Alexandria and finding out how it became the ancient world's greatest repository of knowledge. Joining Patrick Geoghegan is Willeke Wendrich, Research Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Digital Humanities, UCLA; Prof Islam Issa, Professor of Literature and History at Birmingham City University; and Dr Cynthia Johnston, Senior Lecturer in History of the Book at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London.

In a new mini-series over the next year, Talking History explores the history of Ireland's political parties, from their achievements in office, to their failures, leaders and legacy. In this first episode, we look back the history of Fianna Fáil: the good, the bad and the ugly of the party which has been in power in Ireland for longer than any other.

Patrick Geoghegan is joined by Dr Eoin O’Malley, Associate Professor in Political Science at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Prof Gary Murphy, Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, Prof Eunan O'Halpin, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin, and Senator Lisa Chambers of Fianna Fáil.

Marking the international touring exhibition 'Imagine: 100 Years of International Surrealism', Patrick Geoghegan finds out what this movement meant to the art world and its global significance still today. Joining him is Dr Felicity Gee, Senior Lecturer in Modernism and World Cinema at the University of Exeter, and Vice President of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism; Dr Matthew Affron, curator for modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art who is leading the surrealism exhibition there; Professor Alyce Mahon, the University of Cambridge’s Department of History of Art specialist in Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory; and Dr. Tara Plunkett, Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, at University College Dublin.