Podcast Corner: History Bureau dips into murky world of dirty deeds in Russia 

The History Bureau and The Birth Keepers both provide fascinating listening 

Vladimir Putin was just weeks into his first premiership at the time of the apartment bombings in September 1999. File picture: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AP

The History Bureau (BBC Sounds) seeks to revisit the "defining stories of our times with the reporters who first covered them”. It asks what did we miss the first time round and offers a second draft of history, says presenter Helena Merriman (Tunnel 29 and Room 5). 

The first season, Putin and The Apartment Bombs, has just wrapped its seven-episode run. In September 1999, just weeks into Vladimir Putin’s first premiership, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings during the night, killing hundreds and plunging Russia into fear.