"Miss Simpson's Children"  The story of Esther Simpson told by David Edmonds

How one woman offered refuge to leading intellectuals fleeing from the Nazis, helping transform the cultural and intellectual landscape of Britain and the United States. Shortly after Hitler came to power, an organisation was set up in Britain to help academics who were being thrown out of their jobs in Nazi Germany. It was called the Academic Assistance Council. The council's assistant secretary, Esther Simpson, became its dynamic force. She called all the refugees she assisted her 'children'. Sixteen of them ended up as Nobel Prize winners. Many would later admit that they owed their lives to her. David Edmonds tells the unknown story of Esther Simpson and the brilliant minds she saved.

Broadcast: BBC Radio Four, Friday 12th May 2017 11am

Expanded text: Jewish Chronicle (12th May) and BBC History Magazine, May/June 2017