Witness History Podcast
History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest, the disastrous D-Day rehearsal, and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
Episodes to download
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Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority
Wed 7 Aug 2024
In 1979, the Moral Majority was launched and changed the course of US politics
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Bush v Gore: The election decided in the Supreme Court
Tue 6 Aug 2024
The US presidential election of 2000 was one of the most contested in history
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The Situation Room photograph
Mon 5 Aug 2024
The story behind the Situation Room photograph during the raid to kill Bin Laden in 2011
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The 1965 Freedom Riders of Australia
Fri 2 Aug 2024
The students who challenged the discrimination of Australia's indigenous people
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Finding a home for Bulgaria's dancing bears
Wed 31 Jul 2024
In 1998, it became illegal to make bears dance in Bulgaria
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Yazidi genocide: A rescue mission on Mount Sinjar
Tue 30 Jul 2024
How Yazidis in Iraq fled to Mount Sinjar to escape genocide in August 2014
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The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall
Mon 29 Jul 2024
How punk rock band Die Toten Hosen secretly played a concert in East Berlin.
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The first cold chain vaccination storage system
Fri 26 Jul 2024
In 1974, Ghana pioneered a new system, to help immunise against serious diseases
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Building the Moscow Metro
Thu 25 Jul 2024
How the Moscow Metro was built using more than 10,000 Russian workers.
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Olympics: Zamzam Farah at London 2012
Wed 24 Jul 2024
Somali sprinter Zamzam Farah at the London 2012 Olympics
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The first Olympic ‘mascot’
Tue 23 Jul 2024
The creation of Shuss for the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France
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The 1924 Paris Olympics
Sun 21 Jul 2024
The last time Paris held the Olympic Games was 100 years ago in 1924
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How Ayia Napa became a clubbing capital
Fri 19 Jul 2024
In the 1990s, Ayia Napa, in Cyprus, went from quiet fishing village to party resort
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The missing people of Cyprus
Thu 18 Jul 2024
Between 1963 and 1974, more than 2,000 people in Cyprus went missing
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Cyprus 2003: Crossing the ceasefire line
Wed 17 Jul 2024
In April 2003, people in Cyprus crossed the ceasefire line for the first time in 29 years
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Cyprus 1974: The Final Landing
Tue 16 Jul 2024
In July 1974, Captain Adamos Marneros landed the last flight at Nicosia Airport in Cyprus
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Cyprus 1974: The Greek coup
Mon 15 Jul 2024
How a coup in Cyprus led to the division of the island’s communities
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Arrested for playing football in Brazil
Fri 12 Jul 2024
For nearly 40 years, women in Brazil were banned from playing football
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Italy's 'poison ships'
Thu 11 Jul 2024
In 1988, a ship carrying toxic waste arrived in Manfredonia, Italy
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The 1968 Mexico City massacre
Wed 10 Jul 2024
The massacre in Mexico City in October 1968, 10 days before the Olympics
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The day Celia Cruz returned to Cuba
Tue 9 Jul 2024
Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz's only return to the island in 43 years of exile.
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How the air fryer was invented
Mon 8 Jul 2024
In 2006, Dutch inventor Fred van der Weij cooked up an idea for a new kitchen device
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Conservative wipe-out in Canada
Fri 5 Jul 2024
In Canada's 1993 election, the governing party was routed, ending up with just two seats
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Fight the Power: The song that became an anthem of protest
Thu 4 Jul 2024
In 1989, Public Enemy provided the soundtrack for Spike Lee's movie, Do The Right Thing
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Georgia’s political crisis
Wed 3 Jul 2024
In 1991, the newly independent country found itself on the verge of a civil war
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Executed in Stalin’s Great Terror in Georgia
Tue 2 Jul 2024
In the 1930s, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin executed hundreds of thousands without trial
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Subway Art: The graffiti bible
Mon 1 Jul 2024
In 1984, Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper released an iconic photography book
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I designed Hello Kitty
Fri 28 Jun 2024
In 1974, a Japanese artist created a character who is now worth more than $80 billion
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The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America
Thu 27 Jun 2024
President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala was overthrown in a revolt sponsored by the US