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 鈥� Argentina鈥檚 Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous 鈥榯ear down this wall鈥� speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler鈥檚 List; and Jacques Derrida, France鈥檚 鈥榬ock star鈥� 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鈥檚 oldest languages.
Episodes to download
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The Cultural Revolution in China
Thu 22 Sep 2011
In the mid 1960s young people in China were encouraged to criticise their elders.
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Assassination of Orlando Letelier
Wed 21 Sep 2011
The Chilean politician was killed by a bomb in Washington DC, 35 years ago.
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Arafat at the United Nations
Tue 20 Sep 2011
In November 1974 the Palestinian leader was allowed to speak at the UN.
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The Death of Dag Hammarskjold
Mon 19 Sep 2011
The Secretary General of the UN was killed in a plane crash 50 years ago.
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Black Wednesday
Fri 16 Sep 2011
On 16 September 1992, Britain lost billions in foreign currency reserves in a single day.
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Lehman Brothers
Thu 15 Sep 2011
On 15 September 2008, the US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.
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White Australia Policy
Tue 13 Sep 2011
In the 1960s non-white immigrants were not welcome in Australia.
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The Assassination of Ahmed Shah Massood
Fri 9 Sep 2011
Two days before 9/11, al-Qaeda killed an Afghan anti-Taliban leader.
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An Azerbaijani View of the Demise of the Soviet Union
Thu 8 Sep 2011
How the collapse of the Soviet Union played out in the life of a teenager in Azerbaijan.
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Great Fire of London
Wed 7 Sep 2011
In 1666, a fire destroyed much of the city of London. Two diarists recorded what happened.
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Assassination of Hendrik Verwoerd
Tue 6 Sep 2011
It is 45 years since the South African Prime Minister was killed in Parliament.
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The Women of Greenham Common
Mon 5 Sep 2011
How an anti-nuclear march turned into a peace camp based outside a US airbase in the UK
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The Freedom Riders
Tue 30 Aug 2011
The story of an extraordinary act of courage by the civil rights leader Martin Luther King
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Cameroon's Lake Nyos Disaster
Mon 29 Aug 2011
How villagers awoke to find hundreds of friends and neighbours mysteriously dead
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Child evacuees from the Spanish Civil War
Fri 26 Aug 2011
How thousands of Basque children were evacuated to Britain during the Spanish Civil War.
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Woodstock Festival 1969
Thu 25 Aug 2011
A pivotal moment in American popular culture - the Woodstock festival of 1969.
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South African Student Sit-in Against Apartheid Injustice
Wed 24 Aug 2011
White students in apartheid South Africa stage a sit-in protest against racial injustice.
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Dr Spock: Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
Tue 23 Aug 2011
Dr Spock's Baby and Child Care, the book that revolutionised child care.
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Stealing the Mona Lisa
Mon 22 Aug 2011
The theft of the Mona Lisa from the museum of the Louvre in Paris in August 1911
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The Moscow Coup
Thu 18 Aug 2011
The failed attempt to overthrow the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachov in August 1991
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The Hungarian Picnic
Wed 17 Aug 2011
The picnic that led to the first breaches of the Iron Curtain in 1989
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The Great Depression
Tue 16 Aug 2011
During the 1930s the people of the US faced widespread economic hardship
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The Building of the Berlin Wall
Fri 12 Aug 2011
On 13 August 1961, East German soldiers and construction workers began the Berlin Wall
