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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Hong Kong: The 5-19 football riot in China
Wed 29 Jun 2022
The 5-19 football riot after Hong Kong won their World Cup qualifying match over China.
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Hong Kong: Democracy campaigner
Tue 28 Jun 2022
In 1997 Britain handed Hong Kong back to China but Emily Lau campaigned for democracy
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Hong Kong: The handover
Mon 27 Jun 2022
Chris Patten remembers the day Hong Kong was handed back to China from Britain
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The UK's first official gay Pride March
Fri 24 Jun 2022
The UK鈥檚 first official gay Pride march took place 50 years ago 鈥� on 1st July 1972.
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Egypt's first democratic presidential election
Thu 23 Jun 2022
In June 2012, Mohamed Morsi was elected in Egypt's first free presidential election.
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The killing of Vincent Chin
Wed 22 Jun 2022
In 1982 a Chinese-American man was murdered with a baseball bat by white men in Detroit
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Robot Surgeon
Tue 21 Jun 2022
In 1985 the first robot-assisted medical surgery took place in Vancouver, Canada
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India's surrogacy capital
Mon 20 Jun 2022
In 2003, fertility expert Dr Nayana Patel carried out her first surrogacy procedure.
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Cambodia war crimes
Fri 17 Jun 2022
In 2009 Rob Hamill came face-to-face with the man responsible for killing his brother
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James Joyce and Ulysses
Thu 16 Jun 2022
It's 100 years since one of the most influential novels of the 20th century was published
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New York's LGBT High School
Wed 15 Jun 2022
A school offering specialised education for LGBT students opened in the city in 1985
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Vietnam's 'Napalm Girl'
Tue 14 Jun 2022
It鈥檚 50 years since Kim Phuc's village in Vietnam was bombed with napalm
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Holy Cross school dispute
Mon 13 Jun 2022
A violent sectarian dispute took place outside a school in Northern Ireland in 2001
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The Gulabi Gang
Fri 10 Jun 2022
Sampat Devi started a women's rights group in India which now has a national following.
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How Sri Lanka's president survived a suicide bombing
Thu 9 Jun 2022
A survivor of the 2006 suicide bombing attack shares their experience.
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Saving Gabon's rainforest
Wed 8 Jun 2022
How a network of national parks was set up to protect Gabon's forests in 2002
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The Diary of Anne Frank
Tue 7 Jun 2022
One of the most powerful accounts of the Holocaust was published in June 1947
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The assassination of Bobby Kennedy
Mon 6 Jun 2022
The killing of the US presidential candidate remembered by a friend who was also shot
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The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Fri 3 Jun 2022
Two Maids of Honour at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II recall their memories
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Sarin attack in Syria
Thu 2 Jun 2022
How UN inspectors investigated a devastating chemical weapons attack in Ghouta in 2013
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Life in the biggest Syrian refugee camp in the world
Wed 1 Jun 2022
A Syrian family living in Za'atari Refugee Camp for nine years share their experiences.
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Civil Rights activist Ida B Wells
Tue 31 May 2022
How a pioneering African-American journalist campaigned against lynching in the US
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The attack on Lod Airport
Mon 30 May 2022
A survivor on how gunmen opened fire at an Israeli airport in 1972, killing 26 people.
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Georgia O'Keeffe
Fri 27 May 2022
One of the world's most famous woman artists remembered by her assistant
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The World Festival of Black Arts
Thu 26 May 2022
A landmark event for African artists was held in newly-independent Senegal in 1966
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The museum of banned Russian art
Wed 25 May 2022
How Igor Savitsky saved thousands of works from Stalin's censors, and started a museum
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The last days of Frida Kahlo
Tue 24 May 2022
The great Mexican artist remembered by a friend who lived with her at the end of her life
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Meeting Picasso
Mon 23 May 2022
A British art historian on becoming a friend of the great Spanish artist in the 1950s
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Chasing the Marcos millions
Fri 20 May 2022
The lawyer who's spent decades tracking the fortune of the former Philippines president
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Shanghai at War
Thu 19 May 2022
A first-hand account of living through the Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 40s
