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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"Don't ask, don't tell" in the US Armed Forces
Tue 15 Feb 2022
For decades LGBT people in the US military had to keep their sexuality secret.
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The first LGBT film in war-torn Yugoslavia
Mon 14 Feb 2022
How the ground-breaking film "Marble Ass" was made amid war in the former Yugoslavia
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The 1972 mass killings in Burundi
Fri 11 Feb 2022
In 1972 Burundi鈥檚 Tusti led army massacred Hutu civilians following a Hutu led uprising
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Ukraine's 'Maidan Revolution'
Thu 10 Feb 2022
Throughout the winter of 2013/14 protesters camped out in the centre of Kyiv
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Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik
Wed 9 Feb 2022
How the Spaniard became a legend in the world of ultra-fashionable shoes.
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The invention of Google Maps
Tue 8 Feb 2022
How the revolutionary online mapping service was created in 2005.
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The demise of the Soviet Union
Mon 7 Feb 2022
How the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus plotted to break up the USSR in 1991.
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The first Emirati female teacher
Thu 3 Feb 2022
The trailblazing story of the first Emirati born teacher
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The day the world looked up
Wed 2 Feb 2022
In 2012 a rare astronomical event occurred when Venus flew past the Sun
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The murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl
Tue 1 Feb 2022
The reporter who was killed by Islamist extremists in Pakistan while investigating 9/11.
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The Good Friday Agreement
Fri 28 Jan 2022
The frantic last-minute negotiations that led to a peace deal for Northern Ireland.
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IRA gun-running in America
Thu 27 Jan 2022
How an undercover FBI agent bust an IRA gun-running operation in New York in 1981
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Bloody Sunday
Tue 25 Jan 2022
How British paratroopers opened fired on a civil rights march in Northern Ireland in 1972
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British troops in Northern Ireland
Mon 24 Jan 2022
The British army was sent to keep the peace in 1969; it stayed for nearly four decades.
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A Cold War love affair
Fri 21 Jan 2022
The story of a West German woman who crossed the Iron Curtain for love.
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Thu 20 Jan 2022
The story of Coretta Scott King鈥檚 campaign to have her late husband honoured in the US.
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The first bicycle-sharing scheme
Tue 18 Jan 2022
How a Dutch engineer invented a scheme to share bikes and cut pollution in the 1960s.
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The rise of Boko Haram
Mon 17 Jan 2022
How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched a brutal insurgency
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The first silicone breast implants
Fri 14 Jan 2022
How a Texas woman became the first in the world to have the popular cosmetic procedure.
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Costa Concordia
Thu 13 Jan 2022
The dramatic story of the cruise ship which sunk in the Mediterranean, killing 32 people.
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Malick Sidib茅: Mali's superstar photographer
Wed 12 Jan 2022
How a Malian photographer's pictures of Mali's swinging '60s and '70s amazed the world.
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Kazakhstan's nuclear legacy
Tue 11 Jan 2022
The secret plan to clear a huge nuclear testing site after the fall of the Soviet Union.
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India's freedom fighter: Subhas Chandra Bose
Mon 10 Jan 2022
The man who campaigned against colonial rule, allying himself with Hitler during WW2
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Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane: From professor to freedom fighter
Thu 6 Jan 2022
The leader of Mozambique's fight against colonial rule remembered by his daughter
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Marcel Proust
Wed 5 Jan 2022
The great French writer remembered by one of his friends and by his faithful maid.
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The end of Stalinist rule in Albania
Tue 4 Jan 2022
In 1990 Albania鈥檚 communist government agreed to allow independent political parties.
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The secret history of Monopoly
Fri 31 Dec 2021
The true story of one of the world's most popular board games, Monopoly.
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Lego
Thu 30 Dec 2021
One of the world's most popular toys was invented in a small Danish town in 1958.
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Grand Theft Auto
Tue 28 Dec 2021
The controversial action-adventure gaming series developed in Scotland in the 1990s.
