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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Ireland's bank bailout
Tue 23 Feb 2021
In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis Ireland had to borrow billions
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Free breakfasts with the Black Panthers
Thu 18 Feb 2021
How the revolutionary black rights organisation started serving breakfast to children
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The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks
Wed 17 Feb 2021
The story of a woman who played a largely unsung role in countless medical breakthroughs
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Britain's forgotten slave owners: Part two
Tue 16 Feb 2021
The story of Britain's forgotten slave owners and the people they enslaved
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Britain's forgotten slave owners: Part one
Mon 15 Feb 2021
How researchers in London uncovered the story of Britain's forgotten slave owners
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How US 'smart bombs' hit an Iraqi air raid shelter in the first Gulf War
Fri 12 Feb 2021
More than 400 civilians died when US bombs hit the Amiriya air raid shelter in Baghdad
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A Ghanaian nurse's story
Thu 11 Feb 2021
Nurses from outside the UK form a vital part of the country's medical workforce
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The paper that helped the homeless
Wed 10 Feb 2021
The 'Street News' paper was sold by homeless people in New York at a profit to earn money
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Francis Bacon in the archives
Tue 9 Feb 2021
The painter Francis Bacon was known for his disturbing images and bohemian lifestyle
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General Robert E Lee: US Civil War rebel
Fri 5 Feb 2021
Lee was charged with treason, so why did Congress reinstate his citizenship in 1975?
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Drugs in the Vietnam War
Thu 4 Feb 2021
How a heroin epidemic among US troops in Vietnam caused panic in the military
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The Burma uprising of 1988
Wed 3 Feb 2021
People took to the streets of Burma, or Myanmar, to protest against military rule in 1988
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The Moscow State Circus
Tue 2 Feb 2021
The biggest circus in Soviet Russia opened in Moscow in April 1971.
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The first Eurostar from England to France
Mon 1 Feb 2021
The driver of the first train to take passengers from London to Paris remembers
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The anthem of the Arab Spring
Fri 29 Jan 2021
How a singer in Tunisia helped inspire young protestors all over the Middle East in 2011
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Libya's Arab uprising
Thu 28 Jan 2021
In 2011 protests soon turned into an armed revolt seeking to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi.
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Yemen's 2011 uprising
Wed 27 Jan 2021
Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt young Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011
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Syria in the Arab Spring
Tue 26 Jan 2021
The moment that hundreds of thousands of Syrians demanded change in 2011.
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Egypt's Facebook Girl
Mon 25 Jan 2021
How social media was used to organise against Egypt's government before the Arab Spring
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Fighting for justice for India's Sikhs
Fri 22 Jan 2021
Anti-Sikh violence flared in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984
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Kenya's pioneering publisher
Thu 21 Jan 2021
Dr Henry Chakava made it his life's mission to publish in African languages.
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The Turner Diaries - America's manual of hatred
Wed 20 Jan 2021
The white supremacist novel by William Pierce which has been blamed for inciting violence
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Hitler's beer hall putsch
Tue 19 Jan 2021
Adolf Hitler made his first attempt to take power in Germany in 1923
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Landing on Titan
Thu 14 Jan 2021
The remarkable mission to explore one of the moons of Saturn in 2005
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Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer
Wed 13 Jan 2021
She was the first to graduate from Oxford and was a pioneer for women lawyers in Britain.
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Puerto Rican attack at the US Capitol
Tue 12 Jan 2021
How independence campaigners opened fire in Congress in 1954, wounding five US law-makers
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When Spain's parliament was stormed
Mon 11 Jan 2021
Armed Civil Guards took MPs hostage in Spain's parliamentary chamber in 1981