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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The book that warned 2020 would bring disaster
Fri 8 Jan 2021
The book describing a sudden uncontrollable downturn that was ignored by governments.
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Sequencing the Ebola virus genome
Thu 7 Jan 2021
When the deadly Ebola virus broke out in West Africa scientists in the USA set to work
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The 'strike' in space
Wed 6 Jan 2021
How three astronauts on the Skylab space station fell out with mission control
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Buddhists and death row
Tue 5 Jan 2021
How criminals facing the death penalty in the USA found peace
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The oldest song in the world
Mon 4 Jan 2021
Deciphering the 3,500 year-old song discovered on a clay tablet in Syria
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Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Thu 31 Dec 2020
In the 1960s the Queensland government wanted to mine and drill for oil on the reef
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Le Corbusier and Chandigarh
Wed 30 Dec 2020
The modernist architect Le Corbusier agreed to build a 'city of the future' in India
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The building of the Aswan Dam
Tue 29 Dec 2020
One of the largest dams in the world, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed in 1970
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It's a Wonderful Life
Christmas Day 2020
A former Hollywood child star remembers filming the classic Christmas movie in 1946.
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Studio Ghibli - Japan's Oscar-winning animators
Christmas Eve 2020
The early days of the studio which brought Japanese animation to a global audience
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Satyajit Ray - India's master of film
Wed 23 Dec 2020
An actor's memories of working with the Bengali director on the classic Apu trilogy
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The Great Dictator
Mon 21 Dec 2020
Charlie Chaplin's classic satirical film about Adolf Hitler was released in 1940
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The GDR's Namibian children
Fri 18 Dec 2020
At Christmas 1979 hundreds of Namibian children were taken to East Germany
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The blockade of Gibraltar
Thu 17 Dec 2020
How a Spanish blockade of the disputed British territory ended in December 1982.
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British reality TV is born
Wed 16 Dec 2020
The first British fly-on-the-wall documentary series aired on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ in 1974.
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The birth of Bangladesh
Tue 15 Dec 2020
Pakistan's first democratic elections led to the creation of a new country, Bangladesh
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White Christmas
Mon 14 Dec 2020
American entertainer Bing Crosby made 'White Christmas' one of the defining songs of WW2
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The return of the beaver
Fri 11 Dec 2020
Why beavers were officially reintroduced to the UK 400 years after they were wiped out
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Neanderthal cave mystery
Thu 10 Dec 2020
A remarkable discovery in a cave at Bruniquel in southern France in 1990
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Chief Albert Luthuli wins the Nobel Prize for Peace
Wed 9 Dec 2020
Albert Luthuli was the first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
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The pioneer of 'Mountain Filming'
Tue 8 Dec 2020
How a German filmmaker, Arnold Fanck, shot films high in the mountains in the 1920s
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The life and work of Chester Himes
Mon 7 Dec 2020
The African-American crime writer Chester Himes first found widespread success in France
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The V1 flying bomb
Fri 4 Dec 2020
How the first of the Nazi's new "revenge weapons" terrorised Londoners in WW2
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The slaves who defeated Napoleon
Thu 3 Dec 2020
The first successful slave uprising in modern times, it prompted the abolition of slavery
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France's Muslim headscarf ban
Wed 2 Dec 2020
A law banning religious clothing from French state schools came into effect in 2004
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Iraq's pioneering feminist
Tue 1 Dec 2020
Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimi was the first woman to hold a ministerial office in the Arab world
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How Ethiopian rebels took power in 1991
Mon 30 Nov 2020
In 1991 a Tigrayan-led rebel movement took power in Addis Ababa ending years of war
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The fight for disabled rights in the UK
Fri 27 Nov 2020
The wheelchair warriors who brought London to a standstill to make their point