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 first safe house for Afghan women
Thu 23 Jul 2020
Mary Akrami set up the first refuge for women fleeing violence and abuse in Afghanistan
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The struggle to save Borneo's rainforests
Wed 22 Jul 2020
When logging threatened the rainforests of Sarawak, local communities fought back
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The Million Man March
Tue 21 Jul 2020
On 16th October 1995 hundreds of thousands of black American men marched on Washington DC
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The man who tried to kill Hitler
Mon 20 Jul 2020
On 20th July 1944 Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg put a bomb under Adolf Hitler's desk
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South Korea's 1980s prison camps
Fri 17 Jul 2020
A so-called Social Purification project led to thousands of citizens being imprisoned
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The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors
Thu 16 Jul 2020
How the British city forced out Chinese seamen who'd served during World War Two.
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Returning Ethiopia's looted history
Wed 15 Jul 2020
The Stele of Axum, a 4th century Ethiopian treasure, was returned by Italy in 2005
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How Club Med changed holidays
Tue 14 Jul 2020
Holidaymakers arrived at the first Club Med resort in Majorca in summer 1950
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The fight for women's prayer rights in Israel
Mon 13 Jul 2020
A Jewish feminist group's campaign to pray freely at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
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The 1960s report that warned the USA was racist
Fri 10 Jul 2020
A US government report into the riots of 1967 blamed white racism for creating ghettos
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The death of Frida Kahlo
Thu 9 Jul 2020
In July 1954 the great Mexican artist died after years of illness. She was just 47.
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Montreal's 'Night of Terror'
Wed 8 Jul 2020
When the city's police force went on strike there was looting and rioting in the streets.
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The unlawful death of Christopher Alder
Tue 7 Jul 2020
The black former soldier choked to death on the floor of a British police station in 1998
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The doctor who discovered how cholera spread
Mon 6 Jul 2020
How Dr John Snow found out the cholera bug was spread through contaminated water in 1854.
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How South Africa banned skin-lightening creams
Fri 3 Jul 2020
In 1990, South Africa banned skin-lightening creams containing hydroquinone
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The lost Nazi-era art trove
Thu 2 Jul 2020
How a secret collection of art missing since Nazi rule was found in Germany in 2012
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Quarantined in a TB sanatorium
Wed 1 Jul 2020
The life of a nine-year-old girl quarantined in a TB sanatorium for 4 years in the 1950s
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The Rolling Stones drugs trial
Tue 30 Jun 2020
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards went on trial for drugs offences in June 1967
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Jana Andolan 鈥� Nepal鈥檚 people power movement
Mon 29 Jun 2020
A people鈥檚 movement brought an end to Nepal鈥檚 absolute monarchy in 1990.
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Russia鈥檚 bitter taste of capitalism
Fri 26 Jun 2020
Chaos and hardship hit Russia with the sudden market reforms of early 1992.
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The Chilean economy and its 'Chicago Boys'
Thu 25 Jun 2020
Thinkers trained in free-market economics in Chicago shaped Chile after its military coup
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Tanzania's socialist experiment
Wed 24 Jun 2020
In the 1960s Tanzania tried out a new form of socialism called Ujamaa
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South Korea's economic miracle
Tue 23 Jun 2020
How a poor, war-ravaged nation became a global economic powerhouse
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The New Deal
Mon 22 Jun 2020
How the USA used public spending projects to battle through the Great Depression
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The 鈥楤lue Eyes/Brown Eyes鈥� anti-racist exercise
Fri 19 Jun 2020
A teacher decided to separate pupils according to eye colour to teach them about racism.
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The friendship train
Thu 18 Jun 2020
The passenger train service between India and Bangladesh was resumed after 43 years.
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Sex trafficking and peacekeepers
Wed 17 Jun 2020
Whistle-blowers implicated UN peacekeepers in sex trafficking in Bosnia in the late 90s
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Beethoven's role in China's Cultural Revolution
Tue 16 Jun 2020
Chairman Mao banned all classical music in 1966, but some musicians defied the order.
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Elisabeth K眉bler-Ross and the Five Stages of Grief
Mon 15 Jun 2020
The remarkable Swiss psychiatrist who changed the way we think about dying.
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Three Strikes Law
Fri 12 Jun 2020
One man's experience of the controversial US law that saw thousands locked up for life
