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
-
![]()
Denmark鈥檚 Inuit children experiment
Wed 26 Feb 2025
In 1951, 22 Inuit children from Greenland were sent to live with families in Denmark
-
![]()
The Nellie massacre
Tue 25 Feb 2025
In 1983, an estimated 3,000 people were massacred in Assam, India
-
![]()
Discovering the structure of haemoglobin
Mon 24 Feb 2025
Dr Max Perutz made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century
-
![]()
Assassination of Malcolm X
Fri 21 Feb 2025
In 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in New York
-
![]()
Murder at the Berlin Wall
Thu 20 Feb 2025
In March 1974, Polish man Czes艂aw Kukuczka was shot by a Stasi officer at the Berlin Wall
-
![]()
Bolivia鈥檚 first indigenous president
Wed 19 Feb 2025
The election of Evo Morales in 2005 was a historic first for the South American country
-
![]()
Bo: The death of a language
Tue 18 Feb 2025
In 2010, one of the oldest languages died after the death of its last remaining speaker
-
![]()
The world's longest kiss
Mon 17 Feb 2025
In 2013, a Thai couple locked lips for 58 hours and 35 minutes in a world record attempt
-
![]()
Eva Peron: Argentina鈥檚 Evita
Fri 14 Feb 2025
Eva Peron - or Evita - was an icon in 1940s Argentina, famous for her populist rhetoric
-
![]()
Paul Keating's Redfern speech
Thu 13 Feb 2025
In 1992, Australia's Prime Minister addressed atrocities inflicted upon Indigenous people
-
![]()
Mary Fisher's 'A Whisper of Aids' speech
Wed 12 Feb 2025
In 1992, Mary Fisher set out to fight the prejudice faced by those with HIV and Aids
-
![]()
Eisenhower's farewell address
Tue 11 Feb 2025
In 1961, the US President ended his time in the White House with a famous speech
-
![]()
La Pasionaria: Heroine of the Spanish Civil War
Mon 10 Feb 2025
Dolores Ib谩rruri was dubbed La Pasionaria for her fiery speeches in the Spanish civil war
-
![]()
Heathers: The making of a cult classic
Fri 7 Feb 2025
In 1989, dark comedy Heathers was released and changed the teen movie genre
-
![]()
The first global case of coral bleaching
Thu 6 Feb 2025
In 1998, a strange phenomenon turned the world鈥檚 most colourful coral reefs deathly white
-
![]()
Cuban blindness
Wed 5 Feb 2025
In the early 1990s, around 50,000 Cubans were struck down with sight loss
-
![]()
-
![]()
Jacques Derrida: 鈥楻ock star鈥� philosopher
Mon 3 Feb 2025
In 1966, the Frenchman upended philosophy with his theory of "deconstruction"
-
![]()
English TV lessons in China go primetime
Fri 31 Jan 2025
An estimated 500 million people in China watched English lessons on television in 1981
-
![]()
1968 New York City teachers' strike
Thu 30 Jan 2025
In 1968, more than 50,000 teachers went on strike in New York City, in the USA
-
![]()
Lithuania's 'wolf children'
Wed 29 Jan 2025
In the aftermath of World War Two, children fled East Prussia in order to survive
-
![]()
The Baltic chain protest
Tue 28 Jan 2025
On 23 August 1989, approximately two million people joined hands to form a human chain
-
![]()
The Milltown Cemetery attack
Mon 27 Jan 2025
In 1988, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, three people were killed at a funeral
-
![]()
The launch of Windows 95
Fri 24 Jan 2025
In 1995 Microsoft released a new operating system after a $300 million marketing campaign
-
![]()
Replacing the Panchen Lama
Thu 23 Jan 2025
On 29 November 1995, China exerted its influence over Tibetan Buddhism's leadership
-
![]()
The murder of Maurizio Gucci
Wed 22 Jan 2025
On 27 March 1995, the former head of the fashion house was shot dead in Milan, Italy
-
![]()
Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
Tue 21 Jan 2025
In 1995, the doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo metro
-
![]()
Hunting the Unabomber
Mon 20 Jan 2025
In September 1995, US newspapers controversially published a terrorist's manifesto.
-
![]()
Drum: Africa鈥檚 revolutionary magazine
Fri 17 Jan 2025
The first African lifestyle magazine Drum, was first printed in 1951
-
![]()
'I wrote Schindler's List'
Thu 16 Jan 2025
Thomas Keneally stumbled across the story of Oskar Schindler while buying a briefcase
