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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World War One: Ordinary Lives
Fri 10 Nov 2017
Recordings of two people who felt the cost of war both on the battlefield and at home
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Laika the Space Dog
Wed 8 Nov 2017
The Russian street dog was the first living creature to orbit the Earth.
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The Russian Revolution: The Bolsheviks Take Control
Tue 7 Nov 2017
Eyewitness accounts of the Russian Revolution of 7 November 1917
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Osama Bin Laden's Last Interview
Mon 6 Nov 2017
Osama bin Laden spoke to journalist Hamid Mir as US-led forces closed in after 9/11.
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The Case That Saved Sex on the Internet
Thu 2 Nov 2017
In 1997 the US Supreme Court ruled against censoring sex on the internet.
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Oscar Niemeyer's Forgotten Masterpiece
Wed 1 Nov 2017
In the Lebanese city of Tripoli there is an exceptional architectural site.
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Martin Luther's 95 Theses
Tue 31 Oct 2017
How German monk Martin Luther started a religious revolution
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The Murder of Brazil's Leading Journalist
Mon 30 Oct 2017
Journalist Vladimir Herzog was killed in detention by the secret police in October 1975.
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A Literary Love Affair
Fri 27 Oct 2017
How Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir met and fell in love in Paris in October 1929
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The Death of Dele Giwa
Thu 26 Oct 2017
An eyewitness to the assassination of the famous Nigerian journalist Dele Giwa in 1986
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The Fake IDs That Saved Jewish Lives
Wed 25 Oct 2017
How tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews escaped the Nazis by using false papers.
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Private Eye
Tue 24 Oct 2017
A new satirical magazine called Private Eye was published in London in October 1961.
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Romania's Abortion Ban
Mon 23 Oct 2017
Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu made abortion illegal in October 1966.
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The 43 Group: Battling British Fascism
Fri 20 Oct 2017
How British Jewish ex-servicemen fought fascists on the streets of Britain after WW2
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The Mysterious Death of Samora Machel
Thu 19 Oct 2017
The socialist leader of Mozambique was killed in a plane crash and many were suspicious.
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Moscow Theatre Siege
Wed 18 Oct 2017
Svetlana Gubareva recalls her ordeal when Chechen rebels seized a Moscow theatre in 2002.
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The Death of JG Farrell
Tue 17 Oct 2017
The writer drowned off the south-west coast of Ireland in 1979.
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Cuban Missile Crisis: the Governments
Mon 16 Oct 2017
In October 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis took the world to the brink of nuclear war
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Testifying Against OJ Simpson
Thu 12 Oct 2017
Ron Shipp was a close friend of OJ Simpson's but decided to testify against him in court.
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Saving Italy's Art During WW2
Wed 11 Oct 2017
Italy's great works of art were threatened by bombing and looting during World War Two.
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Lluis Companys - Martyr of Catalan Nationalism
Tue 10 Oct 2017
The Catalan leader who was executed by a Spanish fascist firing squad in October 1940.
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The Death of Che Guevara
Mon 9 Oct 2017
Felix Rodriguez recalls his part in the killing of the Marxist revolutionary in Oct 1967.
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Matthew Shepard: A killing that changed American law
Fri 6 Oct 2017
The murder of a gay student shocked Americans and helped reform US hate crime law
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The first black American at Ole Miss
Thu 5 Oct 2017
In 1962 the first black American was enrolled at Mississippi University amid riots
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Israel Withdraws From Gaza
Wed 4 Oct 2017
One woman's account of life on the front-line of Israel's occupation of Gaza.
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The Raising of the Mary Rose
Tue 3 Oct 2017
King Henry VIII's favourite warship sank in a naval battle in 1545.
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The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Mon 2 Oct 2017
Shortly before the Islamic revolution in Iran, a very modern museum opened in the capital
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The Sudden Death of Pope John Paul I
Fri 29 Sep 2017
Just 33 days into his reign, Pope John Paul I died unexpectedly in September 1978.
