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.
Witness History is a short 麻豆社 World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.
When you subscribe to Witness History, you鈥檒l be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa鈥檚 fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba 鈥渢haw鈥� and the surprise announcement of restored relations.
You鈥檒l discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
You鈥檒l explore culture and ideas too: Sweden鈥檚 Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles鈥� George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy鈥檚 show to a sudden end.
And if you鈥檙e curious about inventions, we鈥檒l tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.
If you鈥檙e new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history 鈥� all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of 麻豆社 World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.
Episodes to download
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Al Jazeera Three: Imprisoned in Egypt
Thu 21 Dec 2023
There was an international outcry in 2014 when three journalists were imprisoned in Egypt
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The mysterious death of Pablo Neruda
Wed 20 Dec 2023
In 1973, the poet and prominent communist tried to flee persecution in Chile
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The assassination of King Faisal
Tue 19 Dec 2023
In 1975, the king of Saudi Arabia was shot by his nephew
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Tsunami devastates Samoa
Mon 18 Dec 2023
In 2009 a tsunami killed 149 people. Lumepa Hald tells the story of destruction and loss
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The funeral of Nelson Mandela
Fri 15 Dec 2023
In 2013, South Africa's first black president was buried in his ancestral village
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Vatican citizen Emanuela Orlandi disappears
Thu 14 Dec 2023
In 1983, a suspected kidnapping led to scandal
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Anna Akhmatova: The poet who defied a regime
Wed 13 Dec 2023
How the great poet kept writing even through the darkest days of Soviet history
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Yeltsin speaks at the reburial of the Romanovs
Tue 12 Dec 2023
In 1998, the Russian president condemned the Soviet violence that killed Tsar Nicholas II
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Murder of the Romanovs
Mon 11 Dec 2023
In 1918, the Russian royal family were killed by the Bolsheviks
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The release of DOOM
Fri 8 Dec 2023
In 1993, a controversial sci-fi video game called DOOM was released
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鈥楾he disappeared鈥� of Argentina
Thu 7 Dec 2023
In 1977 a woman became one of thousands who disappeared from the streets of Buenos Aires
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A Greek coup: The day the colonels took power
Wed 6 Dec 2023
In 1967, army officers seized power in Greece in a US-backed coup
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Thousands of Danish brains in plastic buckets
Tue 5 Dec 2023
In 1945, a collection that would amass 9,479 brains was started
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La Haine: The film that shocked France
Mon 4 Dec 2023
How Mathieu Kassovitz's critique of policing shocked French society
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World's first solar-heated home
Fri 1 Dec 2023
In 1948, the Dover Sun House, in the US, was the first home to be heated by solar power
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Tanzania adopts Swahili to unite the country
Thu 30 Nov 2023
Tanzania's leader, Julius Nyerere, made Swahili the official language in the early 1960s
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Cameroon鈥檚 mysterious lake deaths
Wed 29 Nov 2023
In 1986, remote parts of Cameroon were turned into ghost villages overnight
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The bird that defied extinction
Tue 28 Nov 2023
In 1977, the white-winged guan was rediscovered in Peru after a century
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Cabbage Patch Kids
Mon 27 Nov 2023
Christmas 1983 saw frenzied shoppers buy three million Cabbage Patch Kids
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The Mumbai attacks
Fri 24 Nov 2023
In 2008, 10 gunmen killed more than 100 people in Mumbai鈥檚 busiest hot spots
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The Paris heatwave
Thu 23 Nov 2023
In 2003, Paris was overwhelmed by the hottest European heatwave for 500 years
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Kennedy鈥檚 nail-biter election victory
Wed 22 Nov 2023
In 1960, John F Kennedy became the youngest person to be elected United States president.
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The invention of bubble tea
Tue 21 Nov 2023
Chun Shui Tang tea house in Taiwan began selling bubble tea in 1987
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Discovering the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion
Fri 17 Nov 2023
In 2000 Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever underwater discoveries
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The Bolivian Water War
Thu 16 Nov 2023
How Bolivians in the city of Cochabamba fought against the 鈥渓easing of the rain鈥�
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Rosalind Franklin: DNA pioneer
Wed 15 Nov 2023
The scientist produced an X-ray photograph in 1952, that helped show the structure of DNA
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Eyjafjallaj枚kull: The volcano that stopped a continent
Tue 14 Nov 2023
In 2010, a cloud of volcanic ash brought Europe鈥檚 planes back to earth
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The invention of the EpiPen
Mon 13 Nov 2023
How engineer Sheldon Kaplan and his team made the EpiPen, the lifesaving allergy device
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The hippo and the tortoise
Fri 10 Nov 2023
In 2004, a hippo and a tortoise became friends. Their story gained worldwide fame