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 and curious about 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 how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
Episodes to download
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The earthquake that devastated Haiti
Wed 15 Sep 2021
In 2010 the Haitian capital was hit by a catastrophic earthquake
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The lost king of France
Tue 14 Sep 2021
When DNA solved a two hundred year old French royal mystery. Did the king die or escape?
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The Attica prison rebellion
Mon 13 Sep 2021
One prisoner's memories of a dramatic siege in a high security jail in the USA.
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9/11: The backlash against American Muslims
Fri 10 Sep 2021
In the aftermath of September 11th, American Muslims faced increased discrimination
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America attacks Afghanistan
Thu 9 Sep 2021
Just a month after 9/11, the US launched airstrikes against the Taliban and al-Qaeda
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With the president on 9/11
Wed 8 Sep 2021
How the White House chief-of-staff broke the news of 9/11 to President George W Bush.
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The killing of Ahmed Shah Massoud
Tue 7 Sep 2021
Two days before 9/11, al-Qaeda killed a key Afghan leader in a suicide bombing.
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The warnings before 9/11
Mon 6 Sep 2021
Throughout 2001 the US administration was being given warnings a terror attack was coming
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The businessman who defied the Mafia
Thu 2 Sep 2021
How an anti-Mafia businessman paid the ultimate price for standing up to organised crime
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The first modern electric car
Tue 31 Aug 2021
The first mass-produced modern electric car was launched by GM in 1996
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Nigeria's 'War Against Indiscipline'
Fri 27 Aug 2021
A campaign to make life in Nigeria more orderly in the 1980s
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Syria's rebel poet
Thu 26 Aug 2021
Nizar Qabbani is one of the Arab world’s most famous poets but his legacy is contested
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Campaigning for Mexico's women with disabilities
Wed 25 Aug 2021
Activist Maryangel Garcia-Ramos on the struggle faced by Mexico's disabled women
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My father survived the sinking of the Titanic
Tue 24 Aug 2021
How six Chinese sailors were rescued from the Titanic, but then faced racism in America.
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John Maynard Keynes
Mon 23 Aug 2021
The remarkable man who transformed 20th century economics and changed our world.
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When The Queen met Ceaușescu
Fri 20 Aug 2021
It was the first time a communist leader had been given a full state visit to the UK
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Saddam Hussein's foreign hostages
Thu 19 Aug 2021
A British Muslim family was among hundreds of foreign nationals held hostage in Iraq
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India's secret freedom radio
Wed 18 Aug 2021
When Gandhi was jailed in 1942 activists launched a secret radio station for independence
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US withdrawal: The fall of Saigon
Tue 17 Aug 2021
The desperate scramble to evacuate US personnel and locals at the end of the Vietnam war
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The man who coined the term genocide
Mon 16 Aug 2021
The Holocaust survivor who coined the term genocide and spent his life trying to stop it
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Inside an East German jail
Fri 13 Aug 2021
Vera Lengsfeld was imprisoned by the communist authorities in East Germany in 1988
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East Germany's nudists
Thu 12 Aug 2021
The communist regime restricted many things in the GDR but not the freedom to go naked
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Exiled from East Germany: Wolf Biermann
Wed 11 Aug 2021
East Germany's most famous singer-songwriter was exiled to the West in 1976
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Escaping from East Berlin
Tue 10 Aug 2021
East Germans used all sorts of methods to escape from communism across the Berlin Wall
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The building of the Berlin Wall
Mon 9 Aug 2021
In August 1961, East Germany began building the wall that symbolised Cold War Europe
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Gay activism in 1990s India
Fri 6 Aug 2021
Pawan Dhall helped form the Counsel Club, one of India's first gay support groups
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Afghanistan's battle of the airwaves
Thu 5 Aug 2021
When the Taliban fell in 2001 Afghans could listen to music and news again
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Escaping Nigeria’s Civil War
Wed 4 Aug 2021
Patti Boulaye recalls frightening times as a 13-year-old girl in the Biafran War in 1967.