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
-
Drugs in the Vietnam War
Thu 4 Feb 2021
How a heroin epidemic among US troops in Vietnam caused panic in the military
-
The Burma uprising of 1988
Wed 3 Feb 2021
People took to the streets of Burma, or Myanmar, to protest against military rule in 1988
-
The Moscow State Circus
Tue 2 Feb 2021
The biggest circus in Soviet Russia opened in Moscow in April 1971.
-
The first Eurostar from England to France
Mon 1 Feb 2021
The driver of the first train to take passengers from London to Paris remembers
-
The anthem of the Arab Spring
Fri 29 Jan 2021
How a singer in Tunisia helped inspire young protestors all over the Middle East in 2011
-
Libya's Arab uprising
Thu 28 Jan 2021
In 2011 protests soon turned into an armed revolt seeking to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi.
-
Yemen's 2011 uprising
Wed 27 Jan 2021
Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt young Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011
-
Syria in the Arab Spring
Tue 26 Jan 2021
The moment that hundreds of thousands of Syrians demanded change in 2011.
-
Egypt's Facebook Girl
Mon 25 Jan 2021
How social media was used to organise against Egypt's government before the Arab Spring
-
Fighting for justice for India's Sikhs
Fri 22 Jan 2021
Anti-Sikh violence flared in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984
-
Kenya's pioneering publisher
Thu 21 Jan 2021
Dr Henry Chakava made it his life's mission to publish in African languages.
-
The Turner Diaries - America's manual of hatred
Wed 20 Jan 2021
The white supremacist novel by William Pierce which has been blamed for inciting violence
-
Hitler's beer hall putsch
Tue 19 Jan 2021
Adolf Hitler made his first attempt to take power in Germany in 1923
-
Landing on Titan
Thu 14 Jan 2021
The remarkable mission to explore one of the moons of Saturn in 2005
-
Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer
Wed 13 Jan 2021
She was the first to graduate from Oxford and was a pioneer for women lawyers in Britain.
-
Puerto Rican attack at the US Capitol
Tue 12 Jan 2021
How independence campaigners opened fire in Congress in 1954, wounding five US law-makers
-
When Spain's parliament was stormed
Mon 11 Jan 2021
Armed Civil Guards took MPs hostage in Spain's parliamentary chamber in 1981
-
The book that warned 2020 would bring disaster
Fri 8 Jan 2021
The book describing a sudden uncontrollable downturn that was ignored by governments.
-
Sequencing the Ebola virus genome
Thu 7 Jan 2021
When the deadly Ebola virus broke out in West Africa scientists in the USA set to work
-
The 'strike' in space
Wed 6 Jan 2021
How three astronauts on the Skylab space station fell out with mission control
-
Buddhists and death row
Tue 5 Jan 2021
How criminals facing the death penalty in the USA found peace
-
The oldest song in the world
Mon 4 Jan 2021
Deciphering the 3,500 year-old song discovered on a clay tablet in Syria
-
Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Thu 31 Dec 2020
In the 1960s the Queensland government wanted to mine and drill for oil on the reef
-
Le Corbusier and Chandigarh
Wed 30 Dec 2020
The modernist architect Le Corbusier agreed to build a 'city of the future' in India
-
The building of the Aswan Dam
Tue 29 Dec 2020
One of the largest dams in the world, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed in 1970
-
-
It's a Wonderful Life
Christmas Day 2020
A former Hollywood child star remembers filming the classic Christmas movie in 1946.
-
Studio Ghibli - Japan's Oscar-winning animators
Christmas Eve 2020
The early days of the studio which brought Japanese animation to a global audience
-
Satyajit Ray - India's master of film
Wed 23 Dec 2020
An actor's memories of working with the Bengali director on the classic Apu trilogy
-