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鈥� life and Omar Sharif鈥檚 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鈥� 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 death of Gamal Abdel Nasser
Mon 28 Sep 2020
The charismatic Egyptian president dominated Arab politics for almost two decades
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Bush v Gore: The 'hanging chads' US election of 2000
Fri 25 Sep 2020
The US presidential election of 2000 was one of the closest and most contested in history
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Blackwater killed my son
Thu 24 Sep 2020
How US private security guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad, killing 17 people
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When Nelson Mandela went to Detroit
Wed 23 Sep 2020
Shortly after his release from prison the South African freedom fighter toured the USA
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How Liberia wrote off its debts
Tue 22 Sep 2020
Hoe Liberia negotiated to write off billions of dollars of debt.
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The Galileo project
Mon 21 Sep 2020
A mission to study the planet Jupiter finally came to an end on 21st September 2003
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The mothers of Argentina's disappeared
Fri 18 Sep 2020
The women who began protesting after their children were taken away by soldiers
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Tank Man
Thu 17 Sep 2020
A photo of a man confronting a tank in China caught the world's imagination in 1989
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The Mau Mau struggle against British rule
Tue 15 Sep 2020
In the 1950s rebels took up arms to rid Kenya of colonial rule
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Resisting 'Europe's last dictator' in Belarus
Mon 14 Sep 2020
Exiled dissident Nikolai Khalezin on the origins of the protest movement in Belarus
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Why the US rejected universal healthcare
Fri 11 Sep 2020
After WW2 US President Harry Truman argued for healthcare for all but his plan failed.
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Banning alcohol in an Indian state
Thu 10 Sep 2020
Punyavathi Sunkara recalls how the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh banned alcohol in 1995.
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The birth of Reddit
Wed 9 Sep 2020
In 2005 two young graduates created one of the internet's most popular websites.
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Haiti's cholera outbreak
Tue 8 Sep 2020
Haiti was cholera-free until UN peacekeepers brought it to the Caribbean country in 2010
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The Dawson's Field hijacking
Mon 7 Sep 2020
Barbara Mensch recalls how she was hijacked and held in Jordan in 1970
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Care in the Community
Fri 4 Sep 2020
In the 1990s Britain closed down many of its long-stay hospitals and asylums
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The Cape Town bombings
Thu 3 Sep 2020
In the late 1990s there were more than 150 bomb attacks in the South African city
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The birth of the Sony Walkman
Wed 2 Sep 2020
The portable tape player that brought music-on-the-move to millions was launched in 1979
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Flying through a volcano
Tue 1 Sep 2020
How a British Airways jumbo jet flew through a volcanic ash cloud and survived
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Inventing James Bond
Mon 31 Aug 2020
How author and former intelligence officer Ian Fleming created the British super-spy
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Who has the right to vote in America?
Fri 28 Aug 2020
The decision that quashed a key part of an electoral law designed to protect black voters
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St Kilda
Thu 27 Aug 2020
The remote Scottish islands whose last inhabitants were evacuated in August 1930
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Occupy Wall Street
Wed 26 Aug 2020
How former policeman Ray Lewis joined the anti-inequality demonstrations in New York
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America's first woman combat pilot
Tue 25 Aug 2020
How Jeannie Leavitt became the first woman to fly a US Air Force fighter plane in 1993.
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Margaret Ekpo - Nigeria's feminist pioneer
Mon 24 Aug 2020
The trades union activist and politician who fought for Nigerian independence.
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The siege at Ruby Ridge
Fri 21 Aug 2020
An 11-day standoff between a fugitive and the US government ended with three people dead.
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The Guatemalan syphilis scandal
Thu 20 Aug 2020
How American doctors carried out secretive STD experiments in Guatemala in the 1940s
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The first modern asthma inhaler
Wed 19 Aug 2020
Millions of people鈥檚 lives have been saved and improved by the metered dose inhaler.
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The lost King of England
Tue 18 Aug 2020
How archaeologists discovered the lost grave of King Richard III under a car park
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Surviving Saddam
Mon 17 Aug 2020
The memories of a young Iraqi woman who grew up in the dictator's inner social circle
