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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Jewish in Imperial Russia
Tue 13 Nov 2018
A young woman's rare account of Jewish life in imperial Russia.
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How The Brazilian Dictatorship Made My Father Disappear
Mon 12 Nov 2018
Writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva remembers the day his father was taken by the military.
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WW1: Revolution in Germany
Thu 8 Nov 2018
Eyewitness accounts of the collapse of Germany in the final weeks of war in November 1918
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Women Nurses during World War One
Wed 7 Nov 2018
Thousands of women volunteered for war work during WW1. Hear archive from one of them.
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African Troops during World War One
Tue 6 Nov 2018
Thousands of East Africans were conscripted to fight for Britain and Germany during WW1
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The Battle of Passchendaele
Mon 5 Nov 2018
It was one of the battles which symbolised the horror and futility of WW1
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A Kristallnacht story
Fri 2 Nov 2018
Nora Krug investigated Nazi attacks in her German hometown on 9 November 1938
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Why I Slapped the German Chancellor
Thu 1 Nov 2018
In November 1968 a young activist hit Germany's leader to draw attention to his Nazi past
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Princess Margaret And The War Hero
Wed 31 Oct 2018
How a love affair between the Queen's sister and Captain Peter Townsend gripped Britain.
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Life With America's Black Panthers
Tue 30 Oct 2018
Memories of the radical African American leader, Eldridge Cleaver.
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The KGB's Whistleblower
Mon 29 Oct 2018
KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin's top secret archive was smuggled to Britain in 1992
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The Day Nigeria Struck Oil
Fri 26 Oct 2018
An eyewitness account of a discovery that changed Nigerian history
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When Russia's Richest Man Was Jailed
Thu 25 Oct 2018
Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003
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Maximilian Kolbe: 'The Saint of Auschwitz'
Wed 24 Oct 2018
The Polish priest who was declared a saint for swapping his life for a stranger's
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The Arrest in London of Augusto Pinochet
Tue 23 Oct 2018
The former ruler of Chile, Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London in October 1998
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Desmond Tutu Wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Mon 22 Oct 2018
Apartheid South Africa's outspoken critic Bishop Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize
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When Belgium Banned Coca-Cola
Fri 19 Oct 2018
When Belgian teenagers got sick they blamed Coca-Cola but the truth was more mysterious
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The Pergau Dam Affair
Thu 18 Oct 2018
In 1993 news broke about development aid linked to a British arms deal.
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Brazil's Hidden War in the Amazon
Wed 17 Oct 2018
How a small guerrilla group tried to start a revolution in the Brazilian jungle.
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Fighting Mount Etna
Mon 15 Oct 2018
How the Italian authorities diverted the stream of molten lava from the Etna volcano.
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Archbishop Oscar Romero
Fri 12 Oct 2018
Murdered while head of the Roman Catholic church in El Salvador, he is being made a saint
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Austria at War
Thu 11 Oct 2018
The story of a young Austrian woman who survived World War Two and the allied occupation
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The Nazi Black Book
Wed 10 Oct 2018
During WW2 Germany listed the people it wanted to arrest should Britain fall to the Nazis
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Anti-traveller Riots in Sweden
Tue 9 Oct 2018
In 1948 violence broke out against Romany-speaking traveller people in Sweden
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Reform of the House of Lords
Mon 8 Oct 2018
How Britain's Labour government tried to kick the aristocrats out of Parliament
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Howl: The Poem That Revolutionised US Writing
Fri 5 Oct 2018
How Allan Ginsberg's reading in San Francisco in 1955 started the "Beat Generation".
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The Soviet Union's Fashion Revolutionary
Thu 4 Oct 2018
Slava Zaitsev created the first high fashion collections in the USSR.
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The Invention of Artificial Skin
Wed 3 Oct 2018
How a chemist and a surgeon found a way of helping burns to heal.
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The Street Battle That Rocked Brazil
Tue 2 Oct 2018
A clash between students in 1968 paved the way for a hardening of military rule.