People Power in the Philippines
In 1986, four days of huge public protests brought down President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Kate McGowan, in Manila, talks to the leading Filipino novelist, Jose Dalisay, about the demonstrations. This edition of Witness History was first broadcast in 2011.PHOTO: Filipino troops celebrating the fall of President Marcos (Getty Images)
16 Touko 20229min
The war in Transnistria
With speculation mounting that President Putin might mount an attack on Moldova, we're going back to the early 1990s and a war between the Moldovans and Russian-backed separatists in the disputed region of Transnistria. Several hundred people died in a conflict which ended in a stalemate in 1992. Matt Pintus speaks to former journalist and Moldovan defence minister, Viorel Cibotaru.PHOTO: Russian-speaking Transnistrian fighters during the war (Getty Images)
13 Touko 20229min
Eyjafjallajökull: The volcano that stopped Europe
In 2010, a previously little-known Icelandic volcano erupted twice, sending a huge plume of volcanic ash all over Europe. The ash cloud grounded flights for days, causing inconvenience for millions of passengers. Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Icelandic geophysicist and Eyjafjallajökull-watcher, Sigrun Hreinsdottir.(Photo: The awesome power of Eyjafjallajökull. Credit: Getty Images)
11 Touko 20228min
China opens up to capitalism
In May 1980 China allowed capitalist activity for the first time since the Communist Revolution, in four designated cities known as the Special Economic Zones. The most successful was Shenzhen, which grew from a mainly rural area specialising in pigs and lychees to one of China's biggest cities. In 2017 Lucy Burns spoke to Yong Ya, a musician who has lived in Shenzhen since the 1980s, and to ethnographer Mary Ann O'Donnell.PHOTO: A giant poster of Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, the first of China's special economic zones (Getty Images)
10 Touko 20229min
Soviet nuclear missile alert
In 1983, during a tense period of the Cold War, Soviet nuclear officials received a computer warning suggesting that the United States had fired five nuclear missiles towards Moscow. Fortunately, the officer on duty, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, realised the warning was a false alarm and advised his commanders against a retaliatory strike against America. Alex Last hears his story, as told in 2008 to the BBC's Jonathan Charles. Stanislav Petrov died in 2017.PHOTO: Stanislav Petrov pictured in 2004 (Getty Images)
9 Touko 20229min
Fighting for Uyghur rights in China
In the 1980s, the minority Uyghur community in China staged some of the first protests against the all-powerful Communist Party. The Uyghurs were demanding that the Chinese government keep its promises to protect their culture and grant them political autonomy in Xinjiang region. In 1989, many Uyghur students enthusiastically supported the pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. One of them was Aziz Isa Elkun, who talks to Josephine McDermott.PHOTO: A Uyghur yurt on the Xinjiang steppe (Getty Images)
6 Touko 20229min
The chemistry of cannabis
The Israel scientist Raphael Mechoulam has been researching what’s thought to be the world’s most popular drug since the 1960s. In 1964, he isolated Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – the compound that gets cannabis-users high. Later, professor Mechoulam discovered another compound called CBD, or Cannabidiol, which has medical benefits without any kind of psychoactive effect. Recently, CBD has had a revolutionary impact on treating health conditions such as epilepsy. Prof Mechoulam talks to Claire Bowes.(Photo: A marihuana plant in India. Credit: Getty Images)
5 Touko 20228min
Roe v Wade
In 1973, a landmark decision was made in the US Supreme Court which made abortion legal. The late Sarah Weddington brought the case, even though she was fresh out of law school at the time. She spoke to Chloe Hadjimatheou in 2012. Sarah Weddington died in December 2021.(Photo: Sarah Weddington pictured in 1979. Credit: Getty Images)
4 Touko 20229min
