Tourism arrives in the Maldives and a royal night out
Max Pearson presents a selection of this week’s Witness History stories.In 1972, tourists arrived in the Maldives for the first time. We hear from one of the people who made it happen, plus analysis of the growth of tourism around South East Asia with Ploysri Porananond.Also, on the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service in the UK, one of the first doctors shares his experience.Lawyers for both the prosecution and defence of concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk, discuss his trial.The election in India, of what was to be the longest serving democratically elected government in the world.Finally, a night out to remember, with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett.Contributors:Ahmed Naseem on bringing tourism to the Maldives Ploysri Porananond, head of the centre for tourism research at Chiang Mai University in Thailand Dr John Marks on the formation of the NHS in 1948 Lawyer Yoram Sheftel, who acted in defence of John Demjanjuk Lawyer Eli Gabay, who prosecuted John Demjanjuk Mohammad Salim, former Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Cleo Rocos, on her night out with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett(Photo: Early tourists enjoy the Maldives in the 1970s Credit: Kurumba)
7 Jul 202352min
South Korea store collapse and Lady Gaga's meat dress
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories.In 1995, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in the South Korean capital, Seoul, killed and injured hundreds of people. Explaining the impact it had on urban planning is Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh.Also, the speech President John F Kennedy made at the height of the Cold War on 26 June 1963. It galvanised the world in support of West Berliners who had been isolated by the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the archive, Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann worked to bring the first documented outbreak of Ebola under control in 1976. Plus, Budapest's communist statue 'graveyard' which opened in 1993.Finally, when Lady Gaga accepted an MTV Video Music Award in a dress made entirely out of beef.Contributors:Sun Minh Lee on the Sampoong Department Store disaster Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh Gisela Morel-Tiemann on the Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann on Ebola Judit Holp on Memento Park Franc Fernandez on Lady Gaga's meat dress(Photo: US military troops and South Korean army soldiers look for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Sampoong Department Store. Credit: Getty Images)
30 Jun 202351min
Somalia's civil war and golf on the moon
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories.Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a fighter pilot in the Somali air force defied orders to bomb civilians in 1988. Explaining more about the Somali civil war and its legacy is BBC Monitoring's regional analyst Beverly Ochieng.Also, the demonstrations in East Germany that triggered martial rule in 1953. From the archive, Sam King recalls arriving in England on the Empire Windrush in 1948, one of 802 pioneering Caribbean migrants. Plus, the 1994 raid on a gay nightclub in Melbourne, Australia, where more than 400 people were strip-searched and detained. Finally, in 1971 Alan Shepard, the commander of Apollo 14 became the first and only person to play golf on the moon.Contributors: Ahmed Mohamed Hassan on being a fighter pilot in the Somali air force Beverly Ochieng, BBC Monitoring's Horn Of Africa analyst Helmut Strecker on his recollections of the protests in East Germany Sam King on the Empire Windrush Gary Singer on the raid of Tasty nightclub Laura Shepard Churchley on her father Commander Alan Shepard(Photo: Refugees in Somalia's civil war. Credit: Getty Images)
24 Jun 202352min
Amazing photographs and the people who took them
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories. We focus on some of the world’s best known photographs - and the photographers who took them. We find out why Lee Miller was in Hitler’s bath in the dying days of World War Two; and historian Dr Pippa Oldfield discusses the women who were the pioneers of war photography.Also, Sir Don McCullin tells the story behind one of his most famous images of the Vietnam War.Plus, more on the party pictures that shone a light on an unseen Africa and how the biggest names in jazz came together for one immortal portrait.Finally, the first African American woman to have her photographs snapped up by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.Contributors: Antony Penrose, Lee Miller's son and biographer Sir Don McCullin, photographer Dr Pippa Oldfield, photo-historian Manthia Diawara, filmmaker Jonathan Kane, son of photographer Art Kane Ming Smith, photographer(Photo: Grace Jones. Studio 54, New York, 1970s. Credit: Ming Smith)
16 Jun 202351min
Inuit children taken from families and Le Mans crash
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History and Sporting Witness stories.We hear about the Inuit children taken away from their homes and culture, to be educated in Canadian cities. Adamie Kalingo tells his story about being placed with a foster family in Ottawa in 1964. Dr Raven Sinclair explains how Adamie’s story was part of a wider program of resettling Indigenous children.Also, the crash at Le Mans which killed 80 people in 1955; the ceremony in 2005, organised by campaigner Ilguilas Weila, to free 7,000 slaves in Niger; plus, the forensic artist whose reconstructions have helped solve murders.Finally, we find out whether a man can ever beat a horse in a race.Contributors: Adamie Kalingo, taken from his Inuit community in 1964 Dr Raven Sinclair, retired professor of social work John Fitch, racing driver Ilguilas Weila, anti-slavery campaigner Richard Neave, forensic artist Huw Lobb, long distance runner Gordon Green, creator of the Man v Horse race(Photo: Adamie Kalingo in 2023. Credit: Adamie Kalingo)
9 Jun 202351min
Scaling Everest, the highest mountain in the world
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes focusing on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.It's 70 years since Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest in 1953.We hear about some of the earliest, tragic attempts to scale the mountain, and from those who've blazed a trail up the slopes for others to follow.Contributors: Peter Hillary - Sir Edmund Hillary's son. Jamling Tenzing Norgay - Tenzing Norgay's son. Bachendri Pal - the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. Michael Groom - a survivor of the tragic expedition in 1996 when a storm struck the mountain. Jochen Hemmleb - an original member of the team that discovered George Mallory's remains.(Photo: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary after their return from Everest. Credit: Bettmann)
2 Jun 202351min
Bosnian concentration camp photo and hero clown
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear how a shocking photo from a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world, what it's like to be in a tornado and the heroic clown who helped after an earthquake in Peru.Plus the 1980 military coup in Suriname and the moment in the 1960s when African de-colonisation might have led to a United States of Africa.This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.(Photo: Fikret Alic in a Bosnian refugee camp. Credit: ITN/Shutterstock)
27 Mai 202351min
Singapore executes Filipina maid and German child evacuees of World War Two
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the German children who were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two. You may find some of the content distressing.Also we find out about the execution of Flor Contemplacion Plus the creation of the 3000 km Te Ararora trail in New Zealand, the Dambusters raid and the story behind the popular children’s book, Pippi Longstocking.Contributors: Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer - German evacuee camp residents. This was taken from archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn. Beate Muller - Professor of German Studies and Cultural History at Newcastle University, England Geoff Chapple who lobbied for the creation of the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand. Russel Contemplacion - Flor Contemplacion’s daughter Edre Olalia - Flor Contemplacion’s Lawyer George "Johnny" Johnson - the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron. Karin Nyman – Daughter of author Astrid Nyman(Photo: Flor Contemplacion. Credit: Russel Contemplacion)
19 Mai 202351min
