Drill, baby, drill!
Witness History2 Jul 2025

Drill, baby, drill!

Judging by how often US President Donald Trump has repeated the slogan “Drill, baby, drill”, you might think he coined it. But the phrase actually dates back to 2008.

It was at the Republican National Convention that former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele first used it, arguing the United States needed to become energy independent.

The slogan, the result of what Michael describes as a late-night epiphany, quickly entered the mainstream of American politics - adopted by a range of politicians in the years that followed. He shares his memories of that moment with Marco Silva.

This programme contains archive from: C-SPAN, PBS Newshour, Fox News, and CNN.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by 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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Michael Steele. Credit: Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

Austria at War

Austria at War

In October 1945, Austria got its first provisional government since its annexation by Nazi Germany a year before the Second World War. Wilfriede Iwaniuk was 14 when Hitler marched into Vienna; she tells Louise Hidalgo about the harshness of the war years and how, after the war too, there was no food and few jobs.Picture: Wilfriede Iwaniuk in 1946.(Credit: the Iwaniuk family)

11 Okt 20188min

The Nazi Black Book

The Nazi Black Book

During World War Two the German secret service compiled a book listing all the people they wanted to arrest in Britain if it fell to the Nazis. The top-secret 'Special Search Index GB' contained details of politicians and intellectuals and people who had fled Germany before the war - but it also included relatively ordinary British citizens. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to someone whose father appeared in the book, and to historian Terry Charman who published a facsimile edition of the so-called 'Black Book'.Photo: the front of the 'Black Book' with the German word 'Secret' stamped on it. Credit: BBC

10 Okt 20189min

Anti-traveller Riots in Sweden

Anti-traveller Riots in Sweden

In 1948 racist violence broke out against Romany-speaking traveller people in Sweden. The riots in the town of Jönköping lasted for several days. Birgitta Hellström and Barbro Gustafsson are sisters from the traveller community and they have been speaking to Tim Mansel about the events of that time. (Photo: Birgitta Hellström (L) and Barbro Gustafsson (R). Credit: Tim Mansel)

9 Okt 20188min

Reform of the House of Lords

Reform of the House of Lords

Britain's Labour government was determined to get rid of the unelected aristocrats sitting in the House of Lords - Parliament's second chamber. But the hereditary peers didn't go without a fight. Susan Hulme has been speaking to Marquis of Salisbury the man at the centre of the backroom deal to keep some seats for the nobility.Photo: Lords at the State Opening of Parliament in Westminster. in 2008. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

8 Okt 20189min

Howl: The Poem That Revolutionised US Writing

Howl: The Poem That Revolutionised US Writing

Allen Ginsberg first read his poem Howl, at an art gallery in San Francisco in October 1955. It marked a turning point in American literature and is credited with starting the "Beat Generation" of American writers. Michael McClure, a fellow poet, took part in the reading that night. The programme was first broadcast in 2012.Photo: Allen Ginsberg, front row centre, with other poets in 1965. Express/Getty Images.

5 Okt 20188min

The Soviet Union's Fashion Revolutionary

The Soviet Union's Fashion Revolutionary

Slava Zaitsev was the first designer to create high fashion collections in the Soviet Union. He tells Dina Newman about the challenges he faced working under communism. Photo: a sketch of a dress designed by Slava Zaitsev; credit: courtesy of Slava Zaitsev.

4 Okt 20188min

The Invention of Artificial Skin

The Invention of Artificial Skin

How a chemist and a surgeon found a way of helping burns to heal. Chemist Ioannis Yannas was working alongside surgeon John Burke when they first made the breakthrough using a membrane made of collagen to cover burns which were too large for skin grafts.Photo: Professor Ioannis Yannas with some of his collagen membrane. Credit: MIT.

3 Okt 20189min

The Street Battle That Rocked Brazil

The Street Battle That Rocked Brazil

On the 2nd and 3rd of October 1968, students from two neighbouring universities in the centre of São Paulo clashed in a battle which left one dead and many injured. Thomas Pappon talked to two former students who were at the so called 'Battle of Maria Antônia'.Photo: the 'Battle of Maria Antonia', São Paulo, 1968. Credit: Agência Estado/AFP

2 Okt 20189min

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