Indonesian history

Indonesian history

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as the country marks 80 years since independence.

We start by hearing about the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who wrote Buru Quartet while imprisoned in the notorious labour camp on Buru island.

Then, the reopening of the worlds’ largest Buddhist monument after major restoration work.

Plus, 50 years since the Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists.

Also, Jakarta’s ban on the use of dancing monkeys on the city’s streets. And, the discovery of a new species of human.

Contributors:

Pramoedya Ananta Toer - archive recordings of the writer.

Werdi – one of the workers on the project.

Dr Anne-Lot Hoek - research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

Max Stahl - archive recordings of the British cameraman.

Femke den Haas – animal rights activist.

Peter Brown - Australian paleoanthropologist.

(Photo: Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Credit: Reuters)

Episoder(467)

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I was abused by a President

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Venezuela's oil bonanza

Venezuela's oil bonanza

When Venezuela was rich; surviving a mid-air airline disaster; Japan's Red Army militants of the 1970s, the origin of the swine flu epidemic and Iceland's Beer Day. Photo: Seidel/United Archives/UIG via Getty Images

2 Mar 201950min

The curse of Agent Orange

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Millions left dead or deformed because of chemicals used in the Vietnam war, UK cigarette smoking warnings ignored, remains of the Nazi 'Angel of Death' discovered in Brazil, the Columbia Shuttle disaster which led to huge questions about American space safety and the unrest featured in the Oscar-nominated film, Roma, where Mexican students were killed by government-trained paramilitary troops.Photo: Child suffering from spinal deformity in rehabilitation centre in Saigon.

23 Feb 201950min

Iceland jails its bankers

Iceland jails its bankers

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The last days of Hitler

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9 Feb 201950min

The Iranian Revolution

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In February 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile to Iran in the defining moment of a revolution that would change his country and the whole Middle East. In a special edition of the programme, Rebecca Kesby hears eye-witness accounts from the protestors who brought down the Shah, one of the Ayatollah's aides and an American embassy official taken hostage by Khomeini supporters. She also talks to the BBC Persian Service's special correspondent, Kasra Naji.PHOTO: Ayatollah Khomeini returning to Iran (Gabriel Duval, AFP/Getty Images.)

2 Feb 201949min

Vatican II: Reforming the Catholic Church

Vatican II: Reforming the Catholic Church

In January 1959 Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's Catholic bishops and cardinals in Rome. It led to sweeping reforms. Plus Carmen Callil recalls setting up Virago, the most successful feminist publishing house to date; India gives birth to the call centres and remembering the Carry-on films.(Photo; Pope John XXIII at the Vatican. Credit: Getty Images)

26 Jan 201941min

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