Witness History

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories. When you subscribe to Witness History, you’ll be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa’s fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations.

You’ll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

You’ll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden’s Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles’ George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy’s show to a sudden end.

And if you’re curious about inventions, we’ll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.

If you’re new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.

Denne podkasten er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(2000)

Galápagos Islands’ sea cucumber dispute

A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galápagos Islands, where the protein-rich ocean creature wa...

12 Jan 20238min

Paul Robeson and the transatlantic phone line

In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean.This made high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 p...

11 Jan 20238min

Dutch North Sea flood

In 1953, a winter storm combined with high tides breached sea defences in the Netherlands, more than 1,800 people drowned.Ria Geluk, remembers the once-in-a-lifetime flood.In this programme first broa...

10 Jan 20238min

Plastics in oceans

In 1971, marine biologist Edward Carpenter made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America in the Atlantic Ocean. More than 50 years ...

9 Jan 20238min

Pussy Riot’s cathedral protest

In February 2012, Diana Burkot and other members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot protested inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour against the church and its support for Russian presiden...

6 Jan 20238min

The man Pinochet wanted dead

After the 1973 military coup in Chile, Miguel Enriquez led resistance against the dictatorship. The secret police were ordered to track him down and assassinate him. His wife Carmen Castillo remembers...

5 Jan 20239min

When America banned silicone breast implants

On 6 January 1992, the US Government ordered a suspension of all procedures involving silicone breast implants. More than 2,000 women had complained of poor health and pain after receiving implants. A...

4 Jan 20238min

Arctic African

Tété-Michel Kpomassie grew up in West Africa but he was obsessed with the Arctic. When he was 16 years old he ran away from his village in Togo determined to reach Greenland.It took him eight years bu...

3 Jan 20238min