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)

Executed in Stalin’s Great Terror in Georgia

Between 1937 and 1938, Soviet leader Josef Stalin carried out his most severe purge in Georgia. Known as the Great Terror, thousands of political rivals, intellectuals and ordinary citizens were execu...

2 Jul 20249min

Subway Art: The graffiti bible

In 1984, urban photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant came together to publish an era-defining book about the early graffiti movement.They had been documenting the work of graffiti arts on the...

1 Jul 20248min

I designed Hello Kitty

In 1974 an unknown Japanese artist put pen to paper and created a character that would go on to be worth more than $80 billion.The illustration was titled ‘Unknown White Cat’ but you will probably kno...

29 Jun 20248min

The first CIA-backed coup in Latin America

In June 1954, the first CIA-backed coup took place in Guatemala, when President Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a operation organised by the US government. The Administration of Dwight D Eisenhower fe...

27 Jun 20249min

Dignitas: Founding an assisted dying society

In 1998, the assisted dying society, Dignitas was set up in Switzerland by lawyer Ludwig Minelli.It was the first end-of-life organisation in the world to help foreigners - non-Swiss citizens - to die...

26 Jun 202410min

Sagrada Familia: Completing Gaudi’s vision

When visionary architect Antoni Gaudi died unexpectedly in 1926, his followers were left with incredible plaster of Paris models showing how to complete his famous church, La Sagrada Familia.The only ...

25 Jun 202410min

The expulsion of the Sudeten Germans

At the end of World War Two, the Czechoslovak government expelled up to three million German speakers, known as the Sudeten Germans. They were accused of being loyal to Nazi Germany and collaborating ...

24 Jun 20249min

Kawarau Bridge: The first bungee jumping site in New Zealand

On 12 November 1988, the world’s first commercial bungee jumping site was opened near Queenstown, New Zealand. AJ Hackett and Henry Van Asch started out bungee jumping as a hobby with friends. They de...

21 Jun 20249min