Death of a language and the world’s longest kiss

Death of a language and the world’s longest kiss

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

We hear about the death of one of the oldest languages in the world, when an 85 year old woman died and took it with her in 2010.

Our expert guest is Dr Mandana Seyfeddinipur, who is the Head of the Endangered Languages Archive which endeavours to preserve languages that are disappearing at “an alarming rate.”

We also hear about the historian who helped bring a former Stasi officer to justice decades after he killed a man.

Also the moment Bolivia elected its first ever indigenous president in 2005.

The Thai couple that broke the world record for the longest kiss twice.

Plus, it’s 60 years since the controversial black activist, Malcolm X was assassinated. We hear from a man who was in the audience in New York when it happened.

This programme contains outdated and offensive language.

Contributors: Dr Anvita Abbi – linguist who documented one of the oldest languages before it died Dr Mandana Seyfeddinipur – Head of the Endangered Languages Archive Dr Filip Gańczak – the historian who helped convict a former Stasi officer of murder Herman Ferguson who was in the audience when Malcolm X was assassinated Álvaro García Linera – Vice President of Bolivia under Evo Morales for 14 years Ekkachai – one half of the couple who broke the record for the world’s longest kiss

(Photo: Boa Senior in Hospital. Credit: Anvita Abbi)

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The Man Who Inspired Britain's First Aids Charity

The Man Who Inspired Britain's First Aids Charity

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1 Dec 201850min

The 'Braceros' - America's Mexican Guest Workers

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Japanese Murders in Brazil

Japanese Murders in Brazil

How Japanese immigrants in Brazil fell out with each other after the end of the WW2, how Britain helped to get disabled people on the road in the 1940s plus life for Jews under Imperial Russia, the victims of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and the American embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

17 Nov 201850min

The End of World War One

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10 Nov 201851min

When Russia's Richest Man Was Jailed

When Russia's Richest Man Was Jailed

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26 Okt 201850min

The Nazi Black Book

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26 Okt 201849min

When Belgium Banned Coca Cola

When Belgium Banned Coca Cola

A strange illness strikes Belgian teenagers, Brazil's forgotten Amazon war, diverting Mount Etna's lava, arguments over aid and trade in the UK, and the 1973 oil crisis.(Photo: A poster saying 'out of order' is stuck on a Coca Cola vending machine in Mouscron, Belgium in 1999. Credit: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images).

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The Street Battle That Rocked Brazil

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6 Okt 201850min

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