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.

Den här podcasten är hämtad från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Den kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(2000)

The inspiration for Chekhov's Three Sisters

In 1897, Paul Shishkoff was 10 years old and living with his family in rural Russia.It was there he met the great Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov, who was resting after the end of Moscow's theatre s...

11 Juni 10min

Picasso and the Surrealist summer

In the summer of 1937, some of the 20th Century's most famous artists, writers and photographers were holidaying in the south of France. They included artist Pablo Picasso, photographer Lee Miller, po...

10 Juni 10min

Mstislav Rostropovich: Virtuoso cellist

In 1978, Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists in history, was stripped of his Soviet citizenship for engaging in 'unpatriotic activity'. Rostropovich’s fallout with the Soviet leadershi...

9 Juni 10min

Nelson Mandela's incarceration at Robben Island

On 13 June 1964, Nelson Mandela, who later became South Africa's president, was taken to the maximum security prison on Robben Island off the coast of South Africa.Mandela had led the military wing of...

8 Juni 10min

The creation of Inspector Montalbano

On 10 March 1994, Italian author Andrea Camilleri's The Shape of Water was published.It features Inspector Montalbano in the fictional Sicilian town of Vigàta.The novel is widely credited with helping...

5 Juni 10min

The protests that sparked the Tiananmen Square massacre

One month before the bloodshed in Beijing, a 10km line of protestors snaked through the city. For over a decade China had been opening up to global trade and there was promise that, with greater econo...

4 Juni 9min

Australia's first Big Thing

In 1963, a giant Scotsman sculpture appeared outside the Scotty Motel in Adelaide, in South Australia. A banana, a koala, and even a potato soon followed, paving the way for the country’s beloved Big ...

3 Juni 10min

The first Irish language television channel

In 1996, Ireland launched its first television channel broadcasting exclusively in the Irish language. Teilifís na Gaeilge, later renamed TG4, went on air on Halloween night. It aimed to appeal to bot...

2 Juni 9min