PODCAST

The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

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All Episodes

50:08

The first Air Jordan and Imelda Marcos's 3,000 pairs...

The History Hour ·

2024/05/24

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.This week’s programmes are all about the history of footwear.First we take a trip back to the 1960’s when Brazilians were introduced to a new type of footwear, which went on to become one of the country’s biggest exports. Plus the story of how a then rookie basketball player called Michael Jordan signed a deal with Nike that revolutionised sports marketing.We also hear about the thousands of shoes

51:30

Independence in French Polynesia and the 'Queen of Cuba'

The History Hour ·

2024/05/17

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.This week, we hear how nuclear testing changed politics in French Polynesia.Plus, the story of how the FBI caught Ana Montes, the spy known as the ‘Queen of Cuba’.We also talk to Jewish and Palestinian people about the moment the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.Finally, we tell the unlikely story of how a heavy metal rock band emerged during the violent years of Saddam Hussein's regime in

51:01

India’s ambitious ID scheme and the iconic Princess...

The History Hour ·

2024/05/10

This week, how more than one billion people living in India were given a unique digital ID during the world's largest biometric project. The Aadhaar scheme was launched in 2009 but it wasn't without controversy. Our guest, digital identity expert Dr Edgar Whitley, tells us about the history of ID schemes around the world.Plus, the Spanish doctor whose pioneering surgery helped millions of people to get rid of their glasses and see more clearly. And why East Germany's thirst for caffeine in the 1980s

50:53

Paraguay’s ‘disappeared’ and the history of the...

The History Hour ·

2024/05/03

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. This week we hear the story of Rogelio Goiburu, who has dedicated his life to finding the victims of Alfredo Stroessner's dictatorship in Paraguay, including the remains of his own father. Our expert Dr Francesca Lessa talks about other enforced disappearances in South America.Plus, we hear about how, in February 2014, ordinary people got to see inside Mezhyhirya, the extraordinarily extravagant

51:02

Thirty years since the first free elections in South...

The History Hour ·

2024/04/26

It’s been thirty years since the first fully democratic elections in South Africa, which saw the African National Congress take power in 1994.But two years before that historic moment, white South Africans had to vote in a referendum that would decide whether or not to usher in a multi-racial government. We hear from President FW de Klerk’s then communications officer about how they helped “close the book on apartheid.”Then we journey back to 1976 and hear about the Soweto Uprising, a student led

50:50

Ebola outbreak and the Friendship Train returns

The History Hour ·

2024/04/20

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.It’s 10 years since the world’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola started in West Africa. We hear from a survivor and discuss the legacy of the epidemic with the BBC's global health reporter Tulip Mazumdar. Plus, the first World War Two battalion to be led by an African-American woman. Major Charity Adams’ son tells her story. We hear about the group of men arrested in Egypt in 2001 at a gay nightclub who

50:59

The history of art heists

The History Hour ·

2024/04/12

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.It's 30 years since Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream, was stolen from the national gallery in Oslo, Norway. We hear from the man who helped to recover it.Our expert guest is historian and author, Susan Ronald, who explores the history of art heists in the 20th century.Plus, a first hand account from Kampala terror attacks in 2010 and the mystery of St Teresa of Avila's severed hand.Finally, we

50:57

Swedish History

The History Hour ·

2024/04/05

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.It has been 50 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, so we're exploring Swedish history.Also in 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to offer paid parental leave that was gender neutral. One father who took the leave tells us about this pioneering policy. We hear from one of the inventors of Bluetooth. The technology was named after Harald Bluetooth, a Viking

52:37

75 years of Nato and the Heimlich Manoeuvre

The History Hour ·

2024/03/30

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.It's 75 years since the founding of Nato. In 1949, a group of 12 countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to block the expansion of the Soviet Union.Professor Sten Rynning, the author of "Nato: from Cold War to Ukraine", talks about some of the most significant moments in Nato's history.It's 30 years since the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. We hear from one of the survivors. This

52:05

Chinese history

The History Hour ·

2024/03/23

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.To mark 50 years since the discovery of the Terracotta Army, we're exploring modern Chinese history.We hear from the man who helped to modernise the Chinese language by creating a new writing system. It's called Pinyin and it used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words.Our expert guest is the writer, Mark O'Neill, whose book 'The Man Who Made China a Literate Nation' forms

52:07

Finding early vertebrate’s footprints and the...

The History Hour ·

2024/03/16

First, we go back to 1992, when off the coast of Ireland, a Swiss geology student accidentally discovered the longest set of footprints made by the first four-legged animals to walk on earth.They pointed to a new date for the key milestone in evolution, when the first amphibians left the water 385 million years ago.Dr Frankie Dunn, who is a senior researcher in palaeobiology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in the UK, then dives into landmark discoveries in geological history

51:55

Uruguay's smoking ban and the Carnation Revolution

The History Hour ·

2024/03/09

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We first hear about Uruguay’s tale of David v Goliath - when a tobacco giant took South America's second-smallest country to court over its anti-smoking laws.Uruguay’s former public health minister María Julia Muñoz describes the significance of the ban and its fallout.And we shed some light on the wider history of the use of tobacco, its long and controversial history, with Dr Sarah Inskip, a

51:32

Whisky wars and the Lord of Sipan

The History Hour ·

2024/03/02

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We first hear about a bloodless war between Denmark and Canada, that involved whisky. In 1984, the two nations were disputing the ownership of the tiny Hans Island, just off the coast of Greenland. It might be the friendliest territorial dispute ever. We hear from Tom Hoyem and Alan Kessel, politicians on either side. And we have historian Ditte Melitha Kristensen, from the National Museum and

52:09

Skiing and two-headed dogs

The History Hour ·

2024/02/24

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the famous ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb. In 2003, the venue won its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games for the first time. Hugh Smythe, known as one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Whistler, has been sharing his memories of the mountain. We also have former Winter Olympian and BBC presenter, Chemmy Alcott, to walk us through the long history of skiing. Plus, how the tiny island

51:55

Letters to Juliet and Saint Valentine’s traditions

The History Hour ·

2024/02/17

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about the Juliet Club in Verona, Italy. The club has been replying to mail addressed to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Juliet since the early 1990s.Professor Lisa Bitel talks about the traditions of Valentine’s Day. Plus, how the small Irish town of Gort became known as ‘Little Brazil’ because it's home to so many Brazilians. The World War Two escape line that fooled the Nazis and the stadium

51:38

Inspirational black women

The History Hour ·

2024/02/10

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service telling stories about inspirational black women. In 1973, the Battle of Versailles pit up-and-coming American designers using black models against the more traditional French. We hear from Bethann Hardison, one of those black models, about how the capital of couture, Paris, became the stage for this defining moment in the history of fashion. Professor Adrienne Jones, a fashion expert at the Pratt

52:04

Internet cafes and Doomsday seeds

The History Hour ·

2024/02/03

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about Cyberia - the first commercial internet café which opened in London in 1994. Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, Professor Vicki Nash, talks us through other notable landmarks in the internet’s history. Plus how the Covid N95 mask was invented by a scientist from Taiwan in 1992.Also how Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was punished for his writing on

52:52

Traitors and treachery

The History Hour ·

2024/01/27

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service all about figures branded as traitors.In 1939 Wang Jingwei, once a national hero in China, signed an agreement with Japanese invaders which made his name synonymous with the word ‘Hanjian’, a traitor to China. But Pan Chia-sheng’s memories of living under Wang Jingwei’s government in Nanjing tell a very different story. Our guest Ian Crofton, author of Traitors and Turncoats, explains the nuances

51:50

Lady Tarzan and Ibadan Zoo

The History Hour ·

2024/01/20

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We’re going wild for animals this week. We find out how the Ibadan Zoo became one of Nigeria’s biggest tourist attractions during the 1970s. Our guest Harriet Ritvo, professor of history at MIT, looks back across the centuries to reveal the fascination that humans have always had for animals. And more on the environmental campaigner who became known as Lady Tarzan for her fight against illegal

51:43

The first lesbian couple to get married and World...

The History Hour ·

2024/01/13

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus talk about the wedding they thought they'd never have.Our guest Lauren Moss, the LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News tells us about the history of gay marriage.Also, the man who

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