PODCAST

The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

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All Episodes

50:13

The godfather of manicures and India's Silicon Valley

The History Hour ·

2023/04/01

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about Vietnam's manicure godfather, how Bengaluru became India's Silicon Valley and how the first ever photograph from a mobile phone was sent.Plus, the popularity of theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, and the windmill that revolutionised wind power.Contributors:Tuong Vu - Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon. Kien Nguyen - Wife

50:44

Film and cinema around the world

The History Hour ·

2023/03/25

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories about the history of film and cinema from around the world, including the longest running film in Indian cinema, the man who lived in an airport for 18 years and the ambitious release of the orca from the movie, Free Willy.Plus, the real life escape from Alcatraz and the incredible story of Vietnamese movie star, Kieu Chinh.Contributors:Dr Ranita Chatterjee - Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Exeter. Kajol - Indian

51:56

The Invasion of Iraq

The History Hour ·

2023/03/18

A compilation of stories marking the 20th anniversary of the American led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Caroline Hawley, who was the Baghdad correspondent for the BBC at the time, speaks to Max Pearson about reporting on Iraq. Contributors:Lubna Naji - schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out. Yasir Dhannoon - became a refugee when he fled Iraq. General Vincent Brooks - first revealed the playing cards to help US troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's government. Muwafaq

51:10

International Women's Day

The History Hour ·

2023/03/11

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories celebrating women who made history including a ground-breaking, African American science fiction writer and the first presidential hopeful in Mexico. Plus the UN's first ever all-female peacekeeping unit, a woman who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland and a child goddess in Nepal.Contributors:Dr Brenda Stevenson - Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in Women’s History at St John’s College, Oxford University. Nisi Shawl - friend of Octavia Butler. Rosario

51:44

Pink triangles and political assassinations

The History Hour ·

2023/03/04

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Uta Rautenberg from the University of Warwick in the UK, an expert on homophobia in Nazi camps.Rudolf Brazda recounts his experience of being a gay man in a Nazi concentration camp, symbolised by the pink triangle he was forced to wear on his uniform. Then, we hear first-hand accounts of the Indigenous American protest at Wounded Knee 50 years ago, and the assassination of Serbia's

52:32

Riots in Mauritius and the Queen 'jumping out of a...

The History Hour ·

2023/02/28

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Philippe Sands, Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London, who tells us about the history of ethnic tensions in Mauritius. The programme begins with Kaya a Mauritian musician whose death sparked three days of rioting. Then, we hear from John Huckstep who was interned by the Japanese when living in China during World War Two. In the second half of the

51:39

'Hot Autumn' and Tutankhamun

The History Hour ·

2023/02/18

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Ilaria Favretto, Affiliate Professor at Kingston University in London, who tells us about the history of workers' protests across Europe.The programme begins with a former union leader describing Italy's 'Hot Autumn' of 1969 when protests erupted. Then, we hear the archaeologist Howard Carter's remarkable account of opening the burial chamber of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian Pharaoh, 100

51:22

Popes

The History Hour ·

2023/02/11

It has been 10 years since Pope Benedict XVI announced his shock resignation. It was the first time in almost 600 years that a pope had stepped down.In this programme, we hear stories about the history of the papacy, including how a pope is chosen, the inception of Vatican II and what happens when a pope dies.Contributors:Giovanna Chirri - former Ansa journalist Catherine Pepinster - former editor of Catholic newspaper, The Tablet Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - Cardinal John Strynkowski -

50:06

Pirate radio and the Velvet Divorce

The History Hour ·

2023/02/04

The launch of the first black music station in Europe - the Dread Broadcasting Corporation in London in 1981 - and why Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.Plus the assassination of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye, the Columbia space shuttle disaster and the bombing of the Palestine Post.Contributors:Michael Williams - former DBC station manager Carmella Jervier - DJ Dr Caroline Mitchell - Professor of Radio at the University of Sunderland Jean-Marie Ngendahayo -

51:30

The death penalty and broadcasting bans

The History Hour ·

2023/01/28

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Chiara Sangiorgio, Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International, who tells us about the history of the death penalty and its effectiveness. The programme begins with two perspectives on capital punishment: Yoshikuni Noguchi recounts his time as a prison guard on death row in Japan in the 1970s; then we hear archive recordings of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most famous hangman

51:32

Horsemeat scandal and the Miracle on the Hudson

The History Hour ·

2023/01/21

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.These include memories of the horsemeat scandal of 2013 from the man who uncovered what was happening. We'll hear analysis of other historical food scandals from expert Professor Saskia van Ruth.Plus the last passenger off the plane, which landed on the Hudson river in 2009, shares his story.Also on the programme: secret schools for Kosovar Albanians, nuclear testing in Algeria and teenagers with

51:44

Plastics in oceans and sea cucumbers

The History Hour ·

2023/01/14

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.You'll hear the story of how a marine biologist made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America. Then, marine biologist Christine Figgener talks about the history of oceans.Also, the world's first transatlantic concert, a dispute over sea cucumbers in the Galapagos Islands, the world's first tidal power station and the first woman

50:49

Pussy Riot and other Russian rebels

The History Hour ·

2023/01/07

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.You'll hear the story of how a protest led by the punk band Pussy Riot in one of Moscow's main cathedrals led to a trial which made the news inside Russia and around the world.Then, historian Robert Service talks about other examples of rebellion, from the time of the Russian empire through to modern day. Also, the man Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet wanted dead, the most bizarre football match

49:58

Food

The History Hour ·

2022/12/31

Stories about the history of food, including the creation of ciabatta bread by a rally driver in Italy in 1982 and the Maltese bakers' strike in 1977.Also, the invention of instant noodles in Japan, the start of the Slow Food Movement in Rome and the creation of Chicken Manchurian in India.(Photo: Different shaped artisan bread loaves. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Marco Vianello - baker and friend of the creator of ciabatta, Arnaldo Cavallari Noel Buttigieg - food historian Dr Sue Bailey -

51:22

90 years of the BBC World Service

The History Hour ·

2022/12/24

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.Sir Trevor McDonald reflects on the BBC's first black producer, Una Marson, and her legacy in the development of the BBC Caribbean Service.Also, how the BBC managed to broadcast through the Iron Curtain, Colombia's false positives scandal and the incredible rescue of 33 miners trapped in Chile.(Photo: Sir Trevor McDonald. Credit: BBC)Contributors: Sir Trevor McDonald, Una Marson, Debbie Ransome

51:30

District Six and daredevils

The History Hour ·

2022/12/17

The forced removal of families who weren't white from District Six, in Cape Town, by the South African apartheid regime and the man who jumped from space back to earth.Also, stories about a Soviet fashionista, the Nazi occupation of Jersey and the Mongolia Revolution. (Photo: District Six, circa 1969, in Cape Town. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Zahra Nordien - who was forced out of District Six in Cape Town in 1977 Chrischené Julius - the manager of Collections, Research and Documentation at

51:40

Referendums and Teletubbies

The History Hour ·

2022/12/10

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.We go to Quebec in 1995 when voters went to the polls to decide whether the province should declare independence from Canada.Tim Marshall, the author of The Power of Geography and presenter of the World Service podcast, The Compass, explores other referendums which have taken place in recent history.Plus the creation of children's TV series Teletubbies in 1994. It became a global hit.(Photo:

50:21

Contested islands and Miss World protests

The History Hour ·

2022/12/03

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.We hear from a man who was aged six when he was among the Japanese families expelled from his island home, as it was taken over by the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Our guest is Professor Haruko Satoh from Osaka University who analyses recent Japan-Russian relations and the impact of the invasion of Ukraine.Twenty years after the Mombasa hotel bombing, a survivor recounts her

51:47

Anwar Ibrahim and road safety inventions

The History Hour ·

2022/11/26

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Malaysia's Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, recounts being put on trial for sodomy and corruption. Our guest is the BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, who tells us about Malaysian political history. Iran's first women's minister describes the challenges she had to overcome. We hear how the seat belt and cat's eyes were invented. And a Swedish man remembers the chaos when his country

54:17

Arabian Peninsula

The History Hour ·

2022/11/19

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, which focus on the Arabian Peninsula to mark the start of the football World Cup in Qatar. Our guest is Dr Wafa Alsayed, Lecturer in Political Science and History at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.We hear about how the states across the peninsula won independence, and speak to the architect of the region's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.There's also the invention of the robot

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