PODCAST

The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

history personal journals

All Episodes

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

51:20

Racist raids, protests and a political assassination

The History Hour ·

2022/11/12

A collection of Witness History episodes, presented by Max Pearson. We look at how racism led to raids in the 1970s and protests in the 1980s in New Zealand, and the assassination of Pim Fortyn. In New Zealand in the 1970s, dawn raids targeted Polynesian migrants who had overstayed their work permits. In response, the community formed a resistance group, the Polynesian Panthers, in June 1971. Professor Niki Alsford of Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Central Lancashire in England, describes

51:33

The best Championship Manager player ever

The History Hour ·

2022/11/05

A collection of Witness History episodes, looking at how young men in Africa have been exploited through football and and sex-selective abortion in India. Presented by Max Pearson. For millions of gamers all over the world Tonton Zola Moukoko is a cult hero. The Swedish-Congolese footballer found fame as a brilliant player in the computer game series Championship Manager. But in the real world, things were very different. African football expert and journalist Oluwashina Okeleji reports on the

51:25

Women taking a stand

The History Hour ·

2022/10/29

A collection of Witness History episodes, this week focusing on global events where women have taken a stand for equality from Sudan to Iran and Australia. In Iran in 1979, Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the issues women objected to during the Iranian revolution. The BBC's Rana Rahimpour discusses the protests currently taking place in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini with echoes of what happened in 1979. We also head to Sudan in 1991 when a law was introduced to

52:09

Cuban boxing and the brink of nuclear war

The History Hour ·

2022/10/22

A collection of the latest Witness History programmes which are all about Cuba. Presented by Max Pearson, who speaks to boxing journalist Steve Bunce about the nation's great boxers. Earlier this year, Cuba lifted the ban on professional boxing, which Fidel Castro imposed in 1962. Rachel Naylor speaks to Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez, who escaped in 2007 after being rewarded with a fizzy drink and two snapper fish after winning a world amateur title for his country. His defection needed the assistance of

52:13

Global strikes and industrial action

The History Hour ·

2022/10/15

A collection of the latest Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. We look at moments from around the world when workers took industrial action in pursuit of better conditions from geisha in Japan to tortured wig factory workers in South Korea. This programme contains descriptions of torture.Disney cartoonists went on strike for nine weeks in 1941. They were led by Art Babbitt, Disney’s top animator who created Goofy. The picket line was remarkable for its colourful artwork and support

50:04

Caribbean carnivals and a racially inclusive nightclub

The History Hour ·

2022/10/08

A collection of this week's Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. The guest is Dr Emily Zobel Marshall. She explains the rise of festivals around the world celebrating Caribbean culture.In 1962, Nigerian man Phil Magbotiwan opened a brand new nightclub in Manchester, UK. In part because of his own personal experiences of racism, Phil wanted to create somewhere where everyone would be welcome – Manchester’s first racially inclusive nightclub. The Reno was born. Phil’s youngest

51:30

Dassler brothers' rift

The History Hour ·

2022/10/01

A collection of this week's Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. The guest is Nicholas Smith, author of "Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers" and Presenter of the BBC's "Sneakernomics" podcast. He explains how footwear revolutionised sport and became high-fashion.In 1948, two brothers from a small German town called Rudi and Adi Dassler created the sportswear firms Puma and Adidas. Reena Stanton-Sharma hears from Adi Dassler’s daughter, Sigi Dassler, who remembers her

51:26

Queen Elizabeth II and broadcasting

The History Hour ·

2022/09/24

We look at some of the broadcasts delivered by Queen Elizabeth II including her first radio address to the children of the Commonwealth on 13 October 1940. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond looks back on the Queen's significant moments in front of a microphone. Pope Paul VI's first visit to Africa when he travelled to Uganda in 1969, and was hosted by an Ismaili Muslim family and the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980.(Photo: Princess Elizabeth makes a broadcast from the gardens

50:04

Queen Elizabeth II

The History Hour ·

2022/09/18

We hear personal accounts of historical moments during the seventy year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Memories from the Queen's maids of honour from her coronation in 1953; the huge race her horse very nearly won as well as the Windsor Castle fire and the opening to the public of Buckingham Palace.Presented by Max Pearson.(Photo: Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Getty Images)

51:22

Brazil

The History Hour ·

2022/09/11

Stories from Brazil, ahead of the presidential election in October, including the murder of Tim Lopes, the hero of Brazilian democracy and the Candelaria Massacre.Plus the creation of the capital, Brasilia, and the history of the Fusca - the car that charmed Brazil.This programme contains descriptions of violence and some listeners may find parts of it distressing.(Photo: Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: Buena Vista Images)

49:54

Gorbachev's legacy

The History Hour ·

2022/09/03

The former President of the Soviet Union's reforms in 1987, known as Perestroika, and the release of the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya in 1986.Plus a survivor of the Marikana Massacre in South Africa, the Native American nicknamed 'the Last Indian' and Princess Diana's dance with John Travolta at the White House.(Photo: Mikhail Gorbachev (centre right) meets with the Warsaw Pact Foreign Ministers' Committee in Moscow in 1987. Credit: AFP / Getty Images)

51:07

Inflation and the cost of living

The History Hour ·

2022/08/27

A compilation of witness accounts from when inflation and the cost of living were seriously affecting people's lives, among other topics.In 1971, inflation was a huge problem in the USA so the President, Richard Nixon, made one of the most drastic moves in economic history; abandoning the Gold Standard. It became known as the 'Nixon Shock' and nearly caused a trade war between America and its allies. But, it also saved the US economy from a crisis. Ben Henderson spoke to Bob Hormats, an economic

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