PODCAST

The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

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All Episodes

51:16

Discovering the haemoglobin structure and the Nellie...

The History Hour ·

2025/03/01

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.We hear about the moment Dr Max Perutz discovered the haemoglobin structure.Our expert is Professor Sir Alan Fersht, who is a chemist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology and knew Dr Perutz personally.We also hear about 22 Inuit children from Greenland's indigenous population who were sent to Denmark as part of a social experiment in 1951.Also, when mixed-raced children

51:13

Death of a language and the world’s longest kiss

The History Hour ·

2025/02/22

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

51:20

Great speeches from around the world

The History Hour ·

2025/02/15

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We discuss the 1992 speech given by Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, in which he acknowledged the moral responsibility his government should bear for the horrors committed against Indigenous Australians, with our guest Dr Rebe Taylor from Tasmania University.We also look at two female orators from opposite ends of the political spectrum: Eva Peron, also known as Evita, from right-wing

50:58

Cult films and a 'rockstar' philosopher

The History Hour ·

2025/02/08

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is film critic and journalist Helen O'Hara who dissects what makes a cult film classic, after we hear about the making of the 1989 American film Heathers.We also learn about the French philosopher behind the theory of deconstruction and how the world first became aware of coral bleaching in the 1980s. As the climax of the American Football season approaches we look back at one of the most

51:13

The 'Wolf Children' of World War Two and China's TV...

The History Hour ·

2025/02/01

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We hear from 'wolf child' Luise Quietsch who was separated from her family and forced to flee East Prussia. Whilst trying to survive during World War Two, these children were likened to hungry wolves roaming through forests. Journalist and documentary filmmaker Sonya Winterberg who recorded the testimony of “wolf children” for her book, discusses the profound impact it had on their lives. We also hear about the first major

50:55

Back to 1995

The History Hour ·

2025/01/25

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all about events which happened in 1995. First, we hear how Microsoft launched Windows 95 after a $300 million marketing campaign. Our expert guest is Dr Lisa McGerty – Chief Executive of the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge.Next, after 17 years terrorising America, we hear about the hunt for the Unabomber. Plus, the sarin gas attack on a Tokyo metro, carried out by members of a doomsday cult.Finally, how China

51:12

World War Two on film and Africa's landmark lifestyle...

The History Hour ·

2025/01/18

Josephine McDermott sits in for Max Pearson presenting a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes.We hear from the author who stumbled across the story of Oskar Schindler while shopping for a briefcase in Beverly Hills.Our guest is Dr Anne-Marie Scholz, from the University of Bremen in Germany, who reflects on the impact of dramatizations of World War Two.We also hear about the start of Drum magazine, credited with giving black African writers a voice in the time of Apartheid. The

51:08

The Charlie Hebdo attack and the art of decluttering

The History Hour ·

2025/01/11

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We hear a first-hand account of the attack at the offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Our expert guest is Dr Chris Millington, who leads the Histories and Cultures of Conflict research group at Manchester Metropolitan University. We also hear about Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War Two. Plus, the Bosphorus boat spotter tracking Russian military trucks in

51:04

The Boxing Day tsunami, and Alexa’s creation

The History Hour ·

2025/01/04

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes.We hear two stories from the deadly 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which killed thousands of people in south-east Asia.Our expert guest is Ani Naqvi, a former journalist who was on holiday in Sri Lanka when the wave hit.We also hear from the two Polish students who created the voice of Alexa, the smart speaker.Plus, the story of Klaus Fuchs, the German-born physicist who passed nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union while working on the

50:50

German traditions and cooking for presidents

The History Hour ·

2024/12/28

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews which all relate to food.First, Dinner for One, the British TV sketch that's become a German New Year’s Eve tradition. Our expert guest is Ingrid Sharp, professor of German cultural and gender history at the University of Leeds. She tells us about some other festive traditions in Northern Europe including Krampus – the horned figure said to punish children who misbehave at Christmas. We also hear about when South Korea and

51:05

Referendums and cannibalism

The History Hour ·

2024/12/21

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Chandrika Kaul, a specialist on modern British and Imperial history at the University of St Andrews in the UK.We start by hearing from both sides of Australia's 1999 referendum on becoming a republic. Then, a survivor recounts the horrific 1972 Andes plane crash and the extraordinary things he had to do to survive. We hear how the BBC put text on our television screens for

51:15

Panama and the 'Purple Heart Battalion'

The History Hour ·

2024/12/14

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Joan Flores-Villalobos, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Southern California, and author of The Silver Women: How Black Women’s Labor Made the Panama Canal.First, we hear from a man involved in the handover of the canal from the United States to Panama in 1999. Then, DJ and singer Leonardo Renato Aulder explains how the canal led to the creation of

51:11

Women making a mark

The History Hour ·

2024/12/07

In partnership with the BBC 100 Women list, we have a selection of stories about inspiring and influential women from around the world. Scientist Katalin Karikó, who won the Nobel Prize and helped save millions of lives in the Covid 19 pandemic, Julia Gillard, the former Australian prime minister who took a stand against misogyny in politics, and Indian artist Nalini Malani whose instillation got people thinking about the consequences of nuclear conflict.We also hear from the founder of Ms Magazine,

50:42

'Mozart of chess’ and the deepest man-made hole in...

The History Hour ·

2024/11/30

We hear from Magnus Carlsen, who in 2014, became the first player ever to win all three world chess titles in one year, achieving the highest official rating of any player in history.Woman grandmaster, three times British champion and chess historian, Yao Lan is our guest. She talks about the origin of chess.In the 1970s and 80s, scientists in Russia, managed to dig a hole more than 12,000 metres deep. It was called the Kola Superdeep Borehole. One of the geophysicists involved tells us about the

50:43

The Siege of Yarmouk and Iran's 'house churches'

The History Hour ·

2024/11/23

During the early years of Syria’s brutal civil war, the neighbourhood of Yarmouk, close to the Syrian capital Damascus, bore the brunt of the government’s viciousness. Known as ‘the Pianist of Yarmouk,’ Aeham tells Mike Lanchin about their struggle to survive the siege, and how music helped him overcome some of those dark days. Dr Gillian Howell, senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne explains how music has been used as a form of protest and honouring lives lost during conflict.After

50:51

The ‘Battle of the Surfaces’ and becoming a republic

The History Hour ·

2024/11/16

We hear about the half-clay, half-grass exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Argentinean creative entrepreneur and tennis fan Pablo del Campo tells Uma Doraiswamy how he made the iconic court possible in May 2000. Fiona Skille, professor of Sports History at Glasgow Caledonian University, explains the history of sport exhibition matches.In 1974, Greece held a referendum to decide the future of the country’s monarchy, and whether Constantine II would remain their king. In

51:17

Female heroes of WW2 and the Iranian Revolution

The History Hour ·

2024/11/09

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.We hear about Polish war hero Irena Sendler who saved thousands of Jewish children during the World War Two.Expert Kathryn Atwood explains why women’s stories of bravery from that time are not as prominent as men’s.Plus, the invention of ‘Baby’ – one of the first programmable computers. It was developed in England at the University of Manchester. Gill Kearsley has been looking through the archives to find out more about the

51:12

Magic, illusion and tigers

The History Hour ·

2024/11/02

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.For nearly 40 years, Siegfried and Roy wowed audiences in Las Vegas with death-defying tricks involving white lions and tigers. But in 2003, their magic show came to a dramatic end when a tiger attacked Roy live on stage.We find out what went wrong, and speak to magician and author Margaret Steele about the - sometimes dangerous - history of illusion and magic.Plus, we learn more about the so-called ‘Ken Burns effect’; the

51:03

Dungeons & Dragons and dinosaur remains

The History Hour ·

2024/10/25

First, on its 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, we hear from Luke Gygax, whose father created the fantasy role-play game. We also hear from Dr Melissa Rogerson, senior lecturer and board games researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia.Then, the first dinosaur remains discovered in Antarctica in 1986, by Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero.Next, Ethiopia’s internal relief efforts during the famine in 1984, led by Dawit Giorgis. Plus, the fight to stop skin lightening in

51:04

Flower revolutions

The History Hour ·

2024/10/18

We hear about the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan in 2014. Brian Hioe, an activist who occupied Parliament in Taipei, recalls the events.We hear from Nino Zuriashvili, one of the protesters at the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003. And Prof Kasia Boddy, author of Blooming Flowers: A Seasonal History of Plants and People explains how flowers have been used as symbols in political history.Plus, the Afghan refugee who fled as a 15 year old. Waheed Arian, a doctor and former Afghan refugee describes his

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