PODCAST

The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

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All Episodes

4:11

Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev

The History Hour ·

2025/12/11

The world is on the brink of nuclear war. How can the Soviet Union and the USA prevent it? Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders President John F Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Together Nina and Max explore what drove JFK and Khrushchev during the darkest days of October 1962. And when the crisis moves beyond their control, as a U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba, how do they avoid

60:19

Nigerian history

The History Hour ·

2025/12/06

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, all with a Nigerian theme.We hear two personal stories of the Biafra war, which began in 1967, including the writer Wole Soyinka who was jailed for trying to stop it. Plus, we hear from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe about escaping the conflict. She's now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye.We speak to Dr Louisa Egbunike, who is an Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University in England.Also, a

61:25

Literary hoaxes and an underground cathedral

The History Hour ·

2025/11/29

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is literature lecturer Dr Hetta Howes on major literary hoaxes around the world.We hear about Howard Hughes' fake autobiography, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia and how the Indian musician Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar.Plus, the Indian woman who led her country's first delegation to the United Nations, the Premier League's first female photographer and how Toy

60:50

Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the...

The History Hour ·

2025/11/22

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Mercedes Peñalba- Sotorrío, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Manchester Metropolitan University, England.We start with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain.Then, we use archive to hear how King Juan Carlos reclaimed the Spanish throne in 1975 and led the country to a democracy. This episode was made in collaboration

61:38

Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis

The History Hour ·

2025/11/15

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.France’s former finance minister

60:26

The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy

The History Hour ·

2025/11/08

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Darja Dankina, who's a palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. We start with the discovery of the largest dinosaur ever, uncovered by a shepherd on a ranch in Argentina in 2012. Then, we hear from the daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who created children's show Thunderbirds in 1965.Plus, the impeachment of US President Clinton in 1999.How an

60:19

Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of...

The History Hour ·

2025/11/01

Emerante de Pradines's son, Richard Morse, tells us about his mother’s life and her commitment to de-demonising vodou culture through her music. Haiti expert Kate Hodgson, from University College Cork in Ireland, expands on the history of the country in the 20th Century. The story of how an Argentinian doctor was inspired to create a new treatment for heart disease and when the death of a Catholic priest sent shockwaves through El Salvador in 1977. Plus, the memories of a survivor of the

60:48

Music producer Sonny Roberts and treating diabetes

The History Hour ·

2025/10/25

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Sonny Roberts’ daughter tells us about how her father created the UK’s first black-owned music studio - this programme contains outdated and offensive language. Music producer and professor emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Lucy Durán takes us through the history of music studios around the world. How a Macedonian scientist’s discovery led to treatments for diabetes and

60:03

Nordic Noir and the Moomins

The History Hour ·

2025/10/18

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Indian-based author and podcaster Purba Chakraborty talks about the history of fiction writing.We hear about the rise in popularity of 'Nordic Noir', following the publication of Henning Mankell's crime novels.Then we listen to BBC archive of writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges - regarded as one of the most influential Latin American writers in history.Plus, the trial of two Soviet writers, Yuli

59:50

The evacuation of Tristan da Cunha and Japan...

The History Hour ·

2025/10/10

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We start with a BBC archive interview where one woman recounts what it was like to survive the earthquake and landside in 1961 following the volcanic eruption in Tristan da Cunha. Our guest is Anne Green, a retired schoolteacher from the island of Tristan da Cunha. She describes what it was like to return to the island in 1963. Then, the rare eyewitness account from a 105-year-old who is the only

59:20

India's nine day tea strike and the birth of the...

The History Hour ·

2025/10/04

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes.Tea expert Sabita Banerji talks about the history of tea in India. We look back at how women teapickers in 2015 fought for justice - and improved the lives of thousands of tea plantation workers.We hear the story of a famous photo of American president John F Kennedy working at his desk in the White House - with his cheeky young son underneath.Also, from 1985 one of the most notorious killings from the apartheid era in South

60:00

The origins of Indian cinema and the start of Scouting

The History Hour ·

2025/09/27

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes taking us from India to Texas. Professor Sunny Singh, author of A Bollywood State of Mind, discusses the origins of Indian cinema in 1912. And we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Bollywood romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. We also head to Paris in 1971, to the launch of what would become one of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations: Médecins Sans Frontières.And we learn how Lord Robert

59:58

The fight against sexual harassment in Egypt and Omar...

The History Hour ·

2025/09/20

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Egyptian theme.We find out more about the 2014 fight against sexual harassment. And we hear from Professor Nicola Pratt, an expert on Middle East feminism about the significance of that moment in the fight for women's rights.Also, we go to the 1960s when antiquities were saved to make way for the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. And recollections from Egypt's first free democratic presidential election in 2012

60:31

Nigeria’s Festac’77 and Gander’s generosity during 9/11

The History Hour ·

2025/09/12

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Lucy Durán, a Spanish ethnomusicologist, record producer and Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. We start with an African American artist who recounts exhibiting her work at Nigeria's largest ever festival of African arts and culture in 1977. Then, the testimony of a pilot stranded in airspace following the 9/11 terror attack.A 94-year-old Jewish refugee

60:31

The Chindits and USAID

The History Hour ·

2025/09/06

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's episodes of Witness History.The formation of an unconventional special force during the Second World War sparks a discussion about three others around the world with military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson.Plus, the founding of the United States Agency for International Development, the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic 40 years ago and the first baby born after a womb transplant. Finally, Mexican-American boxer Oscar De La Hoya's toughest test -

60:02

Washington DC and a film noir classic

The History Hour ·

2025/08/29

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.We learn why the Mount Pleasant riots erupted in Washington DC in 1991, and hear from our guest, Sarah Jane Shoenfeld, a public historian of the US capital. Plus, more on John Lennon’s benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, his final and only full-length solo shows after leaving The Beatles.And the story behind how the world's first permanent international criminal court was created

59:07

BlackBerry phones and Spot the dog

The History Hour ·

2025/08/23

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jacquie McNish, author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.We start with the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, who recounts the company's remarkable boom and bust.Then, the creation of the Spot the dog children's books in the 1970s. We hear the testimony of a US soldier who defected to the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s.An author recalls how her 2010 book challenged

50:20

Indonesian history

The History Hour ·

2025/08/15

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as the country marks 80 years since independence. We start by hearing about the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who wrote Buru Quartet while imprisoned in the notorious labour camp on Buru island.Then, the reopening of the

50:52

Nagasaki bomb and Brazil’s biggest bank heist

The History Hour ·

2025/08/09

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Simone Turchetti, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, at The University of Manchester in the UK. It's 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender at the end of the Second World War. We hear from a British prisoner of war who was in Nagasaki at the time.Then, the son of musician Dmitri Shostakovich tells of his famous

50:54

Russian revolutionaries and Japan’s record breaking...

The History Hour ·

2025/08/01

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Dr Lara Douds, Assistant Professor of Russian history.We start in 1907, the men who would go on to lead the Russian Revolution met in London for a crucial congress marking a point of no return between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Then, in 2000, the launch of Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan, becoming the world’s longest rollercoaster at nearly 2.5 km in length.Next,

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