The History Hour

BBC World Service

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

  1. 2 days ago

    The creation of Inspector Montalbano and Australia's first Big Thing

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Giuliana Pieri, an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London. We start with the author Andrea Camilleri on the creation of his fictional detective Inspector Montalbano in 1994, and his influence on Italian noir. Then we explore the tapes recorded in the 1950s with Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. We hear about the Chinese protests in 1989 that led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Plus, the launch of Ireland's first Irish language television channel in 1996. Next, when Diana Ross missed a penalty at the World Cup in 1994. Finally, we hear from the artist behind the first of Australia's 'Big Things', the giant novelty sculptures that became a national phenomenon. Contributors:   Professor Giuliana Pieri - an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London Andrea Camilleri - Italian crime-writer (archive) Saskia Sassen - daughter of Dutch journalist Willem Sassen, who recorded interviews with Adolf Eichmann Wu'er Kaixi - Chinese student organiser of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square Sinéad Ní Ghuidhir - first live presenter to speak on Teilifís na Gaeilge: Ireland's first television channel broadcasting exclusively in the Irish language Alan Rothenberg - former president of the US Soccer Federation Paul Kelly - Australian artist behind both the Big Scotsman and the equally iconic Big Lobster Christobel Kelly - daughter of Paul Kelly (Photo: Italian writer Andrea Camilleri, Rome, Italy, 2011. Credit: Luciano Viti/Getty Images)

    1hr 1min

  2. 30 May

    Mexican history: A love song and a gas explosion

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Michelle Meinhart, a reader in musicology and cultural history at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London. We start by hearing about a Mexican song that captivated lovers in World War Two. Then, a marketing strategist recalls how he worked on a Mexican election campaign in 2000 that saw a change of government for the first time in 71 years. We hear how millions of indigenous women in Mexico won the right to vote and stand in elections in 2014. Plus, a woman recalls her family's escape from a deadly gas explosion in Mexico City in 1984. Finally, we find out how Titanic, one of the most successful films in movie history, was made in Mexico in 1997. Contributors: Mariano Rivera Velazquez - son of singer Consuelo Velazquez who wrote Bésame Mucho. Michelle Meinhart - a reader in musicology and cultural history at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Francisco Ortiz - marketing strategist. Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza - campaigner for indigenous women's rights. Virginia Martínez Tellez - San Juanico resident. Antonio Moreno - sports journalist. Luisa Gomez de Silva - assistant coordinator in the art department for the movie Titanic. (Photo: A welcoming kiss. Credit: Topical press agency/Hulton archive/Getty images)

    1 hr

  3. 16 May

    The first reality game show and a joik performance on Eurovision

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We start with the launch of Expedition Robinson in Sweden in 1997 and discuss how reality TV began around the world with our guest Misha Kavka, Professor of Cross-Media Culture at the University of Amsterdam. Plus, a Norwegian Sami protest song that made history in 1980, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission which investigated residential schools and the uncovering a lost burial ground in Brazil in 1996. Also, the 'sporting miracle' of 5,000-to-one outsiders Leicester City FC winning the English Premier League and the discovery of the fossil that revealed the first feathered dinosaur. Contributors: Martin Melin - the first winner of Expedition Robinson. Misha Kavka - Professor of Cross-Media Culture at the University of Amsterdam. Chief Wilton "Willie" Littlechild - former Commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Philip Currie - palaeontologist who helped identify the first fossil of a feathered dinosaur. Wes Morgan - former captain of Leicester City FC. Inga Haetta - sister of Mattis Haetta, who performed the first joik at Eurovision. (Photo: Group of adults lying by a pool with a film crew giving instructions - stock photo. Credit: Yellow Dog Productions)

    1hr 1min

  4. 9 May

    Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest and a WW2 sabotage mission in Norway

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We start with the broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. To mark his 100th birthday, we go back to the mid 1950s and the television programme that launched his career. Our guest is Dr Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist and head of the conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct. Then, the story of a World War Two sabotage plot carried out by a team of Norwegian resistance fighters. We hear about Africa's worst stadium disaster, at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana. Plus, a Spanish nun reflects on the killing of two fellow sisters during the Algerian civil conflict in the 1990s. We also hear how the world's most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found in South Dakota, USA, in 1990. Finally, how the Nigerian 4 x 400m relay team were declared Olympic champions, 12 years after the race. Contributors: Sir David Attenborough - naturalist and broadcaster (BBC archive) Dr Paula Kahumbu, CEO of Kenyan conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct Gunnar Deinboll Jenssen - nephew of the Norwegian resistance fighter Lieutenant Peter Deinboll Herbert Mensah - former chair of the football club Asante Kotoko Sister Lourdes Migueles - Spanish nun who chose to stay in Algeria during civil conflict Peter Larson - American commercial fossil collector and researcher Enefiok Udo-Obong - former Nigerian sprinter (Photo: Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster, with two ring-tailed lemurs. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

    1hr 1min

  5. 1 May

    The world’s first perfume archive and Dutch car-free Sundays in the global oil crisis

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. This week, we hear from a perfumer who in 1990 helped create the world’s first perfume archive in Versailles France. Our guest is Dr William Tullett, a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York and author of Sniff, History of Smells. Then, we hear how in 1991 African journalists created the Windhoek declaration - a set of free press principles. It led to World Press Freedom Day marked annually on 3 May. Next, the global oil crisis of 1973. A former Dutch politician tells us how the Netherlands became the first country in Europe to introduce car-free Sundays. Plus, the philosopher on how his 1972 essay on the Drowning Child thought experiment inspired the Effective Altruism movement. And President Obama’s speech writer on how secret negotiations in 2014 improved relations between the US and Cuba. Finally, a Sporting Witness on the Juventus match-fixing scandal in 2006. Contributors: Jean Claude Ellena - perfumer Dr Will Tullett - Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York and author of Sniff, History of Smells Wim Meijer - State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work in the Den Uyl Labour Government Peter Singer - philosopher Ben Rhodes - Barack Obama’s speech writer Paddy Agnew - journalist (Photo: Perfume bottles. Credit: Walter Zerla via Getty Images)

    1hr 1min

  6. 25 Apr

    Cleaning up Chernobyl and Canada’s war in the woods

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. On the 40th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, we hear from one man involved in the clean-up operation. Our guest is Jordan Dunbar, presenter of the BBC documentary ‘The Last Dance Floor in Chernobyl’. Next, we hear about the worst floods in 50 years that the Mexican state of Tabasco experienced and the race to save thousands of animals in Paraguay and Brazil in 1982. Plus, the unexpected drought in the Danube River in 2011 and when Canada saw their largest ever campaign of civil disobedience in 1993 to save a rainforest. In our episode of Sporting Witness, the tale of the 1981 film ‘Escape to Victory’. Contributors: Yurіy Skaletskyy – former radiological officer in Soviet Union military Jordan Dunbar – BBC presenter Marco Franco – emergency co-ordinator for the Red Cross in Mexico Dario Perez Chena – rescue worker in the Mymba Kuera operation Kristian Yakimov - an ecologist and tourist guide in Bulgaria Tzeporah Berman – environmental activist in Canada (Photo: Chernobyl in the aftermath of the explosion in 1986. Credit: SHONE/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

    1hr 1min

  7. 18 Apr

    Winning the Booker Prize and discovering a lost fairytale

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. This week, the moment when Irish writer Roddy Doyle discovered he'd won one of the most prestigious honours in fiction: The Booker Prize. And our guest, Merritt Moseley, emeritus professor of English at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, discusses the history of the award. Plus, we look back at the assassination of radical African leader Thomas Sankara in 1987, and find out more about the Indonesian province that introduced Sharia law. Also, how Hans Christian Andersen's 'lost fairytale' was discovered in Danish archives, and the female rollerblader who beat the men to grab X Games glory. Finally, the story behind the creation of the children's playtime favourite, My Little Pony, in 1983. Contributors: Roddy Doyle – author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Merritt Moseley - emeritus professor of English at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Paul Sankara – brother of Captain Thomas Sankara. Bonnie Zacharle – toymaker. Azwar Abubakar - acting governor of Aceh. Ejnar Askgaard - curator and senior researcher, Museum Odense. (Photo: Roddy Doyle with his prize winning book, 1993. Credit: PA Images)

    1hr 1min
  8. Hitler’s teeth and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

    11 Apr

    Hitler’s teeth and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

    Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Sahar Saleem, an Egyptian paleoradiologist specialising in using medical imaging technology to study mummies and ancient artefacts. We start with the story a Jewish interpreter who helped guard Adolf Hitler's teeth in the final days of the Second World War. Then, the engineering efforts to reduce the tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - which kept it closed to the public for 11 years. We hear a Nepalese activist recall the massive protests that led to the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990. Plus, a childhood memory of the first major surrealist exhibition in New York. Finally, we hear of the current whereabouts of Jorge, a popular Argentine sea turtle. Contributors: Lyubov Summ - granddaughter of interpreter Yelena Rzhevskaya. Nunziante Squeglia - professor of geotechnics at the University of Pisa. Durga Thapa - Nepalese activist. Carroll Janis - performer at the first major surrealist exhibition. Nicky Salapu - former goalkeeper for American Samoa, Alejandro Saubidet - Argentine marine biologist. (Photo: Pisa Leaning Tower and Pisa Cathedral, in the celebrated Piazza dei Miracoli. Credit: Getty)

    1 hr
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A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC World Service
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    499
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    The History Hour

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