The History Hour

BBC World Service

4.3 (536)
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UPDATED WEEKLY

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

12 HR. AGO

Referendums and cannibalism

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 the first time. Plus, a grieving mother recounts the Taliban's horrific 2014 attack on a military school in Pakistan. Finally, we hear how the communist authorities enforced martial law in Poland over Christmas in 1981. Contributors: Malcolm Turnbull - former Australian Prime Minister and leader of republican campaign. Professor David Flint - leader of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. Nando Parrado - Andes plane crash survivor. Angus McIntyre - son of Colin McIntyre, Ceefax's first editor. Andaleeb Aftab - survivor of Pakistani military school attack. Maciek Romejko - Polish Solidarity member and activist (Photo: Malcolm Turnbull, leader of the Australian Republican Movement, 1999. Credit: Torsten Blackwood/AFP via Getty Images)

51 min
DEC 14

Panama and the 'Purple Heart Battalion'

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 Reggaeton music. Next we go to Cuba. An old comrade of Fidel Castro recounts the violent start of the Cuban revolution in 1953. And a member of the Obama administration explains how he negotiated better US-Cuba relations in 2014. Finally, the story of the 442nd US military regiment, made up almost entirely of Japanese Americans, that earned more than 4,000 Purple Heart medals for extraordinary heroism during World War Two. Contributors: Alberto Aleman Zubieta - Panama Canal administrator. Leonardo Renato Aulder - Reggaeton singer and DJ. Joan Flores-Villalobos - Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California. Agustín Díaz Cartaya - Cuban revolutionary. Ben Rhodes - Speechwriter for US President Barack Obama. Clyde Kusatsu - son of 442nd Regiment veteran. (Photo: World War Two veterans from the highly decorated 442nd Regiment in 2015. Credit: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

51 min
DEC 7

Women making a mark

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, the feminist campaigner Gloria Steinem who in 1972, co-founded the first magazine in the US which was owned, run and written by women. And the story of Portugal's "Three Marias" whose book ‘Novas Cartas Portuguesas’, was banned after it was published. Contributors: Maria Teresa Horta - one of the "Three Marias". Dr Katalin Karikó - Nobel Prize winning scientist. Valeria Perasso - Team leader at the BBC's 100 Women project. Julia Gillard - Former Australian Prime Minister. Nalini Malani - Indian artist. Gloria Steinem - Co-founder of Ms Magazine. (Photo: Nalini Malani. Credit: Ritesh Uttamchandani/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

51 min
NOV 30

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

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 deepest man-made hole in the world. Plus, one of the most controversial political scandals in modern US history, the Iran-Contra affair. And from 2010, the first HIV positive passenger to travel legally to the US after a 22-year ban. Finally, the story behind the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing tv show. Contributors: Magnus Carlsen - chess grandmaster and five-time World Chess Champion Yao Lan - chess woman grandmaster, three times British champion and chess historian. Professor David Smythe – geophysicist. Clemens Ruland – first HIV positive passenger to travel legally to the US after a 22-year ban. Karen Smith - co-creator and executive producer Strictly Come Dancing. (Photo: Magnus Carlsen in 2014. Credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images)

51 min
NOV 23

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

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 Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, some Christians faced persecution. Between 2002 and 2005, Naghmeh Panahi and her husband, Saeed Abedini, set up a network of secret 'house churches' across the country. It is 70 years since William Golding’s acclaimed novel was published. Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a desert island, and how they survive without adults. Golding's daughter, Judy Carver, spoke to Vincent Dowd, about her father’s work in 2014. In 1999, the small territory of Macau was handed back to China after centuries of Portuguese rule. Lawyer and comedian Miguel Senna Fernandes was a member of the Macau Legislative Council and involved in the historic handover. In 1993, a new combat sport was born. Its founders called it the Ultimate Fighting Championship – UFC. It pitted all forms of mixed martial arts against each other with little to no rules and all contained in an octagon-shaped cage. One of the men responsible for cooking up this new concept was TV producer Campbell McLaren. He tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how he used controversy to market the violent spectacle. This episode contains descriptions of violence, which some listeners may find distressing. Presenter: Max Pearson (Photo: Aeham Ahmad, the Pianist of Yarmouk and other Palestinian musician refugees in Damascus, in Syria, in 2014. Credit: Rame Alsayed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

51 min
NOV 16

The ‘Battle of the Surfaces’ and becoming a republic

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 December 1974 4.5million million people went to the polls to cast their vote. The result was two to one in favour of a republic. Jane Wilkinson looks through the BBC archives to find out more. Next, a mountain massacre in base camp of the Nanga Parbat mountain in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan killed 19 people. . Polish climber Aleksandra Dzik, aged 30, was on the mountain that night, at camp two, and speaks to Megan Jones. Plus, India’s coal-mine rescue. On 16 November 1989, mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill saved 65 miners from the Mahabir Coal Mine, in India. The miners, who had been trapped for three days after a flood, were winched out one by one using a tiny, steel capsule. Rachel Naylor speaks to Jaswant's son, Sarpreet Singh Gill. In 2013, a six-year-old from Argentina became one of the youngest people in the world to legally have their gender changed on official documents through self-declaration. Gabriela Mansilla reveals, the fight for recognition was not easy for her daughter Luana. (Photo: 'The Battle of the Surfaces' at The Palma Arena on May 2, 2007 in Mallorca. Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

51 min
NOV 9

Female heroes of WW2 and the Iranian Revolution

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 'Baby In the second half of the programme, we tell stories from Iran. Journalist Sally Quinn looks back at the excess of the Shah of Iran’s three-day party, held in 1971. Two very different women – the former Empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, and social scientist Rouhi Shafi – describe how it feels to be exiled from their country. Finally, Barry Rosen shares the dramatic story of when he was held hostage in the US embassy in the Tehran for 444 days. Presenter: Max Pearson (Photo: Children rescued from the Warsaw Ghetto by Irena Sendler. Credit: Getty Images)

51 min
NOV 2

Magic, illusion and tigers

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 technique of making still photographs that appear to be moving. In 2002, the method came to the attention of one of the biggest names in the field of technology, Steve Jobs. Also, the New Zealand woman who was nicknamed ‘the Queen of the Skies’ for her record breaking flights of the 1930s. Jean Batten flew planes made of wood and canvas during the golden age of aviation. And we go back to 1996 for Brazil's early adoption of electronic voting, and discover more about the experiments behind the creation of Greenwich Mean Time. Contributors: Ken Burns - film maker Chris Lawrence - animal trainer Margaret Steele - magic historian, magician and author Carlos Velozo - lawyer Jean Batten – aviator Emily Akkermans - Curator of Time, Royal Museums Greenwich Keith Moore - the Royal Society of London (Photo: Siegfried and Roy with a white lion cub, Las Vegas, 1997. Credit: Barry King/WireImage)

51 min

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4.3

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536 Ratings

Black boohoo PC stories

10/09/2021

wolfie/wolf

Ya we have heard more, poor me boohoo stories. Especially I’m so rich but a victim success story. Enough of the PC radical race theory. Everyone is so mean because I’m black as they laugh all the way to the bank.
Insulting review

Nov 29

Vote2018

Well that’s just rude!
Ever a boring segment

Mar 31

LoganDylan

I look forward to the new episodes that come out, however, why is it that some won’t play? i.e. 10/16/2021 Pakistani law that jails rape victims and 12/25/2021 Right to Drive in Saudi Arabia. As for a review, your program is wonderful, but I just would like an answer to my question.
Good history podcast

03/09/2023

Andrei braescu

I enjoy the vast variety of topics brought up by this podcast but I also find myself fed up with the huge amount of episodes/sections in the episodes about LGBTQ stuff. There’s too much emphasis on the topic, considering the fact this is a history podcast, not a propaganda/brainwashing thing.