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Witness History

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.

When you subscribe to Witness History, you’ll be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa’s fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations.

You’ll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal’s worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

You’ll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden’s Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles’ George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy’s show to a sudden end.

And if you’re curious about inventions, we’ll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.

If you’re new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.

Copyright: © (C) BBC 2024

Latest Episodes:

Cuban Missile Crisis: The showdown Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

Jo Fidgen hears what was happening in the Pentagon and the Kremlin in the final days of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev finally offered to withdraw the missiles as the crisis came to a head.

In 2012, his son Sergei remembered those fraught few days.

(Photo: Nikita and Sergei Khrushchev. Credit: Sergei Khrushchev)

Cuban Missile Crisis: The photos Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Jo Fidgen spoke to American Intelligence officer Dino Brugioni who played a crucial role as the crisis unfolded. Dino was a CIA expert whose job was to interpret the photographs of missiles in Cuba. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.

(Photo: Dino Brugioni. Credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Cesar Chavez’s campaign for farm workers Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

In the 1960s, a wave of strikes and protest marches by Mexican-American farm workers inspired Latinos across the US.

The movement was led by Cesar Chavez - a man now regarded by his community as a civil rights hero.

Dolores Huerta, who coined the slogan “yes we can!”, worked closely with Chavez. She spoke to Simon Watts in this programme first broadcast in 2012.

(Photo: Cesar Chavez pointing in front of a crowd at a protest. Credit: Getty Images)

Torturing strikers in South Korea Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Park Heongjun takes us back to May 1980, when a strike in the city of Gwangju became one of the most divisive moments in South Korea’s history and led to the imprisonment of activist Bae Ok Byoung.

She worked in a factory making wigs and along with other female employees, went on strike to demand better working conditions.

In this programme first broadcast in 2021, Bae recalls the brutal crackdown by authorities and describes the torture she suffered after her arrest.

This is a 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service. This programme contains descriptions of torture.

(Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980. Credit: Bae Ok Byoung)

Disney animators' strike Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

Walt 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 from Hollywood actors.

The confrontation was rooted in the paranoia of the day – the infiltration of communism into American life, as Art Babbitt explains in BBC archive recordings presented by Josephine McDermott.

(Photo: Art Babbitt leads Disney animators holding placards with cartoon characters at a film premiere. Credit: Kosti Ruohomaa, a former Disney worker, courtesy of Cowan-Fouts Collection)

UK’s ‘Winter of Discontent’ Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

In 1979, British public sector workers went on strike over pay. Among those taking industrial action were gravediggers.

But the media, politicians and even their own families turned against them at the thought of bodies being left unburied.

Claire Bowes spoke to the gravediggers’ convener Ian Lowes in 2011.

(Photo: Protestors during the 'Winter of Discontent'. Credit: Getty Images)

The beginnings of Notting Hill Carnival Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

On 30 January 1959, the late Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones held a Caribbean party in St Pancras Town Hall in London, planting the seeds for the famous carnival.

She wanted to bring Caribbeans across the UK's capital together for dancing, singing and steel bands.

Rachel Naylor hears from her best friend, Corinne Skinner-Carter.

(Photo: A woman having a good time at Claudia Jones' Caribbean carnival, at St Pancras Town Hall in London, 1959. Credit: Daily Mirror via Getty Images)

The Harder They Come Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

In 1972, a low-budget Jamaican film and its legendary soundtrack helped popularise reggae music in the world.

Ben Henderson speaks to one of the most famous reggae artists ever, Jimmy Cliff, who played the film's protagonist and wrote a number of the songs.

Jimmy explains why the film was so popular and how it reflected his own life.

'The Harder They Come' was produced by International Films Inc.

(Photo: Jimmy Cliff in 'The Harder They Come'. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images)

The fall of Slobodan Milosevic Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

On 5 October 2000, protests in the Yugoslav capital Belgrade spiralled into an attack on the parliament building. Hours later President Slobodan Milosevic stood down. Mark Lowen spoke to Srdja Popovic - one of the leaders of the student-led opposition movement - in 2010.

(Photo: Demonstrators and police at the Belgrade parliament. Credit: Getty Images)

The release of Gilad Shalit Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

On 18 October 2011, Israeli solider Gilad Shalit was freed after spending over five years in captivity in Gaza.

His release was part of a controversial prisoner exchange which saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.

Alex Collins talks to Israeli spy, David Meidan, who was successful in negotiations where others had failed.

(Photo: Gilad Shalit and David Meidan standing directly behind him. Credit: IDF via Getty Images)

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