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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:

The Bristol bus boycott Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

Sixty years ago, there was a boycott of local bus services in the English city of Bristol. The bus company had specified that it did not want to employ black bus drivers.

The boycott ended on 28 August 1963 and the campaign helped to bring about Britain's first laws against racial discrimination.

In 2013, Louise Hidalgo heard from Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett, who died in 2022.

This programme contains some racist language, used at the time.

(Photo: Bus on Park Street in Bristol in the early 1960s. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Women invade Dublin's male-only swimming spot Aug 25, 2023

Show notes

The Forty Foot is a famous sea swimming spot in Ireland’s capital city of Dublin. For hundreds of years, only men had the privilege of bathing in its deep, icy waters – naked if they chose.

That was until one day in the summer of 1974, when a group of women decided to plot an invasion.

At a time when Irish women couldn’t even access contraception, why did this group of hardy feminists decide to fight this particular battle for equality?

Rosie Blunt speaks to poet, writer, women’s rights activist, and swimmer Mary Dorcey.

(Photo: Woman diving at the Forty Foot in 2019. Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates' Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

In 2006, Michele Burke and her fiancé William were looking forward to moving into their dream home in the picturesque town of Killaloe, in Ireland.

But when Ireland's economic boom - known as the Celtic Tiger - ended and the global financial crisis of 2008 hit, construction on Michele and William's new house abruptly stopped.

The couple were stuck paying a mortgage on a home they couldn't move into. They were not the only ones struggling. During the recession, there were more than 1,000 abandoned 'ghost estates' in Ireland.

Michele tells Vicky Farncombe about her eight-year fight to move into her house.

(Photo: Michele Burke outside her abandoned home in Killaloe in 2013. Credit: BBC)

The first Rose of Tralee Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

In 1959, Tralee, in Ireland, hosted a festival to promote the town and build Irish connections around the world.

It became known as the Rose of Tralee and is now one of Ireland’s oldest and largest festivals, as well as one of the most watched TV programmes.

Last year, more than 30 international ‘roses’ or contestants took part, including representatives from Toronto, Sydney and Dubai.

Rachel Naylor speaks to the first woman to be crowned the Rose of Tralee, an unofficial ambassador of Ireland, Alice O’Sullivan, from Dublin.

(Photo: Alice O'Sullivan at the Rose of Tralee in 1959. Credit: George Doyle, Paudi Cronin (Neustock Media). From Kerry County Museum’s photo library, created with support from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht through their 2020 Audience Engagement Fund)

How electricity came to rural Ireland Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

In May 1948, Canon John Hayes flicked a switch and brought electricity to the parish of Bansha, in Ireland.

The village was the first in County Tipperary to be connected to the grid, under the Rural Electrification Scheme.

The ambitious programme ran from 1946 to 1964 and saw 300,000 homes powered up.

Vicky Farncombe produced this episode of Witness History using archives from Irish electricity board, the ESB.

(Photo: Erecting electricity poles in rural Ireland. Credit: ESB Archives)

Easter Rising in Ireland Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

At Easter 1916, a small army of Irish rebels attempted to start a revolution against British rule.

They held out for more than a week against a massive British military response.

Simon Watts brings together eye-witness accounts of the Easter Rising.

(Photo: Irish rebels lying in wait on a roof getting ready to fire during the Easter Rising. Credit: Mondadori via Getty Images)

The Wizard of Oz: The stolen ruby slippers Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

The ruby slippers from the 1939 movie 'The Wizard of Oz' are some of the most treasured film memorabilia of all time. There are thought to be four pairs from the film that have survived.

This is the story of the slippers that were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota, USA in 2005. John Kelsch is one of the people who started the museum. He tells Gill Kearsley the story of the stolen slippers.

(Photo: Publicity still from 'The Wizard of Oz', Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Judy Garland: The final shows Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Judy Garland ended her long and glitzy stage and screen career at a London theatre club in January 1969. She was booked for five weeks of nightly shows at the 'Talk of the Town', but by that time, the former child star of the 'Wizard of Oz' was struggling with a drug and drink addiction.

In 2019, Mike Lanchin heard the memories of Rosalyn Wilder, then a young production assistant, whose job was to try to get Judy Garland on stage each night.

(Photo: Judy Garland performing in one of her final shows. Credit: Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

Returning Benin Bronzes Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

In 2004, a chance encounter in Nigeria led to the return of two of the country’s ancient artworks, the looted Benin Bronzes.

The treasures were among thousands stolen from Benin City by the British Army in 1897, and acquired by museums around the world.

More than a century later, Tim Awoyemi and Steve Dunstone were on a charity trip when they were approached by campaigners demanding the bronzes return.

The two men vowed to help, but it took them 10 years before they were able to fulfil that promise, as Tim Awoyemi tells Jane Wilkinson.

(Photo: Benin Bronzes, Nigeria, 2014. Credit: Kelvin Ikpea/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran: How the prime minister was overthrown in 1953 Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

The coup of 1953 changed the course of Iranian history. The USA - with British help - overthrew a nationalist prime minister and installed the Shah in power.

In 2010, Alan Johnston heard archive recordings of the CIA officer who played a part and spoke to Hedayat Matine-Daftary, the grandson of Mohammed Mossadeq, the deposed prime minister.

(Photo: crowds of people protest against the Iran coup in 1953. Credit: Getty Images)

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