Witness History Podcast
History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.
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.
Episodes to download
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'Fat is a Feminist Issue'
Fri 11 Jan 2019
Susie Orbach's book led people to rethink body-image from a feminist perspective
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Diary of Life in a Favela
Thu 10 Jan 2019
The poor black single mother who stunned Brazil with a book about her life in 1960.
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When Stalin Rounded Up Soviet Doctors
Wed 9 Jan 2019
Hundreds of Soviet doctors were imprisoned or shot in the last year of Stalin's rule.
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Fidel Castro Takes Havana
Tue 8 Jan 2019
The end of the US-backed dictator and the start of communist rule in Cuba in January 1959
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The Doomsday Seed Vault
Mon 7 Jan 2019
In 2008, the first global seed vault was opened to safeguard the world's crops
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Vikings in North America
Fri 4 Jan 2019
The Canadian discovery that proved Vikings had crossed the Atlantic 1000 years ago
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Ceausescu's 'House of the People'
Thu 3 Jan 2019
The vast building that symbolised the excesses of Romania's brutal former dictator
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Barbara Cartland - Queen of Romance
Wed 2 Jan 2019
Exploring the life of bestselling writer Dame Barbara Cartland.
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Brazil's Marijuana Summer
New Year's Day 2019
In 1987 thousands of tin cans full of marijuana washed up on the beaches in Rio.
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Rebels Rout The Army In El Salvador
Mon 31 Dec 2018
The storming of the El Paraiso base by Marxist rebels in December 1983.
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When Animals Go To War
Fri 28 Dec 2018
In December 1943, a British charity created gallantry medals for animals serving in war.
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Trautonium: A Revolution in Electronic Music
Thu 27 Dec 2018
Meet the trautonium, the early electronic instrument promoted by the Nazis.
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The Soviet Afghan War Begins
Boxing Day 2018
The world held its breath in December 1979 as Soviet troops poured into Afghanistan
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UFO Sightings: The Rendlesham Forest Incident
Christmas Day 2018
At Christmas 1980 strange objects and lights were seen over a military base in England.
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Scotland's Stone of Destiny
Christmas Eve 2018
On Christmas Eve 1950 four students took the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey
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Stopping The 'Shoe Bomber'
Fri 21 Dec 2018
How a passenger helped subdue shoe-bomber Richard Reid on an American Airlines flight.
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The Woman Who Wrote Mary Poppins
Thu 20 Dec 2018
Writer PL Travers created a children's classic when she invented a magical nanny.
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Hacking The First Computer Password
Wed 19 Dec 2018
Scientists at MIT in the 1960s had to share computer time - but some people wanted more.
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Theatre in the Sahara
Tue 18 Dec 2018
Theatre director Peter Brook led a troupe of actors across the Sahara desert in 1972
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The US Apologises for Wartime Internment
Mon 17 Dec 2018
Japanese Americans win an apology and compensation for World War II internment.
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China and Japan at War
Fri 14 Dec 2018
Japanese troops reached the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937.
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Englandspiel: The Deadly WW2 Spy Game
Thu 13 Dec 2018
How Britain sent dozens of Dutch agents to their deaths in Nazi-occupied Netherlands
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Apollo 8
Wed 12 Dec 2018
How the first mission to orbit the Moon captured the world's imagination in December 1968
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When China Joined the WTO
Tue 11 Dec 2018
China had to open up its strict communist system to join the World Trade Organisation
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Cicely Saunders And The Modern Hospice Movement
Mon 10 Dec 2018
The British woman who revolutionised the treatment of dying patients around the world.
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Angela Merkel's Rise to Power
Fri 7 Dec 2018
Angela Merkel rose to power in German politics after the fall of her mentor, Helmut Kohl.
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Adopted By The Man Who Killed My Family
Thu 6 Dec 2018
Ramiro Osorio Cristales was five when his family was massacred by the Guatemalan army.
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The Armenian Earthquake
Wed 5 Dec 2018
A catastrophic earthquake hit northern Armenia on December 7th 1988, hear from a survivor
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The Coronation of Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Tue 4 Dec 2018
On 4 December 1977 Jean-Bédel Bokassa was crowned Emperor of the Central African Republic
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Berlin's Rubble Women
Mon 3 Dec 2018
At the end of WW2 much of Germany's capital had been destroyed. Women helped clear it up.
