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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The Capture of USS Pueblo
Wed 23 Jan 2013
American spy ship USS Pueblo was captured by North Korean forces forty-five years ago
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The Hunger Winter
Tue 22 Jan 2013
How millions of Dutch faced starvation at the end of World War Two
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The death of Bassel al Assad
Mon 21 Jan 2013
It is 19 years since the heir to the Syrian presidency died in a car crash.
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The Arrest of Klaus Barbie
Fri 18 Jan 2013
Thirty years ago, the former Gestapo chief, Klaus Barbie, was arrested in Bolivia.
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Black Stars of Ghana
Thu 17 Jan 2013
Striker Osei Kofi on how the Ghanaian football team dominated Africa in the 1960s.
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Roe v Wade
Wed 16 Jan 2013
In 1973 the landmark decision was made in the US Supreme Court which made abortion legal
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The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Mon 14 Jan 2013
The US government's experiment on a group of African-American men without their knowledge
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The Boxing Day tsunami and Aceh
Fri 11 Jan 2013
When the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 hit Indonesia, over 130,000 people died.
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Festival in the Desert
Thu 10 Jan 2013
In 2001 a festival held in the Sahara desert launched Tuareg music on the world scene
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Tito on Vis
Wed 9 Jan 2013
In 1944 the Yugoslav partisan leader found sanctuary on a tiny island in the Adriatic.
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Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison
Tue 8 Jan 2013
It is 45 years since the Country and Western star played his first gig in a jail.
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Operation No Living Thing
Mon 7 Jan 2013
In January 1999, a combined rebel force invaded the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown.
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Donald Campbell's Fatal Crash
Fri 4 Jan 2013
In January 1967 the record-breaking driver was killed at the helm of his jetboat Bluebird
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Waiting for Godot
Thu 3 Jan 2013
How Samuel Beckett's existentialist masterpiece revolutionised the theatre 60 years ago.
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The Keeling Curve
Wed 2 Jan 2013
Meticulously recorded levels of CO2 in the atmosphere show how our climate is changing
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Donald Woods flees South Africa
New Year's Day 2013
It is 35 years since the South African newspaper editor was forced into exile.
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Pong and the birth of the computer game
Mon 31 Dec 2012
It is 40 years since a video game was invented which would change the way we play.
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Big Brother - the beginning of reality TV
Fri 28 Dec 2012
In December 1999 a young Dutch man won the first ever Big Brother reality TV show.
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Maitatsine
Thu 27 Dec 2012
In 1980 thousands died in the Nigerian city of Kano in an uprising by an Islamic sect.
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Vietnam War - Christmas bombing campaign
Boxing Day 2012
40 years ago the US launched its heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam War.
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The Execution of the Ceauşescus
Christmas Day 2012
On December 25th 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu were executed by firing squad.
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Dusty Plays South Africa
Christmas Eve 2012
The British popstar Dusty Springfield went on tour in apartheid South Africa in 1964
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Mad cow disease - CJD
Fri 21 Dec 2012
In the 1990s it became clear that a brain disease could be passed from cows to humans.
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Libya and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Thu 20 Dec 2012
In December 2003 Colonel Gaddafi announced Libya was giving up trying to make WMD
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The last men on the moon
Wed 19 Dec 2012
The story of the last US space mission to the moon 40 years ago
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Piltdown Man
Tue 18 Dec 2012
In 1912, Britain's top palaeontologists were hoaxed by a "missing link" in human evolution
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The M Room
Mon 17 Dec 2012
How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war
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Discovering Cleopatra's Palace
Fri 14 Dec 2012
Twenty years ago underwater excavations began which unearthed a 2000 year old palace.
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Marsha Hunt and the 1960s
Thu 13 Dec 2012
In the late 1960s a young black American woman rolled up in 'Swinging' London.
