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
-
![]()
The Invention of Instant Noodles
Fri 17 Aug 2018
The creation in 1958 of a new product that would revolutionise mealtimes worldwide.
-
![]()
When TV Came To South Africa
Thu 16 Aug 2018
Apartheid South Africa finally launched the country's first TV service in 1976.
-
![]()
Photographing Martin Luther King and His Family
Tue 14 Aug 2018
Moneta Sleet, the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism.
-
![]()
Vera Brittain: Anti-Bombing Campaigner
Mon 13 Aug 2018
During WW2 the feminist and writer Vera Brittain spoke out against the bombing of Germany
-
![]()
Israel's Secret Peace Envoy
Thu 9 Aug 2018
In August 1994 Yitzhak Rabin became the first Israeli leader to visit Jordan
-
![]()
The Azeri-Armenian Village Swap
Mon 6 Aug 2018
How two villages, Armenian and Azeri, managed to avoid ethnic violence by swapping homes
-
![]()
The First CIA Coup in Latin America
Fri 3 Aug 2018
Guatemala's president was ousted from power by army officers backed by the CIA in 1954.
-
![]()
The Search for Iran's Nuclear Programme
Thu 2 Aug 2018
In 2003 Iran agreed to let the IAEA into the country to inspect its nuclear facilities.
-
![]()
The Retirement Home For Dancing Bears
Wed 1 Aug 2018
The Bulgarian sanctuary that cares for bears once forced to dance.
-
![]()
Shambo The Sacred Bull
Tue 31 Jul 2018
How a bull's health led to a stand-off between monks and the Welsh government in 2007.
-
![]()
WW1: Britain's Conscientious Objectors
Mon 30 Jul 2018
Thousands went to prison for refusing to join Britain's war effort.
-
![]()
Women At West Point
Fri 27 Jul 2018
In July 1976, female cadets were admitted to the US Military Academy for the first time.
-
![]()
Winston Churchill's Election Defeat
Thu 26 Jul 2018
In July l945 Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill was ousted in a general election
-
![]()
The Whitewashing of Zimbabwe's Ancient History
Wed 25 Jul 2018
The contentious history of the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe - finally revealed.
-
![]()
The Kitchen Debate
Tue 24 Jul 2018
When two Cold War leaders argued about living standards in their countries.
-
![]()
South Korea's Summer Of Terror
Mon 23 Jul 2018
How thousands of suspected communist sympathisers were killed in South Korea in 1950.
-
![]()
A Vet Remembers The Hyde Park Bombing
Fri 20 Jul 2018
Two IRA bombs in London parks killed 11 military personnel and 7 horses on 20th July 1982
-
![]()
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Thu 19 Jul 2018
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in July 1968
-
![]()
The Bombing of the King David Hotel
Wed 18 Jul 2018
The attack by an armed Jewish group on British HQ in Palestine that left 91 dead.
-
![]()
The Virgin Lands Campaign
Tue 17 Jul 2018
To fight food shortages in the 1950s the USSR embarked on a major agricultural project
-
![]()
The Killing of the Russian Tsar
Mon 16 Jul 2018
The Russian Tsar and his family were shot in a cellar in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918
-
![]()
Italy's 'Ghost Shipwreck'
Fri 13 Jul 2018
How journalists located the wreck of a boat that capsized killing nearly 300 migrants
-
![]()
The Spiegel Affair
Thu 12 Jul 2018
How a magazine article about West Germany's defence strategy led to a government crisis.
-
![]()
Smiling Buddha: India's First Nuclear Test
Wed 11 Jul 2018
How India secretly developed and exploded its first atomic device in 1974
-
![]()
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
Tue 10 Jul 2018
Published in 1958 the Nigerian writer's first novel revolutionised African fiction.
-
![]()
Kosovo: 'Madeleine's War'
Fri 6 Jul 2018
Ex-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on why she argued for Nato action in Kosovo
-
![]()
Playgrounds Made of Junk
Thu 5 Jul 2018
Post-war Britain saw a rise in "adventure playgrounds" born out of bomb-sites
-
![]()
The Toilet
Wed 4 Jul 2018
The controversial art installation which upset Russians but is now seen as a masterpiece
-
![]()
Flight 655: When The US Shot Down An Airliner
Tue 3 Jul 2018
All 290 on board were killed when a US warship downed an Iranian passenger jet in 1988
-
![]()
The Search For Deep Throat
Mon 2 Jul 2018
In July 2005, the most famous informant in American history Deep Throat revealed himself
