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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

BBC World Service


A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.


The History Hour

We start with the street artist Banksy, and his 2015 dystopian 'bemusement park'.

Then, we talk to roller coaster enthusiast Megan MacCausland, from the European Coaster Club. 

Plus, we go back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the coelacanth, a fish believed to have been extinct for 65 million years. 

Next, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up after the abolishment of apartheid in the 1990s. This programme contains contains harrowing testimony and graphic descriptions of human rights violations throughout.

Also, the six-day IRA siege on London's Balcombe Street in 1975, where a couple were taken hostage.

Finally, it's been 10 years since 193 countries and the European Union adopted the Paris climate agreement, in December 2015. 

Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at how an international skiing scene developed in the mountains of Bamiyan province, Afghanistan, in 2011. 

Contributors: 

Kurtis Young - steward at Dismaland.
Megan MacCausland - European Coaster Club.
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer - South African museum curator (from archive).
Sisi Khampepe - served on the Amnesty Committee.
Steven Moysey - saw the Balcombe Street siege unfold.
Christiana Figueres - head of climate negotiations at 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Alishah Farhang - Afghanistan skier. 

(Photo: Dismaland in Weston Super-Mare. Credit: Kristian Buus/Getty Images)

Banky's 'Dismaland' and the Paris climate agreement

The world is on the brink of nuclear war. How can the Soviet Union and the USA prevent it? Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders President John F Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Together Nina and Max explore what drove JFK and Khrushchev during the darkest days of October 1962. And when the crisis moves beyond their control, as a U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba, how do they avoid global catastrophe? To hear more, search for The Bomb, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, all with a Nigerian theme.

We hear two personal stories of the Biafra war, which began in 1967, including the writer Wole Soyinka who was jailed for trying to stop it. Plus, we hear from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe about escaping the conflict. She's now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye.

We speak to Dr Louisa Egbunike, who is an Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University in England.

Also, a retired Brigadier General speaks about West African countries fighting back against the jihadist militant group Boko Haram in 2015. 

Then, the opening of the New Afrika Shrine in 2000, by Fela Kuti's children to honour his legacy. 

Finally, we hear from Omoyemi Akerele who founded Lagos Fashion Week in 2011.

Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at Nigeria becoming the first team to represent Africa at the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. This is a Made in Manchester Production.

Contributors:

Wole Soyinka - Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright.
Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe - TV and music star.
Dr Louisa Egbunike - Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University.
Sani Kukasheka Usman - retired Brigadier General.
Omoyeni Anikulapo-Kuti, also known as Yeni Kuti - the eldest daughter of Fela Kuti.
Omoyemi Akerele - founder of Lagos Fashion Week.
Nkiri Okosieme – captained Nigeria women's national football team.

(Photo: Biafran national army soldiers. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Nigerian history

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

Our guest is literature lecturer Dr Hetta Howes on major literary hoaxes around the world.

We hear about Howard Hughes' fake autobiography, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia and how the Indian musician Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar.

Plus, the Indian woman who led her country's first delegation to the United Nations, the Premier League's first female photographer and how Toy Story revolutionised animation.

Contributors:
Clifford Irving - American author who faked an autobiography of Howard Hughes. 
Dr Hetta Howes - a senior lecturer in English Literature at City St George’s, at the University of London.
Jorge Enrique Castelblanco - Colombian engineer behind the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá.
Ravi Shankar - Indian sitar maestro.
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit - led India's first delegation to the United Nations in 1946.
Magi Haroun - the Premier League's first female photographer.
Doug Sweetland - animator on Toy Story.

(Photo: Clifford Irving leaving the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, followed by news crews in 1972. Credit: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)

Literary hoaxes and an underground cathedral

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Mercedes Peñalba- Sotorrío, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Manchester Metropolitan University, England.

We start with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain.

Then, we use archive to hear how King Juan Carlos reclaimed the Spanish throne in 1975 and led the country to a democracy. This episode was made in collaboration with BBC Archives.

We hear from a Social Democrat politician about Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to suspend asylum rules for Syrians fleeing war in 2015.

How the Bosnian war ended with the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.

Next, how a substitute fielder ran out the Australian captain in the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes, turning the game in England's favour.

Finally, we use archive to hear about cold war diplomacy in the Geneva summit in 1985.

Contributors:

José Antonio Martínez Soler - a journalist.

King Juan Carlos - the former King of Spain (from archive).

Aydan Özoğuz - a Social Democrat politician and former minister of state for immigration.

Milan Milutinović - a negotiator in the Dayton Peace Accords.

Gary Pratt - a fielder in the England cricket team in the 2005 Ashes series.

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev - The former US President and former Soviet leader (from archive).

(Image: King Juan Carlos, 1975. Credit: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty images)

Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the Bosnian war

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.

We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.
 
Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.

We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.

France’s former finance minister recalls how an economic crisis in the 1970s led to the birth of the G7.

Next, how a heated NBA game in 2004 spiralled into one of the most infamous brawls in sports history. 

Finally, we hear the story of the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009.

Contributors:

Chuck Yeager (from archive) - the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott - a couple who survived the Bataclan attack in Paris.

Benjamin Ferencz - a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials.

Jean-Pierre Fourcade - France's former finance minister.

Mark Boyle - radio broadcaster for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

Mohamed Nasheed - former President of the Maldives.

(Photo: The first powered take off of Chuck Yeager's supersonic plane in 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

Our guest is Darja Dankina, who's a palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

We start with the discovery of the largest dinosaur ever, uncovered by a shepherd on a ranch in Argentina in 2012. 

Then, we hear from the daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who created children's show Thunderbirds in 1965.

Plus, the impeachment of US President Clinton in 1999.

How an American historical document typed out on a university computer in 1971 played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books.

Also, Colonel Gaddafi’s son being signed to Italy’s top football league in 2003.

Finally, we use BBC archive to hear how children's book character Miffy was created in 1955. In the programme Dick Bruna reads from Miffy Goes Flying with permission from Mercis Publishing bv.

Contributors: 

Dr Diego Pol - palaeontologist who lead the dig for the Patagotitan. 
Darja Dankina - palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. 
Dee Anderson - daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
Joe Lockhart - Bill Clinton’s former press secretary.
Greg Newby - Project Gutenberg’s CEO and director.
Jay Bothroyd and Zeljko Kalac - former Perugia players.
Dick Bruna - Dutch author and illustrator.

(Photo: The Patagotitan. Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy

Emerante de Pradines's son, Richard Morse, tells us about his mother’s life and her commitment to de-demonising vodou culture through her music. Haiti expert Kate Hodgson, from University College Cork in Ireland, expands on the history of the country in the 20th Century. 

The story of how an Argentinian doctor was inspired to create a new treatment for heart disease and when the death of a Catholic priest sent shockwaves through El Salvador in 1977. 

Plus, the memories of a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, when thousands of Bosnian Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb Soldiers thirty years ago. 

The first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup and Orson Welles’s famous re-telling of the War of the Worlds, which sparked mass panic in America. 

Contributors: 

Richard Morse – son of Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines 

Kate Hodgson – lecturer in French at University College Cork in Ireland 

Dr Julio Palmaz – the inventor of the balloon-expandable stent 

Gabina Dubon – colleague of Father Rutilio Grande 

Sister Ana Maria Pineda – theologian and author 

Hasan Nuhanovic – survivor of the Srebrenica massacre 

Michelle Payne – 2015 Melbourne Cup winner 

Archive recordings of Orson Welles, his producer John Houseman and writer Howard Koch 

Presenter: Max Pearson

(Photo: Orson Welles rehearsing a radio broadcast of H.G. Wells' classic, The War of the Worlds on 10 October, 1938. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. 

Sonny Roberts’ daughter tells us about how her father created the UK’s first black-owned music studio - this programme contains outdated and offensive language. Music producer and professor emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Lucy Durán takes us through the history of music studios around the world. 

How a Macedonian scientist’s discovery led to treatments for diabetes and obesity, and the story of the Kenyan ecologist who became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Plus, the mysterious sinking of a British oil tanker in Indonesia in the the 1950s and how the first lottery scratchcard was invented by an American mathematician. 

As well as the story of the first South American to win the International Surfing Association world title back in 2004. 

Contributors: 

Cleon Roberts – daughter of Sonny Roberts. 

Lucy Duran – music producer and professor at the School of Oriental and African studies at the University of London. 

Svetlana Mojsov – Macedonian scientist who discovered the hormone called GLP-Joseph McCorry – who was on the San Flaviano oil tanker. 

Wanjira Mathai – daughter of Wangari Maathai. 

Sofia Mulanovich – three-time world surfing champion. 

John Koza – the inventor of the scratchcard. 

(Photo: Jamaican record producer Sonny Roberts Record Shop in Willesden Junction, London, UK in December 1982. Credit: David Corio/Redferns via Getty)

Music producer Sonny Roberts and treating diabetes

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. 

Indian-based author and podcaster Purba Chakraborty talks about the history of fiction writing.

We hear about the rise in popularity of 'Nordic Noir', following the publication of Henning Mankell's crime novels.

Then we listen to BBC archive of writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges - regarded as one of the most influential Latin American writers in history.

Plus, the trial of two Soviet writers, Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky, accused of smuggling their works to the west.

Helen Fielding looks back at her weekly newspaper column about a 30-something, single woman in London, which became a cultural phenomenon in the 1990s.

The niece of Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson talks about her iconic Moomin books - which have been published in more than 60 languages.

And finally, we hear the personal story of young Nepalese athlete Mira Rai, which shocked the ultra-running world. 

Contributors:
Anneli Høier - literary agent.
Jorge Luis Borges - short story writer and poet.
Purba Chakraborty - writer and podcaster.
Andrei Sinyavsky - Russian writer and Soviet dissident.
Alexander Daniel - son of Yuli Daniel, Russian writer and Soviet dissident.
Helen Fielding - journalist and writer.
Sophia Jansson - niece of Tove Jansson, author and artist.
Mira Rai - Nepalese trail runner.

(Photo: Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and a copy of one of his books. Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)

Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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