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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

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.

This week, we hear about the first solar-powered flight around the world, and discuss other moments in the history of solar power with Prof Laura Herz, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, in the UK.

Plus, the start of the largest mountain carving in the world in honour of Native American warrior Crazy Horse, Mexico's 'little old lady killer' and the birth of the 'African Oscars', FESPACO.

Finally, when American football came to Europe and how a Peruvian instrument, the cajon, revolutionised flamenco.

Contributors: 
Bertrand Piccard - one of the pilots of Solar Impulse 2.
Prof Laura Herz, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford.
Monique Ziolkowski - daughter of the sculptor who started the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Dr Feggy Ostrosky - neuropsychologist who worked with Juana Barraza.
Alimata Salembéré - president of the first organising committee of the Pan African Film and Television Festival.
Oliver Luck - former president of NFL Europe.
Rubem Dantas - percussionist who helped introduce the cajon into flamenco.

(Photo: Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco in 2016. Credit: Jean Revillard via Getty Images)

Solar-powered flight and the Crazy Horse Memorial

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

This week, we mark 90 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War. Our guest is historian Professor Sir Paul Preston, who explains how the conflict transformed Spain and paved the way for the rise of General Francisco Franco. We hear the story of a young refugee who fled the fighting but later returned home while the war was still under way.

We then travel to the Canadian Arctic, where the Inuit fought for greater control over their land and way of life. Their campaign would eventually lead to the creation of Nunavut, Canada's newest and largest territory.

We also hear the story behind ‘The Kiss of Life’, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph that captured a life-saving rescue.

From Turkey, we hear memories of the failed military coup of July 2016, a night of violence that left hundreds dead. 

Plus, the story of the Birkin bag, the oversized handbag created in the 1980s that became one of the world's most coveted fashion accessories.

And from Sporting Witness, why do thousands of sports fans around the world suddenly stand up, throw their arms into the air and sit down again? We discover the origins of the Mexican wave and how it became a global sporting tradition.

Contributors:
Professor Sir Paul Preston – historian, author and professor at London School of Economics
Paul Quassa- Inuit politician and activist
JD Thompson- American lineman in ‘The Kiss of Life’ photograph 
Can Cumhurcu - Mukhtar of Çengelköy, Istanbul
Jane Birkin – creator of the Birkin bag in interviews from BBC Archive
Krazy George Henderson – creator of the Mexican Wave

(Photo: Spanish Civil War in September 1936. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

The Spanish Civil War and the Birkin bag

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

Our guest is Mateja Kurir, associate professor at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the editor of the book, On Power in Architecture.

We start with Jackie Kennedy's 1962 renovation of the United States' White House and the immigrant workers who protested against rent hikes and living conditions in 1970s France. 

Next, the toxic explosion in a chemical factory in northern Italy in 1975 and South Sudan's celebration of independence in 2011.

Plus, the art movement Dada which began 110 years ago and went on to influence Surrealism and punk.

Finally, the Wimbledon final of 2008 between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer which some call the greatest tennis match ever played.

Contributors:
Jackie Kennedy - featured in a CBS TV special in 1962.
Mohammed Kherbachi - witness to the foyer strikes of the 1970s.
Giuseppe Cassina - former Mayor of Seveso.
Malual Bol Kiir - on the time of South Sudan's independence.
Richard Huelsenbeck - interviewed in 1959 for the BBC programme, The Meaning of Dada.
Rafael Nadal - winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.

This episode has been updated since its original broadcast to clarify the national origins of some artists.

(Photo: The White House in 1962. Credit: Getty Images)

Buildings of power and the Dada art movement

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

Our guest is Jan English from the American Museum and Gardens in Bath in the UK. 

We start with the moment the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the US, more than a century after his death in England in 1892.

Next we head to 1959 when Hawaii was brought into the United States of America as the 50th state with the passing of the Hawaiian Admission Act.

And we go back to the 1940s, when a Mexican American launched the US's first radio service in Spanish.

We fast forward to the 1980s, when the Statue of Liberty was showing her age and was given a multi-million-dollar facelift.

To the story of Rosa Parks who made civil rights history in 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, despite segregation laws discriminating against black people. This story contains outdated language. 

Finally, the creative vision behind West Germany's 1990 World Cup shirt which became a design classic and is now one of the most sought-after by kit collectors around the world. 

Contributors: 
Mary Black Feather Condon - Chief Long Wolf’s great‑granddaughter.
John Waihe'e - Former governor of Hawaii.
Jan English - American Museum and Gardens Collections and Public Engagement Director.
Guillermo Nicolas - Raoul Cortez's grandson.
Peter Dessauer - Architect who oversaw the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.
Rosa Parks - Civil rights activist.
Ina Franzmann - Designer of West Germany’s 1990 football shirt.

(Photo: The Statue of Liberty surrounded by scaffolding during its restoration. Credit: Terry Disney/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The return of Chief Long Wolf and The Statue of Liberty's facelift

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

Our guest is Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh in the UK.

We start with the birth of an Australian campaign to get people to take care in the sun and Ireland's response to the UK Brexit vote.

Next, the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme and the Hong Kong bookseller detained for selling material critical of China's leaders.

Finally, Brazilian footballer Ronaldo's knee injury in 2000 and the story behind a famous insulting song in Mexico - Rata de dos Patas.

Contributors:
Professor David Hill - former head of Cancer Council Victoria.
Professor Devi Sridhar - Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.
Rory Montgomery - former diplomat, who led Ireland's Brexit negotiating team.
Lam Wing-kee - Hong Kong bookseller who was detained for selling material critical of China’s leaders.
Nilton Petroni - Ronaldo Nazario's former physiotherapist.
Manuel Eduardo Toscano - composer of Rata de dos Patas.

(Photo: Sid the Seagull, mascot for the Slip Slop Slap campaign. Credit: Cancer Care Victoria)

The Slip Slop Slap campaign and the Brexit referendum

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Rachel E. Johnson, Professor of Modern African History at Durham University in the UK.

We begin with the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, which became a defining symbol of youth resistance to apartheid. We hear from one of the students who took part in the protest, which was violently suppressed by South African security forces in June 1976.

Then we have the harrowing account of an ethnic Georgian poet who fled his home in Abkhazia when the breakaway region was engulfed in war in 1993.

We also hear from one of the Greek Cypriot women who, in 1987, marched towards the ceasefire line dividing Cyprus to protest against the island’s partition.

Next, the scientist who identified Lyme disease in 1976.

Plus, the discovery of the remains known as “Mungo Man”, a 42,000‑year‑old skeleton that transformed understanding of Australia’s ancient past.

And Brazil’s heaviest defeat in a World Cup, which happened on home soil in 2014.

Contributors: 

Professor Rachel E. Johnson – Professor of Modern African History, Durham University

Bongi Mkhabela – Soweto Uprising participant

Guram Odisharia – Georgian poet from Abkhazia

Niki Katsaouni – Greek Cypriot peace activist

Dr Jim Bowler – geologist

Prof Allen Steere – rheumatologist

Thomas Müller – German footballer

(Photo: Black students protesting against the compulsory teaching of Dutch-based Afrikaans in schools. Credit: Getty Images)

An uprising in South Africa and an exodus in the Caucasus

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. And today, we’re celebrating international archives week, set up to highlight the importance of protecting the world's historical records.

Our guest is BBC curator Joe Schultz who talks about some of the jewels in the BBC radio collections. We find out why cellist Mstislav Rostropovich was stripped of his Soviet citizenship in 1978. 

Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela reveals how he survived prison in South Africa. Plus, Pablo Picasso and his fellow artists enjoy a Surrealist summer in 1930s France. And more on the inspiration behind Anton Chekhov's most famous play, Three Sisters. 

We hear about the Jordanian king who survived numerous assassination attempts to become one of the Middle East’s longest serving leaders. And finally, Pickles the dog: the four-legged hero who found the stolen Jules Rimet trophy ahead of the 1966 World Cup.

Contributors:

Joe Schultz – BBC curator.

Mstislav Rostropovich - virtuoso cellist.

Nelson Mandela – former president of South Africa.

Eileen Agar – Surrealist artist. 

Paul Shishkoff – friend of playwright Anton Chekhov.

King Hussein of Jordan.

Jack Pizzey – TV documentary-maker.

Pickles the dog – hero of the 1966 World Cup.

David Corbett – Pickles' owner.

(Photo: Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, 1950. Credit: Michael Ward/Getty Images)

Opening the archives: A cellist, a playwright and a king

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Giuliana Pieri, an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London.

We start with the author Andrea Camilleri on the creation of his fictional detective Inspector Montalbano in 1994, and his influence on Italian noir.

Then we explore the tapes recorded in the 1950s with Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

We hear about the Chinese protests in 1989 that led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Plus, the launch of Ireland's first Irish language television channel in 1996.

Next, when Diana Ross missed a penalty at the World Cup in 1994.

Finally, we hear from the artist behind the first of Australia's 'Big Things', the giant novelty sculptures that became a national phenomenon.

Contributors: 

Professor Giuliana Pieri - an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London

Andrea Camilleri - Italian crime-writer (archive)

Saskia Sassen - daughter of Dutch journalist Willem Sassen, who recorded interviews with Adolf Eichmann

Wu'er Kaixi - Chinese student organiser of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square

Sinéad Ní Ghuidhir - first live presenter to speak on Teilifís na Gaeilge: Ireland's first television channel broadcasting exclusively in the Irish language

Alan Rothenberg - former president of the US Soccer Federation

Paul Kelly - Australian artist behind both the Big Scotsman and the equally iconic Big Lobster

Christobel Kelly - daughter of Paul Kelly

(Photo: Italian writer Andrea Camilleri, Rome, Italy, 2011. Credit: Luciano Viti/Getty Images)

The creation of Inspector Montalbano and Australia's first Big Thing

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

Our guest is Michelle Meinhart, a reader in musicology and cultural history at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.
 
We start by hearing about a Mexican song that captivated lovers in World War Two.
 
Then, a marketing strategist recalls how he worked on a Mexican election campaign in 2000 that saw a change of government for the first time in 71 years.
 
We hear how millions of indigenous women in Mexico won the right to vote and stand in elections in 2014.
 
Plus, a woman recalls her family's escape from a deadly gas explosion in Mexico City in 1984.
 
Finally, we find out how Titanic, one of the most successful films in movie history, was made in Mexico in 1997.
 
Contributors: 
 
Mariano Rivera Velazquez - son of singer Consuelo Velazquez who wrote Bésame Mucho.
 
Michelle Meinhart - a reader in musicology and cultural history at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
 
Francisco Ortiz - marketing strategist. 
 
Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza - campaigner for indigenous women's rights.
 
Virginia Martínez Tellez - San Juanico resident.
 
Antonio Moreno - sports journalist.
 
Luisa Gomez de Silva - assistant coordinator in the art department for the movie Titanic.
 
(Photo: A welcoming kiss. Credit: Topical press agency/Hulton archive/Getty images)

Mexican history: A love song and a gas explosion

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

First, the story of the Belgian teenager who exposed a scandal within the country’s Royal Family in 1999. 

Our guest, Professor Kate Williams takes us through some other royal scandals from history. 

We hear how a group of women set up an underground newspaper in communist Poland and how an E-Coli outbreak caused one of Canada’s worst public health emergencies. 

Plus, how Montenegro achieved independence from Serbia through a 2006 referendum. 

Our sporting story this week takes us to Eastern Ukraine and the rise of Shakhtar Donetsk. 

Contributors: 
Mario Danneels – teenager who exposed King Albert II of Belgium’s secret child 
Professor Kate Williams – royal historian 
Helena Luczywo – former editor of Polish underground newspaper Mazovia Weekly 
Bruce Davidson – resident who experienced Canada’s E-Coli outbreak 
Ivan Vujovic – independence campaigner in Montenegro 
Darijo Srna – former captain of Shakhtar Donetsk 

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast after it was identified that an archive interview used in it was wrongly attributed. 

(Photo: Queen Paola and King Albert II of Belgium in 1999. Credit: Reuters)

Solar-powered flight and the Crazy Horse Memorial

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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