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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

BBC World Service

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.

Witness History

In 2011 Asha Bhosle, India’s queen of melody, was officially named the most recorded artist in music history. The Guinness World Record recognised the astonishing scale of her career, having performed up to 11,000 songs in more than 20 Indian languages since 1947.

The title previously belonged to her sister Lata Mangeshkar, and together the siblings dominated India’s playback singing world for decades, lending their voices to film soundtracks that actors later lip‑synced onscreen.

Reena Stanton-Sharma uses BBC archive interviews to tell the story. 

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Asha Bhosle performs in New York in 2008. Credit: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

Asha Bhosle: The world's most recorded artist

When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck the coast of Kenya, a baby hippo named Owen was swept out to sea and separated from his family.

After being rescued, he was taken to Haller Park in Mombasa, where he formed an extraordinary bond with Mzee, a 130-year-old giant tortoise. Their unlikely friendship captured the world's imagination and became an international sensation.

In 2023, conservationist Dr Paula Kahumbu told Gill Kearsley the remarkable story of Owen and Mzee.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo:Owen and Mzee in January 2005. Credit: Peter Greste/AFP via Getty Images)

The tortoise and the hippo

In 2008, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed an unprecedented power-sharing deal to end a wave of violence that had left more than 1,200 people dead.

Kibaki would remain president, while Odinga would become prime minister, a role created as part of the settlement. They hoped the accord would end the bloodshed that had engulfed Kenya after the disputed election two months earlier.

Maina Kiai was Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights at the time. He spoke to Stefania Gozzer about the uncertainty of those weeks and the push for a political settlement.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga shakes hands with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki as former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa stand beside them. Credit: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Kenya's power-sharing deal

In 1963, as Kenya celebrated independence from British rule, one of the last Mau Mau fighters came out of hiding and laid down her arms. 

Muthoni Kirima was the first and only woman to be appointed field marshall in the Kenya Land and Freedom Army - better known as the Mau Mau. 

She had been living in the Kenyan forest for 11 years, fighting with other armed rebels to reclaim land taken by European settlers. 

Thousands died or were imprisoned as Britain tried to crush the uprising. But the rebellion was later seen as paving the way to independence. 

Jane Wilkinson has found out more through Muthoni Kirima's interview with the Mau Mau Chronicles oral history project.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Field Marshall Muthoni Kirima, 1963. Credit: Smith Archive/Alamy)

The last of the Mau Mau fighters

In 1952, Princess Elizabeth became queen while staying at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya. But she wouldn't make the discovery until hours later.

The 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth and her husband were on five-month royal tour of the Commonwealth, and their first stop was Kenya. 

The overnight trip to Treetops, a lodge in the Aberdare National Park, was supposed to be a relaxing break. But the princess didn’t yet know that, back in Britain, her father King George VI, had died in his sleep.

BBC correspondent Frank Gillard was following the trip and sent back a report after the news broke on February 6th. Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out what happened.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in Kenya, 1952. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Treetops: The day a princess became a queen

In 1997, scientists travelled to Tsavo, Kenya, in search of a cave believed to have been the den of the man-eating lions that terrorised railway workers in 1898.

The two lions stalked Indian and African men building the Uganda Railway, dragging victims from their tents at night. It was nine months before the officer in charge of the railway project, British Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, could kill them.

Nearly a century later, a team including scientists from Chicago's Field Museum, where the now taxidermied lions are kept, returned to Tsavo to search for the cave Patterson believed had been the lions' den.

Thomas Gnoske, one of the scientists on the expedition, and Alan Patterson, John Henry Patterson's grandson, speaks to Stefania Gozzer about the hunt for the cave and the enduring legend of the Tsavo lions.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Tsavo lions in Chicago. Credit: Field Museum of Natural History)

Finding the den of the Tsavo man-eaters

Holidaymakers arrived at the first Club Med resort on the Spanish island of Majorca in the summer of 1950. 

Founded by the Belgian water polo player Gérard Blitz, Club Méditerranée offered a new kind of post-war holiday built around the idea that leisure should be simple, sociable and accessible.

The facilities were basic at first. Guests slept in huts and shared communal meals. But the company's all-inclusive approach proved enormously popular and helped change the way millions of people holiday around the world.

In 2020, Lucy Burns spoke to Pierre-Xavier Bécret whose parents worked at that first resort and remained part of the Club Med story for many years.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Holidaymakers relaxing at Guadeloupe's Club Med in Canada. Credit: Boris Spremo/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

The origins of the all-inclusive holiday

In 1987, Taiwan finally lifted martial law after nearly four decades of authoritarian rule.

The moment marked a profound shift for a society long shaped by censorship, surveillance and political fear.

For many who had lived through the ‘White Terror’, it opened the possibility of speaking openly for the first time.

Among them was Malaysian student Fred Chin, who had arrived in Taiwan in the late 1960s with little sense of the political tensions around him.

What followed would draw him into a world of secret policing and military justice that operated far from public view, leaving lasting effects on his life and identity.

Ashley Byrne speaks to Fred Chin about his story and what the lifting of martial law meant for him. A Made in Manchester production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Former Jingmei Military Detention Center, where political dissidents were imprisoned during the White Terror. Credit: Craig Ferguson/LightRocket via Getty Images)

When Taiwan’s ‘White Terror’ ended

In the 1980s, townships in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town became an unexpected hotbed of activity against South Africa's apartheid government. 

One charismatic young activist emerged as a leader of the struggle against white minority rule, becoming known as the Che Guevara of the Cape Flats.

Former anti-apartheid activist Adiel 'Gorie' November tells Sumaya Bakhsh about his memories of his friend and fellow resistance fighter, Ashley Kriel.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Ashley Kriel. Credit: Rashid Lombard Archive)

Ashley Kriel: South Africa's anti-apartheid 'Che Guevara'

In 1988, as floods struck Bangladesh and a heat wave swept across the United States, climate change became a political issue. Governments and businesses alike talked about how to stop it, or at least slow it down. 

That year the think tank World Resources Institute and the energy company Applied Energy Services announced a novel idea that has been credited as the first example of a ‘carbon offset’: In order to make up for the millions of tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide that would be released by a new coal-fired power plant in the United States, the energy company would pay to plant 52 million trees in Guatemala. But the reality on the ground was more complicated. 

Stan Alcorn visits Totonicapán, Guatemala and speaks with Roberto Antonio Alvarado, who planted the saplings that would be some of the world’s first carbon offsets. Additional producing by Dennis Funk. A Written in Air production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. 

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. 

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Roberto Antonio Alvarado with one of the first carbon offset trees he planted. Credit: Stan Alcorn)

The first carbon offset

Dame Barbara Cartland was best known for her historical romances and is thought to have sold hundreds of millions of books around the world.

She was step-grandmother to Princess Diana and was at her most prolific in the 1970s and 80s when she appeared regularly on British television. 

Kirsty Reid has been listening to some of her interviews from the BBC archives and hearing what it was like to meet her in person. 

Kirsty also talks to writer Joe McAleer about Dame Barbara Cartland.

Producer/Presenter: Kirsty Reid

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in January 2019.
 
Photo: Barbara Cartland, pictured in 1970 (Credit: BBC)

Barbara Cartland - Queen of Romance

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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