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How an American historical document typed out on a university computer in 1971 played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books.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

Nordic Noir and the Moomins

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

We start with a BBC archive interview where one woman recounts what it was like to survive the earthquake and landside in 1961 following the volcanic eruption in Tristan da Cunha. Our guest is Anne Green, a retired schoolteacher from the island of Tristan da Cunha. She describes what it was like to return to the island in 1963. 

Then, the rare eyewitness account from a 105-year-old who is the only Briton alive today, that was at the ceremony when Japan surrendered to China in Beijing at the end of eight years of brutal occupation. 

Next, the economist who in 2001 wrote a report about countries set to shape the world economy, accidentally coining the acronym BRICS. 

Plus, the man who won the national competition to design the Indian rupee symbol when he was just a student. 

Finally, the story of how VHS and Betamax battled over which video recorder would win the home entertainment market. 

Contributors:
Anne Green - former teacher from Tristan da Cunha
Archive interview with Mary Swain - resident of Tristan da Cunha
John Stanfield - British Army veteren 
Jim O'Neill - economist 
Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam - Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Marc Wielage - digital colourist

(Photo: Tristan Da Cunha islanders arriving in England in 1961. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The evacuation of Tristan da Cunha and Japan surrenders to China at the end of World War Two

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

Tea expert Sabita Banerji talks about the history of tea in India. We look back at how women teapickers in 2015 fought for justice - and improved the lives of thousands of tea plantation workers.

We hear the story of a famous photo of American president John F Kennedy working at his desk in the White House - with his cheeky young son underneath.

Also, from 1985 one of the most notorious killings from the apartheid era in South Africa of the men who became known as the Cradock four - this includes graphic descriptions of violence.

It’s 30 years since American football star OJ Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. We hear from one of his former friends who testified against him in the criminal trial including his desciptions of the injuries suffered by the victims.

And finally, it’s 40 years this week since the release of Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet software that's now used all over the world. We hear from one of the creators.

Contributors:
Rajeshwary - tea plantation worker.
Sabita Banerji - founder of Thirst tea charity.
Lukhanyo Calata - son of Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four.
Ron Shipp - who testified against OJ Simpson.
Mike Koss – one of the creators of Microsoft Excel.
Plus, archive recordings of American photographer Stanley Tretick from the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.

(Photo: Female tea pickers on strike in Munnar. Credit: Countercurrents.org)

India's nine day tea strike and the birth of the Excel spreadsheet

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes taking us from India to Texas. 

Professor Sunny Singh, author of A Bollywood State of Mind, discusses the origins of Indian cinema in 1912. And we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Bollywood romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. 

We also head to Paris in 1971, to the launch of what would become one of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations: Médecins Sans Frontières.

And we learn how Lord Robert Baden-Powell laid the foundations for one of the largest international youth organisations.

Finally, we discover how Bette Graham, a single mum from Texas cooked up the first correction fluid in her kitchen. 

Contributors: 
Kajol, Bollywood actress
Professor Sunny Singh, author of A Bollywood State of Mind
Asmaou Diallo, mother of a protestor who was killed in the 2009 Guinea rally
Dr Xavier Emmanuelli, one of the founders of Medecins San Frontieres

(Photo: Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai. Credit: Indranil Mukherjee AFP via Getty Images)

The origins of Indian cinema and the start of Scouting

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Egyptian theme.

We find out more about the 2014 fight against sexual harassment. And we hear from Professor Nicola Pratt, an expert on Middle East feminism about the significance of that moment in the fight for women's rights.

Also, we go to the 1960s when antiquities were saved to make way for the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. And recollections from Egypt's first free democratic presidential election in 2012. Plus, the woman who broke the convention of the role of a first lady to help change divorce laws. And finally, we remember the moment the egyptian actor Omar Sharif swept onto the world stage in Lawrence of Arabia.

Contributors:
Engy Ghozlan - co-founder of HarassMap 
Professor Herman Bell - scientist
Rabab El-Mahdi - chief strategist to one of Mohamed Morsi's rival candidates
Jehan Sadat - wife of President Anwar Sadat who helped change divorce laws
Archive recordings of Egyptian actor Omar Sharif

(Photo: Women at a protest in Cairo, Egypt, in 2014. Credit: Getty Images)

The fight against sexual harassment in Egypt and Omar Sharif enters the world stage

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Lucy Durán, a Spanish ethnomusicologist, record producer and Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. 

We start with an African American artist who recounts exhibiting her work at Nigeria's largest ever festival of African arts and culture in 1977. 

Then, the testimony of a pilot stranded in airspace following the 9/11 terror attack.

A 94-year-old Jewish refugee remembers how she was saved by the Philippines during World War Two.

The first woman to complete the challenge of crossing straits of the world’s Seven Seas, reveals how she was inspired by a traditional Bengali folk tale.

Finally, from a BBC archive interview in 1974, the story of how a satirical book, that was a parody of management theory, became an instant classic in 1969.

Contributors:
Lucy Durán - Spanish ethnomusicologist
Viola Burley Leak - artist
Beverley Bass - American Airlines pilot
Lotte Hershfield - former Jewish refugee in the Philippines
Bula Choudhury - Indian long-distance swimmer
Archive interview with Dr Laurence J Peter - Canadian academic

(Photo: The official emblem of festac'77. Credit: Alamy)

Nigeria’s Festac’77 and Gander’s generosity during 9/11

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

The formation of an unconventional special force during the Second World War sparks a discussion about three others around the world with military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson.

Plus, the founding of the United States Agency for International Development, the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic 40 years ago and the first baby born after a womb transplant. 

Finally, Mexican-American boxer Oscar De La Hoya's toughest test - a clash with Ghana's Ike 'Bazooka' Quartey and how the online marketplace started at a house party in Lithuania in the noughties.

The first item contains outdated and offensive language.

Contributors:
Major General Orde Wingate - leader of the Chindits.
Baroness Jackson - economist who influenced the founding of USAID.
Cathy Offinger and Jean Louis Michel - explorers who helped find the wreck of the Titanic.
Prof Pernilla Dahm-Kähler - gynaecologist who helped deliver the first baby after a womb transplant.
Oscar De La Hoya - boxer nicknamed 'the Golden Boy of Boxing'.
Milda Mitkutė - co-founder of Vinted.

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast to add additional context.

(Photo: Members of the Chindits in the jungle in Burma, now Myanmar. Credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

The Chindits and USAID

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

This week, the bird that defied extinction. In 1969, a Peruvian farmer Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird called the white-winged guan that had been regarded as extinct for a century.

The American author and conservationist Michelle Nijhuis is this week's guest. She talks about some of the most interesting attempts in modern history to save animals on the brink of extinction.

Also this week, the world's first solar powered home, when Tanzania adopted Swahili and when the world went crazy for Cabbage Patch Kids.

This programme has been updated since its original broadcast. It was edited on 6 December 2023. 

Contributors:
Rafael Del Solar - son of conservationist Gustavo Del Solar
Michelle Nijhuis - author and conservationist
Meredith Ludwig - friend of Cabbage Patch Kids creator Martha Nelson Thomas
Peter Baxter and George Kling - scientists
Walter Bgoya - author in Tanzania
Andrew Nemethy - lived in the world's first solar powered house

(Photo: A whooping crane. Credit: Getty Images)

Saving animals from extinction and Cabbage Patch Kids

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