The History Hour Podcast
A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.
Episodes to download
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The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
Yesterday
Isabel Allende's debut novel in 1982 and a controversial piece of art in 1999
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The American Freedom Train and the invention of text messaging
Last Saturday
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
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The history of toys
Sat 27 Dec 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
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Norway’s sushi contribution and Laurel and Hardy’s Christmas
Sat 20 Dec 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
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Banky's 'Dismaland' and the Paris climate agreement
Sat 13 Dec 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
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Nigerian history
Sat 6 Dec 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
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Literary hoaxes and an underground cathedral
Sat 29 Nov 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes
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Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the Bosnian war
Sat 22 Nov 2025
King Juan Carlos takes the throne in 1975 and the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995
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Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis
Sat 15 Nov 2025
The first major war crimes trial in 1945 and breaking the sound barrier in 1947
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The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy
Sat 8 Nov 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes
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Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds
Sat 1 Nov 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
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Music producer Sonny Roberts and treating diabetes
Sat 25 Oct 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s witness history episodes
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Nordic Noir and the Moomins
Sat 18 Oct 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes about writers.
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The evacuation of Tristan da Cunha and Japan surrenders to China at the end of World War Two
Sat 11 Oct 2025
The evacuation of a remote island in 1961 and Japan's surrender in Beijing in 1945
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India's nine day tea strike and the birth of the Excel spreadsheet
Sat 4 Oct 2025
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.
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The origins of Indian cinema and the start of Scouting
Sat 27 Sep 2025
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.
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The fight against sexual harassment in Egypt and Omar Sharif enters the world stage
Sat 20 Sep 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes from Egypt
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Nigeria’s Festac’77 and Gander’s generosity during 9/11
Sat 13 Sep 2025
The 1977 celebration of African culture and sanctuary for 7000 stranded flight passengers
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The Chindits and USAID
Sat 6 Sep 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's episodes of Witness History
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Washington DC and a film noir classic
Sat 30 Aug 2025
The 1991 riots that erupted in the US capital, plus the making of a movie classic
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BlackBerry phones and Spot the dog
Sat 23 Aug 2025
The rise and fall of BlackBerry phones, and the interactive children's book
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Nagasaki bomb and Brazil’s biggest bank heist
Sat 9 Aug 2025
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there
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Russian revolutionaries and Japan’s record breaking rollercoaster
Sat 2 Aug 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes
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Saxophone diplomacy and bulletproof vests
Sat 26 Jul 2025
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there
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Nuclear diplomacy and Italo disco
Sat 19 Jul 2025
The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and Ryan Paris' 1983 hit Dolce Vita
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The 'trial of the juntas' and Evita’s missing body
Sat 12 Jul 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes from Argentina
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Dancing in the Street and Ai Weiwei
Sat 5 Jul 2025
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
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Robert Kennedy's funeral train and the opening of the Medellin Metro
Sat 28 Jun 2025
A collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service
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Jaws and the Charleston church shooting
Sat 21 Jun 2025
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there
