Nigeria’s Festac’77 and Gander’s generosity during 9/11
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)
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The Chindits and USAID
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Quartey and how the online marketplace started at a house party in Lithuania in the noughties.The first item contains outdated and offensive language.Contributors: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)
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Washington DC and a film noir classic
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.We learn why the Mount Pleasant riots erupted in Washington DC in 1991, and hear from our guest, Sarah Jane Shoenfeld, a public historian of the US capital. Plus, more on John Lennon’s benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, his final and only full-length solo shows after leaving The Beatles.And the story behind how the world's first permanent international criminal court was created in 1998. Also, when the internet security tool, Captcha, moved from an idea to a reality, and why a photo of Chile’s goalkeeper in 1989 exposed a cheating scandal. Finally, a peak behind the scenes of the making of a noir film classic, The Third Man. Contributors:Victor ‘Lilo’ Gonzalez – Mount Pleasant resident.
Sarah Jane Shoenfeld - public historian.
Andrei Broder – computer scientist.
Judge Phillipe Kirsch – chair of the Rome conference.
Geraldo Rivera – TV journalist.
Ricardo Alfieri – sports photographer.
Angela Allen - production assistant.(Photo: Capitol Building, Washington DC. Credit: Getty Images)
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BlackBerry phones and Spot the dog
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jacquie McNish, author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.We start with the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, who recounts the company's remarkable boom and bust.Then, the creation of the Spot the dog children's books in the 1970s. We hear the testimony of a US soldier who defected to the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s.An author recalls how her 2010 book challenged Norway's immigration policy.The inside story of the creation of the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991.Finally, the 19th century battle that inspired the Geneva Conventions.Contributors:Jim Balsillie - former BlackBerry co-CEO.
Jacquie McNish - Author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.
Chris Hill - son of Eric Hill, creator of Spot the dog.
Victor Grossman - US soldier who defected to the Soviet Bloc.
Maria Amelie - author of book on Norway's immigration system.
Alice D Cooper - organiser of the first Women's Rugby World Cup.
Henry Dunant - instigator of the Geneva Conventions, diary read by his descendant Gabriel Martinez.(Photo: Jim Balsillie, former co-CEO of BlackBerry. Credit: Visual China Group via Getty Images)
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Indonesian history
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as the country marks 80 years since independence. We start by hearing about the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who wrote Buru Quartet while imprisoned in the notorious labour camp on Buru island.Then, the reopening of the worlds’ largest Buddhist monument after major restoration work.Plus, 50 years since the Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists.Also, Jakarta’s ban on the use of dancing monkeys on the city’s streets.
And, the discovery of a new species of human.Contributors: Pramoedya Ananta Toer - archive recordings of the writer.Werdi – one of the workers on the project.Dr Anne-Lot Hoek - research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.Max Stahl - archive recordings of the British cameraman.Femke den Haas – animal rights activist.Peter Brown - Australian paleoanthropologist.(Photo: Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Credit: Reuters)
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