Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.
Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.France’s former finance minister recalls how an economic crisis in the 1970s led to the birth of the G7.Next, how a heated NBA game in 2004 spiralled into one of the most infamous brawls in sports history. Finally, we hear the story of the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009.Contributors:Chuck Yeager - the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott - a couple who survived the Bataclan attack in Paris.Benjamin Ferencz - a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials.Jean-Pierre Fourcade - France's former finance minister.Mark Boyle - radio broadcaster for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.Mohamed Nasheed - former President of the Maldives.(Photo: The first powered take off of Chuck Yeager's supersonic plane in 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty)
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1:01:38
The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy
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who created children's show Thunderbirds in 1965.Plus, the impeachment of US President Clinton in 1999.How an American historical document typed out on a university computer in 1971 played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books.Also, Colonel Gaddafi’s son being signed to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)
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1:00:26
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1:00:26
Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds
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)
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1:00:19
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1:00:19
Music producer Sonny Roberts and treating diabetes
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)
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1:00:48
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1:00:48
Nordic Noir and the Moomins
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)