The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Lara Douds, Assistant Professor of Russian history. We start in 1907, the men who would go on to lead the Russian Revolution met in London for a crucial congress marking a point of no return between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Then, in 2000, the launch of Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan, becoming the world’s longest rollercoaster at nearly 2.5 km in length. Next, the political assisination of Juan Mari Jauregui, a retired Spanish politician and long-time campaigner for independence, by Basque separatists in 2000. Plus, how in 1986, during a world record attempt and publicity stunt, one and a half million balloons were released as a storm rolled over the city. Finally, the story of Chuquicamata, Chile’s abandoned mining town after its 25,000 residents left due to pollution concerns . Contributors: Henry Brailsford - British journalist Dr Lara Douds - Assistant Professor of Russian history Steve Okamoto - rollercoaster designer Maixabel Lasa - widow of Juan Mari Jauregui Tom Holowatch - project manager of BalloonFest '86 Patricia Rojas - former resident of Chuquicamata (Photo: Lenin giving a speech in Red Square. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Natalia Grincheva, an expert in cultural diplomacy from Lasalle, University of the Arts in Singapore. We start by hearing about when US president Bill Clinton was presented with a saxophone on a 1994 visit to Prague and he and the Czech president Vaclav Havel performed together on stage. Then, India’s first female anthropologist, Irawati Karve. Twenty years on, the cousin of John Charles de Menezes, describes the day the unarmed Brazilian man was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London. Plus, the discovery of the super-strong fibre Kevlar in 1965 which was used in bulletproof vests. And finally, 50 years on from the premiere of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line, an original cast member shares her memories. Contributors: Urmilla Deshpande – granddaughter of Irawati Karve. Patricia da Silva – cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes. Baayork Lee – Connie in A Chorus Line Plus, archive recording of Stephanie Kwolek, and material from the Vaclav Havel Center and the William J Clinton Presidential Library. (Photo: President Bill Clinton accepts a saxophone as a gift from a Belgian delegation in 1994. Credit: Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dina Esfandiary, Middle East Geo-economics Lead at Bloomberg Economics. We start in 2015 with insider accounts of the Iran nuclear deal and the Greek debt crisis. Then, the 1995 'Turbot War' between Canada and Spain. We hear how international broadcaster Voice of America was born during World War 2. Finally, the rise of Italo disco in the early 1980s. Contributors: Baroness Catherine Ashton - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Dina Esfandiary - Middle East Geo-economics Lead at Bloomberg Economics. Euclid Tsakalotos - Greece's Finance Minister. Brian Tobin - Canada’s Minister for Fisheries and Oceans. Ryan Paris - singer of Dolce Vita. (Photo: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2015. Credit: Thomas Imo/Photothek via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Argentine theme. We find out more about the 1985 ‘trial of the juntas’ when the country’s former military leaders stood accused of torturing and murdering thousands of their own people. And we hear from historian Dr Victoria Basualdo about life in Argentina, both before and after the trial. Also, the story of the grandmothers who championed the study of genetics to find their missing loved ones. And why tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Buenos Aires in 2015. Plus, the bizarre story of Eva Peron's disappearing corpse. And finally, more on the Argentine animator who Walt Disney wanted to hire. Contributors: Luis Moreno Ocampo - prosecutor Dr Victoria Basualdo – historian, FLACSO, the Latín American School of Social Sciences Dr Victor Penchaszadeh – geneticist Agustina Paz Frontera – journalist and writer Domingo Tellechea – art restorer and embalmer Hector Cristiani – grandson of Quirino Cristiani (Photo: Forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow giving testimony to the trial, 1985. Credit: Daniel Muzio/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes including the story behind Mick Jagger and David Bowie's duet for Live Aid in 1985 and the Chinese artist who was jailed for his art inspired by the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. He speaks to music journalist Alice Austin to explore other concerts in world history that have had a political impact. Also, the American politician who first coined the phrase "drill, baby, drill" in 2008, the making of Back To The Future in 1985 and the trophy killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe in 2015. Contributors: Bernard Doherty - former Live Aid press officer. Alice Austin - music journalist. Ai Weiwei - artist. Prof Andrew Loveridge - zoologist who studied Cecil the lion. Michael Steele - the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, who came up with the slogan "Drill, baby, drill!" Bob Gale - the co-writer and producer of the Back to the Future. (Photo: Mick Jagger and David Bowie performing Dancing In The Street. Credit: Brian Cooke / Redferns)