The History Hour

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

World Service,476 episodes

Episodes

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Mexican history: A love song and a gas explosion
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
30 May 2026,60 mins
The first reality game show and a joik performance on Eurovision
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
16 May 2026,60 mins
Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest and a WW2 sabotage mission in Norway
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
09 May 2026,60 mins
The world’s first perfume archive and Dutch car-free Sundays in the global oil crisis
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
02 May 2026,60 mins
Cleaning up Chernobyl and Canada’s war in the woods
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
25 Apr 2026,60 mins
Winning the Booker Prize and discovering a lost fairytale
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.
18 Apr 2026,60 mins
Hitler’s teeth and the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
11 Apr 2026,60 mins
The discovery of the Terra Nova shipwreck and Echo the elephant
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
04 Apr 2026,60 mins
A papal visit and German reunification
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
28 Mar 2026,60 mins
The 'Cyprus Emergency’ and India’s nuclear mango deal
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
21 Mar 2026,60 mins
Movie history: Seven Samurai and Casablanca
A globally influential Japanese movie and a Hollywood classic
14 Mar 2026,60 mins
Sweden and the USA's diplomatic freeze and Elvis in the UK
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
07 Mar 2026,61 mins
Blood diamonds and the meeting between Florence Nightingale and Aga Khan III
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews
28 Feb 2026,59 mins
The Shetland Bus and toxic shock syndrome
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
21 Feb 2026,60 mins
Italian history
Pink Floyd's controversial 1989 concert in Venice, and film star Gina Lollobrigida
14 Feb 2026,60 mins
Creating Mr Men and the Austrian wine scandal
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
07 Feb 2026,61 mins
Chile’s Penguin Revolution and the 5,000-year-old frozen mummy
Children march in protest in Chile and a perfectly preserved mummy is found in the Alps
31 Jan 2026,60 mins
The priest behind a new airport and Agatha Christie
An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there
24 Jan 2026,59 mins
The birth of the modern fitted kitchen and the creation of Cluedo
A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes
17 Jan 2026,60 mins
The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
Isabel Allende's debut novel in 1982 and a controversial piece of art in 1999
10 Jan 2026,61 mins
The American Freedom Train and the invention of text messaging
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
03 Jan 2026,60 mins
The history of toys
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
27 Dec 2025,61 mins
Norway’s sushi contribution and Laurel and Hardy’s Christmas
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes
20 Dec 2025,60 mins
Banky's 'Dismaland' and the Paris climate agreement
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
13 Dec 2025,60 mins
Nigerian history
Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes
06 Dec 2025,60 mins
Literary hoaxes and an underground cathedral
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes
29 Nov 2025,61 mins
Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the Bosnian war
King Juan Carlos takes the throne in 1975 and the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995
22 Nov 2025,60 mins
Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis
The first major war crimes trial in 1945 and breaking the sound barrier in 1947
15 Nov 2025,61 mins
The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes
08 Nov 2025,60 mins
Emerante de Pradines and Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
01 Nov 2025,60 mins