Witness History: Archive 2010 Podcast
1) Albert Luthuli Receives the Nobel Peace Prize
When Chief Albert Luthuli won the Nobel Peace Prize he was living under a banning order in rural South Africa. His daughter Albertina talks to Witness. Also listen to archive recordings of his accept...Show More
2) Jamaica Slave Rebellion
*** Contains descriptions that some listeners may find upsetting *** Enslaved Africans are forced to work in sugar cane fields - the hours are long and there are frequent, brutal punishments. They h...Show More
3) Chiapas Uprising
People in the Chiapas region, led by the charismatic, ski-mask wearing, sub-commandante Marcos, rose up against the Mexican state. They called themselves, Zapatistas.
4) Hamlet
The play Hamlet can tell us a great deal about the time in which it was written. At the turn of the 16th century England was faced with many of the problems which plague its hero.
5) Assad and Syria
Hafez al Assad was the Syrian Defence Minister in the winter of 1970 when his struggle for power came to a head. His former friend, the hardline Baathist, Salah Jadid, was jailed for life.
6) The Great Escape
The film, The Great Escape, has become an all-time favourite. It is about a mass breakout from a German prison camp during World War 2. Flight Lieutenant Ken Rees, who died in August 2014, took part i...Show More
7) Christmas Truce
For several days over Christmas in 1914 the fighting stopped on the battlefields of the First World War. British and German soldiers left their trenches to sing carols, exchange gifts and even play...Show More
8) Andrei Sakharov
The nuclear physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov had spent seven years in internal exile in the Soviet city of Gorky. His return marked a change in attitude towards dissidents under th...Show More
9) Georgia in crisis
Christmas 1991 was a difficult time for the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Economic and political difficulties crippled the government. Armed men roamed the streets of the capital Tbilisi, looti...Show More
10) Lockerbie
On December 21 1988 a US passenger plane blew up over Scotland. Pan Am flight 103 was heading for the USA when a bomb exploded on board, killing all the passengers and crew. The wreckage of the pla...Show More