In the 1990s, doctors in Berlin began a cutting-edge treatment programme that led to a patient being cured of HIV/AIDS. The so-called "Berlin patient" was Timothy Ray Brown: he was suffering from leukemia as well as HIV/AIDS, and was given a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation which killed off the HIV virus. We find more about Ti ... Show More
Jun 28
Robert Kennedy's funeral train and the opening of the Medellin Metro
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service, all related to trains and journeys which have helped to shape our world.Our guest Nicky Gardner, travel writer and co-author of Europe by Rail: the Definitive Guide, discusses t ... Show More
50m 58s
Dec 2021
40 years later, stigma still overshadows HIV prevention
In 1981, the first case of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was diagnosed. The virus that causes AIDS, became a thing to be feared for people in the LGBTQ+ community, who also became a scapegoat for its existence.
On World AIDS Day, we remember that even when things have ch ... Show More
23m 18s
Dec 2023
AIDS Epidemic: Life & Death On The Frontline
How do we understand something as huge as a global epidemic?
Similarly to Covid, the AIDS epidemic, which was most destructive in the 1980s and 90s, had such universal reach. Yet within that, there were millions of personal experiences.
What was it like to work on the frontline w ... Show More
59m 33s
Nov 2021
The Aids 'patient zero' myth
In the early days of Aids, a misunderstanding made one man the face of the epidemic. Canadian air steward Gaetan Dugas developed the symptoms of HIV/Aids in the early 1980s, but a misreading of scientific data led to him being identified as 'patient zero', giving the mistaken imp ... Show More
10m 3s
Nov 2023
Section 28: The Anti-Gay Law That Sparked A Movement
The 1980s have a lot to answer for - spandex, for one.
It also saw the first new anti-gay law in Britain for over a century.
Against the backdrop of the HIV epidemic, and increasing homophobia across the media and politics, the law Section 28 was passed in 1988, which stopped the ... Show More
38m 44s