logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
52m 6s

West African food and computer viruses

Bbc World Service
About this episode
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Ozoz Sokoh, Nigerian food writer and author of the Kitchen Butterfly food blog, who tells us about the history of West African food. The programme begins with the story of Mr Bigg's, Nigeria's answer to McDonald's. Then, we hear about the 1960 ... Show More
Up next
Jul 5
Dancing in the Street and Ai Weiwei
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 ... Show More
50m 53s
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
Jun 21
Jaws and the Charleston church shooting
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.This programme includes outdated and offensive language.It’s 50 years since the original Jaws film was released in cinemas across America. The movie premiered on 20 June 1975. Ou ... Show More
51m 7s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
Mr Bigg's: The birth of Nigeria's iconic takeaway
It’s been 50 years since a popular Nigerian fast food chain which later became known as Mr Bigg's was first launched. The restaurants began as coffee shops in department stores in the 1960s and were later rebranded in 1986. Mr Bigg's currently has more than 170 locations in 40 ci ... Show More
9m 1s
Feb 2023
The growth of food banks in Africa
Food banks have operated for decades in North America and Europe. They are generally operated as non profits, connecting food businesses that have waste with individuals, families and charities that need food. In 2006 there was just one African food bank in Egypt. A second opened ... Show More
31m 29s
Jun 2023
Toto Koopman: Socialite, Vogue Model and WWII Spy
Toto Koopman was remarkable; she was a high society socialite who risked her life wining and dining with Italian blackshirts in order to gather information for the Dutch intelligence service in WWII. When she refused to work as a spy for the Italians, she was thrown in a detentio ... Show More
28m 34s
Mar 2023
317: African Amazons
A story spanning modern-day Ghana, Angola, and Benin, historian Luke Pepera joins Tom and Dominic to discuss the tradition of African queens, female warriors, and military commanders. Through the lives of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo, the Dahomey warriors, and the Ashanti Queen mothers ... Show More
56m 11s
Oct 2022
The Long History of African and Caribbean People in Britain
There remains a tendency to reduce the history of African and Caribbean people in Britain to a simple story: it is one that begins in 1948 with the arrival of a single ship, the Empire Windrush. Yet, from the very beginning, from the moment humans first stood on this rainy isle, ... Show More
27m 57s
Feb 2020
The Somalia Affair | 16
Somalia was struck by a famine of staggering proportions which was made worse by the fact that militia leaders were stealing foreign aid that was shipped from other nations. The Canadian military was part of a UN humanitarian peacekeeping mission to ensure food and medical suppli ... Show More
58m 43s
Jul 2022
Escaping Nigeria’s Civil War
The south-east region of Nigeria declared itself to be the independent state of Biafra. In response, Nigerian forces invaded the state on 6 July 1967, beginning the Nigerian civil war. More than a million people died before the fighting stopped. We bring you one child’s story of ... Show More
8m 59s
Feb 2024
African & Caribbean People in Britain - A History w/ Hakim Adi
In this fantastic episode of Guerrilla History, we bring back our esteemed friend and guest, Prof. Hakim Adi, to discuss his eminently important new book African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History, which has just been shortlisted for the prestigious Wolfson History Prize! ... Show More
1h 27m
Dec 2023
The Amish: Origins and Society
Simple living, plain dress and pacifism. This is not a lifestyle typical of the United States. So how did the Amish come to be in America? Where did this religion come from? And how has their society changed with modernisation? In this episode, Don and Dr Joseph Donnermeyer journ ... Show More
39m 7s
May 2023
Arak-Making & the History of Vineyards in Lebanon | Ramzi Ghosn
Ramzi Ghosn talks about the profession of wine and arak-making and its significance in the Levant, notably in Lebanon. From Massaya, he discusses the speaks about how Phoenicians valued viticulture and developed the finest wines that continues to be exported to the world.Massaya  ... Show More
45m 50s