logo
episode-header-image
Aug 29
1 h

Washington DC and a film noir classic

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

We learn why the Mount Pleasant riots erupted in Washington DC in 1991, and hear from our guest, Sarah Jane Shoenfeld, a public historian of the US capital.

Plus, more on John Lennon’s benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, his final and only full-length solo shows after leaving The Beatles.

And the story behind how the world's first permanent international criminal court was created in 1998.

Also, when the internet security tool, Captcha, moved from an idea to a reality, and why a photo of Chile’s goalkeeper in 1989 exposed a cheating scandal.

Finally, a peak behind the scenes of the making of a noir film classic, The Third Man.

Contributors:

Victor ‘Lilo’ Gonzalez – Mount Pleasant resident. Sarah Jane Shoenfeld - public historian. Andrei Broder – computer scientist. Judge Phillipe Kirsch – chair of the Rome conference. Geraldo Rivera – TV journalist. Ricardo Alfieri – sports photographer. Angela Allen - production assistant.

(Photo: Capitol Building, Washington DC. Credit: Getty Images)

Up next
Aug 23
BlackBerry phones and Spot the dog
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jacquie McNish, author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.We start with the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, who recounts the company's remarkab ... Show More
59m 7s
Aug 15
Indonesian history
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as ... Show More
50m 20s
Aug 9
Nagasaki bomb and Brazil’s biggest bank heist
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Simone Turchetti, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, at The University of Manchester in the UK. It's 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on ... Show More
50m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 21
The rise and fall of BlackBerry
In the early 2000s, BlackBerry was the phone that ruled the world. But within a decade, it collapsed, overtaken by the touch screen revolution.Sam Gruet speaks to former co-CEO Jim Balsillie about BlackBerry’s meteoric rise, its battle against Apple, and the moment he knew it was ... Show More
9m 50s
Dec 2024
Best of 2024 — Anita Heiss
Reflecting on a year of phenomenal guests, we are bringing you a selection of the Best Conversations of 2024.Anita Heiss is a Wiradjuri woman and a prolific author. Her latest novel, Dirrayawadha, brings together Indigenous and colonial history, as well as Wiradjuri language, int ... Show More
48m 6s
Jun 6
Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘utopian’ town
In 1948, the foundation was laid for a “utopian” community of houses designed by a man described as America’s greatest ever architect.Frank Lloyd Wright had been approached by a group who wanted to create a social collective of affordable homes, on land an hour north of New York ... Show More
10m 13s
Oct 2023
Season 3 | 8. The Battle of Bouvines
John assembles a mighty Plantagenet alliance to return to France and reclaim what Philip Augustus stole from him. After a decade of preparations, the fate of his dynasty rests on the outcome of one bloody battle. This is History is a Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more ... Show More
27m 48s
Aug 21
The True Winnie-the-Pooh
August 24, 1914. A train pulls up to the lumber town of White River, Ontario, carrying a regiment of Canadian troops on board. On the tracks where they disembark is a small black bear cub. An army veterinarian decides to buy the bear and name her Winnipeg—Winnie for short—after t ... Show More
29m 51s
Nov 2024
Sir Hans Sloane and the British Museum
Sir Hans Sloane’s legacy is a bit mixed. He is the reason there’s a British Museum, but there are a lot of problematic aspects to the way he gathered his collection. Research: Blair, Molly. “350 years of the Chelsea Physic Garden: A brief history.” Gardens Illustrated. https://ww ... Show More
36m 58s
Jul 30
Beatrice Kenner and Midred Smith: Sister Inventors
Beatrice Kenner’s inventions were focused largely on making life easier and less annoying for herself and the people around her, including period products. Mildred Smith’s invention was about family, and it grew from her disability after she developed multiple sclerosis. Research ... Show More
40m 52s
Jan 2025
Hunting the Unabomber
During a 17-year bombing campaign, an elusive terrorist known as the Unabomber killed three and injured 23 Americans.In 1995, he contacted The New York Times and The Washington Post promising to stop his terror attacks if they published his 35,000-word manifesto. The document exp ... Show More
10m 2s
Jun 3
The world’s largest model train set
In 2000, nightclub owners and twins Frederik and Gerrit Braun went from the neon lights of a Hamburg nightclub to building the world’s largest model trainset. Miniatur Wunderland is now a top tourist destination and global attraction visited by millions, including celebrities lik ... Show More
10m 36s
Oct 2022
British Academy Book Prize 2022
Deafness and communication, writing Chinese, women as killers in Chile, German postwar history, testimony from a Swedish village and a global history of science are the topics explored in the books shortlisted for this year's prize for Global Cultural Understanding run by the Bri ... Show More
45m 2s