logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
50m 18s

The Mafia and Italian politics

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The trial which linked a senior Italian politician to the Mafia, the death of the charismatic Egyptian President - Gamal Abdel Nasser, a whale rescue which brought together cold war enemies, the German house which witnessed a century of change and the birth of Google.

Photo: Giulio Andreotti in 1983. Credit: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

Up next
Jan 10
The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. This programme contains distressing details.Our guest is Bárbara Fernández Melleda, Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies at the University of Hong Kong.We start with Ch ... Show More
1h 1m
Jan 3
The American Freedom Train and the invention of text messaging
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Barbara Keys, a specialist in US history at Durham University.We start with a celebration of the American Freedom Train, as the US prepares to mark 250 ye ... Show More
1 h
Dec 27
The history of toys
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We learn about how Play-Doh evolved from a cleaning product to a childhood favourite and the creation of one of the best-selling board games of all time, Catan. Our guest is the e ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2020
The Mafia trial of Italy’s former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
Prosecutor Gian Carlo Caselli explains how leading Italian politician Giulio Andreotti was put on trial in Sicily in September 1995, accused of collusion with the Mafia. Andreotti had been prime minister seven times and journalists dubbed it the trial of the century. Bob Howard h ... Show More
9 m
Sep 2020
The death of Gamal Abdel Nasser
The charismatic Egyptian president dominated Arab politics for almost two decades up until his death on September 28th 1970. His funeral was attended by millions of grief-stricken Egyptians. In 2010 Mike Gallagher spoke to an ordinary Egyptian who remembered his death, and its af ... Show More
8m 58s
Sep 2021
The businessman who defied the Mafia
Palermo businessman Libero Grassi published an open letter in Sicily’s main newspaper denouncing the Mafia for constantly demanding extortion payments. Grassi was hailed as a hero, but his public refusal to pay was intolerable to the Mafia and a few months later, in the summer of ... Show More
8m 59s
Nov 2022
Mussolini's Rise & Fall
Exactly a century after the 1922 March on Rome which brought fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to power, the far-right party Brothers of Italy have been voted into government.Fratelli d'Italia (FDL), which has its roots in Italy’s post-war Neo-fascist social movement, is lead by ... Show More
51m 9s
Jan 2023
Episode 227: The dramatic capture of mafia 'boss of bosses' Matteo Messina Denaro
HE was the notorious Cosa Nostra boss who lived in hiding for 30 years and who was responsible for terrorist atrocities against Italy. Matteo Messina Denaro was amongst a group of violent mafia bosses who hit back at Italian magistrates, their families and body guards with lethal ... Show More
43m 15s
Apr 2023
190 - Mussolini's Last 10 Days
<p>In April 1945, with the Allies closing in, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, with his German bodyguards, decided to flee Milan. The convoy was later joined by a Luftwaffe column retreating toward Germany, making a powerful force.</p> <p>In this episode, we're going to be ... Show More
52m 22s
Feb 2021
Sicily's Brutal Wars and Mafia Super Trial
The "Maxi Trial" pitted two fearless Palermo prosecutors and turncoat "Pentiti" against the Cosa Nostra, its thuggish leader Toto Riina, and a whole host of corrupt cops, politicians and businessmen. But when the judge handed down 344 guilty verdicts, the real chaos was just begi ... Show More
41m 54s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami