logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2018
50m 59s

The Ex-President and the Gun Lobby

Bbc World Service
About this episode

This week, how former US President George Bush Senior took on the all-powerful National Rifle Association; the murder of the campaigning Irish journalist, Veronica Guerin; and how a Soviet submarine got stuck on a Swedish rock during the Cold War. Plus, the Cockney pilot who became known as the "King of Lampedusa" during World War Two.

(Photo: President George Bush Senior. Credit: Bachrach/Getty Images)

Up next
Jul 18
The Spanish Civil War and the Birkin bag
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.This week, we mark 90 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War. Our guest is historian Professor Sir Paul Preston, who explains how the conflict transformed Spain and pave ... Show More
1 h
Jul 11
Buildings of power and the Dada art movement
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Mateja Kurir, associate professor at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the editor of the book, On Power in Architecture.We start with Jackie Kennedy's 1962 ... Show More
1h 1m
Jul 3
The return of Chief Long Wolf and The Statue of Liberty's facelift
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jan English from the American Museum and Gardens in Bath in the UK. We start with the moment the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the US, more th ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2018
George H. W. Bush, American War Criminal
Jeremy Scahill details the crimes of George H.W. Bush, the sick propaganda of the corporate media memorials; and the trail of blood, death, and tears Bush leaves behind. Independent journalist Arun Gupta covers decades of Bush, from his time at the helm of the CIA, to the preside ... Show More
1h 23m
Sep 2023
Guns Part 4: Moral Hazard
Robert Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1968, ending his presidential run. Had he been shot today, would he have lived? A what-if story about homicides and medical care and the moral consequences of a world where trauma surgeons have gotten really, really good at wha ... Show More
43m 8s
Nov 2020
The Bush Family Pt. 2
Three generations of the Bush political dynasty have conspiracy theories swirling around them, involving a connection to JFK’s death, the grave of a Native American leader, and a war undertaken for questionable motives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a ... Show More
46m 50s
Oct 2020
Iran-Contra Pt. 2
Did the Republican Party plot to hide evidence of Ronald Reagan’s wrongdoing? What was Vice President George H.W. Bush's true role? And did the CIA help the Contras smuggle drugs — and kick off the 1980s crack epidemic? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a ... Show More
49m 43s
Jun 2020
S1 Episode 2 - "American Psycho"
Before George W. Bush, there was Daddy Bush and Bill Clinton, who killed thousands of Iraqis and pushed the country to the brink of famine. The Gulf War, brutal sanctions, and the End of History. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redci ... Show More
1h 4m
Sep 2025
The Man Who Saved the World
While The United States and The Soviet Union flirted with existential disaster on a global stage during the Cuban Missile Crisis, an unknown conflict was unfolding under the ocean on a Russian submarine equipped to trigger an all-out nuclear war. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz ... Show More
39m 55s
Nov 2023
"Shots Have Been Fired"
Who wanted the president dead? And is the unexpected murder of the lead suspect the first clue in the answer to this mystery? Our hosts, Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien, discuss why the question “Who Killed JFK?” endures in the American imagination 60 years later. Did President Ke ... Show More
38m 5s
Mar 2019
Questions about suicide and guns, after three deaths
Katie Zezima and Joel Achenbach on gun control and the public health crisis of suicides. Anton Troianovski and Shane Harris on how Russia interfered in American elections. Plus, Reed Albergotti on Apple switching up its business model. 
28m 15s