The 'trial of the juntas' and Evita’s missing body
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Argentine theme. We find out more about the 1985 ‘trial of the juntas’ when the country’s former military leaders stood accused of torturing and murdering thousands of their own people. And we hear from historian Dr Victoria Basualdo about life in Argentina, both before and after the trial.Also, the story of the grandmothers who championed the study of genetics to find their missing loved ones. And why tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Buenos Aires in 2015. Plus, the bizarre story of Eva Peron's disappearing corpse. And finally, more on the Argentine animator who Walt Disney wanted to hire.Contributors:
Luis Moreno Ocampo - prosecutor
Dr Victoria Basualdo – historian, FLACSO, the Latín American School of Social Sciences
Dr Victor Penchaszadeh – geneticist
Agustina Paz Frontera – journalist and writer
Domingo Tellechea – art restorer and embalmer
Hector Cristiani – grandson of Quirino Cristiani(Photo: Forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow giving testimony to the trial, 1985. Credit: Daniel Muzio/AFP via Getty Images)
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50:59
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 Alice Austin to explore other concerts in world history that have had a political impact. Also, the American politician who first coined the phrase "drill, baby, drill" in 2008, the making of Back To The Future in 1985 and the trophy killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe in 2015.Contributors:
Bernard Doherty - former Live Aid press officer.
Alice Austin - music journalist.
Ai Weiwei - artist.
Prof Andrew Loveridge - zoologist who studied Cecil the lion.
Michael Steele - the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, who came up with the slogan "Drill, baby, drill!"
Bob Gale - the co-writer and producer of the Back to the Future.(Photo: Mick Jagger and David Bowie performing Dancing In The Street. Credit: Brian Cooke / Redferns)
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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 the origins of train travel. The first story involved the hijacking of a train in 1950s communist Czechoslovakia which was driven across the border into West Germany.We also hear about Senator Robert Kennedy's funeral train in 1960s America, and Italy's "happiness train", which took children from the poverty stricken south to wealthier families in the north.Contributors - Archive interview with Karel Ruml.
Frank Mankiewicz - Robert Kennedy's former press secretary, and Rosey Grier, his former bodyguard.
Bianca D’Aniello - a passenger on the “happiness train”.
June Cutchins - received gifts from the Gratitude Train.
Tomas Andreas Elejalde - general manager of the Medellin Metro.(Photo: People stand near railroad tracks as a train carries the body of Robert Kennedy on June 8, 1968. Credit: Steve Northrup/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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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. Our guest is Jenny He, senior exhibitions curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. She tells us about the history of this blockbuster movie. We also hear from Carl Gottlieb, who co-wrote the screenplay.Also, the story of the women who were forcibly detained in sexual health clinics across East Germany, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, and the 1964 civil rights swimming protest that ended when acid was poured into the pool.Finally, the horrific account of Polly Sheppard who was a survivor of the Charleston church shooting in South Carolina, USA in 2015.Contributors:
Carl Gottlieb - Jaws co-writer.
Jenny He - senior exhibitions curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
Sabine - one of the women forcibly detained and abused in a sexual health clinic in East Germany.
Archive of William Norman Ewer - journalist who attended the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Archive of JT Johnson and Mimi Jones -activists in a civil rights swimming protest .
Polly Sheppard- survivor of the Charleston Church shooting.This programme contains movie excerpts from the 1975 film which was a Universal Picture, a Zanuck/Brown production and directed by Steven Spielberg.
(Photo: Steven Spielberg on the set of the film 'Jaws' in 1975. Credit: Archive Photos/Stringer)
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Ronald Reagan and Lonesome George
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dolly Jørgensen, Professor of History at the University of Stavanger in Norway and a specialist in the history of extinction.We start in 2012 with the death of a famous Galapagos tortoise called Lonesome George, who was the last of his species.Then, the incredible tale of how an Irish priest, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, saved thousands of prisoners of war and Jews in Rome during World War 2.We hear how the Sino-Indian War of 1962 left a painful legacy for Indian families of Chinese descent.Plus, one of the signatories of the Schengen Agreement recalls the day it was signed in 1985.Finally, Ronald Reagan's former speechwriter looks back on the President's 1987 'Tear down this wall' speech, delivered in Berlin.Contributors: Dolly Jørgensen - Professor of History at the University of Stavanger.
James Gibbs - Vice President of Science and Conservation at the Galapagos Conservancy.
Hugh O’Flaherty - relative of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.
Joy Ma - Indian woman of Chinese descent born in the Deoli camp.
Robert Goebbels - signed the Schengen Agreement.
Peter Robinson - US President Reagan's former speechwriter.(Photo: Lonesome George the tortoise. Credit: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP Getty Images)
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