The History Hour

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of science fiction themed Witness History stories from the BBC World Service.</p><p>Our guest is Lisa Yaszek, Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech in the USA.</p><p>Actor Peter Coyote looks back on the making of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, sharing memories from the set and reflecting on the film's enduring appeal.</p><p>We hear the story of Octavia E. Butler, who overcame poverty, racism and sexism to become one of the most influentia

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.</p><p>We learn why, in 2004, Uruguayans voted to enshrine water as a human right in their constitution - the first country in the world to do so. And environmental historian Ellen Arnold reveals how water has shaped human history.</p><p>Also, we tell the story of the fatal hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Pakistan, 40 years ago. And how the island of Antigua was devastated when Hurricane Luis hit the Caribbean in 1995.

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.</p><p>Our guest is Dr Elisabeth Fondren, Associate Professor of Journalism at St John's University in New York, USA.</p><p>We start by hearing some groundbreaking frontline reporting from the Battle of Mandalay in World War Two.</p><p>Then, we hear how in 1950s Canada, a controversial government scheme saw the relocation of nearly 30 thousand people. </p><p>Next, a pioneering scientist on his

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes focussing on Kenya.</p><p>We hear about Muthoni Kirima, one of the last Mau Mau fighters to come out of hiding and lay down her arms.</p><p>Caroline Elkins, Professor of History at Harvard University, discusses the brutality of the conflict between Kenya’s Land and Freedom Army, the British and Kenyan loyalists.</p><p>Next, when Princess Elizabeth became queen while staying at the Treetops Hotel, a lodge in the Aberdare

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.</p><p>This week, we hear about the end of decades-long martial law in Taiwan and discuss its impact on the country's literature with Ti-han Chang, the Deputy Director of Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS University of London.</p><p>Next, the making of City of God, the film that showed the raw reality of children's gangs in Brazil's favelas.</p><p>Plus, we remember Ashley Kriel, the young activist who became an anti-apart

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. </p><p>We hear how a comic book fan and his friends began the very first comic convention in New York in 1964. </p><p>Our guest is comic book expert Dr Barbara Postema, from the University Groningen in the Netherlands. </p><p>Next, we hear how Oasis 1995 hit Wonderwall was made with the man who was the sound engineer on the record. </p><p>Plus, the memories of the cellist of Auschwitz in

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.</p><p>This week, we hear about the first solar-powered flight around the world, and discuss other moments in the history of solar power with Prof Laura Herz, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, in the UK.</p><p>Plus, the start of the largest mountain carving in the world in honour of Native American warrior Crazy Horse, Mexico's 'little old lady killer' and the birth of the 'African Oscars', FESPACO.</p><p

<p>Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.</p><p>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 paved the way for the rise of General Francisco Franco. We hear the story of a young refugee who fled the fighting but later returned home while the war was still under way.</p><p>We then travel to the Canadian Arc