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The History Hour
Whisky wars and the Lord of Sipan
The History Hour
Mar 2, 2024

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We first hear about a bloodless war between Denmark and Canada, that involved whisky.

In 1984, the two nations were disputing the ownership of the tiny Hans Island, just off the coast of Greenland. It might be the friendliest territorial dispute ever.

We hear from Tom Hoyem and Alan Kessel, politicians on either side.

And we have historian Ditte Melitha Kristensen, from the National Museum and Archives of Greenland, to shed some light on the history of the country.

Plus, how Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva discovered the richest tomb ever found in the America’s: the final resting place of the ancient ruler, the Lord of Sipan.

Also, we go back to the 1960s when 1,500 Torah scrolls appeared at a synagogue in London.

And a Crimea double-bill. We go back to 2014 when Russia annexed the Ukranian peninsula, and then back to the 1980s, when it was used as a holiday camp for children across the Soviet Union.

Contributors: Tom Hoyem— Minister for Greenland in Denmark. Alan Kessel— Assistant Deputy Minister for Legal Affairs in Canada. Ditte Melitha Kristensen — Greenland historian. Walter Alva— Archaeologist. Phillippa Bernard — Founder member of Westminster Synagogue. Maria Kim Espeland — One of the thousands of children who visited the Artek holiday camp.

(Photo: Greenland. Credit: Thomas Traasdashi/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

More Episodes
Jun 21, 2025
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This programme includes outdated and offensive language.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)


51min 07sec




Whisky wars and the Lord of Sipan

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