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The History Hour
The wonder woman of the comic world and Namibia's 'ghost town'
The History Hour
Apr 4, 2025

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from the first woman to lead DC Comics - the home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Jenette Kahn began turning the company around in the 1970s.

Our expert is Dr Mel Gibson, associate professor at Northumbria University. She has carried out extensive research into comics and graphic novels.

Next, Minda Dentler, the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the super-endurance Ironman World Championship in 2013, tells us about achieving her goal after contracting polio as a child.

Then, the invention of the life-size training dummy Resusci Anne in the 1960s, which was designed to teach mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The ghost town in Namibia that's slowly being buried by the desert after it was abandoned in the 1950s when the diamonds ran out.

Finally, the accidental invention of superglue in 1951, which only became a big hit following an appearance on a US tv show.

Contributors: Jenette Kahn - former President of DC Comics. Dr Mel Gibson - associate professor at Northumbria University. Minda Dentler - wheelchair athlete. Tore Lærdal - Executive Chairman of Lærdal Medical. Dieter Huyssen - grandson of an emigree to Kolmanskop in Namibia. Adam Paul - grandson of Dr Harry Coover, inventor of superglue.

(Photo: Cover illustration for Action Comics with Superman, June 1938. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Mar 14, 2026
Movie history: Seven Samurai and Casablanca

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is media, culture and creative industries lecturer Sarah Jilani. We start in 1954 with the Japanese film Seven Samurai which is widely considered to be one of world cinema's most influential films. Then, we hear about the 2006 Hindi film Rang de Basanti which broke box-office records and inspired thousands of young Indians to march for justice. We delve into the BBC Archives to hear from director Leni Riefenstahl about one of the most controversial propaganda movies ever made, Triumph of the Will, which was filmed at the Nazis’ Nuremberg rally in 1934. Next, we hear about the challenges of making the Hollywood 1942 classic, Casablanca, from the late son and nephew of the screenwriters. Finally, the story of the Spanish language fantasy, Pan's Labyrinth, which took the world by storm in 2006. Contributors: Hisao Kurosawa - movie producer, head of the Kurosawa Production Company and son of Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa. Sarah Jilani - a Lecturer in the Department of Media, Culture and Creative Industries, City St George's, University of London. Kamlesh Pandey - screenwriter. Leni Riefenstahl - film maker (from BBC Archive). Leslie Epstein - the late son and nephew of screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein respectively. Ivana Baquero - actress. (Photo: Ingrid Bergman with Humphrey Bogart in a still from Casablanca. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)


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The wonder woman of the comic world and Namibia's 'ghost town'

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