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The History Hour
Battle of the Beanfield and the Champions League anthem
The History Hour
May 31, 2025

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

Our guest is Dr Nivi Manchanda, a reader in international politics at Queen Mary University in London.

First, a moment when two cultures clashed in 1985 at Stonehenge.

We hear about an English language novel from 1958, called Things Fall Apart.

Then, the 1992 creation of the iconic Champions League anthem.

Plus, how police raided the popular but controversial file-sharing website The Pirate Bay in 2006.

Finally, how Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip went on one final tour, after their guitarist was given months to live in 2015.

Contributors:

Helen Hatt - one of more than 500 people arrested at the Battle of the Beanfield. Dr Nivi Manchanda - reader in international politics at Queen Mary University in London. Nwando Achebe - Chinua Achebe's youngest daughter. Tony Britten - composer of the Champions League anthem. Peter Sunde - co-founder of The Pirate Bay. Rob Baker - lead guitarist in the Tragically Hip.

(Photo: Stonehenge protests. Credit: PA/PA Archive/PA Images)

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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This programme includes outdated and offensive language.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



Battle of the Beanfield and the Champions League anthem

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