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The History Hour
Indonesian history
The History Hour
Aug 15, 2025

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

Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as the country marks 80 years since independence.

We start by hearing about the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who wrote Buru Quartet while imprisoned in the notorious labour camp on Buru island.

Then, the reopening of the worlds’ largest Buddhist monument after major restoration work.

Plus, 50 years since the Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists.

Also, Jakarta’s ban on the use of dancing monkeys on the city’s streets. And, the discovery of a new species of human.

Contributors:

Pramoedya Ananta Toer - archive recordings of the writer.

Werdi – one of the workers on the project.

Dr Anne-Lot Hoek - research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

Max Stahl - archive recordings of the British cameraman.

Femke den Haas – animal rights activist.

Peter Brown - Australian paleoanthropologist.

(Photo: Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Credit: Reuters)

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Jun 6, 2026
The creation of Inspector Montalbano and Australia's first Big Thing

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Giuliana Pieri, an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London.

We start with the author Andrea Camilleri on the creation of his fictional detective Inspector Montalbano in 1994, and his influence on Italian noir.

Then we explore the tapes recorded in the 1950s with Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

We hear about the Chinese protests in 1989 that led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Plus, the launch of Ireland's first Irish language television channel in 1996.

Next, when Diana Ross missed a penalty at the World Cup in 1994.

Finally, we hear from the artist behind the first of Australia's 'Big Things', the giant novelty sculptures that became a national phenomenon.

Contributors:  

Professor Giuliana Pieri - an expert in Italian noir from Royal Holloway, University of London

Andrea Camilleri - Italian crime-writer (archive)

Saskia Sassen - daughter of Dutch journalist Willem Sassen, who recorded interviews with Adolf Eichmann

Wu'er Kaixi - Chinese student organiser of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square

Sinéad Ní Ghuidhir - first live presenter to speak on Teilifís na Gaeilge: Ireland's first television channel broadcasting exclusively in the Irish language

Alan Rothenberg - former president of the US Soccer Federation

Paul Kelly - Australian artist behind both the Big Scotsman and the equally iconic Big Lobster

Christobel Kelly - daughter of Paul Kelly

(Photo: Italian writer Andrea Camilleri, Rome, Italy, 2011. Credit: Luciano Viti/Getty Images)


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May 9, 2026
Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest and a WW2 sabotage mission in Norway

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

We start with the broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. To mark his 100th birthday, we go back to the mid 1950s and the television programme that launched his career. Our guest is Dr Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist and head of the conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct.

Then, the story of a World War Two sabotage plot carried out by a team of Norwegian resistance fighters.

We hear about Africa's worst stadium disaster, at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana.

Plus, a Spanish nun reflects on the killing of two fellow sisters during the Algerian civil conflict in the 1990s.

We also hear how the world's most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found in South Dakota, USA, in 1990.

Finally, how the Nigerian 4 x 400m relay team were declared Olympic champions, 12 years after the race.

Contributors:

Sir David Attenborough - naturalist and broadcaster (BBC archive)

Dr Paula Kahumbu, CEO of Kenyan conservation organisation, Wildlife Direct

Gunnar Deinboll Jenssen - nephew of the Norwegian resistance fighter Lieutenant Peter Deinboll

Herbert Mensah - former chair of the football club Asante Kotoko

Sister Lourdes Migueles - Spanish nun who chose to stay in Algeria during civil conflict

Peter Larson - American commercial fossil collector and researcher

Enefiok Udo-Obong - former Nigerian sprinter

(Photo: Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster, with two ring-tailed lemurs. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)


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Indonesian history

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