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The History Hour
The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
The History Hour
Jan 10, 2026

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. This programme contains distressing details.

Our guest is Bárbara Fernández Melleda, Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

We start with Chilean author Isabel Allende on her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, in 1982 which reflects Chile’s 20th century history.

Then, we hear the memories of a soldier injured in the Battle of Gallipoli.

The recollections of a mother who lost both her daughters in a crowd crush at Hillsborough stadium in 1989 - the UK's worst sporting disaster.

How a British artist's unmade bed was nominated for a prestigious art prize in 1999.

Next the swimsuit made ahead of the Beijing Olympic games in 2008 that was so good it had to be banned.

Finally, we learn about the world's longest running animated TV series that began in 1969.

Contributors:

Isabel Allende - a Chilean author.

Rupert Westmacott - a soldier (from archive).

Jenni Hicks - a mother who lost her two daughters in the Hillsborough tragedy.

Dame Tracey Emin - an artist.

Jason Rance - former head of Speedo's global research and development team.

Sunishi Yukimuro - an animated cartoon writer.

(Image: Chilean author Isabel Allende. Credit: Felipe Amilibia/AFP via Getty Images)

More Episodes
Aug 15, 2026
The Mau Mau uprising and man-eating lions

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes focussing on Kenya.

We hear about Muthoni Kirima, one of the last Mau Mau fighters to come out of hiding and lay down her arms.

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.

Next, when Princess Elizabeth became queen while staying at the Treetops Hotel, a lodge in the Aberdare National Park.

In 1997, scientists travelled to Kenya, in search of a cave believed to have been the den of the man-eating lions that terrorised railway workers in 1898.

Plus, we hear how Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed an unprecedented power-sharing deal to end a wave of violence that left more than 1,200 people dead.

And the heartwarming story of the friendship between a baby hippo and a 130-year-old giant tortoise.

Finally for our Sporting Witness story, we head to the first Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1983.

Contributors: Caroline Elkins - Professor of History at Harvard University, and author of Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. Muthoni Kirima - Field Marshall in the Kenya Land and Freedom Army. Frank Gillard - BBC correspondent. Thomas Gnoske - Scientist. Alan Patterson - British Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson's grandson. Maina Kiai - Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in 2008. Maini Schildt - Swedish Ultimate Frisbee player.

(Photo: Mau Mau suspects are rounded up by police outside the camp in Manyani, Kenya, 1955. Credit: Getty Images/Authenticated News)


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The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed

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