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The History Hour
Buildings of power and the Dada art movement
The History Hour
Jul 11, 2026

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

Our guest is Mateja Kurir, associate professor at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the editor of the book, On Power in Architecture.

We start with Jackie Kennedy's 1962 renovation of the United States' White House and the immigrant workers who protested against rent hikes and living conditions in 1970s France.

Next, the toxic explosion in a chemical factory in northern Italy in 1975 and South Sudan's celebration of independence in 2011.

Plus, the art movement Dada which began 110 years ago and went on to influence Surrealism and punk.

Finally, the Wimbledon final of 2008 between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer which some call the greatest tennis match ever played.

Contributors: Jackie Kennedy - featured in a CBS TV special in 1962. Mohammed Kherbachi - witness to the foyer strikes of the 1970s. Giuseppe Cassina - former Mayor of Seveso. Malual Bol Kiir - on the time of South Sudan's independence. Richard Huelsenbeck - interviewed in 1959 for the BBC programme, The Meaning of Dada. Rafael Nadal - winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.

This episode has been updated since its original broadcast to clarify the national origins of some artists.

(Photo: The White House in 1962. Credit: 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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Buildings of power and the Dada art movement

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