Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.
This week, we hear from Lumepa Hald who survived the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009 but suffered a tragic loss.
Our expert guest, Prof Tiziana Rossetto, looks back at some of the worst tsunamis in history and how they have shaped our landscapes.
Plus we talk to Caster Semenya, the gold medallist who faced questions over her gender at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
There’s also an interview with Peter Greste, one of three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.
We also look at the mystery surrounding the death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda with his driver, Manuel Araya.
And finally we talk to singer Dafydd Iwan, the “bad boy of Welsh politics”, who was arrested for defacing an English sign. He wanted official recognition for the Welsh language.
Contributors: Lumepa Hald – survivor of the tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009. Tiziana Rossetto - Professor of Earthquake Engineering at University College London, UK. Caster Semenya – world champion runner who faced questions over her gender. Peter Greste – journalist sentenced to seven years in prison in Egypt. Manuel Araya – driver of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Dafydd Iwan – singer who campaigned for official recognition the Welsh language.
(Photo: Devastation at a beach in Samoa after the 2009 tsunami. Credit: Getty Images)
Film and cinema around the world
The Invasion of Iraq
International Women's Day
Pink triangles and political assassinations
Riots in Mauritius and the Queen 'jumping out of a helicopter'
'Hot Autumn' and Tutankhamun
Popes
Pirate radio and the Velvet Divorce
The death penalty and broadcasting bans
Horsemeat scandal and the Miracle on the Hudson
Plastics in oceans and sea cucumbers
Pussy Riot and other Russian rebels
Food
90 years of the BBC World Service
District Six and daredevils
Referendums and Teletubbies
Contested islands and Miss World protests
Anwar Ibrahim and road safety inventions
Arabian Peninsula
Racist raids, protests and a political assassination
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Global News Podcast
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
The Infinite Monkey Cage
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins