The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We learn about how a Norwegian businessman brought salmon sushi to Japan in the 1980s. Our guest is cookbook author Nancy Singleton Hachisu, who tells us more about the history of sushi in Japan and around the world. We hear about the first opera written for TV in 1950s America and how U.S Marshalls used fake NFL tickets to capture some of Washington DC’s most wanted. Plus, how disability rights campaigners in India led to a change in the law in 1995 and when Scotland played hockey in Germany during the cold war. Finally, the story of when Laurel and Hardy spent Christmas at an English country pub. Contributors: Bjørn-Eirik – Norwegian businessman who brought salmon sushi to Japan Nancy Singleton Hachisu – cookbook authorArchive of Gian Carlo Menotti – Italian composer Stacia Hylton – former U.S Marshall Javed Abidi – Indian disability rights campaigner Archive of customers at The Bull Inn – the pub that Laurel and Hardy visited in 1953Valerie Sinclair – member of Scotland's hockey team who played West Germany in 1961 (Photo: Japanese demonstration to Norwegian royal family. Credit: Bjørn-Eirik Olson)

We start with the street artist Banksy, and his 2015 dystopian 'bemusement park'.Then, we talk to roller coaster enthusiast Megan MacCausland, from the European Coaster Club. Plus, we go back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the coelacanth, a fish believed to have been extinct for 65 million years. Next, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up after the abolishment of apartheid in the 1990s. This programme contains contains harrowing testimony and graphic descriptions of human rights violations throughout.Also, the six-day IRA siege on London's Balcombe Street in 1975, where a couple were taken hostage.Finally, it's been 10 years since 193 countries and the European Union adopted the Paris climate agreement, in December 2015. Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at how an international skiing scene developed in the mountains of Bamiyan province, Afghanistan, in 2011. Contributors: Kurtis Young - steward at Dismaland. Megan MacCausland - European Coaster Club. Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer - South African museum curator (from archive). Sisi Khampepe - served on the Amnesty Committee. Steven Moysey - saw the Balcombe Street siege unfold. Christiana Figueres - head of climate negotiations at 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Alishah Farhang - Afghanistan skier. (Photo: Dismaland in Weston Super-Mare. Credit: Kristian Buus/Getty Images)

The world is on the brink of nuclear war. How can the Soviet Union and the USA prevent it? Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders President John F Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Together Nina and Max explore what drove JFK and Khrushchev during the darkest days of October 1962. And when the crisis moves beyond their control, as a U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba, how do they avoid global catastrophe?  To hear more, search for The Bomb, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, all with a Nigerian theme.We hear two personal stories of the Biafra war, which began in 1967, including the writer Wole Soyinka who was jailed for trying to stop it. Plus, we hear from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe about escaping the conflict. She's now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye.We speak to Dr Louisa Egbunike, who is an Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University in England.Also, a retired Brigadier General speaks about West African countries fighting back against the jihadist militant group Boko Haram in 2015. Then, the opening of the New Afrika Shrine in 2000, by Fela Kuti's children to honour his legacy. Finally, we hear from Omoyemi Akerele who founded Lagos Fashion Week in 2011.Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at Nigeria becoming the first team to represent Africa at the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. This is a Made in Manchester Production.Contributors:Wole Soyinka - Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright. Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe - TV and music star. Dr Louisa Egbunike - Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University. Sani Kukasheka Usman - retired Brigadier General. Omoyeni Anikulapo-Kuti, also known as Yeni Kuti - the eldest daughter of Fela Kuti. Omoyemi Akerele - founder of Lagos Fashion Week. Nkiri Okosieme – captained Nigeria women's national football team.(Photo: Biafran national army soldiers. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is literature lecturer Dr Hetta Howes on major literary hoaxes around the world.We hear about Howard Hughes' fake autobiography, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia and how the Indian musician Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar.Plus, the Indian woman who led her country's first delegation to the United Nations, the Premier League's first female photographer and how Toy Story revolutionised animation.Contributors: Clifford Irving - American author who faked an autobiography of Howard Hughes. Dr Hetta Howes - a senior lecturer in English Literature at City St George’s, at the University of London. Jorge Enrique Castelblanco - Colombian engineer behind the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. Ravi Shankar - Indian sitar maestro. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit - led India's first delegation to the United Nations in 1946. Magi Haroun - the Premier League's first female photographer. Doug Sweetland - animator on Toy Story.(Photo: Clifford Irving leaving the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, followed by news crews in 1972. Credit: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)