Chile’s Penguin Revolution and the 5,000-year-old frozen mummy
The History Hour
BBC
4.4 • 913 Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.
We travel back to Chile in 2006 where more than 600,000 schoolchildren are marching through the streets to protest about their schools. The nationwide demonstrations will become known as the "Penguin Revolution".
Our guest Dr Laura Tisdall, a historian from Newcastle University, explains why this isn’t the first time children have challenged authority.
And we examine another protest in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1979 which became a seminal moment in the country’s transition to democracy.
Plus, one of the most defining moments of World War Two – the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ largest death camp in 1945.
And the remarkable story of the 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen and perfectly preserved in Europe’s Ötzal Alps in 1991.
In sport, we explore the inspiring story of how rugby union came to thrive in Syria - despite mass protests and violent government crackdowns during 2011...
Finally, we celebrate 100 years since a technological breakthrough that would change the world. The start of television.
Contributors:
Karina Delfino – one of the leaders of the Penguin Revolution.
Dr Laura Tisdall - lecturer in Modern British History, Newcastle University.
Yao Chia-wen – protester in the Kaohsiung Incident.
General Vasily Petrenko – Soviet army commander who helped liberate Auschwitz.
Konrad Spindler – archaeologist.
Rainer Henn - forensic pathologist.
Mohamad Jarkou – Syrian rugby union player.
Iain Logie Baird – grandson of John Logie Baird, the inventor of television.
(Photo: High school students in Santiago, 2006. Credit: Claudio Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked. |
| 0:12.7 | But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes, |
| 0:18.2 | The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials |
| 0:22.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle, and Rommasheranganathan. |
| 0:25.9 | However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncoaked. |
| 0:30.3 | So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.5 | We did something that no one else had ever done. |
| 0:38.3 | There was such a excitement and energy about this moment. |
| 0:42.8 | It opened the door for everything that rapidly followed. |
| 0:45.5 | Witness history. |
| 0:46.6 | History as told by the people who were there. |
| 0:49.4 | I was walking in space. |
| 0:51.3 | The first man ever to do so. |
| 0:53.6 | I felt almost insignificant, like a tiny ant compared to the immensity of the universe. |
| 1:00.1 | Witness History from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:02.9 | Listen now. Search for Witness History, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 1:12.7 | Hello and welcome to The History Hour from the BBC World Service with me, Max Pearson, |
| 1:17.9 | the past brought to life by those who were there. |
| 1:20.9 | This week, protests in Taiwan during the fight for democracy. |
| 1:24.8 | The military started firing tear gas to try to disperse the people there. |
| 1:30.2 | I told the public to leave the scene, and that was the moment the conflict began. |
... |
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