The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
The History Hour
BBC
4.4 • 912 Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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)
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 Ruffel and Rommashranganathan. |
| 0:26.0 | 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. |
| 0:36.7 | From the brilliant and bizarre. |
| 0:39.3 | It was really surreal. |
| 0:40.2 | It was a surreal kind of atmosphere there. |
| 0:42.3 | You couldn't really see anybody. |
| 0:43.5 | To the shocking and unexpected. |
| 0:45.6 | I'm just wondering, what are we going to do now? |
| 0:47.7 | This was really my worst fear. |
| 0:49.4 | He found 100% horsemeat that was labelled his beef. |
| 0:53.0 | Witness the stories that have shaped our world, |
| 0:56.2 | told by the people who were there. |
| 0:58.7 | When he went to the factory, the poodle went in front of him, |
| 1:01.7 | so the work was only all of the bosses here. |
| 1:03.8 | Many people had many things to lose by our victory. |
| 1:08.0 | The future was not so bright. |
| 1:10.7 | Witness history. |
... |
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