Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 15, 2025 · 1H 1M

Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis

from The History Hour · host BBC World Service

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947. Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.France’s former finance minister recalls how an economic crisis in the 1970s led to the birth of the G7.Next, how a heated NBA game in 2004 spiralled into one of the most infamous brawls in sports history. Finally, we hear the story of the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009.Contributors:Chuck Yeager (from archive) - the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott - a couple who survived the Bataclan attack in Paris.Benjamin Ferencz - a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials.Jean-Pierre Fourcade - France's former finance minister.Mark Boyle - radio broadcaster for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.Mohamed Nasheed - former President of the Maldives.(Photo: The first powered take off of Chuck Yeager's supersonic plane in 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

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Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis

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