Original version

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

The History Hour

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The History Hour: The death penalty and broadcasting bans

Discussion & Talk

The death penalty and broadcasting bans

28/01/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The History Hour, The death penalty and broadcasting bans

A prison guard and a hangman discuss capital punishment among other stories

A Japanese death row guard and a British hangman on capital punishment, the Smolensk air disaster, a punk-rocker on being the voice of the IRA, and the invention of the MP3.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Chiara Sangiorgio, Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International, who tells us about the history of the death penalty and its effectiveness. 

The programme begins with two perspectives on capital punishment: Yoshikuni Noguchi recounts his time as a prison guard on death row in Japan in the 1970s; then we hear archive recordings of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most famous hangman. 

Poland's former-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, describes how close he came to death in the 2010 Smolensk air disaster, in which the country's President was killed. 

Paul McLoone, the frontman of The Undertones, a punk-rock band, tells the bizarre story of how he became the broadcasting voice of IRA commander Martin McGuinness when the organisation was banned from British airwaves in 1988. 

Finally, Karlheinz Brandenburg explains how he revolutionised the way we listen to music through his invention of the MP3. 

Contributors:

Chiara Sangiorgio - Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International
Yoshikuni Noguchi - Japanese death row prison guard.
Albert Pierrepoint - British executioner.
Radosław Sikorski - former-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland.
Paul McCloone - band member of The Undertones and the voice of Martin McGuinness.
Karlheinz Brandenburg - inventor of the MP3.

(Photo: Nooses. Credit: Rebecca Redmond/EyeEm via Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The History Hour

The death penalty and broadcasting bans

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

About BBC World Service