Saxophone diplomacy and bulletproof vests

The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Natalia Grincheva, an expert in cultural diplomacy from Lasalle, University of the Arts in Singapore.

We start by hearing about when US president Bill Clinton was presented with a saxophone on a 1994 visit to Prague and he and the Czech president Vaclav Havel performed together on stage.

Then, India’s first female anthropologist, Irawati Karve.

Twenty years on, the cousin of John Charles de Menezes, describes the day the unarmed Brazilian man was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London.

Plus, the discovery of the super-strong fibre Kevlar in 1965 which was used in bulletproof vests.

And finally, 50 years on from the premiere of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line, an original cast member shares her memories.

Contributors:

Urmilla Deshpande – granddaughter of Irawati Karve.

Patricia da Silva – cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Baayork Lee – Connie in A Chorus Line

Plus, archive recording of Stephanie Kwolek, and material from the Vaclav Havel Center and the William J Clinton Presidential Library.

(Photo: President Bill Clinton accepts a saxophone as a gift from a Belgian delegation in 1994. Credit: Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images)