About this episode
The episode discusses the assassination of Thomas Sankara, a radical African leader, and features an interview with his brother, Paul Sankara.
In October 1987, one of Africa's most radical leaders, Captain Thomas Sankara, was gunned down in a coup in Burkina Faso. His overthrow was orchestrated by his old friend, Blaise Compaore. Thomas Sankara's brother, Paul, spoke to Alex Last in 2013. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of…
People in this episode
Host: Alex Last
Guest: Paul Sankara
Topics covered
- assassination
- Burkina Faso
- political coup
- African leaders
- historical accounts
Keywords
- Thomas Sankara
- Blaise Compaore
- Burkina Faso
- assassination
- political history
- 1987 coup
- African politics
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC World Service
Places: Burkina Faso
More episodes of Witness History
- Hussein of Jordan: The survivor king · June 12, 2026 · 11 min
- The inspiration for Chekhov's Three Sisters · June 11, 2026 · 11 min
- Picasso and the Surrealist summer · June 10, 2026 · 11 min
- Mstislav Rostropovich: Virtuoso cellist · June 9, 2026 · 11 min
- Nelson Mandela's incarceration at Robben Island · June 8, 2026 · 10 min
- The creation of Inspector Montalbano · June 5, 2026 · 11 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Witness History podcast page.