2024-12-28
23 分钟This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
This week on Witness History, the smart speaker Alexa is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
But did you know its voice was created by two students in Poland.
After watching old sci fi movies, Wukas and Mekow decided they could create a device which sounded less robotic and more like a human.
After spending years developing their own technology, they started winning awards and big companies like Amazon took notice.
Search and subscribe to Witness History wherever you get your podcasts.
Hello, I'm Luke Jones.
Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
We bring people together to share their experiences and this time we hear from three athletes whose lives changed in 2024 after becoming their country's first medalist at the world's biggest sporting stage.
In our final edition of the year, we wanted to go Back to par 2024 and check in with athletes who created a special piece of history.
One of them, Palisha Govardhan, got a Paralympic medal in taekwondo for Nepal, the first for her and her country.
She also became an inspiration for many others.
My success has more than just put me in a spotlight.
It has shifted like people's mindset.
It's shown people, especially athletes and persons with disabilities, that anything is possible.
Palisha also tells us later that her greatest achievement is that young people come up to her and say they want to be like her.
We start at the Olympics though, where this year five countries athletes won medals for the first time.
We'll hear from two of those.
David the pina, who is from Cape Verde, a group of islands off the west coast of Africa.
David spoke to us from Portugal, where he trains, and he took home a bronze in boxing's flyweight category.