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British Studies
Critical Theory December 8, 2022

Palm Oil

The Grease of Empire

Max Haiven

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh
Palm oil is a commodity like no other. Found in half of supermarket products, from food to cosmetics to plastics, it has shaped the world in which we live. In …

British Studies

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Interviews with scholars of the United Kingdom about their new books.

Writ Large December 8, 2022

On Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs Dalloway"

A Discussion with Dora Zhang

Dora Zhang

Hosted by Zachary Davis
In the early 20th century, Europe and North America were undergoing a radical transformation. Scientific, technological, and political changes disrupted many traditional forms of life. The growth of cities opened …
Middle Eastern Studies December 5, 2022

Palestine in the Victorian Age

Colonial Encounters in the Holy Land

Gabriel Polley

Hosted by Roberto Mazza
In this episode I have interviewed Gabriel Polley, winner of the Ibrahim Dakkak Award for the best essay published in 2021 by the Jerusalem Quarterly. Narratives of the modern history …
British Studies December 4, 2022

A Brief History of the British Monarchy

From the Iron Age to King Charles III

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The British monarchy is at a turning point. Concise and engaging, Jeremy Black's A Brief History of the British Monarchy: From the Iron Age to King Charles III (Robinson, 2022) …
Writ Large December 2, 2022

On Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre"

A Discussion with Sharon Marcus

Sharon Marcus

Hosted by Zachary Davis
The Victorian era is known for its class rigidity and moral strictness. In her 1847 novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë gave us a robust, layered character who pushes against cultural …
Asian Review of Books December 1, 2022

The Sassoons

The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire

Joseph Sassoon

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
The Sassoons were one of the great merchant families of the nineteenth century, alongside such names as the Jardines, the Mathesons, and the Swires. They dominated the India-China opium trade …
Military History December 1, 2022

The Wandering Army

The Campaigns That Transformed the British Way of War

Huw J. Davies

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War (Yale University Press, 2022), Dr. Huw J. Davies presents a compelling history of the British Army in …
Diplomatic History December 1, 2022

The Nuclear Club

How America and the World Policed the Atom from Hiroshima to Vietnam

Jonathan R. Hunt

Hosted by Grant Golub
The Nuclear Club: How America and the World Policed the Atom from Hiroshima to Vietnam (Stanford UP, 2022) reveals how a coalition of powerful and developing states embraced global governance …
Economic and Business History November 30, 2022

Impunity and Capitalism

The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690–1830

Trevor Jackson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Whose fault are financial crises, and who is responsible for stopping them, or repairing the damage? Impunity and Capitalism: The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690-1830 (Cambridge University Press, 2022) …
Writ Large November 28, 2022

On George Orwell's "1984"

A Discussion with Priya Satia

Priya Satia

Hosted by Zachary Davis
In 1948, English author George Orwell wrote what would become one of the defining novels of the 20th century, 1984. He was writing in the years following WWII and the …
Sociology November 28, 2022

Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents

Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London

Paul Watt

Hosted by Anna Zhelnina
It is widely accepted that London is in the midst of a serious housing crisis, manifested most obviously in city's soaring rents. While the causes of this crisis are manifold …
Film November 25, 2022

Truly, Madly

Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century

Stephen Galloway

Hosted by Daniel Moran
A sweeping and heartbreaking Hollywood biography about the passionate, turbulent marriage of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. In 1934, a friend brought fledgling actress Vivien Leigh to see Theatre …
British Studies November 25, 2022

Under Fire

Black Britain in Wartime 1939-45

Stephen Bourne

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
In Under Fire: Black Britain in Wartime 1939-45 (The History Press, 2020), Stephen Bourne tells the whole story of Britain's black community during World War II. On the home front, civilians …
Writ Large November 25, 2022

On George Eliot's "Middlemarch"

A Discussion with Nicholas Dames

Nicholas Dames

Hosted by Zachary Davis
By the time we reach middle age, our lives have taken certain paths. Sometimes these paths are close to what we imagined in our youth. But more often, they’re dramatically …
Irish Studies November 24, 2022

Charles Owen O'Conor, the O'Conor Don

Landlordism, Liberal Catholicism and Unionism in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Aidan Enright

Hosted by Aidan Beatty
Aidan Enright holds a PhD in History from Queen’s University Belfast and is an Associate Researcher and Part-Time Lecturer in History at Leeds Beckett University, where he teaches Modern British …
Medieval History November 23, 2022

Scripting Justice in Late Medieval Europe

Legal Practice and Communication in the Law Courts of Utrecht, York and Paris

Frans Camphuijsen

Hosted by Jana Byars
Frans Camphuijsen explored records from the law courts of York, Paris, and Utrecht and used them as a base for Scripting Justice in Late Medieval Europe: Legal Practice and Communication in …
Irish Studies November 21, 2022

Northern Ireland, the BBC, and Censorship in Thatcher's Britain, 1979-1990

Robert J. Savage

Hosted by Aidan Beatty
Robert J. Savage is a professor in the Boston College History Department and served as one of the directors of the University’s Irish Studies program for close to twenty years …
International Horizons November 21, 2022

What is the Future of Populism?

A Discussion with Umut Korkut

Umut Korkut

Hosted by International Horizons
The world's wealthier countries have in recent years faced challenges from right-wing populist parties and movements that may rejuvenate origins from relatively far in the past, such as in the …
General History November 21, 2022

Escaping Slavery

A Documentary History of Native American Runaways in British North America

Antonio T. Bly

Hosted by Michael Vann
Antonio T. Bly had collected and edited hundreds of advertisements offering a reward for enslaved Native Americans who run away from their masters. Escaping Slavery: A Documentary History of Native …
British Studies November 18, 2022

The History of the London Underground Map

Caroline Roope

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Few transportation maps can boast the pedigree that London’s iconic ‘Tube’ map can. Sported on t-shirts, keyrings, duvet covers, and most recently, downloaded an astonishing twenty million times in app …