British Studies

British Studies

episodes

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

David Veevers, "The Great Defiance: How the World Took on the British Empire" (Ebury Press, 2023)

March 28, 2024

The Great Defiance

David Veevers
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

It’s very easy to study the history of the British Empire from the perspective of, well, the British–and to extend the early 20th century version of t…

An Oral History Archive of World War One: A Discussion with Peter Liddle

March 25, 2024

An Oral History Archive of World War One

Peter Liddle

Peter Liddle OBE FRHistS (born 1934) is a British historian and author specialising in the study of the First and Second World Wars. In 1968 Liddle s…

Paul Bew, "Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics: Judging Dillon and Parnell" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 22, 2024

Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics

Paul Bew
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

The story of Charles Stewart Parnell, one of the greatest Irish leaders of the nineteenth century and also one of the most renowned figures of the 188…

Anelise Hanson Shrout, "Aiding Ireland: The Great Famine and the Rise of Transnational Philanthropy" (NYU Press, 2024)

March 22, 2024

Aiding Ireland

Anelise Hanson Shrout
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Famine brought ruin to the Irish countryside in the nineteenth century. In response, people around the world and from myriad social, ethnic, and relig…

The Polish-British Business Landscape

March 21, 2024

The Polish-British Business Landscape

Michael Dembinski

In this episode Richard interviews not an entrepreneur but a business journalist with detailed knowledge of the Polish and British business landscape …

Yaacov Nir, "Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949) (Cambridge Scholars, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949).

Yaacov Nir
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Yaacov Nir's Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949) (Cambridge Scholars, 2024) explores the nature of…

Caitlin Davies, "Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths" (The History Press, 2023)

March 17, 2024

Private Inquiries

Caitlin Davies
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Dismissed as ‘Mrs Sherlock Holmes’ or amateurish Miss Marples, mocked as private dicks or honey trappers, they have been investigating crime since the…

Stephanie Chasin, "British Jews and Imperial Service: Nationalism, Pan-Islamism and Zionism in Mandate Palestine and Colonial India" (I. B. Tauris, 2023)

March 17, 2024

British Jews and Imperial Service

Stephanie Chasin
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the wake of the devastating WWI, three Jews headed the most valuable territory in the British Empire in addition to a strategically important new a…

Ellen E. Jones, "Screen Deep: How Film and TV Can Solve Racism and Save the World" (Faber and Faber, 2024)

March 16, 2024

Screen Deep

Ellen E. Jones
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Why does race matter in film and TV? In Screen Deep: How Film and TV Can Solve Racism and Save the World (Faber and Faber, 2024), Ellen E. Jones, a jo…

Amy Lidster and Sonia Massai, "Shakespeare at War: A Material History" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Shakespeare at War

Amy Lidster and Sonia Massai

Presenting engaging, thought-provoking stories across centuries of military activity, Shakespeare at War: A Material History (Cambridge UP, 2023) demo…

Julie Kalman, "The Kings of Algiers: How Two Jewish Families Shaped the Mediterranean World During the Napoleonic Wars and Beyond" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 14, 2024

The Kings of Algiers

Julie Kalman
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

On July 27th, 1827, the dey of Algiers struck the French consul over his country’s refusal to pay back its debts–specifically, to two Jewish merchant …

Victoria Perry, "A Bittersweet Heritage: Slavery, Architecture and the British Landscape" (Hurst, 2022)

March 14, 2024

A Bittersweet Heritage

Victoria Perry
Hosted by Katrina Anderson

The 2020 toppling of slave-trader Edward Colston's statue by Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol was a dramatic reminder of Britain's role in tra…

Micajah Henley, "The Clash's Sandinista!" (Bloombury, 2024)

March 14, 2024

The Clash's Sandinista!

Micajah Henley
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Following the success of their instantly iconic double LP, London Calling, The Clash set out to do something "triply outrageous." Named after the Nica…

Gavin Butt, "No Machos Or Pop Stars: When the Leeds Art Experiment Went Punk" (Duke UP, 2022)

March 13, 2024

No Machos Or Pop Stars

Gavin Butt
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How do art schools influence music? In No Machos or Pop Stars: When the Leeds Art Experiment Went Punk (Duke UP, 2022), Gavin Butt, a Professor of Fin…

Jad Adams, "Decadent Women: Yellow Book Lives" (Reaktion Books, 2023)

March 10, 2024

Decadent Women

Jad Adams
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Decadent Women: Yellow Book Lives (Reaktion, 2023) by Jad Adams chronicles the vibrant and passionate women who wrote for the 1890s journal The Yellow…

Brian Merchant, "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech" (LIttle, Brown, 2023)

March 10, 2024

Blood in the Machine

Brian Merchant
Hosted by Michael Vann

"Luddite" has become an insult and Brian Merchant wants to change that. Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech (Little, B…

Jacqueline Kennelly, "Burnt by Democracy: Youth, Inequality, and the Erosion of Civic Life" (U Toronto Press, 2023)

March 9, 2024

Burnt by Democracy

Jacqueline Kennelly
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Burnt by Democracy: Youth, Inequality, and the Erosion of Civic Life (University of Toronto Press, 2023) by Dr. Jacqueline Kennelly traces the politic…

Jeremy Black, "The Age of Nightmare: The Gothic and British Culture, 1750-1900" (St. Augustine's Press, 2022)

March 9, 2024

The Age of Nightmare

Jeremy Black
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

Historian Jeremy Black is comprehensive, as ever, but in his treatment of the British Gothic novel his greatest service is the preservation of the det…

Priyasha Saksena, "Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 7, 2024

Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia

Priyasha Saksena
Hosted by Alex Batesmith

In Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia (Oxford UP, 2023), Dr Priyasha Saksena interrogates the centuries-ol…

Joanna Crosby, "Apples and Orchards Since the Eighteenth Century: Material Innovation and Cultural Tradition" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

March 5, 2024

Apples and Orchards Since the Eighteenth Century

Joanna Crosby
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Showing how the history of the apple goes far beyond the orchard and into the social, cultural and technological developments of Britain and the USA, …