How did the British taste for tea start a war over the right to sell drugs to China? When did tea become fashionable in Britain? How did the Dutch bring tea to India?
William and Anita explore how the nation’s love of tea created a domino effect that led to the East India Company running a more prolific international drug cartel than Pablo Escobar…
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Aug 20
593. The Fight of the Century
Why did two men - John Heenan and and Tom Sayers - illegally meet in a field in Hampshire, in 1860, to brutally fight one another, captivating Britain in the process? What can the fight tell us about the nature of Britishness in the 19th century? Was this the birth of boxing? Who ... Show More
57m 19s
May 2024
How the Legacy of the British Empire Still Shapes Our World, with Sathnam Sanghera
Sathnam Sanghera is a writer and author of bestselling books exploring British identity, the latest of which is Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe. It follows Empireland, which looked at how the British Empire has shaped modern Britain. Sanghera has written ... Show More
40m 11s
Oct 2024
1. Wars of the Roses: England Divided
This is the first episode in a two-part series on the brutal, three-decade-long civil war that tore England in two. Today, we explore the complex allegiances, rivalries, and personalities that made it all happen before hearing about the first bloody battles between the houses of ... Show More
49m 58s
Jul 2024
The Mighty Ashanti: Rival to the British Empire
At the end of the 17th century, a small clan - the Akan - in West Africa began growing into what would later become the powerful Ashanti Empire. The state grew rapidly in both wealth and land until it spanned most of modern day Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Togo.
Luke Pepera join ... Show More
29m 42s
Mar 2024
66. Antony Gormley: Art, religion, and the battle for culture
Can Britain remain a cultural superpower post-Brexit? How does religion and philosophy inform creativity? How can we prevent arts from being cut from curriculums? Rory and Alastair are joined by Britain's leading sculptor, Antony Gormley, to answer all these questions and more.
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1h 5m
Mar 2025
George the Poet on Music, Memory, and the War on Blackness (Part One)
George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary.
Originally hailing from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, Mpanga has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics refl ... Show More
29m 24s