What does it take to get a room of ex-military festival-goers in rural Wiltshire to agree Britain should return its stolen gold? And why does an obsolete Victorian law still make it a criminal offence for the British Museum to give any of it back? Afua Hirsch just spent a week testing both — with a Buckingham Palace thought experiment, a courtroom-style cross-examination, and a verdict on two centuries of looted treasure that even British Museum members found hard to argue with.
Afua brings Peter inside two sold-out tents at the Chalke Valley History Festival — one on the Ashanti gold Britain still won't return, the other on the German peasants written out of history. Welcome to Legacy Inbox, a new lighter-touch addition to the feed.
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[0:00] Afua's back from Chalke Valley, sold-out crowds and all
[4:10] Barnaby Phillips and a sequel to Loot bring Ashanti gold into the tent
[12:05] A sacked palace, a stolen throne, and a case Afua calls open and shut
[18:55] Her answer to "it's illegal to give it back": test it in court
[21:52] The 2024 loan Britain calls generosity — and Ghana calls something else
[24:00] A blacked-out England XI, and what it says about the British Museum
[25:38] Why a tent full of skeptics left more hopeful than they arrived
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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:
Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.
legacy.supportingcast.fm
Stay connected with Legacy:
Instagram: @originallegacypodcast
TikTok: @legacy_productions
Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
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