David Thomas examines the reality behind Charles Dickens' fiction - what were Victorian debtors' prisons really like and how accurate was Dickens' portrayal of them?
Feb 2021
Annual Digital Lecture 2020: The death of anonymity in the age of identity
The global datafication of economy, society and politics has rendered humans into constellations of datapoints. Technologies measure, monitor, predict and classify to enable personalization in the online and offline worlds alike, and we are increasingly offered bespoke realities: ... Show More
28m 55s
Feb 2021
Cholera! Public health in mid-19th century Britain
The 1848-1849 cholera epidemic in England and Wales was described by a government report as if a ‘foreign army’ had ‘held possession of the country, and slain 53,293 men, women and children’. In the mid-19th century the country faced an epidemic of filth; poorly drained, overcrow ... Show More
40m 27s
Oct 2023
Zadie Smith on Dickens, Hypocrisy & Justice
This week David talks to the novelist Zadie Smith about Charles Dickens: what he means to her, why we still read him, and what’s missing from the Dickensian view of the world. It’s a conversation about other writers as well – Turgenev, George Orwell and Toni Morrison – and about ... Show More
50m 18s
Aug 2022
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens ~ Full Audiobook
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens audiobook. Immerse yourself in the gripping world of Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities,' a timeless masterpiece that masterfully weaves themes of sacrifice, resurrection, and the tumultuous clash of love and revolution against the back ... Show More
14h 59m