The National Archives Podcast Series

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Latest Episodes:

England '66: The best of times? Jul 13, 2016

Show notes

It was a year when England won the World Cup and led the world in all aspects of popular culture, including pop music, fashion, and film. But it was also a time of sterling crises, wage and price freezes, and industrial strife. Contemporary specialist Mark Dunton looks at a nation caught between optimism and decline.

100 years of the WI: The acceptable face of feminism Jul 07, 2016

Show notes

Professor Maggie Andrews discusses some of the key campaigns and concerns of the Women's Institute, from its origins in the First World War to the 1950s when, with half a million members, it was firmly established as the largest women's organisation in Britain.

Maggie is a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Worcester; she has published widely on women, domesticity and the home front in 20th century Britain.

Writer of the Month: Richard Barnett on Crucial Interventions Jun 30, 2016

Show notes

In this talk medical historian Richard Barnett explores surgery during the 19th century, from the application of antisepsis to experiments with hypnosis. What happened in the early operations that used anaesthesia, and why were patients initially reluctant to agree to it?

Richard Barnett is a writer and broadcaster on the cultural history of science and medicine. He teaches on the Pembroke-Kings Programme in Cambridge, and in 2011 received one of the first Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowships. His books include Medical London: City of Diseases: City of Cures, The Sick Rose (described by Will Self in the Guardian as 'superbly lucid and erudite') and Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery, which was published by Thames & Hudson in cooperation with the Wellcome Collection in October 2015.

Amiable Warriors: A History of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality Jun 14, 2016

Show notes

The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is the oldest surviving LGBT organisation in the UK. With more than 150 local branches and over 6,000 members, it has grown from a small regional committee lobbying for law reform with local MPs, into Britain's largest democratic gay organisation.

Playwright and journalist Peter Scott-Presland examines CHE's roots in Manchester, the traditions it grew out of, and the secret of its survival and ultimate success

Big Ideas: The Future of the Past Jun 08, 2016

Show notes

This presentation discusses the role that the material and intellectual heritage of a community can play in shaping and reshaping its identity, along a historical continuum. With a brief history of the Ismaili Muslims in focus, the presentation highlights some of the challenges faced by the modern Ismaili community in conservation of, and engaging with their heritage, dating back over a millennium. The talk features the heritage conservation initiatives organised by the community, especially in digital media, together with some of the finest pieces from the institutional archives and collections.

Zehra Lalji is among the key contributors who created the heritage sites archive at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS). At present, she serves the Institute as the Website Productions Officer, where she is leading a number of creative digital adaptations based on the Institute's published research.

Stalin's Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess Jun 02, 2016

Show notes

Guy Burgess was a brilliant young Englishman who rose through the ranks of MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War. But as a member of 'The Cambridge Spies', he betrayed his country by regularly passing on highly sensitive secret documents to his Soviet handlers.

Historian Andrew Lownie, author of 'Stalin's Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess' - a Guardian Book of the Year and The Times Best Biography of the Year - will talk about how Burgess was able to avoid exposure as a traitor to his country through his trademark charisma and a network of powerful political connections.

Shell-Shocked Britain: Understanding the lasting trauma of the First World War May 25, 2016

Show notes

Millions of soldiers were scarred by their experiences in the First World War trenches, but how new was what we now know as 'shell shock'? What treatments were on offer? And what happened after the men came home?

Writer and researcher Suzie Grogan reveals the First World War's legacy for soldiers and looks at the impact of the Spanish influenza outbreak, air raids on the Home Front, the trauma experienced by the survivors, and why the conflict still resonates into the 21st century.

Heidi Thomas: Researching Call the Midwife May 18, 2016

Show notes

Screenwriter Heidi Thomas shares the process of transforming Jennifer Worth's memoirs into the BBC period drama 'Call the Midwife', a TV series about midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s

Materiality matters: new approaches to medieval wax seal studies Mar 07, 2016

Show notes

Wax seals have been widely studied in terms of how they look, what they depict and what they might mean. But their physical characteristics and their importance as a method of communication are still not fully understood.

Our 'Wax Seals in Context' project investigated the material composition, manufacture and use of medieval wax seals, to understand how this important medium of communication was made. It used visual examination, material analysis and archival evidence.

The project focused on English royal and governmental seals of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Magna Carta - what's so 'great' about the charter? Dec 30, 2015

Show notes

We apologise for the variable sound quality of this podcast.

This year is the 800th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta - King John's Great Charter. This charter guaranteed a number of vital rights and privileges and is still seen as being the foundation of many modern liberties. To mark this important anniversary, we are holding a range of events and exhibitions.

In this discussion chaired by Dr Sophie Ambler world experts come together to debate the importance of Magna Carta.

Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at University of East Anglia, is an expert on 12th and 13th century English and European political and administrative history, and author of Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2012). He is the Honorary Secretary of the Pipe Roll Society.

Louise Wilkinson, Professor of Medieval History, Christ Church College Canterbury, is an expert on women in the age of Magna Carta, and 13th-century political and administrative history. She is the honorary General Editor of the Pipe Roll Society.

Paul Brand, Professor of English Legal History and Emeritus Fellow at All Souls Oxford, is an expert on English and Irish legal history, specialising in 13th-century law. He is the Honorary Treasurer of the Pipe Roll Society.

David Crook, formerly of The National Archives, is one of the leading experts on medieval records and forest law.

David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King's College London, is an expert on the reign of Henry III (1216-72) and author of Magna Carta (Penguin, 2015).

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