Episodes

  • Slavery was even worse than we thought - Ep 1 Money not Morality ended British Enslavement

    Slavery was even worse than we thought - Ep 1 Money not Morality ended British Enslavement
    11 Nov 2026
    We repeat this 5-part series in the light of recent discussions in the UK about apologising for/making reparations for enslavement and to dispel the myth, much trumpeted, that the British 'saw the light' first. Which we did not. We try to give a factual outline of the experience of being transported in horrendous conditions from Africa to the British Caribbean against your will. And we open up the debate started in 1938 by the brilliant young Trinidadian historian Eric Williams as to whether it was money or morality that ended British enslavement? The trade in the enslaved was banned in 1807, the enslaved were 'emancipated' in 1833.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    36 min
  • #60 After 1918 the secrets are out - Ep 8 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #60 After 1918 the secrets are out - Ep 8 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    4 Nov 2026
    The reason we all believe Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst achieved women’s votes in Britain is because that’s the narrative created in the 20s and 30s by former suffragettes. The reality of what Emmeline and Christabel got up to post 1918 is shocking. Suffice it to say it involves racial purity and telling working women they can buy silk underwear, shapely shoes and fur hats, not by improving their working conditions but by giving into the feminine desire for shopping. What?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    45 min
  • #43 The Suffragettes did not win the vote - Ep 7 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #43 The Suffragettes did not win the vote - Ep 7 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    28 Oct 2026
    Suddenly, after 1913 votes for women looks inevitable. Not through the chaotic, dying campaign of the suffragettes. But through the political brilliance of Millicent Fawcett and the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. Their 1913 alliance with the Labour Party changes the whole political balance. Now Liberal Prime Minister HH Asquith’s blockheaded intransigence over women’s votes is costing his party dearly and letting the Tories in. At the 1915 election all three parties will be vying to give women the vote. But then… war breaks out.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    42 min
  • #42 The violence backfired - Ep 6 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #42 The violence backfired - Ep 6 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    21 Oct 2026
    From 1912 the WSPU – the Pankhurst Suffragettes – are out of control and dangerous. But that is not how they're remembered. Anyone who disagrees with the violence either leaves or is thrown out. Whatever they later claim about their ‘wonderful leadership’, it is their young, poor members who are inventing new and increasingly dangerous ways of intimidating the government. The WSPU leadership claims it never threatened life, only property, but this is manifestly not true. Axes are thrown, full theatres set on fire, bombs put on trains, acid poured into mail-boxes and the leaders do nothing to contain this ‘terrorism’ with deadly intent.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    37 min
  • #37 Hunger strikes and forced feeding - Ep 4 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #37 Hunger strikes and forced feeding - Ep 4 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    7 Oct 2026
    The militant strategy of the WSPU – the Pankhurst Suffragettes - is delivering them headlines. It gets them nowhere with the government but it makes enormous sums of advertising revenue from fancy retailers, and funds Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst’s society lifestyle. Rich London ladies in silks and satins pour in the money, while working-class activists take all the risks. WSPU officer Theresa Billington drafts a constitution to give everyone a say but Emmeline Pankhurst tears it up and manoeuvres anyone with a socialist agenda out. Who exactly is this organisation for?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    38 min
  • #36 The Pankhursts didn't want the poor to get the vote - Ep 3 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #36 The Pankhursts didn't want the poor to get the vote - Ep 3 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    30 Sep 2026
    The WSPU – the Pankhurst Suffragettes - begin in the Manchester Labour Party in the 1890s and learn their publicity-grabbing tactics from Labour. But these tactics turn out to have the worst possible effect – making women’s votes even less likely than before. They are so bad, in fact, it makes you wonder whether the Suffragette leadership had some other agenda.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    31 min
  • #36 Most women didn't want the vote - Ep 2 The Secret History of the Suffragettes

    #36 Most women didn't want the vote - Ep 2 The Secret History of the Suffragettes
    23 Sep 2026
    We go back to the great number of unsung women and men who made great strides towards women’s votes and female emancipation by 1900. Emmeline Pankhurst sets up her Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 as a pressure group for votes for poor working-women in the cotton mills. By then a majority of MPs is already consistently in favour. But the public are uninterested and no government will therefore act. The question is whether the WSPU can find a formula for making ministers give votes to women.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    27 min