The proliferation of podcasts in recent years is an interesting trend that probably tells us something about the eagerness of radicals (and egotistical self-promoters) to grasp the opportunities that technological developments provide. A
previous RaHN meeting looked at the tradition of radical pamphleteering and self-publishing that followed the invention of the printing press.
Arguably podcasts are a manifestation of this tradition, but with radio / broadcast media - a hugely more accessible way of spreading the word than pirate radio...
Anyway, below is a rundown of radical history podcasts I have enjoyed. If you can recommend others, please leave a comment below. I am especially interested in hearing about black history or feminist history podcasts, but I am sure there are lots of others.
Working Class History
Engaging documentation of working class struggles around the world, often including interviews with participants. For example the story of the Columbia Eagle Mutiny (about the hijacking of a ship full of napalm by two anti-war American sailors during the Vietnam war) features extensive reflections by one of the mutineers.
Closer to home there are episodes on The Angry Brigade (with John Barker), women in the Miners' Strike, The Peterloo Masscare (with Mike Leigh) and the Asian Youth Movements in Bradford.
Working Class History is now up to 50 episodes and has various related projects including a book and a spin off podcast on working class literature.
Working Class History website.
The Log Books
This podcast has a much narrower scope - it is based on the logbooks of calls made to London's Lesbian and Gay Switchboard from the 1974 onwards. The entries are brought to life by the presenters - and by contributions from many Switchboard volunteers past and present.
It's an incredibly effective way of telling the story of the resilience and tenacity of LGBT+ people in the UK in the late 20th Century. The entertaining tales of odd things that callers have asked about is artfully intertwined with very affecting tales of coming out, or everyday prejudice. Ordinary and extraordinary lives are the foreground to larger societal issues like the HIV and AIDS epidemic or homophobic legislation including Section 28.
The Log Books is a great podcast to recommend to friends who enjoyed the recent Channel 4 drama "It's A Sin" which covers the same era and issues.
The Log Books on Apple Podcasts.
The Log Books on Acast.
Bed Of Lies
One of the roles of radical historians is to draw links between past and present struggles. But sometimes those links are forced upon us. Bed of Lies is a podcast about the struggle of women activists who were deceived into relationships with undercover policemen (Spycops). It is, surprisingly, produced by The Daily Telegraph, but don't let that put you off.
The narrative is driven by the women and their struggle for justice. The scale of the infiltration of activist groups and the trauma faced by its victims can be quite bewildering - I think the best thing about Bed of Lies is the way that it draws together the various strands whilst retaining the human stories underpinning it all.
Bed of Lies at the Daily Telegraph. (linking there must be a first for this blog!)
Police Spies Out of Lives - a campaigning group to support the legal actions, and participation in the Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing, by women affected by long term intimate relationships with undercover police officers who were infiltrating environmental and social justice campaign groups.
History Workshop
History Workshop Journal was founded by Marxist historian Raphael Samuel and others in the 1970s. They now have an occasional podcast.
Topics are wide-ranging but can tend a little too much towards the academic for my personal tastes. Having said that, I do categorically recommend two episodes which are configured as walking tours of London - one on Marx's various haunts in the city and one on the irascible anarchist and atheist Dan Chatterton.
History Workshop website.
History Workshop at Apple Podcasts.
Bad Gays
There is a natural tendency for radical history to tell the heroic stories of struggles - and strugglers - that have been obscured by the conventional version of events. Bad Gays turns this on its head by focussing on complete wrong 'uns - who happen to be gay. Each episode covers the life of one person.
In parallel to this there are fascinating insights into "what being gay" (or rather, experiencing same sex attraction) might have meant at various points in history.
The Bad Gays universe is lavishly diverse - colonialist statue Cecil Rhodes brushes up against entertainers like Liberace and Morrissey. Objectively terrible people like Ronnie Kray or nazi-skinhead Nicky Crane are discussed alongside more complex individuals like Radclyffe Hall and John Maynard Keynes.
Each episode concludes with two simple questions that yield interesting discussions between the hosts: Was this person gay? Was this person bad?
Bad Gays website.
