Two Nottingham Lads: Trailer

Summary

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The History Podcast: "Two Nottingham Lads" (Trailer)

BBC Radio 4 | Aired: December 11, 2025
Host: Paul Kenyon

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Overview

In this gripping trailer for the new series "Two Nottingham Lads," reporter and author Paul Kenyon introduces a true story of two British men from Nottingham who wind up on opposite sides of the Ukraine war. The episode promises a narrative that explores survival, moral contradictions, and the personal motivations that propel ordinary people into extraordinary conflict—while also wrestling with the modern battle between truth and disinformation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introducing the Series & Its Central Theme

• Purpose: The podcast examines how and why two men from the same British city ended up fighting for opposing sides in Ukraine, asking urgent questions about allegiance, survival, and propaganda.
• Modern Context: Paul Kenyon underscores the contemporary relevance of the story:

  "This is a history series for the present moment. Urgent, unfolding, and uncomfortably close. And a war that's still shaping the lives of our two men from Nottingham."
  (01:32)

2. The Dramatic Encounter in Donetsk

• Background: In April 2022, just after Russia’s full invasion, the two Nottingham natives meet in a Donetsk prison.

• Conflict of Sides:

  • Aidan Aslan, a British-born contracted soldier for Ukraine since 2018, is now a POW.
  • Graham Phillips, another Nottingham native, interviews him.
    • Phillips positions himself as an independent journalist but is described as sympathetic to Russia.

  "We're talking about Ukrainian soldiers and I'm going to use a few choice words... Animals, scumbags, barbarians, your comrades. Aiden, what are we talking about here? How is it ended up that you're on that side?"
  —Graham Phillips to Aidan Aslan (02:20)

  "I made [a] stupid choice. I easily misread the information and joined the wrong side."
  —Aidan Aslan (02:29)

3. The Journalist’s Perspective

• Personal Connection: Kenyon shares his emotional response upon seeing the prison interview, reflecting on risks he has witnessed as a conflict reporter:

  "I've been to many conflict zones in my career, but seeing Aiden in that prison in Donetsk was like watching my worst nightmare play out in real time. Being captured, humiliated, tortured."
  (03:40)

• Investigative Drive:
  • Kenyon expresses his need to understand what led both men to that moment:

    "I needed to know their backstory. What motivated these two men to throw themselves into such danger and peril?"
    (03:49)

4. Exploring Origins & Motivations

• The series promises to trace both men’s journeys from the UK to Donetsk to uncover what drove their decisions.
• Underlying Questions:
  • Why fight in a war that isn’t your own?
  • How do backgrounds and beliefs push people into conflict?

5. Moments of Dark Irony

• Chance Encounter:

  "Out of all the places in the world where I meet someone from Nottingham, it's in captivity on two sides of the conflict."
  —Aidan Aslan (04:20)

6. Personal Stakes and Uncertainty

• Prison Message:

  "If you're watching this, it means that we've surrendered. Hopefully, you'll see something from me in the future."
  —Aidan Aslan (04:35)

• Kenyon’s Closing:

  "It's a story about how and why you pick a side in a war that's not your own. Listen to Two Nottingham Lads first on BBC Sounds."
  (04:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------| | 01:32 | "This is a history series for the present moment. Urgent, unfolding, and uncomfortably close." | Paul Kenyon | | 02:20 | "We're talking about Ukrainian soldiers... Animals, scumbags, barbarians, your comrades. Aiden, what are we talking about here?" | Graham Phillips | | 02:29 | "I made [a] stupid choice. I easily misread the information and joined the wrong side." | Aidan Aslan | | 03:40 | "I've been to many conflict zones in my career, but seeing Aiden in that prison in Donetsk was like watching my worst nightmare play out in real time." | Paul Kenyon | | 04:20 | "Out of all the places in the world where I meet someone from Nottingham, it's in captivity..." | Aidan Aslan | | 04:35 | "If you're watching this, it means that we've surrendered. Hopefully, you'll see something from me in the future." | Aidan Aslan | | 04:41 | "It's a story about how and why you pick a side in a war that's not your own." | Paul Kenyon |

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Important Timestamps

• 01:09 — Paul Kenyon introduces "Two Nottingham Lads" and its central theme.
• 02:03–02:45 — The Donetsk prison interview between Aidan Aslan and Graham Phillips.
• 03:27–04:20 — Kenyon recounts his emotional reaction and investigative drive; Aidan’s reflection on fate.
• 04:35–04:41 — Aidan’s message from captivity and Paul Kenyon’s series invitation.

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Final Thoughts

"Two Nottingham Lads" poses urgent, profound questions about identity, allegiance, and the consequences of war, all anchored in a deeply human story of chance and conflict. With first-person accounts and probing journalism, the series promises to unspool not only how two men’s lives intersected in a Ukrainian war prison but also how such choices ripple through our collective history. As Kenyon invites, this is a history “urgent, unfolding and uncomfortably close”—a must-listen for understanding our times.

Transcript

[Aidan Aslan]

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[Sarah]

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[Paul Kenyon]

Oatmeal.

[Sarah]

So long, you strange soggy.

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[Paul Kenyon]

Welcome back to the History Podcast. This is where you'll find gripping accounts of history's most resonant moments told by the people who were there. I'm Paul Kenyon, I'm a reporter and author and I want to tell you about my latest series, Two Nottingham Lads. It's a story about how two men from the same British city ended up on opposite sides of the war in Ukraine and how and why you pick a side in a conflict that's not your own. It's about survival and contradiction and the battle for truth over disinformation. This is a history series for the present moment. Urgent, unfolding and uncomfortably close. And a war that's still shaping the lives of our two men from Nottingham.

In April 2022, just two months after Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, two British men, both born in Nottingham, had a strange encounter in a prison in the occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk. An interview.

[Aidan Aslan]

We're talking about Ukrainian soldiers and I'm going to use a few choice words to describe them. Animals, scumbags, barbarians, your comrades. Aiden, what are we talking about here? How is ended up that you're on that side? I made stupid choice. I easily misread the information and joined the wrong side.

[Paul Kenyon]

The interviewer was Graham Phillips, a self styled independent journalist who'd been telling his version of the war that had been raging in eastern Ukraine since 2014. It's a version that appears sympathetic to Russia. The man he's speaking to is Aidan Aslan, a contracted soldier. Soldier fighting for the Ukrainian army since 2018. Now he was a prisoner of war. Both men would be forever changed by this video. But when I saw it, the key thing I was left asking was, how did these two men get here in the first place?

I followed the growing war in Ukraine closely, from the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Kiev to the full scale invasion in 2020. Okay, let's go, let's go.

[Sarah]

Get in the car.

[Paul Kenyon]

When I saw the video of Aidan and Graham, it fascinated and disturbed me. I've been to many conflict zones in my career, but seeing Aiden in that prison in Donetsk was like watching my worst nightmare play out in real time. Being captured, humiliated, tortured. I needed to know their backstory. What motivated these two men to throw themselves into such danger and peril? In this series, I'm going to trace both of their stories from the UK to Donetsk to find out what set them on such different paths, even if they ended up in that same dark place.

[Aidan Aslan]

Out of all the places in the world where I meet someone from Nottingham, it's in captivity on two sides of the conflict.

[Paul Kenyon]

Their stories narrated the modern history of Ukraine, things that they and I saw firsthand.

[Aidan Aslan]

If you're watching this, it means that we've surrendered. Hopefully, you'll see something from me in the future.

[Paul Kenyon]

It's a story about how and why you pick a side in a war that's not your own. Listen to two Nottingham lads first on BBC Sounds.

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[Ray Winstone]

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