Podcast
The History Society Podcast
Hosted by Oxford Brookes University History Society · EN
The History Society is an organisation run by and for History students at Oxford Brookes University. Each year, the Society's Lecture Series hosts leading scholars from around the world who deliver papers which explore the historical roots of big issues that shape our world today. Each speaker approaches their subject from different disciplinary, temporal, and geographical perspectives. All of them, however, use a historical lens to illuminate uncovered aspects of problems that we grapple with in the modern world, touching on topics from politics to race, empire to technology, and health to gender. The History Society Podcast makes these lectures available to the public so that audiences beyond Oxford Brookes University can enjoy and learn from them.
10episodes
Episodes
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Capital Punishment in the Isle of Man 1872 - 1994: A Macabre Dance
May 24, 202200:32:25Tap to summarizeThe last execution carried out in the Isle of Man, that of John Kewish, embarrassed Queen Victoria so much that the Manx Criminal Code of 1872, decades in the making, was amended in the same year. The last death sentence, passed on Tony Teare in 1992, was the final example of a mandatory death sentence being passed when all concerned knew that the UK government would never allow it to be carried out. The disjunction between law and reality was so sharp that the Manx legislature abolished the death penalty before Teare was retried, and sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment. Why was Queen Victoria embarrassed? Why did the Isle of Man retain the death penalty for so long after effective abolition in the UK? The answer to both questions lies in the status of the Isle of Man as a Crown dependency, neither independent nor part of the UK.
Transcribe →Sex and the Church in the Eighteenth Century
May 24, 202200:45:55Tap to summarizeIn this talk, Bill Gibson examines the way in which the history of sex in the eighteenth century has tended to exclude religion from discussions. In fact, attitudes to sex were strongly influenced by religion - and not always in the ways that might be expected. Some aspects of sex were disapproved of by the clergy, but in many cases religion was responsible for the liberalising attitudes towards sex and sexual behaviour. The talk considers some surprising aspects of sex in the period and makes a case that we cannot secularise sex.
Transcribe →Vitriol Throwing in Britain, 1790 - 1975
May 24, 202200:40:48Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Dr Watson explores the pheneomenon of vitriol (strong sulphuric acid) throwing in Britain across two centuries, touching upon themes of gender, class, and location along the way. Apologies for the abrupt start - recording began a minute or two into the presentation
Transcribe →Chasing the Clouds Away: The Role of Film and Television in 'Engineering' Tolerance, 1940-1990 (Part 2)
May 23, 202200:25:33Tap to summarizeIn part two of this episode, Dr Melanie Bashor continues her discussion about presentations of race and tolerance in British media during the twentieth century
Transcribe →Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: The Oyster Wars
May 23, 202200:23:12Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Dr Jamie Goodall talks about the maritime communities of the Chesapeake Bay region in the United States during the nineteenth century. Aplogies for the abrupt start to the episode; the recording begins a minute or two into Dr Goodall's talk.
Transcribe →How will COVID-19 Impact British Politics?
May 23, 202200:39:34Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Dr Crook and Professor O'Hara compare the COVID-19 pandemic to other public health crises in British history and offer their predictions of how coronavirus will shape politics in Britain in the years to come
Transcribe →Chasing the Clouds Away: The Role of Film and Television in 'Engineering' Tolerance, 1940-1990 (Part 1)
May 23, 202200:31:10Tap to summarizeIn part one of this episode, Dr Melanie Bashor talks about her research on how the politics of race, immigration, and identity played out British TV and film during the second half of the twentieth century
Transcribe →Queering the Campus: Harcourt Hill and the Architects Behind the Building
May 23, 202200:34:07Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Dr Forsaith delves into the lives of two achitects instrumental to the creation of the Oxford Brookes University campus and reflects on the historical significance of their close personal relationship
Transcribe →Containing the Bear and Dragon: U.S. Alliance Diplomacy in the Early Cold War
May 18, 202200:28:34Tap to summarizeIn this session Dr Robb talks about U.S. foreign policy in the early Cold War period, exploring the challenges and triumphs of the United States' efforts to build alliances in the Asia-Pacific region
Transcribe →Manliness in Britain, 1760-1900: Bodies, Emotion, and Material Culture
May 13, 202200:44:29Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Professor Joanne Begiato talks about her new book, 'Manliness in Britain 1760-1900: Bodies, Emotion, and Material Culture,' as well as how teaching undergraduate students at Oxford Brookes inspired her to write it.
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