Bishopsgate Institute Podcast

The Gentle Author of the popular blog Spitalfields Life has gained an extraordinary following in recent years, by writing hundreds of lively pen portraits of the infinite variety of people who live and work in the East End of London. As part of our Spitalfields Life Chit Chats, butchers, Joe Lawrence, Greg Lawrence and Peter Sargent present a lively look at Smithfields Market and life as a butcher from the 1960s up to the present day. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

The Gentle Author of the popular blog Spitalfields Life has gained an extraordinary following in recent years, by writing hundreds of lively pen portraits of the infinite variety of people who live and work in the East End of London. As part of our Spitalfields Life Chit Chats, fishmonger Charlie Caisey talks about his life as a fishmonger and Billingsgate Market. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

In October 1912 Sylvia Pankhurst climbed onto a wooden platform outside an old baker's shop on Bow Road, and painted the words 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' in golden letters above the door. What began as a simple recruitment drive for the Women's Social and Political Union soon sparked a rebellion in the suffragette ranks, and launched a mass movement for equality with Roman Road market at its heart. Get to know these forgotten East End rebels, who always said that votes for women were just the beginning. Sarah Jackson is the author of Voices From History: East London Suffragettes with Rosemary Taylor, and organised the East London Suffragette Festival in 2014. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

Rhyming slang can claim to be London's one truly home-grown language. It may have started around 1830 among the canal-digging navvies, the villains of St Giles or, as is most likely, the costermongers of the East End, spreading over time to Australia and the United States. But it remains the most quintessentially 'London' of all slang's vocabularies. It isn't a vast lexis, something over 3,000 words in all, but it's still going strong. Like black cabs and red telephone kiosks it's not what it was, but like them it's part of the world's shorthand for 'London'. Jonathon Green is the world's leading expert in slang lexicography. His latest work, the three-volume Green's Dictionary of Slang, appeared in 2010. He has continued to amend, improve and expand the database, and the ongoing work is scheduled to be launched online later this year. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

In October 1912 Sylvia Pankhurst climbed onto a wooden platform outside an old baker's shop on Bow Road, and painted the words 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' in golden letters above the door. What began as a simple recruitment drive for the Women's Social and Political Union soon sparked a rebellion in the suffragette ranks, and launched a mass movement for equality with Roman Road market at its heart. Get to know these forgotten East End rebels, who always said that votes for women were just the beginning. Sarah Jackson is the author of Voices From History: East London Suffragettes with Rosemary Taylor, and organised the East London Suffragette Festival in 2014. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

Following the publication of London: A Travel Guide Through Time, join historian and broadcaster Dr Matthew Green on an historical journey through 800 years of London's history, from the depths of the Middle Ages, through the time of Shakespeare, the Great Plague and Empire, to the pummelling of the city during the Blitz, and its resurrection in the gloomy 50s.If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

The success of the recent film Pride has sparked new interest in the history of LGBT activism in the 1980s. Colin Clews, author of the informative and popular blog 'Gay in the 80s' and prominent and outspoken campaigner for equalities Linda Bellos OBE reflect on life in the 80s for LGBT people. In partnership with the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA). If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

The success of the recent film Pride has sparked new interest in the history of LGBT activism in the 1980s. Colin Clews, author of the informative and popular blog 'Gay in the 80s' and prominent and outspoken campaigner for equalities Linda Bellos OBE reflect on life in the 80s for LGBT people. In partnership with the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA). If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

The East End Preservation Society and Bishopsgate Institute are delighted to present the Inaugural C R Ashbee Memorial Lecture. This lecture honours C R Ashbee (1863 – 1942) as founder of the Guild of Handicrafts in the East End, as a pioneer of the Conservation Movement, and a progressive architect and designer whose influence was seminal upon Frank Lloyd Wright among many others.If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

The East End Preservation Society and Bishopsgate Institute are delighted to present the Inaugural C R Ashbee Memorial Lecture. This lecture honours C R Ashbee (1863 – 1942) as founder of the Guild of Handicrafts in the East End, as a pioneer of the Conservation Movement, and a progressive architect and designer whose influence was seminal upon Frank Lloyd Wright among many others.If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

Poverty, slums and hungry children. Find out what sights met Doctor Barnardo in London's East End in 1866 with historians Sarah Wise and Ken Worpole. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up at www.bishopsgate.org.uk.

Poverty, slums and hungry children. Find out what sights met Doctor Barnardo in London's East End in 1866 with historians Sarah Wise and Ken Worpole. If you enjoy listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up at www.bishopsgate.org.uk.

Acclaimed writer and historian Jerry White takes a unique look at London during the First World War as seen through the eyes of the people who lived there.If you enjoyed listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up. Recorded live on Thursday 27 November at Bishopsgate Institute.

Acclaimed writer and historian Jerry White takes a unique look at London during the First World War as seen through the eyes of the people who lived there.If you enjoyed listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up. Recorded live on Thursday 27 November at Bishopsgate Institute.

Behind our democracy lurks a powerful but unaccountable network of people who wield massive power and reap huge profits in the process. In exposing this shadowy and complex system that dominates our lives, Owen Jones sets out on a journey into the heart of our Establishment, from the lobbies of Westminster to the newsrooms, boardrooms and trading rooms of Fleet Street and the City. Recorded live at Bishopsgate Institute on Thursday 6 November 2014. If you enjoyed listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

Highly acclaimed crime writer Ruth Rendell looks back over 50 years of Wexford. Recorded live at Bishopsgate Institute on Thursday 30 October 2014. If you enjoyed listening to this event do take a look at the other events we have coming up.

Lee Jackson explores the secret life of the Victorian metropolis, focusing in particular on the birth of public baths and the peculiar history of the public toilet. Recorded live on 16 October 2014

Tristram Hunt, author of The Frock-Coated Communist and leading UK politician presents a new approach to Britain's imperial past through ten cities that epitomised it. The final embers of the British Empire are dying, but its legacy remains in the lives and structures of the cities which it shaped. Here Tristram Hunt examines the stories and defining ideas of ten of the most important: of 1700s Boston, Bridgetown, Dublin, Cape Town, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bombay, Melbourne, New Delhi, and 20th century Liverpool. Rejecting binary views of the British Empire as 'very good' or 'very bad', Hunt describes the complex processes of exchange and adaptation that collectively shaped the colonial experience – and, in turn, transformed the culture, economy and identity of the British Isles. Tristram Hunt is one of Britain's best known historians. Since 2010 he has been the MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, and in October 2013 was made Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He is a Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Queen Mary, University of London, and has written numerous series for radio and television. He is also a regular contributor to The Times, Guardian and Observer. His previous books include The English Civil War at First Hand, Building Jerusalem, and The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels.

Rosamund Urwin of the Evening Standard chairs a discussion about the raunch culture and its impact on modern feminism. Can you still be a feminist if you bare your body for a living? Or has feminism come so far that women now hold the power? Rosamund is joined by Sarah Mathewson from feminist campaign group OBJECT, Barbara Haigh, a former Playboy Bunny Girl and Catherine Stephens, an activist for the International Union of Sex Workers.

Thirty years ago, miners went on strike across Britain to resist the Tory government's plans for sweeping pit closures. The strike remains the longest mass industrial dispute in British history - a war between Margaret Thatcher and the labour movement, and the miners’ union she branded "the enemy within" in particular. The strike’s outcome signalled a profound change in Britain’s social and economic landscape and its aftershocks can still be felt throughout the country today. The Enemy Within, Seumas Milne’s classic account of the miners’ strike and its aftermath, reveals the astonishing lengths to which Thatcher’s government and its security machine were prepared to go to destroy the power of the trade unions. Recently declassified government papers have provided further revelations about the secret war against organised labour and political dissent, reflected in today's undercover police operations. Seumas Milne will be joined in discussion by Arthur Scargill, former president of the NUM from 1982-2002, union organiser Ewa Jasiewicz, Owen Jones, author of Chavs, for a special event looking at the legacy of the miners’ strike and its lessons for the future, chaired by journalist Dawn Foster.

The most notorious novel of the ‘slum fiction’ genre, Morrison’s A Child of the Jago, caused outrage, with its nihilistic depiction of a population of criminals and social outcasts. Morrison claimed that it was an eyewitness account of the real Old Nichol district of Shoreditch. Two years after publication, the rows the book engendered were ongoing in the periodical press. In this illustrated talk, author Sarah Wise (Inconvenient People, The Blackest Streets) explores the real slum that inspired his fantasy vision. Sarah Wise’s book The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum was published by Vintage in June 2009 and was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje award. Her debut, The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London, was published in 2004 and was shortlisted for the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. Sarah was a major contributor to Iain Sinclair’s compendium London, City of Disappearances (2006). Her latest book, Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad Doctors in Victorian England was published last autumn by Vintage.

Born on Columbia Road, award-winning author Linda Wilkinson traces the history of the fragrant home of East London’s famous flower market. From the earliest times when the land was pastureland for cows whose milk supplied the City of London, through the influx of the Huguenot weavers and up to the present day, this talk is part historical and part social memoir based on familial recollections. Linda Wilkinson spent the first 25 years of her working life as a Research Scientist with many publications to her name. In the late 1990’s she began writing for the theatre, where her first play garnered a major award. Her first history book won the Raymond Williams Prize. She has written plays for Radio 4 and her stage plays have been performed both in England and Europe. She was Chair of Amnesty International UK for 6 years and continues to be involved in Human Rights Activism. She still lives just around the corner from Columbia Road.

Lesbian fashion. A misnomer? Surely, lesbians don't do fashion. But contrary to perception, clothing and style have been a crucial part of establishing an identity for women who love women. But if what we wear says who we are, can we be sure we're all talking in the same dialect or could we be misread? And is it possible to be outside the language of fashion? Speakers were Campbell X (Film Director/writer) and Dr Caroline Walters (writer/researcher).

A tale of cross-dressing, cross-examinations and a scandal that shocked and titillated Victorian England in equal measure. The alluring Miss Fanny Park and Miss Stella Boulton were no ordinary young women, they were young men who liked to dress as women. As their show trial unfolded, Fanny and Stella’s extraordinary lives as wives and daughters, actresses and whores were revealed to an incredulous public. With a cast of peers, politicians and prostitutes, drag queens, doctors and detectives, Fanny & Stella is a Victorian peepshow, exposing the startling underbelly of 19th century London. Neil McKenna, author of Fanny & Stella, is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Independent, the Observer, the Guardian and the New Statesman. He has also worked extensively in the gay press and is the author of On the Margins, The Silent Epidemic and The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde.

To celebrate the publication of this final volume of his diaries, Tony Benn, in conversation with author, columnist and commentator Owen Jones, reflects on both the public and personal events of the last five years. Covering the fall of New Labour, tireless campaigning against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and passionate commitment to encouraging public debate and demonstrations, A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine also provides a highly personal insight into the challenges of old age, failing health and widowhood. Finally, we share in Tony Benn's hopes for the future based on his experiences, insight and his natural optimism. Tony Benn is the longest serving MP in the history of the Labour Party. He left Parliament in 2001, after more than half a century in the House of Commons, famously saying that leaving would give him more time to devote to politics. He is the author of many books including nine volumes of diaries and the childhood memoir Dare to be a Daniel. This event was organised in partnership with Newham Bookshop.

From the first truly feminist book in 1792 to women attaining the vote in 1928, Lucinda Hawksley highlights the women who relentlessly battled for social and political change. Hear accounts from the main protagonists from the women’s movement as well as lesser known suffragettes who pursued gender equality in Britain and marched to see justice for women brought to light. Lucinda Hawksley is a historian, author and lecturer. Her biographies of women include Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel, Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens’s Artist Daughter and her upcoming biography of Princess Louise.

From the first truly feminist book in 1792 to women attaining the vote in 1928, Lucinda Hawksley highlights the women who relentlessly battled for social and political change. Hear accounts from the main protagonists from the women’s movement as well as lesser known suffragettes who pursued gender equality in Britain and marched to see justice for women brought to light. Lucinda Hawksley is a historian, author and lecturer. Her biographies of women include Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel, Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens’s Artist Daughter and her upcoming biography of Princess Louise.

All boys together? Nudge nudge. The belief that all male institutions are breeding grounds for homosexuality, has been a constant one. But what does go on behind the doors of the executive boardroom or the communal changing room? Is homosexuality the elephant in the room? The serpent in the grass? Or is it all just homosexual wish fulfilment fantasy? Justin Bengry explores all male institutions and their links with homosociality and homosexuality. Speaker Justin Bengry is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. His work has appeared in several journals and books including History Workshop Journal, The Queer 1950s: Rethinking Sexuality in the Postwar Years, and in the forthcoming Queer British History: New Approaches and Perspectives. He is currently working on a new book The Pink Pound: Queer Profits in Twentieth-Century Britain.

We open the doors on that bastion of the British entertainment scene, the working men’s clubs. Hear about their development in the mid-19th century to their current period of decline. Why were they set up? What went on in them? And how did women come to find their own place in them? Drawing on personal accounts and experiences of those attending the clubs, this talk highlights the major roles they played and what made them such a central part of working class leisure. Dr Ruth Cherrington attended working men’s clubs from a very young age. She is the author of Not Just Beer and Bingo! A Social History of Working Men’s Clubs and runs a website 'Club Historians' dedicated to the history and development of the working men’s club movement.

The world has always seen protest and dissent but in these difficult and changing times, how can the voices that challenge authority really be heard? How can a message reach the widest number of people? Which forms of resistance have the greatest impact? How can support be generated and who is really listening? From protests, rallies and direct action to worldwide digital petitions and 'armchair activism', our panel of experienced campaigners discuss methods of protest in today's modern world. Speakers included Madeline Carroll (Campaigns Director, 38 Degrees), Trenton Oldfield (This is Not A Gateway), Nadine El-Enany (Birkbeck, University of London and Defend the Right to Protest) and Gobi Sivanthan (Individual activist, Hunger Striker outside London Olympics). The event was chaired by Hugh Muir (Guardian).

By 1966, the Apartheid regime in South Africa had all but annihilated the African National Congress (ANC), imprisoning its leaders or driving them into exile. To help keep their message of struggle alive and maintain a strategy of resistance from within, young men and women in London smuggled ANC literature into South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. Sworn to secrecy, their work remained silent for forty years but in this unique event the London recruits tell their story and discuss the role of international solidarity and collaboration in today's world. Speakers included Ronnie Kasrils (founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe and former Minister of Intelligence Services) and recruits Mary Chamberlain, Katherine Levine, Tom Bell and Ken Keable (also editor of London Recruits: The Secret War Against Apartheid). The event will be chaired by Professor Barbara Taylor (Queen Mary, University of London and Director, Raphael Samuel History Centre). In partnership with the Raphael Samuel History Centre.

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Katherine Connelly examines Sylvia Pankhurst's life of activism from her teens as a member of the Independent Labour Party, to her time as a leading suffragette before the First World War, through to her socialist, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist campaigns in later years. She will also explore some of the contradictions in Pankhurst's career such as her role within the suffragette movement and why she ended her days under the patronage of the Emperor of Ethiopia. Katherine Connelly is the author of a new biography of Sylvia Pankhurst. She is completing her phD on 'Karl Marx and Parisian popular culture in the 1840s' at Queen Mary, University of London.

In conversation with John Harris, Barry Miles explores London’s counterculture - the creative, avant garde, permissive, anarchic - that sprang up in the city in the decades following the Second World War.

Why is the Victoria Line so hot? Is it really possible to go all the way round the circle line? The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and arguably illogical metropolitan transport system in the world. Yet it is iconic, relied upon by over a billion passengers a year and loved and despised in equal measure by Londoners. Find out everything you need to know in this witty and informative account of the social history of the Tube with journalist and novelist Andrew Martin.

Sex between men in public areas such as toilets and parks has been commonplace for at least a century, and continues today. Peter Kelley of LAGNA discusses this with writer and journalist Mark Simpson.

In the four decades that the Johnson family ran the Two Puddings in Stratford, it became one of London’s busiest and most fashionable pubs. A magnet for a colourful cast of disparate characters, including renowned actors, writers, musicians, infamous gangsters, and World Cup-winning footballers. Hear landlord and author of Tales from the Two Puddings Eddie Johnson in conversation with Robert Elms to look back upon a lost world of East End eccentrics, local villainy and punch-ups and discuss his recent book.

In the four decades that the Johnson family ran the Two Puddings in Stratford, it became one of London’s busiest and most fashionable pubs. A magnet for a colourful cast of disparate characters, including renowned actors, writers, musicians, infamous gangsters, and World Cup-winning footballers. Hear landlord and author of Tales from the Two Puddings Eddie Johnson in conversation with Robert Elms to look back upon a lost world of East End eccentrics, local villainy and punch-ups and discuss his recent book.

The first female prime minister who also won three consecutive elections. But Margaret Thatcher is arguably better known for the policies to which her name became attached and which significantly altered the social and economic face of Britain. Yet despite deeply divided opinion, has ‘Thatcherism’ actually been embraced and sustained by subsequent British political parties? Privatisation, free market approach, cuts to taxes as well as welfare spending, and tougher constraints on trade unions all appear to have featured in the policies of the main British political parties. Has there been a convergence of Thatcher’s policies from all sides of the political spectrum? This debate explored the impact and legacy of Thatcherism on Britain. Speakers were Owen Jones (author and journalist), Mark Field MP, Clare Short (former Labour MP) and Lord Parkinson. The event was chaired by Aditya Chakrabortty (The Guardian).

A speaker at the 1985 Conservative Party Conference was cheered when he said, “If you want a queer for your neighbour, vote Labour!” Today, many leading Conservatives support gay marriage. A watershed in the long struggle for civil rights for LGBT citizens was resistance to Clause 28, which prohibited local authorities from presenting ‘homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’. How did such hostility and prejudice give way to tolerance and now, perhaps, the possibility, at last, of equality? Speakers included Peter Tatchell (Peter Tatchell Foundation), Lisa Power MBE (Terrence Higgins Trust) and Michael Cashman MEP (Labour politician, founder of Stonewall). The event will be chaired by Dr Matt Cook (Birkbeck, University of London).

Riots on the Streets:What can we Learn? Urban riots broke out across England in 2011, the worst since those of the 1980s. Then, as now, political authorities initially saw them as pure criminality. But is it coincidental that both eras are characterised by deepening inequality and economic crisis? What can the 1980s tell us about keeping the peace in troubled times? Are there lessons to be learnt in community relations and how communities are listened to or policed? Speakers included Sharon Grant (Bernie Grant Trust), Sir Philip Mawer (Secretary to the Scarman Report), Professor Tim Newburn (LSE) and Devon Thomas (Community Activist). The event was chaired by Hugh Muir (The Guardian).

Rewind 30 years to the 1980s. Hairstyles may best be forgotten but the pop music of the time had more to recommend it. Punk was fading into softer, more electronic genres as music technology evolved. The ‘New Romantics’ emerged as a dominant force in music championing fantasy and the imagination with bands such as Spandau Ballet and Culture Club enjoying chart success. The early part of the decade saw a revival of Ska whilst the charts were later dominated by pop producers Stock Aitken Waterman. Take a trip down music memory lane and recall the significance of the 80s on the music scene. Speakers include Gary Kemp (musician, songwriter and actor) and Pauline Black (lead singer of The Selecter, song writer, broadcaster and author). The event will be chaired by Robert Elms (writer and broadcaster).

Best-selling philosopher Julian Baggini explains the stories behind philosophy. Bringing together and interlinking its different areas, he creates an accessible and fascinating taste of philosophy and all that matters in it. Taking you to the very heart of the subject, Julian shows how abstract ideas feed into the most existential questions of all. Writer and journalist Julian Baggini was named on the Observer’s list of top public intellectuals. He is the editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine and his many books include Atheism: A Very Short Introduction and What’s It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life.

Should Britain retain a symbolic Head of State who, it is argued, is politically impartial and provides stability, a focus for national unity and a centrepiece for national celebrations? Or does the hereditary system need to be replaced by a democratically elected Head of State who others believe can also provide these services as well as being publicly accountable? Speakers included Graham Smith (Republic), Joan Smith (journalist and author), Peter Conradi (Sunday Times journalist, co-author of The King's Speech and The Great Survivors: How Monarchy Made it into the Twenty-First Century) and Jacques Arnold (Constitutional Monarchy Association). The event was chaired by Randeep Ramesh (social affairs editor, The Guardian).

There was a time when the British public viewed their sovereigns from afar. The media is now filled with details of the Royal family’s private lives. Public demand, media profits and the need tokeep the monarchy in the public sphere have combined to bring the monarchy and royal family into close and constant focus. In this age of mass media and celebrity culture, this discussion explores the relationship between the palace and the press. Speakers include Professor Neil Blain (University of Stirling), Mark Borkowski (publicist and media commentator), Richard Palmer (Daily Express) and Ingrid Seward (Majesty Magazine). The event will be chaired by Stephen Bates (The Guardian).

From its rise to prominence in the early 18th century through to its precarious global heights of today, David Kynaston gives a definitive history of the 'Square Mile', London's financial powerhouse.

Information Dissemination in a New Media Age Curated with Little Atoms as part of Whose Mind is it Anyway? at Bishopsgate Institute With rapidly developing new media and modes of mass communication, we continuously absorb information as well as giving information about ourselves. From political leaks to twitter, mobile location finders to credit card use, information is collected and roams. The beneficiaries are clear, with possible political advantages, marketing opportunities, subliminal advertising and surveillance as well as greater access to information for all of us. Who controls what information is circulated and to whom? And to what extent does censorship conflict with freedom of information or overlap with data protection and privacy? Speakers included Heather Brooke (writer and journalist), Professor Brian Cathcart (Kingston University) and Peter Barron (Google). The event was chaired by Becky Hogge (Little Atoms).

The introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 laid out clear directions for schools on how young people should be taught. However the teaching of the next generation remains as controversial as ever the curriculum is widely debated and the very purpose of education often questioned. If, as some have argued, the role of the curriculum is to ensure that established knowledge is passed on or that good citizens are created and the problems of society addressed, then what are the implications for the decision-makers in government? Is education simply there to promote political values? Who else has a say in how schools are run? Professor John White (Institute of Education), Andy Thornton (Citizenship Foundation), Frank Furedi (Professor of Sociology, University of Kent) and Melissa Benn (writer and journalist) in a lively discussion about the school curriculum.

Bishopsgate Institute Podcast: A City at Risk from the City with Nicholas Faith. Recorded live at Bishopsgate Institute on 19 July 2011.

Bishopsgate Institute Podcast: Nightmare City with Cathi Unsworth, China Mieville, Iain Sinclair and Andrew Whitehead. Recorded live at Bishopsgate Institute on 14 July 2011.