Episodes

Saturday Oct 28, 2023
Week Ending 7 October 1923
Saturday Oct 28, 2023
Saturday Oct 28, 2023
In this episode Beveridge on overpopulation; trouble in Fascismo; Bismarck; a romantic count; and crookedness in the boxing ring.

Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Week Ending 21 October 1923
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Churchill on Gallipoli (again).

Thursday Oct 05, 2023

Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Week Ending 23 September 1923
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
In this episode: Booze stats | Disease stats | Mme Fahmy | Cabaret | KKK

Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Week Ending 30 September 1923
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Martial Law in Germany | The snuff danger | The handrail danger | The Underground

Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Week Ending 16 September 1923
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Mussolini according to a press baron; the Ulster border; a new German currency; a coup in Spain; a settlement in Corfu.

Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Week Ending 9 September 1923
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Earthquake in Japan | Invaders in Corfu | The poor of Poplar (again) | Plans for the Holocaust | Ludendorff & The Nazis | Asquith & the War

Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Catch-up ending 2 September 1923
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Taxation is theft | Road Safety

Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Week Ending 22 July 1923
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
In this episode: the Singapore Naval Base; Haig on Ukraine; the Marie Stopes libel case; the Sir Alfred Douglas libel case; Cambridge University and women; the status of the Bank of England; a German terrorist escapes.

Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Week Ending 29 July 1923
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
In this episode: Peace with Turkey; the debate on disarmament; the Bank of the England expands; the President abroad, schoolboys and gambling and Nigerians and booze.

Saturday Jul 08, 2023
Week Ending 15 July 1923
Saturday Jul 08, 2023
Saturday Jul 08, 2023
Do we need passports?; modern whaling; the future of freedom; extreme weather; 18-year-olds and drink; the end of the 3lb loaf; the death of the Queen Mother's cousin and an air race.

Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
Week Ending 8 July 1923
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
In this episode: Interest rates are up; the new US immigration system; the Glossop murders; the dangers of aluminium cookware; attack on the Met Office; a train crash; a train bomb; Wimbledon and the success or otherwise of the Ruhr occupation.

Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Week Ending 1 July 1923
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
In this episode: The Versailles Treaty, Prohibition, the downside of Irish independence, the Parchim murder, banning the horse, flammable films, domestic service, prohibition and the Atlantic liner, Fascist violence, Harding goes west, Labour MPs in trouble.

Thursday Jun 15, 2023
Week Ending 24 June 1923
Thursday Jun 15, 2023
Thursday Jun 15, 2023
In this episode: London's transport problem; London’s noise problem; some sailors burn to death; some gates fall down; Sunday drinking in Ulster; how to put up the rent; miners’ pay; a tuberculosis statistic; Claude Rains; the duel and the German officer and a concentration camp.
EconTalk on Santiago's buses.

Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Week Ending 17 June 1923
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Coup in Bulgaria; Britain's fastest train; General Grierson gets a biography; Dzerzhinsky thinks he can run a railway.

Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Week Ending 10 June 1923
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
The workers' paradise (again); Britain gets a new MP; the FBI gets royal approval.

Wednesday May 24, 2023
Week Ending 27 May 1923
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Hitler and his allies. Britain gets a new Prime Minister.

Thursday May 18, 2023
Week Ending 20 May 1923
Thursday May 18, 2023
Thursday May 18, 2023
The fall out from the Irish deportations; the limits of states' rights; the right size of underground trains; before the satellite dish.

Wednesday May 10, 2023
Week Ending 13 May 1923
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
In this week's episode: A socialist on Churchill; the perils of modern education; the Ulster Irish on the border; Austrian hyperinflation; the great pram race and someone throws an egg at a politician.

Wednesday May 03, 2023
Week Ending 6 May 1923
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Wednesday May 03, 2023
In this episode - as well as headlines big and small: FA Cup Final chaos; a banker predicts the Great Depression; Churchill on communism; race relations in South Africa and America.

Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Week Ending 29 April 1923
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
In this episode; so, who is responsible for the BBC? The confusing Lord Curzon; the realities of hyperinflation.
Professor Barth's YouTube series on money.

Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Week Ending 22 April 1923
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
Wednesday Apr 19, 2023
In this episode: The Prime Minister is fighting fit; what happens to you if you are found with a gun; the head of Oxford University flexes his muscles; Hitler is on a charge; Parliament defies the will of the people.

Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Week Ending 15 April 1923
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
In this episode the blessings - or otherwise - of socialism. Also in this episode, how Bulgaria deals with communists, Sunday trading and the slave trade... in Ethiopia

Saturday Apr 15, 2023
Week Ending 8 April 1923
Saturday Apr 15, 2023
Saturday Apr 15, 2023
In this episode: When will the robots take over? What is a jury of matrons? What is a bride-elect and do London bus drivers make good nurses?

Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Week Ending 1 April 1923
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
In this episode: Oscar Wilde's paramour goes bonkers. Also in this episode cycle safety, housing, immigration, air pollution, drugs and an ossuary. Oh, and Andrew Bonar Law is unwell.

Friday Mar 24, 2023
Week ending 25 March 1923
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
In this week’s episode: the Debate on Capitalism. Also in this week’s episode: the man who started the Great Depression is in court; the BBC undermines national defence; is the University of London under attack by Ukraine?; the inventor of the supermarket makes a killing, or so he thinks; London luvvies are a bunch of racists, Top Gear gets trolled by the London General Omnibus Company and some people have gone to sleep.

Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Catch-up ending 18 March 1923
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
In this episode I catch up on what has been happening in the world since the last episode.

Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Week ending 11 February 1922
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
In this episode: Overhead electrification; the legality of crystal sets; US immigration law; how hospitals raise money; the legality of the French occupation of the Ruhr and Churchill writes a book.

Saturday Jan 28, 2023
Week Ending 4 February 1922
Saturday Jan 28, 2023
Saturday Jan 28, 2023
In this episode: Nazis go on a demo; a policeman learns his fortune; Irish houses burn; and I learn that there were two Ku Klux Klans.
Episode dealing with Italian Fascism I refer to is here.

Wednesday Jan 25, 2023
Week Ending 28 January 1923
Wednesday Jan 25, 2023
Wednesday Jan 25, 2023
In this episode: von Moltke’s thoughts, Croydon holds a referendum; Opium in China; Education in the Soviet Union; Hitler holds a demonstration and drink driving charges are dropped.
The Annika Mombauer book I mention is entitled Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War
The Simon House book I mention is entitled Lost Opportunity: The Battle of the Ardennes 22 August 1914
Sorry to say it but I seem to have misremembered Beadle’s lecture on the Marne. I thought it was on YouTube but I suspect it was part of a Zoom event and never published. Shame. But as a consolation there is this lecture by Beadle on the origins of the Schlieffen Plan.

Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Week Ending 21 January 1923
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
France can't win; Hitler speaks; William Robertson speaks; the Royal Engagement; Civil Service working hours and a drug user is jailed.
Ross Beadle on Sir William Robertson.

Saturday Jan 07, 2023
Week Ending 14 January 1923
Saturday Jan 07, 2023
Saturday Jan 07, 2023
In this episode: France occupies the Ruhr; the FitzRoy case draws to a close; Henry Ford stands for President and The Times examines communist psychology

Saturday Dec 31, 2022
Week Ending 31 December 1922: Railway Grouping Special
Saturday Dec 31, 2022
Saturday Dec 31, 2022
Britain’s railways are to be forcibly merged into four groups. We learn about the aims of the scheme, what fares were like at the time and the prospects for electrification.

Saturday Dec 24, 2022
Week Ending 24 December 1922
Saturday Dec 24, 2022
Saturday Dec 24, 2022
In this episode my further musings on reparations; the President of Poland is assassinated; Another twist in the Fitzroy Affair; Christmas Day activities and the British army leaves Ireland.

Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Week Ending 17 December 1922
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
In this episode: Reparations. Yup, that's it. Not the normal format but back in 1922 there is a big conference on the horizon and The Times has several good articles on the issue so I thought, "Why not do a special?" And here it is.

Saturday Dec 10, 2022
Week Ending 10 December 1922
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
In this episode: Ulster joins the UK; a judge warns of the danger of press barons; The Crown Prince of Germany publishes his memoirs; Britain prepares for the next war; as does Germany; the Fitzroy case drags on; communists receive a lesson in etiquette; Bevan is convicted; the US murder rate is up.

Saturday Dec 03, 2022
Week Ending 3 December 1922
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
In this week’s episode: the march of the unemployed; Haig gets a biography; whither the battleship?; Prohibition doesn’t work; the Ku Klux Klan; Greek commanders shot.

Saturday Nov 26, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 26 November 1922
Saturday Nov 26, 2022
Saturday Nov 26, 2022
In this episode: a Communist addresses Parliament; Childers is executed; Warnings are issued about celebrity and whisky; the Ku Klux Klan get a mention and the Soviets set up Potemkin factories.

Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 19 November 1922
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
In this episode: the British find out who they voted for, an Irishman is put on trial for treason, an Ottoman Sultan decides that he would rather not be put on trial for treason, Mussolini tells them what he thinks and some people really, really don't get Poppy Day.

Saturday Nov 12, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 12 November 1922
Saturday Nov 12, 2022
Saturday Nov 12, 2022
In this episode: Bonar Law says very little; the founder of the Welfare State has a go at the author of War of the Worlds; Mussolini ponders how he will make the trains run on time; Erskine Childers is captured and Britain prepares to mark Armistice Day.

Saturday Nov 05, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 5 November 1922
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
In this episode: Mussolini's arrival in power, Britain's election, women on juries, the decline of the aristocracy, the death of Edwin A. Pratt and Soviet election practices.

Saturday Oct 29, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 29 October 1922
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
In this episode things look grim for Italian democracy; Britain does lots of democracy and there is a little reminder of when Britons were refugees.

Saturday Oct 22, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 22 October 1922
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Lloyd George is no longer in trouble (because he is no longer in office); Sir Almeric Fitzroy faces justice; The BBC, or at least a BBC comes into existence; and some nonsense from Bavaria about some bloke called Hitler.

Monday Oct 17, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 15 October 1922
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Lloyd George is in trouble, the perils of Hyde Park, real fascism, the unvaccinated of Kingston and communism and classical music.

Friday Oct 14, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 8 October 1922
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
In this episode one ex-Chancellor bashes the French, while another ex-Chancellor has some bad news on the reparations front. HMS Lion faces a grim fate as do Tibetan beggars. Finally, the Soviets identify the lurking danger that is Charles Dickens.

Thursday Oct 13, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 24 September 1922
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
In this episode, Lloyd George makes a lot of enemies, the joys of rent control, cocaine and the legal profession and the Windsor train mystery.

Friday Sep 30, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 17 September 1922
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
In this episode I pick out articles on the Fall of Smyrna, the illicit trade in cocaine, the need to pasteurize milk and an extraordinary claim of corruption in the Soviet army.

Friday Sep 30, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 1 October 1922
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
In this episode I pick out articles on the continuing crisis in Turkey, the uses and abuses of film of sporting events, Lord Rothermere and the Daily Mail and the latest on London Underground.

Friday Sep 30, 2022
What the Paper Said: Week Ending 10 September 1922
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
This is the first ever “What the Paper Said”. In this episode I pick out articles on German inflation, Soviet executions and a report into shell shock.

Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Brian and I chat for the last time
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
This conversation was recorded on 5 October 2021 and Brian died 10 days later. It was the last time we spoke.
This was - not surprisingly - an odd conversation. It was dominated by Brian's knowledge that he was not long for this world. It was also dominated by all sorts of connectivity problems. And when all was said and done it wasn't all said and done because Brian called me back because there was a bit he'd forgotten.
Brian had something on his mind. Regular listeners will know that at the beginning of this year we recorded a conversation on the Industrial Revolution and that our most recent conversation whilst starting on the Middle Ages eventually moved on to the Industrial Revolution again. What Brian had on his mind was something to do with the works of Deirdre McCloskey and Emmanuel Todd. What that "something" was I didn't know and still don't. Brian could be a difficult man to follow especially if you're a dullard like me. If you have ever listened to a few of these conversations you will be familiar with my floundering in Brian's wake, not only not understanding what he has just said but not even being able to find the right questions to ask in order to get some clarification. So it is here. It was bad enough at the best of times. Anyone who knew Brian will know that he was very good at dominating a conversation. He was not an easy man to interrupt and that did not get any easier after he was diagnosed with cancer.
So, I failed to pin down just what it was that Brian wanted to say. Maybe it will be obvious to others who are more familiar with McCloskey and Todd or with Brian's own thinking. Maybe we'll have to leave it to some ideological cryptanalysts to decode Brian's remarks. At least there's something to decode.
We also talk about Brian's Last Friday (30:30) which was held on 3 September 2021 in central London. This meant an awful lot to him.
We also talk about Tommy Robinson (38:00). This was something I wanted to talk about. Well, actually I didn’t but Brian was always most insistent that we should alternate when it came to introducing the subject. So it was to the end.
And then we talk about Germany and the Industrial Revolution - the bit Brian had forgotten.
So, it was already pretty disjointed before the connectivity issues made it even more so. I have also kept a lot of stuff in that I would normally have edited out. Why? Because it feels like the right thing to do. I can’t express it better than that.
There ought to be another paragraph here in which I come to a conclusion. A concluding paragraph even. Something about what a joy and a privilege it has been to have had these conversations routinely over the last 5 years and intermittently for a lot longer. But I don't have the words. Brian was special.
If you have any comments to make on this please make them at Samizdata.
Brian Quotes
"The big history date of the last thousand years was the wealth explosion and it happened in Britain."
"Emmanuel Todd is quite open about his admiration for the Anglosphere."
"Todd has very interesting things to say about Homo Americanus which he thinks is very similar to original human nature."
"Liberty, equality and fraternity spread in Europe after Napoleon was defeated."
"McCloskey and Todd between them could have cracked this but in fact they needed the intervention of Micklethwait."
"I want to make it clear that I attach great importance to my own opinions about this."
"…and if they [McCloskey and Todd] both get their bits right then between them they have it all, they have the whole story. As it is the only one with the whole story is me."
"I am torn in half about whether America will shake itself loose of all this woke nonsense."
"What I find interesting about Tommy Robinson is that people succeed in creating this false idea of what he is and then if you disagree you are accused of supporting this false person."
Notes
- The Todd podcast.
- Battle of Acre.
- The Battle of Acre book.
- Lineages of Modernity; a review by Tyler Cowen.
- Brian's blog post on the gap between the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution.
- Try as I might I cannot find any reference - by Brian or otherwise - to the duke - or any other potentate - who wanted to imprison Beethoven but couldn’t.