British police history: everything you wanted...

Prosthetic legs, wheelbarrow wheelchairs and guide… children? Those were just some of the assistive technologies and body augmentations available to our medieval and early modern ancestors. In this episode, Rae Gillibrand highlights how bodily difference was understood in this pr ...  Show more

It's now often used as an adjective for anything standard, plain, and borderline boring – but the history of vanilla is anything but. Eric T Jennings – whose book Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean is among the titles shortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize – te ...  Show more

To begin, the title of our podcast is a generalization many of us are familiar with. Some British police officers actually do carry weapons beyond the traditional police baton. So exactly what is the situation? Let’s start with some numbers. In the UK, less than 5% of the police ...  Show more

As part of our British black history coverage we look back at the racism faced by London's first black policeman from his own colleagues. We also hear about the death in police custody of black ex-soldier Christopher Alder. Plus, the intriguing story of a Somali sailor based i ...

This week, Anita and William are doing two episodes in which they answer all of your questions about Empire. Join William and Anita today as they discuss whether partition was inevitable, why the British never settled India, what the best books on Empire are, and much much more. ...  Show more

Policing in 1921 is in disarray as the RIC is hit by mass resignations. Enter the Black and Tans, the Auxiliaries and the Ulster Special Constabulary to bolster up policing. Tara and Declan explore how these organisations operate, and learn that reprisals are state sanctioned. An ...  Show more