Tag: History
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A Dark Comedy: The History of Blackface in Minstrel Shows
‘The Black and White Minstrel Show’ was a popular BBC series that featured performers in blackface singing American minstrel songs. Sam Marks explores the racist origins and history of minstrel shows and explains how and why these traditions ended up in the UK.
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Making Good Use of Bad Rubbish: What Studying the Past Teaches us About Sustainability
From mudlarks to rag-and-bone men, jobs which involve the collecting of discarded materials have been commonplace through British history. Verity Limond discusses how the practice of re-use might be adapted to help us live more sustainably in the present-day.
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The Ancient Roman Origins of Pizza
The pizza we know and love today has come a long way from the vegetable-topped meal cakes enjoyed by Aeneas. Fiona MacRae discusses the ancient origins of this popular dish.
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Changing Altitudes: The Impact of the Tobacco Industry on the Prohibition of In-Flight Smoking in the US
Prior to 1988, smoking was permitted on all commercial aircrafts. Kat Jivkova discusses the health studies which led to its ban and the pro-tobacco campaigners who sought to delay it.
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Interview with Kate McCaffrey, Assistant Curator at Hever Castle
Historian and Assistant Curator at Hever Castle, Kate McCaffrey conducted pioneering research on Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours. Naomi Wallace interviews Kate where she discusses her intriguing discoveries and career.
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Is Big Brother Still Watching? How Orwell’s 1984 Predicted the Future
George Orwell’s dystopian novel, “1984”, serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of suppression and mass surveillance. Dalma Roman discusses how these themes have become intwined in our lives today.
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‘All life is a service’: The Contested Erotics of Fascism from Foucault to Frost
The sexualisation of fascist aesthetics has received a great deal of critical and philosophical analysis. Georgia Smith examines this discourse and the convergence of eroticism and fascism.
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Early Modernity and the World Beyond Europe
Seth Silverberg discusses how applicable the Early Modern periodisation is outside of Europe and encourages a reconsideration of the term, as well as of the concept of modernity itself.
Retrospect Journal 