Podcast artwork

Episode summary: We talk with the writer and political commentator Fintan O’Toole about how British politics can and should deal with its imperial past in the age of Brexit. From battles over statues to fights over nationalism we explore whether history has become the new democratic divide. Why does Churchill loom so large over our politics? Can Labour reclaim the mantle of patriotism? Will the Union survive the history wars? Plus we ask whether there has been a generational shift in attitudes to race and identity. With Helen Thompson. Talking Points: Debates over statues and monuments are really more about the present than the past. - They don’t necessarily lead you to a real engagement with either your history or your contemporary identity. - Britain has a long history of questioning how the past is thought about in the public sphere. Is it possible to have a serious political argument about Churchill’s legacy anymore? - In the age of Johnson, is everything a proxy? - Churchill can’t be separated from the Second World War…

Listen here.

Two ways to respond: webmentions and comments

Webmentions

Webmentions allow conversations across the web, based on a web standard. They are a powerful building block for the decentralized social web.

“Ordinary” comments

These are not webmentions, but ordinary old-fashioned comments left by using the form below.

Reactions from around the web