"The law locks up the man or woman who steals the goose from off the common / But leaves the greater villain loose: who steals the common from the goose."

In this episode, Joe and Ollie speak with Professor Katrina Navickas (University of Hertfordshire) about the history of the commons: the shared resources that communities depended upon for their livelihoods. Learn about the historical processes that encroached upon the commons, and the public resistance to get those resources back.

Katrina's next book, Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England, is published by Reaktion Books this autumn.

• Lantern Slides of the Open Spaces Society
• Untitled Goose Game

---

Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.

Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan

• Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
• Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/