Behind The Spine

The scale of the slave trade can be overwhelming. The numbers of people who lived and worked as slaves are so high that it’s easy to miss individual stories. That’s what prompted Professor Richard Bell from the University of Maryland to write his book, STOLEN. In it, he explores the stories of five young boys illegally trafficked into slavery and peers into the dark underbelly of organised crime. What he found is astonishing and highlights the crucial need to challenge conventional narratives. By following the lives, not of millions of slaves, but five young boys, he captures the horror of something we thought we understood, but now realise was much darker than we imagined.

Museums are the greatest storytellers. Through artefacts and objects we learn the truth about the past, about the lives of our ancestors, seen and unseen. The collections allow us to draw our own conclusions, to craft our own stories, and to explore narratives in ways that are deeply personal. In this episode, Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A Museum in London, sheds light on what he calls the “people’s collection”. We learn to be adventurous when writing about objects, to view them as more than just props, and to appreciate the storytelling potential of the journeys they go on. After all, the things that adorn our lives are the windows to our souls - their meanings ebb and flow throughout the ages, and those intricate narratives are ours for the taking, to be explored and exploited.

Series 2 is here! Here’s a taste of what’s to come, and if you're new, a look back at some highlights from series 1.

Throughout the first series of the podcast, there have been three prominent topics, raised time and again - expertise, narrative bias, and the truth. Each guest has offered their own interpretation of the influence of each of these on our writing, and on our understanding of the world. In the final episode of series one, we’re highlighting some of the most poignant thoughts from guests on these subjects. This episode features Sunny Singh, Richard Bradley, Ita O’Brien, Rory Sutherland, Christian Hunt, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Vincent Brown, Liv Austen and Mark Williams-Thomas.

This podcast started as the UK's lockdown had just begun, and behavioural science expert Christian Hunt gave us his predictions on how the next six months would play out. Well, six months later, it turns out he was almost entirely correct. In this episode find out why omitting one side of a narrative can skew our perception of reality, how this pandemic has helped us push the boundaries of creativity, and hear how it's bringing comedy and politics closer than ever before.

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Magicians and their magic are only one half of the story - the job of a magician’s assistant may seem simple on the face of it, but without them, the whole show falls apart. You only have to watch the lovely Debbie McGee in action to know this is true! In this episode, Debbie explains how her training as a ballet dancer allowed her to excel on stage - able to hold an applause for longer than anyone else. She also discusses her many years performing in panto, playing to the crowd, and being “the biggest giggler in the world”. This episode gives us renewed appreciation for the minor character, explores the importance of subtlety in storytelling, and reminds us of the satisfaction found in tradition. Once you’re done with this episode, why not check out Debbie’s new podcast Spill The Tea With Debbie McGee.

Objects are storytellers. They hold precious memories, they are entangled in our everyday lives - but some have uncomfortable stories, and are cast into the river, never to be seen again. That is, until the mudlarks! Lara Maiklem is the author of ‘Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames’. Whether intentionally discarded, or swept up long ago by the waters, Lara pieces together London’s history through the items that uncover themselves at low tide, often decades after they first went missing. In this episode, Lara describes how she has become part of hundreds of strangers’ stories over the years, through the objects that she’s found, she explores how history is told differently by the Thames, and explains why trips to the river can sometimes be unsettling.

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Sexuality is one of the biggest ways in which we identify and understand ourselves. And yet there’s an educational void when it comes to same sex relationships. That’s why Kate Davies wrote ‘In at the Deep End’. Drawing on her own experiences, the book explores the story of a woman who comes out as a lesbian later in life, with no knowledge of what to expect. It tackles issues of a controlling relationship, lust vs love, and the difficulties of being thrust headlong into the unknown. In this episode she discusses the need to write more honest accounts of the lives of minority groups, why the trait that makes a character a minority shouldn’t be your story’s only hook, and how our perception of right and wrong is more nuanced than we realise.

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You probably take it as a given, the ability to masturbate, but for some people, that simple act is impossible. For various reasons, many disabled people struggle to pleasure themselves, and some simply can't do it. Andrew Gurza is the co-founder and chief disability officer of ‘Handi’, which develops sex toys for people with hand limitations. Andrew says sexual pleasure is a human right, and that fact is backed up by the World Health Organization no less! In this episode he explains how he’s smashing taboos, how Handi isn’t just about sex toys, that it’s a movement that aims to open up new narratives and start new conversations. He also explores the depiction of disability in TV and film, and showcases the power of positivity in spreading his message.

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The 21st century has brought about a new meaning to “a war of words”. War is no longer confined to the battlefield - it’s up to each side of a conflict to win the narrative battle too. With individuals like the Palestinian social media activist Farah Baker able to tweet in real-time about an ongoing conflict, the likes of Twitter and Facebook have brought us closer than ever before to the front-lines of wars around the world. David Patrikarakos is a journalist, and author of ‘War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century’. In this episode he gives us an insight into the power of social media to incite movements, its strengths and weaknesses in bringing together diffuse groups of people, and how using it to craft your narrative is as critical as putting boots on the ground, if you want to emerge victorious.

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