Making History

By BBC Radio 4Society & Culture History Personal Journals

Making History episodes

February 04, 2020 London versus the Rest?
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence explore historical connections to today's big issues.
Recent political convulsions have revealed a rift between the UK's capital and its regions. So this week Tom and Iszi consider other moments in history when London has been out of sync with the rest of the country - from the Romans to the 1700s. Examining how John Bull came into being and looking at the particular history of Northumbria, they look at the relationship between London and the rest of the UK.
Presenters: Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
January 28, 2020 Film
With this year's Oscars imminent, Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence meet the cineasts who help us understand history and the history of cinema.
Hannah Grieg, historical consultant on the Oscar-winning film The Favourite, and the screenwriter of Churchill, Alex von Tunzelmann, discuss the portrayal of history on the big screen.
Tom meets Kevin Brownlow, whose work finding and restoring film from the silent era earned him an Oscar in 2010.
And Matthew Sweet tells the story of Vic Kinson, a bookkeeper from Derbyshire, who created the IMDB of his day.
Produced by Craig Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
January 21, 2020 High Flyers
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence continue to explore the historical connections behind today's headlines.
As the first electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Vancouver, Tom and Iszi look at the lengths people have gone to over the past millennium to reach for the skies.
Tom goes to the spot where Eilmer of Malmesbury, an 11th century English monk, made one of the earliest attempts at flight in the British Isles. Inspired by the Greek fable of Daedalus, he strapped wings to his hands and feet and jumped from the abbey tower. He broke both his legs.
And Iszi visits the Science Museum to find out about the first woman in space. At the age of 26, Valentina Tereshkova, orbited the earth 48 times over 3 days and parachuted out of the capsule to land safely in Siberia.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
January 14, 2020 Keeping It In The Family
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence present the show that explores the historical connections behind today's issues.
As fascination with genealogy and our own family history has become almost a national obsession, this week's programme looks at the historical aspects of what makes up a family and how attitudes to incestuous relationships have shifted over time and throughout cultures. From Ancient Egypt to the nuclear family, from the Victorians and the National Vigilance Association to Jacobean literature, how has incest been defined, discussed, outlawed and - occasionally - even encouraged?
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
January 07, 2020 Food
After the feast of the festive season comes the pain of the January fast. Well, to help us better understand our relationship with the food we eat, Making History goes on the spice trail with historians Roger Michel and Matthew Cobb. Curator Victoria Avery tells us why pineapples were all the rage in Elizabethan times and Dominic Sandbrook offers up a potted history of fast food in the UK - with a side of fries and a banana milkshake.
Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500 - 1800 at the Fitzwilliam Museum runs until 26th April.
Producer: Craig Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
December 31, 2019 Back to the Future
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence present the show that explores the historical connections behind today's issues.
In this New Year's Eve programme, Tom and Iszi look at what history has had to say about the future. They explore when "the future" emerged as a concept and why some people thought they could foretell it
They look at the time when the future became political and ask what we can know about our ancestors' fears from the science fiction they produced.
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
December 17, 2019 Nationalism
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence continue to explore the historical connections behind today's headlines.
Today - with a resurgence in nationalism from Beijing to Barcelona and with flag-flying dominating the world news, Tom and Iszi look into the origins of this powerful force.
Author, critic and long-time scholar of fairy tales, Marina Warner, recalls regimes who have used them as a political tool for their own sinister ends.
And with the possibility of a second referendum in Scotland being discussed, Tom goes to the spot where Robert the Bruce was buried to consider the challenges of teaching a balanced history curriculum in schools.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
December 10, 2019 The First Draft?
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence are back to explore the historical connections behind today's issues.
In this programme - The First Draft? After the most tumultuous parliamentary session many can remember, Tom and Iszi meet top journalists to ask whether they consider they are history's first chroniclers. From Today programme newsgatherers to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the team discuss who really "makes history".
Producer: Craig Templeton-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
28 min
February 19, 2019 Battle Lines
In the last of this series Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence look at the stories around another line in history - battle lines. From the fable of the Nazi invasion across one of Britain's oldest battle lines on Suffolk's beaches, through Thucydides and on to cross-dressing soldiers across the ages.
Presenters: Iszi Lawrence and Tom Holland
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
Series Editor: Simon Elmes
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min
February 12, 2019 Bread Lines
Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence follow history’s story-laden lines and linkages to uncover connections and compelling stories. This week, with food banks and the effects of austerity never far from the headlines, Tom and Iszi examine breadlines and hunger, from the Scottish clearances to the Rowntrees in York.
Archaeobotanist Professor Dorian Fuller talks about the significance of the recent discovery of the world’s oldest bread – which dates back 14,500 years to the time of hunter-gatherers before the beginning of farming.
Producer: Kim Normanton
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
29 min