periods: the uncomfortable history podcast

By Lily Georgina AlfordHistory

periods: the uncomfortable history podcast episodes

February 04, 2021 “History is Useless and Boring”
In today's episode, I'll be chatting about history degrees in terms of accessibility, popularity and employability.
If you found Henry VIII a bore and the cavalry of WW2 a chore, you probably gave up with the subject pretty early on. In fact there's a lot of criticism in general of the British history curriculum for its focus on the good in our past rather the bad. Most notably, the Black Curriculum's campaign to make studying British Black history compulsory. This is not a purely British problem, however, with America, Spain and South Africa showing similar trends. So, what can we do to give teachers the freedom to teach with greater nuance and encourage students to pursue history degrees?
24 min
January 14, 2021 mental health and gender
TW: anxiety, depression, toxic relationships with exercise, mental health discussion.
This episode marks the first of a new series, where we'll tackle an awkward or intimidating topic with the help of a guest and a big helping of history. Mental Health and Masculinity is a huge discussion currently, but you might find it difficult to speak up about your own feelings or even understand the trends in statistics.
According to Public Health England, in 2017 16.9% of the population were estimated to have a common mental disorder. The Office of National Statistics reported the first rise in suicides in 2018 since 2013, of which around 75% were among men, a curve which has only steepened with the unprecedented conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic.
In this episode, my friend Tess and I will be sharing our own struggles with mental health. Tess will discuss her experience with depression and the therapy she went through, while I share my personal difficulty in understanding and coping with anxiety. If this discussion may trigger you in any way, please do not listen.
However, this podcast is also filled with interesting history in regards to Britain's relationship with mental health. I'll give you the brief story of how our attitudes, social stigmas, understanding and solutions have developed over centuries to create the environment we have today, in particular how the age-old stereotyping of women's mental health disorders as 'hysteria' and rigid Victorian gender norms have created the gender imbalance we see today in mental health statistics. If you would like to learn about this but don't feel comfortable with hearing personal experiences, here are the time stamps:
In ancient times: 12:37-17:04
In the middle ages: 22:16-25:03
In the modern day: 27:18-37:51
Ali Hagget's article: Looking Back: Masculinity and mental health - the long view | The Psychologist (bps.org.uk)
The Samaritans Charity links:
TELEPHONE: 116 123
EMAIL: [email protected]
40 min
November 16, 2020 Mary Wollstonecraft
WARNING: discussion of nudity and classism.
This week's news was filled with the controversy surrounding a new statue of a naked female figure constructed in the memory of Mary Wollstonecraft, a pioneering feminist author. This episode will talk you through the environment in while Mary lived and worked- a rigid social hierarchy in Britain and the anarchy of France mid-Revolution- and the broader question of nudity in Art that has been brought to the surface by Maggi Hamlin's sculpture.
Cover image: DEA PICTURE LIBRARY via Getty images
20 min
September 24, 2020 Meet the Mitfords
Six Girls with the front seat to every major political event in Britain from the First World War to the Second. They are a crude representation of the polarity of British politics during this time, ranging from communist to fascist, but mainly of the dwindling power of the aristocracy and the growth of new social circles.
Music from pixabay.com
Cover image from The Daily Telegraph
Extra reading:
Mary S Lovell 'The Mitford Girls: The Biography of an Extraordinary Family'
42 min
July 26, 2020 Elizabeth I and Thomas Seymour
TW/ sexual harassment and grooming
How a thirteen-year-old princess dodged the desires and plots of a forty year old man. A tale of power play, manipulation and sex in Tudor Times. The experience was formative in Elizabeth's rise to the top and was conducive to her earning the title of 'The Virgin Queen' whether she was willingly involved with Thomas Seymour, her stepfather, or not. This podcast is an attempt to make Elizabeth's femininity one of her strengths as a leader, rather than a weakness or an irrelevant fact.
19 min
June 17, 2020 Edward Colston
The pulling down of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol during a BLM protest has attracted mass media attention. Marvin Rees sympathised, the police watched and Boris Johnson condemned. Far-right extremists are now taking to the streets to defend similar monuments.
This podcast will hopefully give you a bit more understanding over why the statue's presence has been the topic of such heated debate in Bristol for the last twenty years, why the statue was put up in the first place and Bristol's involvement in the slave trade.
Cover image from Ben Birchall- Press Association via AP Images
11 min
June 09, 2020 The Windrush Scandal
Now the Windrush Scandal isn’t history. Many legal immigrants from the Caribbean are still facing detention centres, deportation and denial from cancer treatments, most immediately through legislation brought about by Theresa May’s government but also as part of an ongoing commitment by the government to cut down on immigration. It is a prime example of institutional racism in the UK.
cover image from PA Images.
Links to support anti-racism campaigns:
BLACK LIVES MATTER: (this page provides links to bail-funds, petitions, etc.)
https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Links to support reforming the education system with black literature, history and art:
The Black Curriculum: https://www.theblackcurriculum.com/action
14 min