Human Resources

Sadly, the podcast has come to an end. However, there is still so much to learn and discover about the links between modern Britain and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which is why we're pleased to announce that our book Human Resources: Slavery and the Making of Modern Britain in 39 Institutions, People, Places and Things is out now. Picking up where the podcast left off, we explore modern items a...

Moya and Kris Manjapra discuss his book Black Ghost of Empire, a revelatory historical indictment of the long afterlife of slavery in the Atlantic world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As abolitionist campaigns gained traction in the late 1700s, the population of formerly enslaved people grew. Those who had been enslaved in the British colonies were ‘freed’ - at first in dribs and drabs, then all at once via two landmark pieces of legislation in 1807 and 1834. But a new question arose: what would the formerly enslaved do with their freedom? Featuring historian and researcher, Me...

At the height of the British slave trade, there were no cameras to capture the experiences of the children who found themselves forced into enslavement. There are not even exact numbers for how many youths were sucked into the system - estimates suggest a quarter of the roughly 12 million Black Africans enslaved between the 16th and 19th centuries would be categorised as children. Their stories ar...

In the last episode, ‘Abolition, Now part 1’,  I was talking with Historian Diana Patton about the real timeline of Aboliton and what Abolition really meant for those previously enslaved. Towards the end of the episode we began speaking about Apprenticeships and how those previously enslaved were then forced to work for the people who formerly owned them. Should they not want to work, the punishme...

Most people know the basics of this moment. Josiah Wedgewood made some pottery, William Wilberforce made some speeches, John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, and boom! Britain’s narrative arc of national moral redemption was complete and slavery was abolished. Or at least – that’s what we’re told. Featuring Historian of the Caribbean, Diana Paton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....

In southwest London, there is an area that plays an outsized role in British history. Today, if you walk through Clapham, you will be greeted by formerly grand black and white manor houses, now playing home to the likes of popular coffee chains. So why are we in the verdant, growing suburb of Clapham today? To examine the congregation of a particular site of religious worship, the Holy Trinity Chu...

Like Scotland, Ireland was another notch on England’s colonial bedpost, ruled from England continuously since the Tudors re-established the Kingdom of Ireland in the 16th century and made sure it was subordinate to English political authority. But this isn’t a podcast about what England did to Ireland – many of those exist and tell the story far better than I could. This is a podcast about Britain...

Why do we swim?  It’s not new, we’ve been swimming for 10,000 years… apparently. But why? We don’t live in the water and so what draws us to it? In this first episode of the podcast we explore the history of humans in the water to get an idea of why we do it. Hosted by Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell. Featuring Bonnie Tsui, Why We Swim Listen to the full series here  Learn more about your ad choices...

I love fitness. I love sports. I go to the gym, I walk, I run, I cycle. In my youth, I played team games. And everyone said I was good at sports because of my heritage. My Jamaican ancestry. As a child, this confused me - my white British mother was as sporty as my father, representing her county at tennis in her teen years. But my sporting ability - which is enthusiastic rather than particularly...

In this episode we’re venturing onto the bustling city streets of 18 century London, trying to uncover the traces of the Black individuals who became part of the working class communities – and sometimes elite society – of the British capital, the seat of power that directed the trade that has usually brought them to these shores in the first place. Featuring PhD researcher at the University of Bi...

In the last episode, we looked at the women in Jamaica who owned slaves, both British colonists and the formerly enslaved women who codified their freedom through subjugating others. But there were also the women who didn’t stay, ones who never set foot in Britain’s slave colonies – the absentee owners. Featuring historian Dr. Hannah Young, who specialises in gender and absentee slave ownership. L...

Women made up 40% of slaveowners across the Caribbean – and although historians have had to dig even harder to pull together a picture of their lives, it’s out there. Featuring Assistant Professor of Atlantic World History at Yale and US College in Singapore and author of Jamaica Ladies, Christine Walker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the centre of the system of chattel slavery, was the body. Not the mind, not the soul but the physical vessel necessary to carry out backbreaking labour. And break backs it did... Featuring historian of the Caribbean and the Atlantic, Stephanie Hunt Kennedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Hippocratic Oath isn’t universal. But in the 18th century, the Oath began to be more widely used in medical schools across the British Empire and Europe. The Enlightenment was pushing medical developments along at a fast lick. But concurrently, chattel slavery was in full swing. And a dividing line quickly emerged, between who doctors saw as ‘patients’ and who they viewed as ‘guinea pigs’. Fea...

Human civilization only began about 6,000 years ago. As author Emma Dabiri writes in her 2021 book, cheekily titled ‘What White People Can Do Next’, in the grand scheme of things, human beings are babies. A speck on the face of time and space. The thought puts into perspective how *new*, parts of society are, that seem entrenched from day dot: religion. Gender… Race. Featuring writer and historian...

We’re back to a well-trodden theme: following the money to understand how Scotland’s national development was shaped by the slave trade – and who the winners and losers were among the people who were trying to profit from enslavement. Featuring; Alison Clark, a PhD candidate at Edinburgh University and Lisa Willaims who runs the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and leads walking walks uncovering th...

In the first of our episodes spotlighting Scotland’s slaving history, we went big and broad. Now it’s time to get personal, to uncover the individual stories which, pieced together, can paint a picture of how the lives of Scottish migrants and enslaved Africans collided. Featuring Desha Osborne who teaches Literature in the department of Africana, Puerto Rican, and Latino Studies at Hunter College...

When we talk about the ‘British’ Empire and the ‘British’ slave trade, it’s easy to forget that England – although the central seat of power – was not the only country involved. And for the next three episodes, we’re going to turn our attentions to one of the nations that has all-too-often escaped the full scrutiny of its role in the wider system of slavery: bonnie Scotland itself. Featuring Dr. K...

In part 1 of Origin Stories, we explored the dominant narratives around the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade. But within every accepted history are a multitude of stories, interpretations, and conflicting ‘truths’. In this episode, we try to understand how the origins of slavery are explained from the perspective of those who were enslaved.  Featuring Dr. Jose Lingna Nafafe and Professor...

Before the 400-odd years of the triangular trade, the plantations, the whips, the Sunday markets, the racial science. What were the first stirrings of an industry that we now understand as the pinnacle of inhumanity, but in the 1600s seemed the height of financial innovation? Featuring PHD candidate Patricia Martins Marcos. The full episode transcript can be found here. CREDITS Written and hosted...

The journey of the Middle Passage is one of the most evocative images of slavery, taught in schools as an example of brutality. It was the sea voyage of no return. In this episode, we discover the realities of this horrific journey and what legacies we still live with. Featuring Sowande Mustakeem, Associate Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Washington University in S...

When Britain’s railways are placed within the context of the empire they helped to maintain, they are framed as one of the only ‘good’ legacies of imperialism. In this episode, we focus on the original Great Western Railway and how it's linked to history within the British slave trade. Featuring Dr. Oli Betts, research lead at the National Railway Museum in York. The full episode transcript can be...

The image of ‘England’s green and pleasant land’ is one that has endured for centuries, but is this land really for everyone? Featuring PHD Student Annabelle Gilmore and Maxwell Ayamber PHD Student and founder and Project Coordinator of Sheffield Environmental Movement. The full episode transcript can be found here. CREDIT: Written by Moya Lothian-McLean Editor and Producer Renay Richardson Resear...

Did the Slave rebellions play a part in the British Monarchy's stance on abolition? Featuring author and associate professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Brooke Newman. The full episode transcript can be found here. CREDITS Written and hosted by Moya Lothian-McLean Editor and Producer is Renay Richardson Researchers are Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Production Assistant is...