The Full English

There exists a distinctly middle class culture in Britain that has taught us to love our meat, especially if we feel guilty about eating it. But what if rather than caring for the animals we eat, we thought about animals as an exploited class who deserve justice, not a cuddle before they are slaughtered? So argues Amber Husain in Meat Love , a powerful little book that is out now. Lewis Bassett sp...

By creating a network of pubs that are accessible to anyone with 89p for a coffee, JD Wetherspoon has become something of a public service. But should Britain's most popular pub chain really be owned by Tim Martin and a small group of shareholders? Is it time to nationalise Wetherspoons? In this episode, Lewis Bassett is joined by Jemma Greenwood to discuss the origins and meanings of Spoons, and...

British people are fatter and sicker than people in most other rich nations. That's down to our food system, argues Henry Dimbleby in his new book Ravenous , co-authored with Jemima Lewis. In this episode, Lewis Bassett speaks to Henry about his book, covering everything from why exercise won't help you lose weight to how what we eat is a leading cause of climate change to why food companies are h...

The British realise their food is bland and that's a good thing, according to world renowned economist Ha-Joon Chang. In this interview, Lewis Bassett speaks to Ha-Joon about some of the key themes in his latest book 'Edible Economics'; from how the field of economics has become something of a monoculture, to why its hypocritical of rich nations to encourage poorer ones to accept free trade. Ha-Jo...

From around the 1500s to the early 19th century, when the price of food went up poor people were likely to riot. Today we've seen the highest food price rises in a generation, but does anyone feel angry? Lewis Bassett speaks to economist James Meadway on the causes of rising prices, to historians Steve Poole and Joe Stanley on the history of food riots in England as well as to regular shoppers in...

Lewis Bassett talks all things curry with the writer Sejal Sukhadwala. Find Sejal's book, The Philosophy of Curry, here. You can also find Sejal's work in the Guardian , the FT , Atlas Obscurer , The Fence and elsewhere. Find out more about the course on Food, Politics and City which I mention in the show in this YouTube video or at the Birkbeck website here. Mixing and sound design is as ever fro...

Fishing was often at the heart of the Brexit debate. But three years on, what are the results? Lewis speaks to Jerry Percy, a retired commercial fisherman and director of the chair of New Under Ten Fishermen's Association. If anyone has a grasp of what Brexit has, and could, mean for commercial fishing its Jerry. Mixing and sound design from Forest DLG. Follow the Full English on Twitter , Instagr...

Greggs is one of the biggest food to go retailers in the UK, selling 3 million sausage rolls each week. It has its own line in branded sportswear and a huge fan base. But how did Greggs get so big and what does it all mean? Lewis Bassett speaks to Jake Grover (aka Pasty), Ed Cumming, Sam White, Kate Magee and Sabine Benoit. Pasty can be found on Instagram here . Check out Ed Cumming's article on G...

Why is our food so expensive now? James Meadway explains. We also discuss the link between inflation and trade unions, and the current wave of strikes in the UK right now. James has held senior roles at the New Economics Foundation and the Progressive Economy Forum. He hosts the weekly economics podcast Macrodose . This interview forms a part of an upcoming episode on whether high food prices (sti...

Lewis Bassett speaks to Diane Purkiss about her new book 'English Food: A People's History'. We talk about what English food is, how and when English food became bland, why Elizabeth David is a food snob, why we fear GMOs and how what we eat in England is so deeply interwoven with our social class. Diane Purkiss is a professor of English Literature at Oxford University. Her book 'English Food' is...

Did former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher help invent Mr Whippy Ice Cream? And what can Mr Whippy tell us about the Conservative Party today? With guests: Zoe Philipson, award winning ice cream retailer from Tyne Valley Ices Jon Agar, author of Science in the 20th Century and Beyond Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Wansbeck Will Davies, author of Nervous States Created by Lewis Bassett. Additional edit...

In this final episode of season one, Lewis Bassett and Forest DLG make a fish finger bhorta with the journalist and commentator Ash Sarkar. Does the fish finger bhorta count as English food? We hear from the academic Jason Edwards on what national cuisine actually is. Lewis eats Ghanian food in London with the cook and author Riaz Phillips. The chef Andrew Wong and the academic Catherine Hall ques...

How did the English go from eating cans of baked beans to dribbling olive oil over a fresh rocket and sundried tomato salad? In this episode, we’ll look at how a movement of cooks and cookery writers helped to challenge the status of elite, classical French cuisine as the gold standard of food in England with provincial French and Mediterranean cooking. It’s also the story of the rise of a new mid...

Is regenerative agriculture the answer to the problems caused by factory farms, or might modern forms of food production have an important role to play in the future of food in England? In this episode, Lewis Bassett speaks to: Matt Chatfield, sheep farmer and advocate of alternative farming techniques; the nutritionist Lucy Williamson; the historian David Edgerton; the farmer and director of the...

What could be more innocent than a nice cup of cha? In this episode we hear from Seren Charington-Hollins, Markman Ellis, Mathew Mauger and Mukta Das on how England's love of tea is deeply intwined with the British Empire, including how Britain once forced the trade of opium for tea in China. The historians Catherine Hall and Padraic Scanlan also tell us about England's taste for sugar and its ori...

Why did the English stop eating mutton? And what can sheep farming tell us about the birth of capitalism in England? In this episode, Lewis Bassett visits Smithfield's meat market with Pen Vogler, the author of 'Scoff'. He speaks to Maia Pal and George Comninel about the what, where, when and why of capitalism. We hear from Susan Rose on how wool made England rich. Ben Rogers explains how the Engl...

What is English food? And what is England? Looking at the English breakfast can tell us something about the character of England and how the country acquired a bad reputation when it comes to food. Featuring: David Edgerton, Kaori O'Connor, Ben Rogers, Paul Freedman and Rowley Leigh Music by Forest DLG. Hosted and produced by Lewis Bassett. Sign up on Patreon for extra content and to support the s...