Jam Tomorrow

When it comes to intervention in the Middle East, there is one word that sums up British hubris. And that word is Suez. But did Britain learn from one of our most infamous mistakes in the Middle East? Far from it. From opposing the construction of the Suez Canal, then repeatedly going to war to defend it, and most recently bombing Houthi rebels trying to disrupt Red Sea trade, Britain is preoccupied with this vital shipping route — and convinced it can change the course of history in the Middle East. Ros Taylor talks to Nigel Ashton, professor of history at the London School of Economics and the author of False Prophets: British Leaders’ Fateful Fascination with the Middle East from Suez to Syria, about a disaster that dealt a fatal blow to British imperial ambition. • “Eden saw Nasser as a dictator out of the Hitler and Mussolini mode, with his hands round Britain’s economic windpipe.” • “Blair had a remarkable case of historical amnesia.” Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our latest look into postwar history: decriminalising homosexuality. In 1967 — for the first time in more than 400 years — two men over 21 were legally allowed to have sex, in private, with each other. But the fight for equality was very far from won. Campaigner Peter Tatchell and Hugo Greenhalgh, whose book The Diaries of Mr Lucas: Notes from a Lost Gay Life is published this month, tell Ros Taylor what life was like for gay men in the late 20th century. It’s a story of pickups in Marble Arch, vicious homophobia, and illegal liaisons with the Kray gang. • “It was an absolute goldmine of lost queer history.” – Hugo Greenhalgh • “The gay scene went from being a community of sorts to something far more commercial in the 1970s and 80s. It left Mr Lucas behind. He was always a man of the shadows.” — Hugo Greenhalgh • “In 1983 I fought the notorious Bermondsey by-election… the dirtiest, most violent and definitely most homophobic election in Britain in the 20th century. It was like living through a low-level civil war.” – Peter Tatchell • “The 1990s coincided with a huge coming out of LGBT+ people. That mass coming out was key to helping change hearts and minds.” – Peter Tatchell Buy The Diaries of Mr Lucas: Notes from a Lost Gay Life through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund [name of podcast] by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coal: filthy, dangerous, and vital to Britain’s economy — but not any more. What did coal mining really mean to people? And why is coal so key to the biggest issues in politics — from the founding of the NHS, to Thatcherism, and even the issue of who should take the blame for the climate emergency? Ros Taylor talks to Joerg Arnold, a historian at the University of Nottingham, and Ian Winwood, whose family were coal miners in Yorkshire, about why you have to understand the black stuff to understand Britain. • “It was just so brutal.” – Ian Winwood on the Miners’ Strike. • “The Thatcher government was taken by surprise that the miners weren’t united, but they were quick to exploit that split.” – Joerg Arnold • “Nobody openly acknowledged that we were going to phase out coal.” – Joerg Arnold • “They talk about the Red Wall. In 2019 when much of the Red Wall went blue but Barnsley didn’t. That’s not going to happen.” – Ian Winwood Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

National service has become part of the mythology of a braver, stronger Britain, where young men did their duty for their country and ended up having a damn good time doing it. But did they? What did people really think of National Service — and why were so many of them utterly relieved when it came to an end? Ros Taylor talks to Richard Vinen, a historian at King’s College London and author of National Service: A Generation in Uniform, and Martin Stone, who joined the RAF in 1950. • “I did have one near death mistake there… I thought that’s it, I’ve probably had it.” – Martin Stone • “The category of people who are keenest on it at the beginning are public schoolboys. By the end of the 1950s they’re deferring.” – Richard Vinen • “The best week I ever had there was flying sea cadets round in a Tiger Moth, doing some aerobatics for them. A Tiger Moth is easy to fly, but difficult to fly well.” – Martin Stone • “It’s balls.” – Richard Vinen on the notion that men got to meet others from different social classes. Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Artwork by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Swish… thwack. After the war, one British tradition continued unabated: beating children in schools. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that it was completely outlawed. Why was the UK so attached to corporal punishment and what it did it take to change the law? Ros Taylor talks to journalist Andrew Brown, who was beaten as a boy, and University of Sheffield historian Heather Ellis about why beatings were seen as an important preparation for life — especially life defending the remains of the British Empire. Subscribe to Jam Tomorrow for a new episode every fortnight. • “The first time it was more shocking and humiliating than painful, but it could be bloody painful too.” – Andrew Brown • “It had to do with an elite model of masculinity which argued that to bring out the manly character in boys they were required to withstand considerable levels of bodily pain — and to be seen to bear them.” – Heather Ellis • “It wasn’t until I came across the novels of Simon Raven that I realised there might be people who got enjoyment out of it, and that was despite reading a lot of James Bond.” – Andrew Brown Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the War, Britain was broke and broken – even broker than France. America was faced with a stark choice: invest billions in a shattered Europe or watch its citizens go hungry, or worse, Communist. So how did the Marshall Plan come to be? And what sort of Britain did it rebuild beyond the Welfare State? Ros Taylor talks to Benn Steil, director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and military historian Dr. Steph Hinnershitz about the aid package Britain needed, but wants to forget. Subscribe to Jam Tomorrow for a new episode every fortnight. • “A rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground of pestilence and hate.” – Winston Churchill describes Europe after the War • “We grossly underestimated the destruction to the European economy by the War… Millions of people in the cities are slowly starving.” – William L Clayton, 1947 • “The State Department knew that if it didn’t prop up Britain and take over her security responsibilities, we might be headed towards a Third World War.” – Benn Steil Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ros Taylor’s exploration of Britain’s postwar identity crisis continues. After the War, Britain was broke and broken. Between 1947 and 1981 over a million Britons left for a new life in Australia, some for just £10 passage. Ros looks at the lives of the ‘Ten Pound Poms’, their conflicted identities, the legacy of the racist ‘White Australia’ policy… and how a country that was once desperate for (white) migrants became a role model for immigration hardliners who wanted a points-based system in the UK. Subscribe to Jam Tomorrow for a new episode every fortnight. • “The ‘White Australia’ policy was designed to keep Australia white and English-speaking… It was Gough Whitlam’s reforms that made Australia more accepting of diversity.” – Prof Catherine Cole • “The Ten Pound Poms didn’t just change Australia. They’re changing Britain now.” – Ros Taylor Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Eliza Davis Beard and Bryan Kassulke. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new fortnightly series of Ros Taylor’s exploration of the post-War promises Britain made to itself… and whether they were kept. In this edition: the quest for cheap, easy-to-access, stigma-free contraception wasn’t the simple progression to female freedom that you might think. The wartime emancipation of women – not just into work but into “fraternisation” with American servicemen – created a stereotype of “loose” women and racist judgment against Black GIs. Birth control in the 50s was dangerous and hard to obtain. And one of the key advocates of the Pill was Enoch Powell. With new interviews and archive material, Ros explores the long and winding road to women’s control of their own fertility… and whether our new obsession with “wellness” might be taking women backwards. (Listener note: this edition contains contemporary quotes from the 40s and 50s featuring antiquated racial language). • “Since no ‘decent’ woman was having sex outside marriage, it was unthinkable to promote ways of avoiding pregnancy.” – Ros Taylor • “When it came to sex, most of the risk fell on women. And yet ‘loose’ women were blamed for luring men – and spreading disease.” – Ros Taylor • “Women’s sexual desires were never taken into account on contraception, only men’s – and the pill didn’t really change that.” – Dr Claire Jones • “The Pill recast the whole choreography of relationships.” – Mary Kenny Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson and Seth Thévoz. Original music by Dubstar. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the producers of Jam Tomorrow - a brand new show looking at the tectonic shifts in global power occurring right before our eyes, called This Is Not A Drill. Presented by ex-BBC News host and Washington correspondent Gavin Esler with a series of co-hosts including Oz Katerji, This Is Not A Drill takes a look at the expanding threats to global stability from Ukraine to the Middle East to China; exploring the dangers, corruption, conflicts and power struggles happening around the world. New episodes out every Wednesday. If you enjoy the show and want to subscribe, visit https://listen.podmasters.uk/TINADjtfd?at=1001l39LM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Jam Tomorrow special: Identity cards. What happens when principles come up against panic? When a high minded determination not to collect private info runs up against a society which depends on data? Ros Taylor charts the history of “show us your papers” from wartime security concerns to football hooliganism, benefit fraud crackdowns, Blairite control freakery and our modern obsession with asylum seekers. Speaking to experts including New Labour ID card advocate Liam Byrne she finds that this is one post war nightmare that could return. Is State ID coming whether we like it or not? We’ve got more Jam Tomorrow specials coming over the summer. Follow us so you don’t miss any. • “Every decade or so there’s been a problem where somebody says the ID card is the solution.” – Jon Agar • “If you are from a marginalised group you know we already live in a papers, please society.” – Rob Ford • “Yes, people are happy to unlock their device is using biometric data. That’s not the same as the government storing everybody’s name or face on the database.” – Edgar Whitley Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season finale: Since the War, Britons experienced an explosion of choice in food, services, work, utilities, even belief and sexuality. But did ever-increasing choices really lead us to the promised land? Why are we lost in a maze of competing phone contracts, train fares, and “options” from schools and hospitals – where choice is bewildering and meaningless? In the last episode of this season, Ros Taylor finds out how choice and competition shaped the post-privatisation world from rail to energy to education – and where it let us down. Does more choice make people more empowered or just more fearful? And how do you run a society when you can choose your own truth? • “Choice has liberated people and made life worth living. But in public services, it hasn’t worked so well…” – Ros Taylor • “Parents who looked at more schools were more likely to find the whole thing stressful – and worry if they’d made the right choice.” – Aveek Bhattacharya • “How do you incentivise a public service to do the best it can? The idea was to introduce some fake competition.” – John Appleby • “When people feel fearful and insecure, their appetite for choice shrinks.” – Ros Taylor Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The post-war dream was anchored in ideas of Britain as a Christian nation. Now we’re a polyglot country of different faiths and none. Can religious belief still tie Britain together? Should we want it to? Ros Taylor looks at the Church of England’s journey from its unifying role in the Second World War to its search for a new identity in a world of charismatic evangelicals, shifting sexualities and new ethnic communities. Does the CofE have to change or disappear? • “Donating to the church collection isn’t enough. Some of us want a side of social justice with our sermon.” – Ros Taylor • “The Church of England is essentially about the feeling of being English… and that’s been squandered by the clergy.” – Linda Woodhead • “We think of London as the most socially liberal city in the country – but it’s actually the most socially conservative. And a major part of that is the type of Christianity and Islam followed by migrants.” – Tomiwa Owolade Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain’s class system is rigid and incomprehensible – and education keeps it that way. Why do so many of us think we’re working class when we’re not? Why do we still believe in making it through hard work, yet hate social climbers? After the War, we told ourselves we were on the way towards a classless society. Ros Taylor talks to people as diverse as campaigner and educationalist Melissa Benn and class commentator Peter York to find that decades of meddling with education and work only entrenched class power. How do we get out of the class trap? “The top universities say that anyone can get in if you’re good enough… The problem is, you might not realise it unless you’ve been to the right kind of schools.” – Ros Taylor “There’s British plutocracy and British poshocracy… but in Belgravia you will find precious few British achievers.” – Peter York “The freedoms that academies were promised don’t really exist now… the whole thing was a hugely expensive time and energy trap.” – Fiona Millar “Should we stop talking about the Upper Classes at all and be honest about who really holds wealth and power in Britain?” – Ros Taylor Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How the housing dream was betrayed, and how to fix it. Council houses fit for the wartime generation gave way to a “home-owning democracy”, but we priced the young out of home ownership and refused to build the properties they need. How did Britain screw up housing so badly? From prefabs to Poulson to Thatcher’s Right to Buy and NIMBYism, Ros Taylor finds out how Britain’s approach to housing went so very wrong. Along the way, Neil Kinnock remembers the cockroaches that infested his childhood home and what it meant to finally be treated with dignity. And Ros discovers what could be the future of housing. “Through benefits, taxpayers are paying the mortgages of hundreds of thousands of private landlords who can jack up rent at will.” – Ros Taylor “The revenue from Right To Buy went to the Treasury, not towards building new houses. It made about £47bn from Right To Buy.” – Jules Birch “My mother would say, Come in Neil, your dinner’s on the table and it’s getting dirty.” – Neil Kinnock “Council housing was irredeemably tainted by what happened in the 60s and 70s.” – Lynsey Hanley “The average Englishman and Englishwoman dreams of his or her own home and garden.” – Mass Observation “Council housing was no longer something to aspire to… it was now a place of last resort.” – Ros Taylor Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Britain’s postwar dreams were stolen… and how to win them back. This time: The NHS was the prize for all the pain and sacrifice of the Second World War. When did we accept that it would be a service in perpetual decline? Ros Taylor talks to experts from senior policy planners to Casualty scriptwriters to discover how the NHS became a huge entity in permanent crisis – why it holds such a grip on our collective imagination – and how to rescue it. “I have never seen NHS morale lower than it is now.” – Camilla Cavendish “It’s only when you really need the ΝΗS and experience it that you realise something terrible is going on within our society.” – Rachel Clarke “The NHS has pockets of world-class excellence and also, sadly, pockets of disaster and despair.” – Camilla Cavendish “We wouldn’t fund paediatrics from jumble sales or sponsored abseils… But that’s what we do with end of life care.” – Rachel Clarke Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did Britain’s dreams of a new postwar world go unfulfilled? And what does that mean for us today? In the first of a new documentary series from the makers of Oh God, What Now?, Ros Taylor looks at the legacy of the War itself. Ιdeals of the Blitz Spirit and dreams of wartime heroism still shape everything from pop culture and entertainment to the Brexit debate. But the truth of the War is more complex and less comforting. What will it take for us to see the Second World War – and ourselves – clearly? • “If you’re going to have a foundation myth it might as well be one where you destroy Nazism.” – Al Murray • “If the response to air raid wasn’t stoicism, there was a fear that morale would break down.” – Lucy Noakes • “The Keep Calm And Carry On poster was designed for a type of war that never arrived.” – Henry Irvine • “Britain went into the war not alone but at the head of the world’s biggest empire… When Britain went to war, so did vast part of the world.” – Lucy Noakes Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Out of the ruins of the Second World War, the British people were promised a better world of free healthcare, quality housing and good schools. What happened to these promises of Jam Tomorrow? In a new series from the makers of Oh God, What Now?, Ros Taylor explores how the postwar dream was betrayed – and how we can win it back. Follow Jam Tomorrow on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices