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 and trace their historical connections, including new topics such as Accounting, Gynaecology, Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs, Denim Blue Jeans, and much more. The book is available for purchase at all major bookstores, and you can order your copy online here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, Melissa Bennett and Iyamide Thomas, NHS Engagement Lead, Sickle Cell Society, together they curated ‘The Krios of Sierra Leone’ exhibitions at the Museum of London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 are some of the hardest to dig up - but people are persisting anyway. Featuring Christine Whyte, lecturer in global history at the University of Glasgow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 punishments were fast and brutal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.com/adchoices

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 Church. Featuring Dr. Katie Donnington, senior lecturer in Black Caribbean and African history at the Open University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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's slaving past. Featuring researcher Giselle Gonzalez Garcia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 gifted - is always attributed to the half of me that’s Black. It feels - and I’ll just say it - racialised, an echo of the ideas that saw things like superhuman strength and endurance attributed to Black people. Featuring senior lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester, Natalie Zacek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Birmingham, Montaz Marché. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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’. Featuring Anna Arabindan-Kesson, an assistant professor at Princeton University in African American studies. Written by Moya Lothian-MacLean Editor and Producer - Renay Richardson Researchers - Dr. Alison Bennett and Arisa Loomba Production Assistant - Rory Boyle Sound Designer - Ben Yellowitz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Subhadra Das. Written by Moya Lothian MacLean Editor and Producer - Renay Richardson Researchers Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Production Assistant - Rory Boyle Sound Designer - Ben Yellowitz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 the stories of enslavement linked with built heritage Full episode transcript available here. CREDITS Writer and Host Moya Lothian-McLean Editor and Producer Renay Richardson Researchers Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Sound Designer Lex Adimora Production Assistant Rory Boyle Social Assets by /Forward Slash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. The full episode transcript can be found here. CREDITS Written and Hosted by Moya Lothian-Mclean Editor and Producer Renay Richardson Researchers Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Sound Designer Lex Adimora Production Assistant Rory Boyle Social Assets by /Forward Slash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Karly Kehoe the Canada Research Chair in Atlantic Canada communities at St. Mary's University in Halifax. Full episode transcript can be found here. CREDITS Host and Writen by Moya Lothian-Mclean Editor and Producer Renay Richardson Researchers Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Sound Design by Lex Adimora Production Assistant Rory Boyle Social Assets by /Forward Slash This is a Broccoli Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Toby Green. Full episode transcript available here. CREDITS Writer and Host Moya Lothian-Mclean Editor and Producer Renay Richardson Researchers Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennett Sound Design Lex Admira Production Assistant Rory Boyle Social Assets /Forward Slash This is a Broccoli Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices