It has been said that the past is another country, but the events we discuss in this episode feel all too familiar. Media interference in elections, Russian influence on Western politics, controversial immigration policy and the technology industry are all as close to the top of the agenda today as there were in 1924.
Today Violet is joined on a tour back to 1924 by the celebrated writer Simon Winchester. Simon is one of the great literary figures of his generation. His career as a journalist and an author spans the past half century, from reports on the Troubles in Northern Ireland to pioneering works of creative non-fiction like Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. Born in Britain, in this episode he joins Violet from his home in rural Massachusetts.
Simon’s latest book, which has just been published, Knowing What We Know, The Transmission of Knowledge from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic takes us from ancient Babylon to Chat GPT, analysing many of the subjects that are discussed here.
For more, as ever, visit our website: tttpodcast.com.
Also, if you want to have a look - here's the Sandisfield Times!
Show notesScene One: 25 October 1924, the Zinoviev Letter is published in the British press, setting Ramsay MacDonald and the Labour Party up for election disaster.
Scene Two: 1924. In New York City, the creation of IBM – International Business Machines.
Scene Three: 1924. In Washington, the Asian Exclusion Act passes through Congress, enshrining anti-immigration policy and racism into law.
Memento: IBM ‘golf ball’ font attachment for typewriter.
People/SocialPresenter: Violet Moller
Guest: Simon Winchester
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours
Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
See where 1924 fits on our Timeline
S.C. Gwynne: R101 – The World’s Largest Flying Machine (1930)
Peter Moore: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
[From the archive] Philip Hoare: Albert and the Whale (1520)
[From the archive] Bernard Cornwell: The Battle of Waterloo (1815)
Lady Hale: The Rights of Women (1925)
[Live] Flora Fraser: Pretty Young Rebel (1746)
Mike Jay: Psychonauts (1885)
David Veevers: How the World Took On the British Empire (1660)
Leah Redmond Chang: Renaissance Queens and the Price of Power (1559)
Andrew Spira: Botticelli, Perugino and Dürer (1500)
Serhii Plokhy: The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)
[From the archives] Craig Brown: Beatlemania (1963)
Honor Cargill-Martin: The Notorious Empress Messalina (48 AD)
Tom Whipple: The Battle of the Beams (1940)
Rebecca Struthers: Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Watchmaking History (1572)
Luke Turner: Men at War (1943)
Amy Jeffs: Tales from Medieval England (1327)
Nicholas Orme: A Year of Great Promise (1480)
[From the archives] Jane Rogoyska: The Katyń Massacre (1940)
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