The Long View

In the early 1920s, in the face of mounting economic and political pressure, Prime Minister David Lloyd George committed the government to massive public spending cuts. Then as now it was a coalition government faced with the challenge of driving through savings. Lloyd George appointed the Geddes Committee to decide where the axe should fall.

Jonathan and guests draw on the lessons of the early 20s to debate the difficulties of delivering economies in public spending and the potential political fallout.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Image: Men carrying the Geddes Report on national expenditure on its arrival at HM Stationery Office, February 1922.

Jonathan Freedland compares the present spending review with the 'Geddes Axe' of 1921-22.

Back in 1876 the debate was similarly uncomfortable when vivid news reports came in of the terrible violence meted out by the Ottoman authorities after an uprising in the land that now constitutes modern Bulgaria. Thousands of people were killed, women and children among them. And all this, recorded in detail, was available to readers of the London Evening News. Back then it was the Russians who demanded that 'something must be done' while the British Prime Minster Benjamin Disraeli first played down the atrocities and then tried to caution against intervention. His old opponent William Gladstone, inspired by a national reaction to the atrocities, added his voice to those who demanded action in the form of a famous pamphlet 'Bulgarian Horrors and the question of the East' .

When the Russians attacked the Turks Disraeli threatened to join on the Ottoman side. The result was the treaty of San Stefano and subsequently the congress of Berlin with Bulgaria gaining a degree of autonomy while the other great powers took the opportunity of dismantling part of the Ottoman empire for their own gains, Britain took control of Cyprus.

But did this re-shaping of the Balkans deliver long term 'peace with honour' as Disraeli had claimed, or was it yet another example of Liberal intervention assuaging national consciences but creating dangerous instability in the process.

Lord Ashdown, John Baron MP and Professor Robert Service are on hand to take the Long View of Liberal Intervention.

Jonathan Freedland and his guests take the long view of liberal intervention.

In 1600s, snuff came to be seen as a more socially acceptable alternative to smoking tobacco.

Nevertheless there were lingering concerns about the health effects of the new product.

As the use of electronic cigarettes takes off today, Jonathan and guests discuss the lessons from history.

Producer Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland compares the rise of electronic cigarettes with snuff in the 1600s.

Nigel Farage's recent success at local and European elections may have left the other political parties baffled, but the Wilkite movement of the 1760s also caused consternation. Wilkes' election to Westminster was repeatedly quashed, prompting him to obtain re-election.

Wilkes' slogan was 'liberty' and he called for parliamentary reform, raising the issue of how MPs should be chosen: by the people or their elite masters.

Producer: Clare Walker.

Jonathan Freedland compares Nigel Farage with the 18th-century politician John Wilkes.

The first coffee shop opened in London in 1652 and before long business was booming. As social hubs where people came to catch up on the latest news, customers flocked to get their daily fix of caffeine. But by the end of the 17th century, tastes were changing and tea started to overtake coffee as the nation's favourite drink.

Jonathan looks at the lessons for today's coffee shops with guests including food critic Jay Rayner. Actor Mark Aiken who played one half of the Gold Blend couple provides the historical readings.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Today another innovative grass-roots organisation is proving influential. Emerging from Jeremy Corbyn's 2015 leadership campaign, Momentum has proved highly effective at winning over new Labour voters, swapping the magic lantern shows and Stately Home fetes of the Primrose League for a cutting edge social media campaign.

Jonathan Freedland and his guests compare electioneering in the nineteenth century and today and explore the often troubled relationship between grass-roots organisations and the parliamentary parties they support . They also ask whether the Conservatives need a latter-day Primrose League to boost their electoral appeal, particularly with younger, urban voters.

Joining Jonathan are Dr Jon Lawrence of the University of Cambridge, James Kanagasooriam of Populus and the journalists Sebastian Payne and Ellie-Mae O'Hagan. Laura Morgan is the reader.

Producer: Julia Johnson.

Grass-roots politics with the Conservative Primrose League in the 1880s and Momentum today

And so it was in the 1850s when, after many years of shaving, a fashion for wearing a full beard swept the British Isles. Charles Dickens lead by example and wrote in his journal 'Household Words' extolling the virtues of 'whisker, beard, and moustache, reverently worn, and trimmed discreetly and with decency'. Within a few years beards were everywhere and claims for their practicality in the face of industrial dirt and grime only encouraged more. They were also worn by heroes beginning with those returning from the Crimean war and then the sportsmen like Spencer Gore, first Wimbledon champion in 1877 and the greatest celebrity of the age, W.G.Grace.

Jonathan asks historians Dr Alun Withers of Exeter University and Professor Caroline Cox what drove the passion for beards then and what fuels it now and he visits a barbers shop to find out whether the damaged to the razor industry was more than compensated in both eras by the passion for developing and sustaining the perfect beard.

He also hears from Areeb Ullah who wears his beard as a proud Muslim and has thoughts on the impact this new fashion has on his own bearded identity.

Pognophiles versus Pognophobia, a story for our times as much as for Victorian Britain, in The Long View.

Producer: The recently bearded Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long, unshaven view of the recent fashion for beard-wearing.

If Donald Trump is elected to a second term as President of the United States he would be 82 at the end, if Joe Biden is re-elected he would be 86. Age has become a campaign weapon. How effective have the octogenarian leaders of the past been shown to be?

One was William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister four times, the last when he was 82. Dr Ruth Windscheffel Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at York St John University and author and editor of a number of books and articles about Gladstone discusses how his advanced age affected his final administration.

Emperor Gordian I acceded to Rome's Imperial throne in 238 AD in his early eighties. Dr James Corke-Webster is Reader in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King's College London. He discusses with Jonathan Freedland the events surrounding Gordian's rise to power in ancient Rome's most turbulent year.

Reader: Josh Bryant-Jones

Producer: Harry Parker

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View on elderly leaders.

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

One was William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister four times, the last when he was 82. Dr Ruth Windscheffel Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at York St John University and author and editor of a number of books and articles about Gladstone discusses how his advanced age affected his final administration.

Emperor Gordian I acceded to Rome's Imperial throne in 238 AD in his early eighties. Dr James Corke-Webster is Reader in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King's College London. He discusses with Jonathan Freedland the events surrounding Gordian's rise to power in ancient Rome's most turbulent year.

Reader: Josh Bryant-Jones

Producer: Harry Parker

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View on elderly leaders.

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

With the next US President likely to be an octogenarian, what lessons can be learned from history's leaders in their eighties?

Jonathan Freedland and guests make historical comparisons with current events.

Victor Mallet was an 11 year old boy flying to the Sudanese capital Khartoum to join his parents when the BOAC plane he was travelling on was forcibly landed by Libyan authorities in July 1971. Sudanese dissidents involved in a recently successful coup were ordered off the plane by Colonel Gaddafi's forces and were later executed. The incident caused outrage in Parliament since international air regulations had been violated putting a passenger plane in danger. The story bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the Ryan Air plane forced to land in Belarus and where the dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was seized by the authorities.

Victor along with the leader of the Belarussian Opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, journalist Sarah Hurst and Aviation Expert David Learmount join Jonathan to explore the Long View of state sponsored air hijacking.

Producer Neil McCarthy

Jonathan Freedland explores the history of state sponsored air-hijacking.

Bristol had been a major port since the Middle Ages but, with the advent of travel by steam ship, Liverpool steals a march on its West Country competitor. Though engineered in Bristol, Brunel's ground-breaking SS Great Britain steam ship made its maiden voyage from Liverpool. But in the long term, it's Southampton that eventually reigns supreme.

As debates continue to rage over a third runway at Heathrow, the proposed 'Boris Island' airport and other options, Jonathan asks what we can learn from the Victorian approach.

Jonathan and guests visit the SS Great Britain - then travel on to the Cunard Building in Liverpool - to debate the issues. He's joined by Andrew Lambert, Professor of Naval History at King's College, Dr Lucy Budd, Lecturer in Transport Studies at Loughborough University, Paul Leblond, a former director of BAA and John Twigg, Planning Director of Manchester Airports Group. Readings are provided by Bristol Old Vic regular Christian Rodska and Liverpool based actor Neil Caple.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland compares airport expansion now with the Victorian battle of the ports.

Image: Detail of 'The Railway Station' (1862) by William Powell Frith (1819-1909).

The parallels between today's airport expansions and the mid-19th century railway boom.

Producer: James Cook.

Jonathan Freedland explores the politics of appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury.

So do you achieve national coverage by going to London or by leaving London? The Long View examines whether the decisions are right and why they were made. It tells a story of the changing balance of the North South divide examines the relationship between how you cover the UK and where you are within it.

Image: Part of the reporters' room at the Manchester Guardian.

Jonathan Freedland looks at the north-south divide in terms of national media coverage.

Jonathan is joined by Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank; former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Gieve; financial historian Adrian Bell, John Coggan of the Economist and Performance poet, Attila the Stockbroker.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of Libor with a 14th-century financial scandal.

Elizabeth's response to her European troubles was to forge new trade links with the East, sending merchants to Turkey, Persia and North Africa. Today's trade ministers hope to emulate the achievements of their Tudor counterparts, but how important is trade with Europe to our prosperity and how easy will it be to do new trade deals on more distant shores ?

Taking the Long View of trade, Jonathan is joined by Professor Jerry Brotton of Queen Mary University of London, author of 'This Orient Isle:Elizabethan England and the Islamic World'. Discussing today's export markets are the economists George Magnus, Liam Halligan and Dr Monique Ebell and our actor is Anita Dobson.

Jonathan Freedland hears how Elizabeth I and Theresa May look beyond Europe for trade.

In the 790s, King Offa of the English kingdom of Mercia found himself at loggerheads with Charlemagne, King of the Franks on the other side of the Channel. Jonathan and guests examine how the dispute was resolved and explore how the difficulties compare to Britain's relations with the EU in the postwar era.

Jonathan is joined by historian Dr Rory Naismith of King's College London and Sir Stephen Wall, former Private Secretary to John Major and former Europe advisor to Tony Blair. Stephen Wall was also Britain's ambassador to the EU in the late 1990s and is the author of an official history of Britain's relations with the European Community 1963-75.

Produce: Laurence Grissell

Jonathan Freedland compares Brexit with tensions between Offa and Charlemagne in the 790s.

Producer: Mark Burman.

The Long View marks a year to go with a Brexit special edition.

When the founder of the chain, Jesse Boot, put it up for sale it prompted a storm of controversy in the local and national press. A rival chain responded by marketing itself as the 'biggest British chemist', playing on the idea that Boots had betrayed their national roots. The takeover prompted a period of austerity in the company as the American owners embarked on an efficiency drive.

Jonathan draws on the lessons of the Boots takeover, asking how important it is for national brands to remain in British hands. Guests include Lord Digby Jones and Stefan Stern of The Financial Times, and readings are provided by James Coombes, former Milk Tray Man.

Image: Man unloading goods from a cart in front of a Boots store, 1915.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of Kraft's takeover of Cadbury.

Jonathan Freedland explores what history can tell us about how today's cancel culture might play out. He looks for historical precursors, starting with the the story of Galileo, whose insistence in the early 17th Century that the Earth goes round the Sun and not vice versa,  got him into deep trouble with the Catholic Church.

Contributors:

Paula Findlen, Professor of History at Stanford University in California

Terence Dooley , Professor of History at Maynooth University in County Kildare

Sir Antony Beevor, historian and author.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of cancel culture.

Cancel culture is not new or unique to the modern day.  For as long as humans have had society, we've cancelled those who violated its unwritten rules and norms. 

Jonathan Freedland explores what history can tell us about how today's cancel culture might play out. He looks for historical precursors, starting with the the story of Galileo, whose insistence in the early 17th Century that the Earth goes round the Sun and not vice versa,  got him into deep trouble with the Catholic Church.

Contributors:

Paula Findlen, Professor of History at Stanford University in California

Terence Dooley , Professor of History at Maynooth University in County Kildare

Sir Antony Beevor, historian and author.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of cancel culture.

With historian Mark Stoyle, Professor of Early Modern History at Southampton University; Sebastian Balfour, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics; Loveday Jenkin, councillor for Mebyon Kernow, the Party for Cornwall; and actor Beatie Edney who played Prudie in the Poldark.

Producer: Viv Jones.

Jonathan Freedland looks at past events which shed light on present-day controversies.

He examines the parallels between today's celebrity chefs with social agendas and the 19th century chef Alexis Soyer, who became a household name and captured the British public imagination with his revolutionary approach to cooking and eating.

Image: An engraving by Laing of Soyer's Modern Housewife's Kitchen Apparatus, circa 1850. The invention of French chef Alexis Soyer, it boasts an open roasting fire, a hot water boiler, a baking oven, a broiling stone and a hot plate.

Comparing celebrity chefs with social agendas and Victorian chef Alexis Soyer.

It was a similar story in Manchester back in the mid 1960s. Matt Busby had been at United since the war building championship winning teams and a formidable reputation. City were languishing in the second division. But with the arrival of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, City found a combination to challenge their Manchester rivals. And it really was a case of the Managers being the all important figures. When England won the world cup in 1966 it was Joe Mercer who'd just lead City to the old 2nd Division championship who was part of the BBC Television World Cup panel, endearing himself to the nation by referring to Pele as Peely.

Jonathan is joined by a former City player Paul Hince, Dr Colin Shindler, a screenwriter, academic and fanatic City fan, Sarah Collins who covers the city's sport for BBC local radio and Paul Gilroy of the League Managers Association. They discuss the then and now and the curious way in which - in these two eras - it was the Managers who were in the limelight. Much has changed, not least in terms of global reach, money and the international flavour of the Premiership, but at heart it's the same - the men on the pitch will be playing, and did play, in the shadow of the Celebrity Managers.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of celebrity football managers.

The importance of major transport infrastructure schemes is much in the headlines, with the Government's confirmation of plans to build a new high speed rail link between London and Birmingham. But while the reality of an HS2 line is still some way off, a very real project is now well underway beneath London, carving out the massive London Crossrail network, which will link Heathrow Airport with the financial heart of the capital.

This scheme has taken many years for work even to start. But, as Jonathan discovers, such struggles have a long history.

Back in the 1820s, a similarly grandiose scheme - a North-South tunnel under the River Thames - was getting underway, and hitting problems and protestations.

Jonathan is joined by contributors including leading columnist Sir Simon Jenkins, and former Transport Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequeur Alistair Darling, who gave Crossrail the green light.

Is the 'can-do' attitude of the great Victorian engineers something we can learn from today - or was it really little more than a myth?

Producer: Tom Alban.

Image: Cross-section showing impression of Marc Isambart Brunel's double arched masonry Thames Tunnel built 1825-1843. Originally a roadway, it is still used by electric trains between Whitechapel and New Cross, London. Woodcut, 1832.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of the fate of great British building projects.

In 1216, Prince Louis of France's near-successful bid for the English throne climaxed in Dover, where his forces used a multitude of techniques in a major assault on the castle - including digging beneath the castle gate and use of the trebuchet to attempt to breach the walls. Jonathan draws on this medieval example to discuss cyber security in the 21st century context.

Joining Jonathan at Dover Castle are medieval historian Marc Morris; General Sir Richard Barrons, former Commander Joint Forces Command, one of the six Chiefs of Staff leading the UK Armed Forces until April 2016; Kenneth Cukier of The Economist; and Sara Perez, ethical hacker at SensePost. Readings are by Hugh Simon who played MI5 Data Analyst Malcolm Wyn-Jones in the popular BBC TV series Spooks.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland compares cyber-attacks today with the Siege of Dover Castle in 1216.

Featuring Lord Butler, former head of the Civil Service and Dead Ringers star, Jon Culshaw. Historian Catherine Haddon from the Institute for Government and Sebastian Payne Whitehall journalist at the Financial Times.

Producer Neil McCarthy

Jonathan Freedland presents stories from the past and compares them with current events.

Jonathan's guests include Professor Anthony J. Badger, former Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University; James P. Rubin, who was the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Bill Clinton;

Robert Singh, who is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London and a specialist in US government and politics and the politics of American foreign policy; Kate Andrews, Head of Communications and Research Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute; she is also a spokesperson for Republicans Overseas UK.

Producer Julia Johnson.

Jonathan Freedland examines the rise of Donald Trump through the prism of the past.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened to great fanfare on 15 September 1830. It was clear this new form of transport would radically transform society. Yet the day was overshadowed by the death of William Huskisson MP who stepped on the tracks and was struck by Stephenson's Rocket as it steamed down the line.

With the the first death to result from driverless vehicles in Arizona a few weeks ago, Jonathan Freedland and guests tell the story of Huskisson's death and explore the implications for the development of self-driving vehicles today.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland compares safety on the railways in the 1830s to driverless cars today.

Produced by Neil McCarthy.

Jonathan Freedland explores tree disease by charting Dutch Elm Disease from the 1920s.

Both men were driven and capable of challenging accepted engineering norms but in their two rail systems they struggled to make a break through. Elon Musk believes that his Hyperloop system can shoot passengers at breakneck speed through a vacuum tube, cutting journey times and revolutionising rail travel. Ever the coy publicist he refers to his Hyperloop as the 'fifth mode of transport' after road, rail, sea and air.

Brunel was convinced that steam wasn't the only way of providing cheap, efficient mass transport. Using a sealed tube in the centre of the rails to deliver vacuum propulsion, his system ran on a 20-mile section of track between Exeter and Newton Abbot and was a match for the speeds available to the best steam trains of the day.

But both systems have proved more than challenging and in Brunel's case the challenges became insurmountable and the inventor's appetite for new adventures saw it fall quickly into disuse. How will Elon Musk's plans mature?

Historian Colin Divall is on hand to help tell the parallel stories of these two men and their transport dreams.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland compares inventions by inventors Elon Musk and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Jonathan considers moments in history when societies have been forced to adapt their energy supply due to environmental pressures. He looks to the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom and how it adapted to a century long drought, Early Modern England's wood scarcity crisis and the shift away from coal prompted by London's Great Smog of 1952.

In our era of environmental crisis, can these historical events offer guidance on how best to adapt our own energy resources?

Contributors:

Professor Nadine Moeller, Yale University.

Keith Pluymers, Assistant Professor, Illinois State University

Dr Roger Fouquet, London School of Economics

Producer: Sam Peach

Jonathan Freedland explores the history of energy adaptation.

Jonathan Freedland explores historical parallels of today's shift to renewable energy due to climate change.

Jonathan considers moments in history when societies have been forced to adapt their energy supply due to environmental pressures. He looks to the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom and how it adapted to a century long drought, Early Modern England's wood scarcity crisis and the shift away from coal prompted by London's Great Smog of 1952.

In our era of environmental crisis, can these historical events offer guidance on how best to adapt our own energy resources?

Contributors:

Professor Nadine Moeller, Yale University.

Keith Pluymers, Assistant Professor, Illinois State University

Dr Roger Fouquet, London School of Economics

Producer: Sam Peach

Jonathan Freedland explores the history of energy adaptation.

In this edition he looks at the history of the debate over who should own England's forests.

The debate has inflamed passion in the countryside and in the country as a whole. There are celebrity petitions and yellow ribbons tied around oak trees in heritage forests. But the passion for the countryside in England has a long history.

Jonathan Freedland and his guests look at the story to save popular rights to land and wood in Epping Forest in the 1860s and 1870s and asks was their campaign and its results, a case from which popular campaigners can learn. Joining Jonathan Freedland are historian Professor Charles Watkins, BBC Rural Affairs Correspondent Jeremy Cooke, and MPs Tristram Hunt and John Redwood. Actor Tim Bentinck, known to Radio 4 listeners more as David in The Archers, reads press reports and poetry of the time.

This programme was first broadcast before the government's announcement that they are halting the current consultation.

Producer: Joanne Cayford

Jonathan Freedland looks at the history of the debate on who should own England's forests.

Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican Friar whose apocalyptic sermons inspired his followers, the Piagnoni or 'wailers' to take over Florence's streets and squares, challenging the authorities and condemning the consumption of sinful luxuries, such as mirrors, cosmetics and musical instruments.

Today's Extinction Rebellion activists have also staged city-centre protests, demanding radical action to reduce carbon emissions and the consumption of modern luxuries such as fast fashion and air travel.

Joining Jonathan to discuss past and present are Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at King's College London, Tim Stanley of The Telegraph and William Skeaping of Extinction Rebellion.

Producer: Julia Johnson

With Diarmaid MacCulloch. Professor of the History of the Church; Mic Wright, technology writer; Emily Taylor, associate fellow of Chatham House and editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy; Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Digital Minister and actor Anton Lesser.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

The Facebook Cambridge Analytica data and the Catholic church in pre-Reformation Europe.

So what holds back today's authorities from using the modern camera technology that might have changed Ireland's fate in the recent World Cup play-off? There was another disputed goal at the African Cup of Nations, Cameroon losing out on that occasion. Rugby has adopted cameras and a fourth official with access to the pictures, cricket is moving that way and tennis has taken up the referred line call.

So should football take the Long View and use the available technology or is the reticence to do something more indicative of our culture and time? Are we as ready as the Victorians to accept the new?

Taking the long view of football authorities' response to calls for camera technlogy.

At Lingfield Park Racecourse, Jonathan Freedland and his guests take the long view of gambling and new technologies as they tell the story of the emergence of Victorian betting shops and ask how gambling is changing today, in the era of fixed-odds betting terminals, smartphones and in-play betting.

Joining Jonathan are historian Carl Chinn, the actor Matthew McNulty, Paul Leyland of Regulus Partners, Dr Heather Wardle of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Malcolm George, Chief Executive of the Association of British Bookmakers.

Producer: Julia Johnson

Jonathan Freedland asks how new technologies transformed gambling in the 1840s and today.

Walasiewicz had settled with her parents in Cleveland and was better known as Stella Walsh. By 1932 she was also known as the Cleveland Flyer, but faced with unemployment she took up the offer to run for Poland at the Los Angeles Olympics and won Gold in the 100m. Already she was viewed by many as unusually manly in her running style and build. In the years between 1932 and the Berlin Olympics in 1936 insinuations continued but there was no action taken and she went on to compete successfully. However, in Berlin a French journalist suggested that Stella had to shave twice a day. She was favourite to win the 100m again.

In the event she came second to the American Helen Stephens. The Polish team and press raised objections to Stephens suggesting that she was a man. What appears to be the first ever gender identity test was called for and Helen Stephens was its first victim. It would later be described by the legendary British Pentathlon Olympic Gold Medal winner,Dame Mary Peters, some forty years later as 'what in modern parlance, amounted to a grope.` Helen Stephens was exonerated and kept her medal, but it was a crude and profoundly humiliating way of dealing with the problem of gender verification in women's sport.

Jonathan is joined by an Olympic athlete and a trans gender sportswoman to take the Long View of gender verification in women's sport.

As graduates today grapple with the difficulties of finding suitable employment, they might reflect on the experiences of graduates in the 16th century. In response to the Reformation, university education had undergone significant expansion - but when the newly qualified youngsters went out into the world, they found very few jobs waiting for them. Among them was dramatist Christopher Marlowe. Some say that the alienation which followed was a contributing factor in the English Civil War.

Alongside David Blunkett, Jonathan is also joined by historian Professor Nandini Das, Phil Baty of Times Higher Education magazine, Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng and Shiv Malik, author of the book 'Jilted Generation', to debate the lessons for today.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

In the East End of Glasgow in 1905 a 'Model Lodging House' at 39 Watson Street caught fire. It housed 300 poor working men, many of them migrants from Ireland and the Highlands. The lodging house itself was densely populated with men sleeping in wood lined cubicles and with only one exit to the street through a turnstile. The fire spread very rapidly, trapping those who couldn't escape on the upper floors and 39 people were killed.

The tragedy immediately drew public attention to fire and building regulations and the urgent need to improve them and an Inquiry soon followed.

Jonathan is joined by historian of fires and fire services Shane Ewen, BBC London reporter Anna O'Neil, retired fireman Jim Smith, Secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Scottish Architects Neil Baxter and actor Robin Laing to explore the parallels between the Watson Street and the Grenfell Tower tragedies.

Producer Neil McCarthy.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of landmark fire tragedies.

As the final US Space Shuttle mission blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Jonathan Freedland compares the end of the shuttle programme with the decommissioning of the 1872 British oceanographic survey HMS Challenger. The very boat after which the shuttle, Challenger, was named.

It's a story of high adventure at the farthest reaches of the known world but also a lesson in the way that super powers use state money, military prerogatives and scientific research to project power and influence.

Challenger was a British Oceanographic mission that sailed from 1872-76. It was designed to chart the depths of the oceans and assess the currents more accurately. This was a vital aid to the efficient global navigation of British warships and trade vessels. Hugely successful on its own terms it was scrapped by the treasury on the grounds of cost. But its work is the foundation stone of modern oceanography.

Producer: James Cook.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of the end of the space shuttle.

He is joined by Billy Bragg to consider House of Lords reform now and in the 17th Century, examining the story of Lord Howard, a corrupt peer who was sent to the Tower. In the light of recent cash-for-influence allegations, Jonathan and guests debate what can be learnt from the experience of the 1640s, when the Lords came under similarly intense scrutiny.

Hsitorical readings are provided by Tim Bentinck who plays David in The Archers and who is also the 12th Earl of Portland. He was one of the hereditary peers who was disqualified from sitting in the Lords following the reforms of 1999.

Jonathan's other guests are the historian Dr Jason Peacey, Andrew Piece, assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph, Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the committee on Standards in Public Life and cross-bench peer Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff.

Jonathan is joined by Billy Bragg to consider House of Lords reform now and in the 1600s.

He compares investigations into spy activity in Britain by Siemens employees for Nazi Germany in the run up to World War II and the allegations about Huawei's 5G equipment containing 'back doors' that could be used by Chinese state intelligence.

Following the historical story from the National Portrait Gallery Archive, to the former tech corridor of the Great West Road and ending at the Churchill War Rooms Jonathan is joined by historian Rob Hutton, Chris Cook editor at Tortoise Media , Elisabeth Braw of the Royal United Services Institute, Chair of UK5G Ros Singleton and actor Greg Jones.

Producer Neil McCarthy

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View on technology companies and state espionage

Producer: Simon Elmes

Economies rarely fall prey to single drivers, but war, pandemic, international oil price and food costs have all been part of Britain's story in the past. Jonathan discovers how politicians dealt with inflation in the 1920s and 1970s, what the costs of their interventions were, and to what extent the insights of hindsight might help an approach to today's growing pressures.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland explores today's inflation alongside historic inflation spikes.

Almost 100 years ago, Britain sat astride the global telegraph and cable industry. During WW1, Churchill set up a small team of cryptographers and put them in Room 40 at the Admiralty in Whitehall. Their mission: to intercept all telegram traffic. In January 1917, whilst snooping on the US diplomatic cable they intercepted a German telegram from the German foreign ambassador, Arthur Zimmerman which would alter the course of WW1. One big problem - how to present the information to the US ambassador who had no idea that Britain was tapping into its friendly nations' communication systems.

Joining Jonathan Freedland are: Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee; historian Professor Edward Higgs; BBC Security Correspondent Gordon Corera; Thomas Kielinger, London Correspondent for Die Welt; Shami Chakrabati, director of Liberty. Actor Geoffrey Streatfeild who played IT supremo Callum in BBC 1 'Spooks' is the reader.

Producer: Sarah Taylor.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind and others discuss international surveillance.

Image: A man weighing gold, after the lifting of the Gold Standard encouraged people to sell their gold jewellery and ornaments, 1931.

Comparing Greece and the Euro with Britain's departure from the gold standard in 1931.

Jonathan Freedland compares Julian Assange to a pamphleteer and fugitive of the 1680s.

This week he centres on the Leveson Inquiry and the parallels it has with the 1215 King John Inquiry in which both the King and prime minister are forced to set up and inquiry against their wishes and both inquiries do not go according to plan. In the short term the 1215 inquiry ends in civil war but in the long term it was to establish the laws for local government for the next 800 years, it remains to be seen what will happen when the Leveson Inquiry finally makes its conclusions.

Jonathan Freedland on the Leveson Inquiry and parallels with the 1215 King John Inquiry.

The Roman general, Sulla, was the first leader of the Republic to seize power by force, marching twice on Rome - first in 88 BC, and the Streltsy uprising of Russian soldiers in 1698 proved a decisive moment in the rule of Peter the Great.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of marches of mutiny.

Contributors:

Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics, University of Glasgow

Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and writer

Readings:

Gerard McDermott

Samuel James

Producer:

Joel Moors

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of mutinous marches.

The philosopher A C Grayling and Professor Michael Clarke, former Director of the Royal United Services Institute, are among the contributors exploring connections between contemporary drones and the 'pilotless aircraft' or 'robo-planes' of the 1940s.

From the technology of unmanned flight to the ethics of increasingly autonomous weaponry, Jonathan and his guests consider the dilemmas of the present through the prism of the past.

With:

Christy Campbell, author of Target London: Under Attack from the V-weapons during WWII

Professor A C Grayling of the New College of the Humanities, author of Among The Dead Cities: Is the Targeting of Civilians in War Ever Justified ?

Professor Michael Clarke, former Director of RUSI

Ulrike Franke of the University of Oxford

With readings by Anna Wilson Jones

Producer Julia Johnson.

Jonathan Freedland examines contemporary military drones and Nazi V1 and V2 weapons.

Recent leaks from inside the military questioned the way the war in Afghanistan is being run. Jonathan Freedland looks at the case of a 19th Century officer who challenged British strategy in India.

What does the military establishment do when confronted by a leak from the inside? Jonathan Freedland looks at the story of a 19th century intelligence officer, Sir Charles MacGregor, who, although a serving soldier, published his concerns about British troop levels in India and on the North West Frontier. Jonathan looks at the story of MacGregor, who feared that British intelligence was poor and that British troops would not be able to withstand an onslaught from the Russians. The programme also looks at the challenge the military establishment faces now when information is much more easily released into the public domain, and as the war in that region continues.

Producer: Joanne Cayford.

Jonathan Freedland looks at the history of leaks from the military establishment.

He examines the parallels between the murder of Liverpool youngster Rhys Jones in 2007 and another murder of a child by another child in Liverpool in 1883. Michael Burns was an innocent bystander, set upon by a gang of youths and left for dead in one of the city's 'no-go areas' for police. This 'shocking brutality among boys' created a new moral panic in 19th-Century England.

The parallels between the murder of Rhys Jones in 2007 and another Liverpool child in 1883

As the nation's finances drown in red ink, Niall Ferguson, Will Hutton and Stephanie Flanders join Jonathan to take the long view of national debt. Amid the splendour of Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, they compare the causes and consequences of rising debt and deficit levels from the battlefield of Waterloo to today's financial crisis.

The long view of national debt, from Waterloo to today's financial crisis.

He examines the parallels between the relationship between football and business today and the story of a Victorian club with expensive imported players which folded when its profits fell. The company that owned the New Brighton resort on The Wirral set up a football club, New Brighton Tower, to maintain profits during the winter months. The founders set about buying up quality players from other top clubs but were initially denied entry to the Football League and tickets to their home games at their massive stadium proved too expensive for the local population, with attendances barely scraping 1,000. With the club not making money as planned, and having failed to gain promotion to the first division of the League, the company disbanded it in 1901.

Jonathan takes local historian Tom Sault and footballing lecturer Rogan Taylor to the Wirral to tell the story of New Brighton Tower and to draw parallels with today's uneasy mix of the worlds of sport and business.

Jonathan Freedland tells the story of the short-lived Victorian club New Brighton Tower.

In the mid-19th century, the sick poor were treated in workhouse infirmaries. This care was never intended to be generous, but in the mid-1860s, reports emerged in London of appalling neglect and cruelty.

A medical officer, Joseph Rogers, and later a nurse, Matilda Beeton, blew the whistle on conditions at the Strand Union workhouse in Cleveland St - the building said to have inspired the opening of Dickens' 'Oliver Twist'. One factor was the pressure to save money.

Investigations were launched, first by the Lancet medical journal, led by journalist Ernest Hart, and then by officialdom.

These caused a scandal - and spurred swift and significant reform.

New stand-alone hospitals for paupers were built - such as Highgate Infirmary. Its light, airy wards, inspired by the ideas of Florence Nightingale, were a long way from the cramped squalor of inner-city workhouses.

21st-century NHS care is a long way from the workhouse too - but in the 2000s, complaints of appalling standards of care in parts of Stafford General Hospital also led to official investigations.

These have revealed severe neglect, partly a result of financial pressures. And such problems, it's feared, go well beyond one hospital. All this has raised demands for major reforms.

So, in the light of the Government's response to the Francis Report into why the Stafford scandal wasn't stopped earlier, the Long View examines poor hospital care, and how it can be changed.

With Dr Kim Price, Julie Bailey (Cure the NHS), Jo Webber (NHS Confederation) Dr Tony Delamothe (British Medical Journal), and actor Joanna Brookes.

Producer: Phil Tinline.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of the Francis Report into NHS failings at Stafford

Producer: Mohini Patel.

In the wake of the Turkish protests, Jonathan Freedland considers the Nika Riots of AD532.

He examines books with titles like 'Obesity', 'Slimming for the Million: The New Treatment of Obesity', 'Why Be Fat?' and 'Surplus Fat and How to Reduce It' on the shelves of the Wellcome Collection Library. He looks at how the problem was tackled in the 1930s and whether it can inform how we approach today's obesity epidemic, which some claim 'will bankrupt the NHS'.

Jonathan's guests include writer and historian Louise Foxcroft; Emeritus Professor of Nutrition Policy at London Metropolitan University, Jack Winkler; Robert Opie of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising; Margaret Peggie, Vice President of the Fitness League, and Liz Harper, Archivist at The Royal Albert Hall.

Producer Clare Walker.

Jonathan Freedland compares current debates about obesity with concerns in the 1930s.

The 'Round About', set up by newspaper editor and philanthropist WT Stead, encouraged subscribers to submit a profile and a photo and an album of users would be sent out monthly to other subscribers. Potential suitors could then correspond via the 'Conductor' at the Central Office of the publication.

The Lonely Hearts Classified Ad was born and took off in popularity at a time when the middle classes in London, living increasingly in suburbia, found it difficult to make romantic acquaintances. It was, however, not without controversy as allegations of moral corruption flew about when it was suspected that illicit liaisons were being sought through the adverts.

Producer Neil McCarthy.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of online dating through a social network from 1898

With historians Jacqui Turner and Gary Gerstle, political commentator Kate Andrews, Christiane Amanpour from CNN, Melanie Unwin, deputy curator of the Parliamentary Art Collection and Mari Takayanagi, archivist at Parliament. The reader is Kathy Clugston.

Jonathan Freedland focuses on Hillary Clinton and pioneering political women from history.

Two commercial figures in history also took on the roles of unofficial diplomats and international influencers - Henry Ford, a car maker like Elon Musk, and a man who used his pioneering industrial might for political ends; and Robert Clive, the C18th imperialist and privateer whose actions under the guise of the East India Company brought him influence locally and internationally on the back of the new opportunities of empire.

Historians:

Adam Smith, Professor of US Politics and Political History at University of Oxford

Chandrika Kaul, Professor of Modern History at University of St Andrews

Reader:

John Lightbody

Producer:

Mohini Patel

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of plutocrats playing politics.

Jonathan examines the policing of demonstrations and asks what lessons can be learned in our own time from the 1855 Hyde Park disturbances. The newly established police force was criticised in Parliament and the press for using excessive force to control the crowd, goading the public and coralling the protestors into a confined space.

Jonathan and guests compare that controversy with the criticisms being levelled at the police force today in light of the G20 protests.

Jonathan Freedland examines the policing of demonstrations.

In 1829, Peel performed a sudden volte face over rights for Catholics, sparking a by-election in Oxford. The hitherto anti-Catholic Sir Robert - nicknamed 'Orange Peel' for his staunch opposition - was roundly condemned for his u-turn. At the heart of this bitterly fought campaign was the question of when it's acceptable for statesmen to change position on crucial policy issues.

Jonathan is joined in Oxford by former Lib Dem MP Evan Harris, journalist Anne McElvoy and former Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth to the discuss the balance of pragmatism and principle in politics.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Image: May 1829: Irish politician and activist Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847, centre) arrives to take his seat in Parliament after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in April 1829. The act made Catholics eligible for a wide range of public offices including that of Member of Parliament. Looking on from the middle distance are British Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) and Home Secretary and leader of the House of Commons Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850).

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of policy reversals in politics.

As Donald Trump announces he's running for President a second time Jonathan takes the Long View of political leaders who made a comeback. The 7th century Byzantine Emperor Justinian II generated enormous opposition during his first reign from 685 to 695 with unfair tax rises, military defeats and ultimately ordering mass murder in Constantinople. He was overthrown, had his nose cut off by way of punishment and banished in exile to modern day Kherson, in Ukraine. Now known as 'Slit Nose' he declared he would become emperor again and slipped back into Constantinople with a military consort and retook power. He then embarked on an even more despotic and bloodthirsty reign meting out vengeance on his enemies past and present, until his own life was brought to a violent end, abandoned by his troops.

And the only US President to ever gain office in two non consecutive terms, Grover Cleveland. In the 1880's and 1890's, the Democrat won each time on tight margins. Although he was seen as a hard working, upstanding politician of probity, scandal surrounding extra-marital relations and I child out of wedlock dogged his presidential campaign. He declared 'Reform!' on the bloated Civil Service but when the vote went against him after his first term he vowed to his support base that he may have lost the battle, but not the war and he would be back. Four years later, he was. But the second term was even less successful than the first.

With Professor Adam Smith from Oxford University and Associate Professor Rebecca Darley from University of Leeds

Readings by David Hounslow, Chloe Sommer and Roger Ringrose

Producer Neil McCarthy

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of political leaders making a comeback.

In 1968, Richard Nixon adopted a 'law and order' strategy to win over the so-called 'silent majority' in the face of escalating unrest. Donald Trump has adopted the same language in 2020 following outrage provoked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The law and order approach worked for Nixon in 1968 - will it work for President Trump this November?

Readings are performed by Clarke Peters who stars in the latest Spike Lee film, Da 5 Bloods and who played detective Lester Freamon in the hit TV show The Wire.

Jonathan is also joined by Dr Peniel Joseph, who holds a joint professorship at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department at The University of Texas at Austin; Asma Khalid, political correspondent for NPR and co-host of The NPR Politics Podcast; and Corrin Rankin, founder of the Legacy Republican Alliance.

Producer: Laurence Grissell

Jonathan Freedland explores presidential elections fought amidst racial turmoil.

In the early 1900s Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was faced with a seemingly irreconcilable split in his party. Back then, Balfour's Conservatives were tearing themselves apart over Imperial Preference - a proposal for a free trade zone within the British Empire. Advocates of Imperial Preference saw it as vital to maintaining Britain's place in the world. Opponents saw it as a dangerous folly.

Jonathan Freedland looks at what lessons can be drawn from Balfour's experiences.

Producer: Laurence Grissell

What Molyneux did about it and how the Boxing authorities tried to quell the racial tensions is the story told by Historian Peter Radford, with contributions from Troy Townsend of the anti-racism movement Kick It Out and the former Manchester United and England player Paul Parker who has watched attitudes appear to change over his playing career only to see the ugliness return in the form of online abuse of players.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of racism in sports crowds.

Jonathan takes the Long View of the railways at a time of recession, asking what lessons can be learnt in our own time from the experience of the Great Western Railway in the 1860s.

A once-prestigious and highly-profitable enterprise, GWR had over-extended itself and the company faced bankruptcy. As debates rage over the future of the East Coast Main Line, Jonathan and guests compare the action taken to rescue the railways in the 19th century with the challenges faced today.

Jonathan Freedland examines the railways at a time of recession.

He is first joined by Professor Laura Beers to discuss the removal of David Lloyd George in October 1922. Lloyd George, a Liberal, had led a War Time Coalition consisting of majority Conservative MPs. A charismatic figure, Lloyd George had a reputation as an innovator and a doer, but his time as PM was also plagued by scandal. Unhappy with the PMs economics, his foreign policy and his reputation, Conservative MPs met at the Carlton Club to decide whether to abandon the coalition and oust Lloyd George. Some of the loudest criticisms came from rising star and future PM, Stanley Baldwin who described Lloyd George as a 'dynamic force'.

Fast forward 40 years to 1963 and the Party is once again seeing a change of leader. This time after Harold Macmillan decides to resign on the eve of the Tory Conference, citing ill health. The non-democratic 'soundings' procedure, run by the party elite, settles on Alec Douglas-Home to be leader, refusing to back any of the favourites. The choice causes controversy and will have a lasting impact on how future leaders of the party are selected.

Presented by Jonathan Freedland

Produced by Sam Peach

Readings by David Hounslow

Jonathan Freedland finds historical comparisons for the current Tory leadership contest.

Image: 4th March 1933: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) takes the oath of office as 32nd president of the USA. Chief Justice Charles E Hughes administers the oath as ex-President Herbert Hoover (far right with velvet collar) looks on. His son, James Roosevelt (1907-1991) is between his father and the ex-President.

Jonathan Freedland examines President Roosevelt's first 100 days in office.

In 1464 Edward pursued and secretly married Elizabeth Woodville against the counsel of his royal advisors who were negotiating a dynastic union for the dashing young king. When word of the wedding got out it was billed as a marriage for love - a dramatic break with royal tradition. And eyebrows were also raised at Elizabeth's social status - her father was a member of the gentry rather than the aristocracy.

Jonathan is joined by veteran royal reporter James Whitaker, writer and commentator Peter York and columnist Polly Toynbee to discuss how so-called 'commoners' have won the hearts of royalty.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

Image: Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, circa 1470.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of royal weddings.

The story begins in 12 King's Bench Walk in London's Inner Temple, where on 9th May 1927 MI5's head of anti-Soviet work met with Edward Langston a whistle-blower who revealed that a secret military document had been in the possession of the Soviets in the Head Quarters of the All Russian Co-Operative Society, located at 49 Moorgate. And the story ends in Victoria Station where the expelled Russians started their journey home, sent off by crowds of supporters which included MPs and trade unionists.

Joining Jonathan Freedland to take this Long View are:

Timothy Phillips: Historian, and author of 'The Secret Twenties: British Intelligence, The Russians And The Jazz Age

Edward Lucas: Times columnist, espionage expert and author of 'The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West', 'Deception: The Untold Story of East-West Espionage Today', and 'Cyberphobia: Identity, Trust, Security and the Internet

Oksana Antonenko: Visiting Fellow at Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics and former Programme Director for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

Sir Tony Brenton: Former British Ambassador to Russia (2004-08), including during the Litvinenko case

Tim McMullan: Actor who played Arthur Valentine, an MI5 operative in Foyles War

Producers: Ben Mitchell and Paul Kobrak.

Jonathan Freedland and guests take the Long View on the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

Based in New York, BSC was initially simply the MI6 regional station in North America, it's mission - to gather intelligence and to help get American aid in the form of munitions. But the greatest obstacle to getting American aid is American isolationism. America at this point is almost in a civil war of ideas between those who want to go to war; and those who do not - the isolationists. The maverick head of BSC, a Canadian named William Stephenson, soon realises they have to win the civil war of ideas before anything can happen. and takes matters into his own hands.

By the spring of 1941- after the effects of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain - Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Foreign Office, wary of using propaganda as they know the Americans are watching out for it, come to accept that without America, Britain would undoubtedly lose the war.

On the panel with Jonathan are historian Henry Hemming, the novelist William Boyd, Russian foreign policy expert Dr Alex Pravda at Oxford University; Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, associate fellow with the US Programme at Chatham House, and Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the former national security adviser to the Prime Minister.

Reader: Tobias Menzies.

Producer: Mohini Patel.

Jonathan Freedland compares attempts to interfere in elections.

Today the government and Gas extraction companies are taking stock after the publication of a report by the British Geological Survey of the potential of larger than expected Shale Gas reserves in the Bowland Basin - an area covering most of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

IN the early 19th century, with the help of new mining technology including steam powered machinery, it became increasingly clear that the Yorkshire coalfield stretched far further East than was first thought. Huge new seams were being discovered, particularly in the Barnsley area, as shafts were sunk in the area east of Wakefield, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Back then the new reserves created a series of challenges and risks for the mining organisations wealthy enough to take the risks. Subsidence and firedamp were a fact of mining life. But in the space of half a century the relatively limited Yorkshire field outstripped the rest of the UK's coalmining production and in the process created huge population centres in what had been sparsely populated farming country.

David Robottom, who represents potential Extraction companies and Damian Kahya who has been a critic of the so-called Fracking methods needed to extract Gas from Shale deposits, are joined by mining historian Dr Peter Claughton and Dr Nick Riley of the British Geological Survey to explore what the Victorians did with their energy discoveries and what action might be taken in a similar geographical area today as we struggle to sustain our mineral dependent economy.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland on shale gas, and the new Yorkshire coal finds of the 19th century.

Contributors:

Professor Tim Cornell, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester

Dr Luke Blaxill, Political historian at Oxford University

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

Jonathan Freedland sheds light on current events through stories from the past.

Jonathan Freedland compares Greek debt to the sovereign default of Edward III in 1340.

That's the story today after the Spot Fixing allegations facing three Pakistani cricketers surfaced in the News of the World Newspaper. But it was also a crisis that faced the hugely popular sport of bare knuckle prize fighting in 18th and 19th century Britain.

Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of sports' uneasy relationship with the gambling business. Back in the early days of fighting, and indeed cricket, gambling was the engine that drove sport. Prize fighters could expect no fee other than money gathered from the various bets made prior to their fights. While the spirit of noble combat prevailed all was well, but it wasn't long before fighters started responding directly to those making the bets or simply bending the rules to suit their own ends.

How the boxing promoters of the day dealt with the problem and how the Cricketing and sporting authorities in general are dealing with it today is the subject of this edition of the Long View.

Joining Jonathan are the historian and one time Olympic medallist Peter Radford, the former cricketer and now commentator and analyst Simon Huges, and the sports promoter, Barry Hearn.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland compares cricket's recent betting scandals with 18th century boxing.

As Ukraine prepares for what is anticipated will be a Russian Spring Offensive, Jonathan is joined by two historians. Dr Michael Jones looks back at the spring offensive of 1356 in the Hundred Years War, which would lead eventually to the Battle of Poitiers and the capture of the French King. Professor Heather Jones of University College London discusses the German offensive of 1918 at the end of the First World War.

In both cases the winter season forced the conflict to pause and allowed both sides to prepare for the Spring to come. The transition to spring is a time too for anxiety and tension.

The actors Roger Ringrose and Leah Marks provide illustrative readings.

The Producer is Tom Alban

Russia claimed it foiled an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Kremlin just last week, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied it, saying: `We don't attack Putin or Moscow.` The Russian authorities said the purported attack occurred overnight but there was no independent verification of it and no evidence has been presented to support it. Questions have arisen as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why videos of it also surfaced so late in the day. Yet accusations abound in the Kremlin as to which state was the perpetrator - Ukraine or the US. As the threat of Russian retaliation for what it termed a `terrorist` act hangs in the air, Jonathan is joined by two historians. Professor Rory Cormac, Professor of International Relations at University of Nottingham, looks back to the United States' Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) many and varied unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the 1960s. And Dr Elizabeth Norton, who specialises in the queens of England and the Tudor period, takes us back to 1586 and the Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. The facts of the plot are far from straightforward, and very much tied up with the extensive spy networks created by Sir Francis Walsingham, arguably the first state spymaster. In both cases espionage and politicking lie just below the surface.

The Readers are Leah Marks and Ewan Bailey

The Producer is Mohini Patel

Jonathan Freedland and guests make historical comparisons with current events.

Producer Neil McCarthy

Jonathan Freedland explores the past behind the present

So how have Labour leaders in opposition dealt with mass strike action in the past? Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View.

Contributors: Professor Steven Fielding of the University of Nottingham and political historian Anne Perkins

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

Studio Manager and mixing: Tim Heffer

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of trade union strikes and the Labour Party.

In the early 19th century, Hone used the communications technology of his day - pamphlets and cartoons - to keep one step ahead of the libel laws, whether over allegations of sexual impropriety among the royals or political corruption. As with today, the message proliferated far ahead of the law's ability to keep up with it. Pamphlets were printed and passed with such speed the authorities struggled to track the source or arrest the perpetrators.

Join Jonathan Freedland and guests for the Long View of public gossip, political freedom and the way communications technology challenges the law.

Image: Detail of 'Economy': Lord Brougham as John Bull, calling on the Prince Regent (later George IV) to retrench and curb his extravagance and to think of the people. Sitting next to the Regent is his mistress, Lady Hertford. Cartoon by George Cruikshank, London 1816.

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of super injunctions.

Historical readings are provided by Sunny Ormonde who plays Lilian Bellamy in the Archers - appropriately, Lilian was herself a tax exile in Guernsey for 10 years.

In 734, Bede wrote to his former pupil Egbert to complain that lay people were setting themselves up as monasteries in order to avoid paying taxes - creating the tax havens of their day. Bede's calls for reform came to nothing until a few centuries later when a new system of taxation was brought in order to pay off the Vikings. Even then, though, one Bishop managed to get round the rules - Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester.

Jonathan and guests debate the lessons for today. On the panel, Chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge MP, as well as Conservative MP Mark Field, campaigner Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation & Global Witness and Ray McCann, former HMRC Inspector, now a partner at Pinsent Masons law firm.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland on tax avoidance today and in the 8th century. With Margaret Hodge MP.

Jonathan is joined by Mary Riddell, columnist and political interviewer for the Daily Telegraph, Dr David Glover, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Southampton and the actor Henry Goodman.

The Aliens Act at Work cartoon courtesy (c) The Jewish Museum.

Jonathan Freedland examines immigration legislation in the light of the 1905 Aliens Act.

Producer Neil McCarthy.

Jonathan Freedland and his team goes on location to investigate the floods of 1953.

As the small Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett becomes the focus of the nation's commemoration of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Jonathan journeys to Towton in Yorkshire, scene of the bloodiest battle on British soil, and of the 'repatriation' of the fallen to consecrated ground by Richard III 23 years later. With Dr Carl Watkins, Andrew Boardman and Andrew Meek, Jonathan discovers the reasons behind this unprecedented act of commemoration, and traces the changing culture of such acts, through the wars of the 20th century to the present 'Highway for Heroes' in Wootton Bassett.

Examining the changing culture and politics behind the commemoration of the fallen.

With Britain officially entering a recession, Jonathan takes the long view of combating a credit crunch.

In 1694, the economy was in turmoil and in desperate need of new sources of revenue. The scheme that was chosen to bring in funds was the Bank of England, founded with the explicit intention to lend to the government at a reasonable rate and to keep interest rates in check. Jonathan looks at the early days of the Bank of England and asks what lessons we can learn from the financial crisis of the 1690s.

Image: The oldest known bank-note, issued by the Bank of England in 1699.

Jonathan Freedland explores the creation of the Bank of England in 1694.

Professor Rosalind Crone looks back at the curious case of Adolf Beck, whose wrongful conviction and fight for freedom ended in the Court of Criminal Appeal being founded. Dr Ella Dzelzainis shines a light on writer Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, whose novels were integral in bringing the plight of child factory workers to public attention and resulted in the Factory Acts being passed.

In both cases, it took notable storytelling in the press and popular literature of the day and the outcry of the British public for meaningful change to be made.

Producers: Olivia Sopel and Mugabi Turya

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View on storytelling, drama and public injustices

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

Jonathan Freedland and guests make historical comparisons with current events.

In the event it wasn't Henry but his second daughter Elizabeth who enshrined Protestantism in English law, with a number of particularly English twists, not least the maintaining of the Cathedral system with its Choirs and Choral tradition that she loved.

Very soon there were people complaining that she hadn't pushed far enough with her reforms... and it became clear that rather than break with Europe, the Reformers were keen on a united European religion in the form of Protestantism. Meanwhile, in the longer term the country was split so profoundly that it's echoes were still being felt when the Civil War broke out over a century later.

Guests included Pro Brexit MP Crispin Blunt, Pro Brexit Economist Ruth Lea, moderate remainer and briefly Brexit fixer Oliver Letwin MP and Prof David Runciman of Cambridge University.

The readings are given by Anton Lesser.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland examines the result of the EU referendum through the prism of the past.

Jonathan is joined by Dr Stephen Davies from the Institute of Economic Affairs, Dr Sheila Blackburn from the University of Liverpool, Margaret Watson, former editor of Dewsbury Reporter, Father Simon Cuff, a leader with Citizens UK and actor Barrie Rutter.

Jonathan Freedland examines today's 'living wage' in the light of a treatise from 1894.

All kinds of parallels can be drawn between the two Olympics. Sports champions turned Conservative peers brought both Games to London and both men had a distinct vision for what the Olympics meant for Britain and the world. Whereas now the global focus is on the world's fastest man, in 1908 the public's imagination was captured by the athlete with the most endurance, the marathon winner. From corporate advertising to performance enhancing drugs to the destiny of the Olympic site after the Games: all important issues now, but also in 1908.

Jonathan Freedland compares the 2012 Olympics with the London games of 1908.

Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the void left by once-dominant leaders - to the fall-out from the demise of Sir Robert Peel in the middle of the 19th century and the way Tory politics was upended by the exit of the man who had all but created the modern Conservative Party; and the power vacuum that was left by the sudden death of King James V of Scotland in 1542.

The Guests

Dr Luke Blaxill, political historian at Hertford College, Oxford

Dr Amy Blakeway, Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at St Andrews

Readers

Michael Bertenshaw

Kenny Blyth

Assistant Producer: Olivia Sopel

Production Coordinator: Shan Pillay

Producer: Mohini Patel

Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the vacuum left by once-dominant leaders.

As two of Britain's ruling political parties adjust, with difficulty, to life under new leadership, Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the vacuum left by dominant leaders.

Two of Britain's ruling political parties find themselves without the strong, charismatic leaders who won them a handsome election victory - and now they're struggling. At Westminster, it's the Tories who are emerging, with difficulty, from the shadow of Boris Johnson. At Holyrood, it's the Scottish National Party getting used to life without Nicola Sturgeon. Both were once riding high - yet this month, both the Conservatives and the SNP lost closely-watched byelection contests to Labour, those Tory defeats coming in Tamworth and mid-Bedfordshire just a few days ago. But the hole left after a once-dominant leader departs the stage is not new - not in Westminster and not in Edinburgh.

Actor Kerry Shale reads the words of Adams, Jefferson and the extreme press of both sides. Did Adams come to terms with his loss? And what damage did the election do to his party, the Federalists who included in their number the now famous star of musical theatre, Alexander Hamilton.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland presents stories from the past and compares them with current events.

But a sporting hero using his status to further ends with no connection to his profession is not as new as it sounds. In the late 1700s the prize fighter John Jackson won a reputation as an altruistic gentleman as well as a triumphant competitor in the Prize ring when he raised a huge sum of money to support Portuguese families made homeless by the invasion of the French during the Peninsular war. He went on to raise money for other causes until he became known not as John, but 'Gentleman' John Jackson.

What impact Jackson's, and indeed Rashford's, actions had, and might have, on their career, and what it tells us about both today's and the 18th century's attitudes to celebrity is the subject of this, the last in the current series of The Long View.

Jonathan Freedland is joined by the historian Peter Radford, the CEO of the Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham, Jennifer Williams of the Manchester Evening News and the sports commentator Conor McNamara.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland compares celebrity sports campaigners past and present.

But it was also the story in 1644, as the Puritan controlled government of the day, imposed stringent restrictions on festivities, not because of plague and pestilence this time, but because of a fear of moral degeneracy and damnation.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

The Long View of suppressing Christmas cheer

Jonathan is joined by the historian Professor Jay Tidmarsh who will tell the story of the Fire Courts and Fire Judges, set up to deal with the backlog as quickly and efficiently as possible. What they did, how the courts operated and just how much work they got through in less than a decade might provide some ideas for today's legal practitioners. To compare the history with the present Jonathan also hears from the Chair of the Bar Council Amanda Pinto and Sir Ernest Ryder a Lord Justice of Appeal, master of Pembroke College, Oxford and a law reformer.

That's the Long View of Legal Backlogs.

Producer: Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland compares today's COVID induced legal backlog with the 1666 Fire Courts.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland on targeted fake news and the murder myth of a boy in Medieval Norwich.

But opposition to the vaccine in Britain was fierce. By the late 19th Century, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in opposition to compulsory smallpox vaccinations.

In this episode of The Long View, Jonathan Freedland draws parallels between the smallpox anti-vaccination movement and todays' Covid-19 anti-vaxxers.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare

Jonathan Freedland explores the roots of the anti-vaccination movement.

Comparing the pressures on performers, writers and owners to today's theatre industry, Jonathan is joined by the actor Paapa Essiedu, the director Josie Rourke, the theatre owner Nica Burns and the Conservative MP and former actor Giles Watling.

They discover what saved Shakespeare's troupe in particular and discuss the latest billion and a half package to support the arts. Will it be enough to protect Theatre's up and down the land without giving them the lifeline of earning potential?

How will audiences respond when and if the Theatres open again, and how does that compare with the early 1600s.

That's the Long View of Theatre Closures.

Producer - Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland presents stories from the past and compares them with current events.

Pope Gregory appeared to be leading major reforms within the church including attitudes towards clerical celibacy. But while there may have been suggestions of a willingness to accept change and to be flexible in the face of changing pressures he was also capable of ruthless intolerance. He was accused of necromancy, torture of a former friend, assassination attempts and unjust excommunications. His conflict with King Henry iv, Holy Roman Emperor dominated the European stage in the 1070s and 1080s.

Conrad Leyser, associate Professor at Worcester College, Oxford helps Jonathan tell the story of a man billed as a reformer but whose reputation underwent a dramatic change during his time as head of the church in Rome.

Jonathan Freedland compares a Saudi prince with a medieval pope.

What is the balance to be struck between dry facts and flamboyant descriptions? Should British history imbue children with a sense of patriotism and chronology?

We hear about the 'fierce' English warriors chasing wild boar and buffalo before drinking 'huge bowls of a sort of beer' in Cassell's Historical Course for Schools in 1884, the wives of the 'wicked' Henry VIIIth in H. E. Marshall's Our Island Story in 1905 and examine C.R.L. Fletcher and Rudyard Kipling's A History of England in 1911 with its portrait of 'the dark continent of Africa'.

Jonathan's guests include writer and historian William Dalrymple, Dr Katharine Burn of Oxford University who was a teacher and leads the PGCE history course, historian Dr Peter Yeandle from Manchester University who is an expert on history textbooks at the turn of the last century and history textbook author and examiner Ben Walsh.

Producer: Clare Walker.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of writing history books for children.

For centuries watermen had a monopoly on Thames river crossings until advances in new technology allowed for bridges to be built across the river in the mid 18th Century. The men who ferried passengers on the Thames lost their jobs and livelihood.

Today, technology threatens the modern day taxi business with the rise of smartphone app Uber and the dawn of the driverless car.

As automation and artificial intelligence technologies improve, Jonathan Freedland and panellists explore what history can tell us about how workers might fare today.

Producer: Sarah Shebbeare.

Jonathan Freedland compares the plight of black cab drivers with that of 18thC watermen.

Joining Jonathan to look back at the 1920s and forward to the 2020s are the historian Dr Luke Blaxill of the University of Oxford, the economists George Magnus and Dr Linda Yueh and journalists Tim Stanley of The Telegraph and John Harris of The Guardian. The actor is Beattie Edmondson.

Producer Julia Johnson

Jonathan Freedland and guests ask if the Roaring Twenties are set for a comeback.

The fatal stabbing of Kelso Cochrane in West London in 1959 sparked outrage among the local community. Police denied that the attack was racist and their investigation failed to catch Kelso's killers - even though their identity was an open secret on the streets of Notting Hill. The case bears striking similarities to the murder of Stephen Lawrence three decades later.

Jonathan draws lessons from the Lawrence and Cochrane murders with a panel including former Home Secretary Jack Straw who set up the Macpherson Inquiry, Colin Prescod of the Institute of Race Relations, the Lawrences' former MP Sir Peter Bottomley and Superintendent Leroy Logan of the Black Police Officers' Association.

The story of the Cochrane case is told by Mark Olden, author of the book 'Murder in Notting Hill' and readings are provided by Josette Simon, the voice of Doreen Lawrence on Radio 4's 'Book of the Week'.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Image: London, 1959. The funeral of West Indian Kelso Cochrane became a mass demonstration against racism in Notting Hill.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of the Stephen Lawrence case.

Image: 5th June 1975: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, accompanied by his wife, Mary to the Polling station in Great Smith Street, where they cast their vote for the Referendum on the Common Market.

Jonathan Freedland recalls Harold Wilson's 1975 referendum on the UK's European membership

Although there's unease in the air and many caveats included in any reports on the subject it would seem that the British economy is now strengthening. And yet a new challenge is growing, the growing number of people in work who are also facing poverty.

That's the story today with a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showing that the number of working families in poverty has now outstripped those without employment.

And it was also the story in the late 18th century where farm labourers, particularly in the South of England, found that their wages were being outstripped by the rising price of bread. It was an inflation made worse by a series of bad harvests and the disruption to food imports from war torn France.

But when Magistrates met at Speenhamland near Newbury to try and resolve the issue they may well have been concerned not merely by the conditions of local workers but by the upheavals of the French Revolution. Something had to be done.

IN this programme Jonathan and his guests tell the story of the Speenhamland system which encouraged local employers to improve their wages but also obliged Parish councils to support labourers with bread to make up for their straightened circumstances.

The Speenhamland system spread very quickly but it was roundly criticised as a way of creating a dependency culture and trapping people in poverty and the situation was eventually resolved by the Poor Law amendment act of 1834 and the institution of the Workhouse.

How much can we learn from Speenhamland today when the language of poverty appears to be very similar with notions of the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' poor familiar in the news headlines.

That's the Long View of the Working Poor.

Producer: Tom Alban.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of the working poor.

The peoples of this island and their relationship with each other is hotly discussed and contested. Its relationship - constitutionally, economically and culturally - is up for debate, especially as issues of the Union after Brexit and the pandemic come to the fore. In this special edition of The Long View Jonathan Freedland and a team of historians and BBC correspondents look back at three separate moments in the history of the birth of the Union where its future - and its terms of engagement - were under similar scrutiny.

Producer: Mohini Patel

Jonathan Freedland explores the past behind the present.

Freedland, accompanied by an agricultural historian, rural affairs correspondent, farmer and an actor whose line about 'Accrington Stanley' immortalized the Milk Board, compares both crises. Then as now a global glut in supply led to plummeting prices and failing farms in Britain, smaller farms suffered and farmers were forced to diversify. But what lessons can the dairy industry learn from how the wheat crisis was handled in the 1930's? Answers solicited down on the farm.

Producers Neil McCarthy and Kate Lamble.

Jonathan Freedland compares the current milk crisis with the 1930s wheat crisis.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

Jonathan Freedland on Donald Trump's trade plans and Alexander Hamilton's financial plan.

Jonathan and his guests ask how governments can best help the unemployed and visit the site of a 1930s labour camp set up to 'recondition' unemployed men and prepare them for a return to work.

Image: A summer unemployment camp, 1930s

Jonathan and his guests ask how governments can best help the unemployed.

With Washington's political pundits and players, Jonathan explores the issues at the heart of the 2010 and 1982 elections, the changing fortunes of Democrats and Republicans and the significance of the mid-terms for Presidents Reagan and Obama.

Producer: Julia Johnson.

Jonathan Freedland is in Washington DC to compare the mid-term elections of 2010 and 1982.

Thousands of Vietnamese refugees came to the UK from 1979, were placed in camps and then dispersed around the country.

Jonathan and his guests ask how well Britain met the needs of those Vietnamese refugees, how they and their children adapted to life in the UK and what their experience tells us about today's refugee crisis.

Producer Julia Johnson.

Jonathan Freedland compares Britain's responses to refugees from Vietnam and Syria.

There were many men who felt that with women becoming increasingly emancipated, and more involved in walks of life traditionally the preserve of men only, they simply had to accept as inevitable, the fact that they were at greater risk.

Who was responsible for women's safety, and whether or not there were practical solutions like the re-design of railway carriages so that there was both access by way of a corridor and directly onto the platform, were discussed in newspapers and journals.

Jonathan and his team explore the debate back then and the anger now about what may or may not happen to insure what to most is a basic freedom - to walk the streets in safety.

Producer; Tom Alban

Jonathan Freedland takes the Long View of violence against women in public Spaces.

Rosebery was appointed to the premiership as a unity candidate, chosen to heal rifts in the Liberal Party caused by the issue of Home Rule. But Rosebery had powerful rivals in his cabinet - most notably the chancellor Sir William Harcourt. As the months passed, Rosebery's leadership was increasingly called into question with the government accused of being in office but not in power.

Also on the panel, former spokesperson for Theresa May, Joey Jones, Katy Balls of The Spectator and historian Dr Luke Blaxill. Actor Anton Lesser performs the historical readings.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Jonathan Freedland compares Theresa May's weakened premiership with Lord Rosebery in 1894.

Producer Mark Burman

Jonathan Freedland explores the past behind the present. How do things fall apart?

Jonathan Freedland explores the past behind the present. In the last of this long view of the future we ask when do civilizations & systems know that things cannot go on as they are. When do the rulers and the ruled sense the game is up? Historians Craig Clunas summon up the last days of the Ming Dynasty of the 17th Century, Maria Fusaro considers how the Venetian Republic registered its waning powers & end days in the 18th Century and Anthony Badger explores the existential crisis of America in 1933-would it survive as a democracy, could it be reformed & avoid collapse?

Producer Mark Burman

Jonathan Freedland explores the past behind the present. How do things fall apart?

At the Battle of Naseby in 1645, the King's enemies captured carriages containing his private papers. Brought to London for decoding and publication, the documents laid bare the King's secret negotiations with foreign armies, revelations that were immensely damaging to the Royalist cause. In the era of WikiLeaks, cyber attacks, phone-hacking and calls for ever-greater transparency, Jonathan and his guests compare seventeenth and twenty-first century attitudes towards state secrets and freedom of information.

Contributing to the programme are:

Jonathan Powell, former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair

John Kampfner, journalist and Chief Executive of Index on Censorship

Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London

Elizabeth Quintana, Head of Airpower and Technology Programme at the Royal United Services Institute

Tim McInnerny, actor

Producer: Julia Johnson.

Jonathan Freedland looks at attitudes towards state secrets and freedom of information.

The government's National Cyber Security Centre - a branch of GCHQ - are keen to address the shortage of women in their workforce. Jonathan travels to Bletchley Park to look at what lessons can be learned from the wartime codebreaking operation where by the end of the war 75% of the workforce were female.

Among Jonathan's guests is Charlotte Webb, who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and is author of the book Secret Postings.

Jonathan is also joined by Erica Munro, Exhibitions Manager at Bletchley Park; Jacqui Chard, Deputy Director for Defence & National Security at the National Cyber Security Centre; Elisabeth Braw of the Royal United Services Institute; and Jane Frankland, Cyber Security Consultant.

Producer: Laurence Grissell

Jonathan Freedland looks at women's roles in intelligence now and during WWII.