Britain's Slave Traders

8 Oct 2026 · 53 min · Episode 572

Episode Britain's Slave Traders

0:00 53:11

How did a risky 16th-century venture evolve into a national enterprise that fuelled the rise of the British Empire? How did a vast network of royalty, politicians, cultural figures, and ordinary citizens finance human exploitation to expand British wealth and naval power?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor William Pettigrew to trace the nation's deep entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade and explore why its legacy was systematically obscured.

How Protestants Justified Slavery

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British Barbary Slaves

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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