Podcasts · History · Education

Human Resources

Broccoli Productions

37 episodes · in order

Exploring the true story of British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and how it touches every part of the nation. Hosted by Moya Lothian-McLean, a journalist and descendent of both Black African Slaves and White slave owners or overseers.

Episodes

  1. Human Resources Trailer

    · 2:13 · S1 E1 · Trailer

    A new series exploring Britain's modern day links to the transatlantic slave trade, hosted by Moya Lothian-McLean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. Where there's a Will, there's a Way

    · 30 min · S1 E1

    We begin our journey in Herefordshire. Kington, specifically, to discover the story behind Lady Hawkins' School and its links to Sir John Hawkins, Britain's first slave trader. Featuring Dr. Mirander Kaufmann…

  3. The Tree of Life

    · 33 min · S1 E2

    In Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth near Grantham, Lincolnshire is a house, Woolsthorpe Manor and within the grounds of this house, an apple tree. The very tree a young Sir Isaac Newton sat under which started his…

  4. Lords of the Manor

    · 31 min · S1 E3

    How is Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire, the Metropolitan Police, and the modern Conservative party connected? Sir Robert Peel Jr, that's how, and in this episode, we explore the links between powerful men,…

  5. A Sour Taste

    · 30 min · S1 E4

    For some, chocolate can provide a pure moment of escapism, for others, it's a luxurious treat. But how is one of Britain's best-known brands; 'Cadbury's, connected to Britain's slaving past, and is chocolate really so…

  6. Woolly Morals part 1

    · 28 min · S1 E5

    The picturesque County of Powys in Wales, had an abstruse but vital role in the Slave trade. We uncover how everyday families got swept up in the business and production of Welsh Cloth, a cloth used to not only clothe…

  7. City with a Slaving Past

    · 24 min · S1 E6

    Liverpool is a city that appears to be leading the way with how it is reconciling its history. In this episode, we look at what we can learn from Liverpool and where work still needs to be done. Featuring Dr. Richard…

  8. The Pubs Are Open!

    · 25 min · S1 E7

    Can the Greene King pub chain and its founder Benjamin Greene help us understand the rise of Britain's pub culture and its links with the Transatlantic Slave Trade? Featuring author Vaughn Scribner…

  9. Woolly Morals part 2

    · 32 min · S1 E8

    Following on from part 1, we now look at Welsh Cloth's journey into the Caribbean and learn more about the enslaved people who wore it. Featuring fabric specialist Jenny Hodgeman and Dr. Steeve O. Buckman. Full…

  10. Dirty Money

    · 30 min · S1 E9

    In the final episode of the season, we focus in on the UK's financial centre, the Bank of England, and how one of the bank's governers was tied up with the Slave trade. Featuring Professor Trevor Barnard Full Episode…

  11. Introducing: We Were Always Here

    · 1:14

    Have you been missing Human Resources? Us too! Our new series will be coming soon but if you're looking for a podcast in the meantime, we think you'll really love We Were Always Here. Our new weekly documentary series…

  12. Royally Flush part 1

    · 29 min · S2 E1

    The British monarchy is one of the oldest and most resilient in the world. In this episode, we explore their links with the slave trade and just how involved they were. Featuring author and associate professor of…

  13. Royally Flush part 2

    · 30 min · S2 E2

    Did the Slave rebellions play a part in the British Monarchy's stance on abolition? Featuring author and associate professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Brooke Newman. The full episode transcript…

  14. Right of Way

    · 33 min · S2 E3

    The image of ‘England’s green and pleasant land’ is one that has endured for centuries, but is this land really for everyone? Featuring PHD Student Annabelle Gilmore and Maxwell Ayamber PHD Student and founder and…

  15. All Aboard

    · 33 min · S2 E4

    When Britain’s railways are placed within the context of the empire they helped to maintain, they are framed as one of the only ‘good’ legacies of imperialism. In this episode, we focus on the original Great Western…

  16. In The Middle

    · 34 min · S2 E5

    The journey of the Middle Passage is one of the most evocative images of slavery, taught in schools as an example of brutality. It was the sea voyage of no return. In this episode, we discover the realities of this…

  17. Origin Stories part 1

    · 33 min · S2 E6

    Before the 400-odd years of the triangular trade, the plantations, the whips, the Sunday markets, the racial science. What were the first stirrings of an industry that we now understand as the pinnacle of inhumanity,…

  18. Origin Stories part 2

    · 32 min · S2 E7

    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…

  19. Taking the High Ground

    · 33 min · S2 E8

    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…

  20. Bairns

    · 34 min · S2 E9

    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…

  21. Winners and Losers

    · 33 min · S2 E10

    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…

  22. Inventing Race

    · 37 min · S3 E1

    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…

  23. Hippocrits

    · 31 min · S3 E2

    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…

  24. The Dis-carded

    · 34 min · S3 E3

    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…

  25. GIRLBOSSES

    · 41 min · S3 E4

    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…

  26. In Absentia

    · 25 min · S3 E5

    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…

  27. Everyday People

    · 31 min · S3 E6

    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…

  28. In The Ring

    · 34 min · S3 E7

    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…

  29. Introducing Physical Capital: Swimming

    · 18 min · S3 E7 · Bonus

    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…

  30. The Colony's Colony

    · 38 min · S3 E8

    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…

  31. A Tale of Two Pews

    · 35 min · S3 E9

    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…

  32. Abolition, Now part 1

    · 28 min · S3 E10

    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…

  33. Abolition, Now part 2

    · 23 min · S3 E11

    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…

  34. Think of the Children

    · 39 min · S3 E12

    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…

  35. A Free Town

    · 33 min · S3 E13

    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…

  36. In Conversation with Kris Manjapra

    · 53 min · S3 E14 · Bonus

    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…

  37. Our New Book is Out!

    · 1:21 · S3 E15 · Bonus

    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…

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