# Al Murray and James Holland talk the ending of the war in 1945 and the afterlife of The Beatles

An episode of [Word In Your Ear](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1567029088), 2 May 2025, 43 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/e/6814f8f26ac0e5213b465819/media.mp3

In which comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland talk about their new book Victory ’45 and our twin national obsessions, the Second World War and The Beatles. Includes: ….how being emotionally shut down enabled Montgomery to collect the surrender at Luneburg Heath ….how a profound sense of duty helped Harry Truman make the most dreadful decisions anyone has ever faced …how German soldiers could keep on invoicing right until the end …what all this has to tell us about our present predicament …why thousands of blokes in camo (and a surprising amount of women) attend their We Have Ways Fest every summer: https://wehavewaysfest.co.uk/ ….what it is that continues to fascinate us about World War II. ….how its story is being told in new ways …how they both came to The Beatles Buy Victory '45 here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victory-45-history-bestselling-historians/dp/0857507958 Help us to keep the conversation going by joining our Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.