What is the often overlooked role that the EU played in Northern Ireland peacebuilding? What were the challenges of the EU getting buy-in from the Northern Irish community and how were these tackled? What lessons can be learnt from this for other peacebuilding initiatives?For this episode I was very grateful to be joined by Dr Giada Lagana, lecturer in politics at Cardiff university, to discuss all the above and more! Sources highlighted in the episode for those interested to learn more:https://www.iaces.iehttps://peaceplatform.seupb.eu/en/https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/wales-governance-centre/publications

Why are by-elections called; what myths and misconceptions surround them; and how much do they shed light on the national political picture?I was grateful to be joined by Marc Collinson for this episode - lecturer in contemporary politics and history at Bangor University - to tackle these questions and many more.Hope you enjoy the discussion! Recommendations:Chris (Lord) Rennard, Winning Here: My Campaigning Life: Memoirs Volume 1 (2018).David Butler, 'By-Elections and their Interpretation', Chris Cook and John Ramsden (eds), By-Elections in British Politics (1973): 1-13.Peter Sloman, '"Take Power - Vote Liberal": Jeremy Thorpe, the 1974 Liberal revival, and the politics of 1970s Britain', English Historical Review, 137 (2022): 1462–1492.T.G. Otte and Paul Readman (eds), By-elections in British Politics, 1832-1914 (2013).

I'm very grateful to Ieuan Franklin - lecturer in History and Politics at Bournemouth University - for joining me on this one. In this episode, we talk about the Rock Against Racism movement of the late 1970s. What was the National Front and why did its followers join it?How did Rock Against Racism get started and challenge the National Front's rhetoric of intolerance and exclusion? And finally, what have been the enduring legacies of the movement?We discuss all this and more (whilst also dropping in some late 70s punk and reggae music recommendations to add to your playlist!)Suggestions for further watching and reading:White Riot: https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-white-riot-2019-onlineHuddle R. & Saunders, R. (2021). Reminiscences of RAR: Rock Against Racism (1976-1982), BookmarksRachel, D. (2016). Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge, Publisher.Renton, D. (2018). Never Again: Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League 1976-1982 (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315145037

I'm delighted to be joined on this one by Ollie Webb-Carter, host of The Aspects of History Podcast.  In this crossover episode, we take on the hefty topic of The Falklands War. How did Britain get drawn into a war on a small set of islands 8000 miles away? How did the conflict play domestically in Britain - both in the House of Commons, the media, and the wider public? We chat about all this and much more, touching on the major milestones of the war whilst stitching our own reflections into the narrative as we go. Link to Ollie's podcast: https://aspectsofhistory.com/podcasts/ 

Why did the Labour Party lose the 1983 election and what changes did the party make to put itself back on the path to recovery?We're joined by another real expert on the period for this episode - associate professor Danny Rye from Liverpool Hope University - to tackle these questions and more! Reading SuggestionsDrucker, H.M., (1979) Doctrine and ethos in the Labour Party (Vol. 12). Routledge.Hayter, D., 2005. Fightback!: Labour's Traditional Right in the 1970s and 1980s. Manchester University Press.Panitch, L. and Leys, C., 2001. The end of parliamentary socialism: from new left to new labour. Verso.Pugh, M., 2010. Speak for Britain!: A new history of the labour party. Random House.Russell, M., 2005. Building New Labour: The politics of party organisation. Springer.Shaw, E., 2002. The Labour party since 1979: Crisis and transformation. Routledge.