In a first for Who Do You Think You Are?, father-and-son comedy double-act Jack and Michael Whitehall join forces to investigate their family tree. They discover the tragedy that left Jack’s great grandfather (Michael’s grandfather) an orphan. And tracing their line back to Wales in the 1830s, they find out about a Tory ancestor's role in opposing the Chartist movement for wider voting rights.

Professor Hilary Marland features in the programme, which is now available on BBC iPlayer.

BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme this week examined the experiences of the Kenyan tea workers affected in the post-electoral violence in Kenya in January 2008. The workers are now trying to get compensation for murders and rapes from Unilever, the owner of the tea estate where the violence occurred. An interview with Professor David M Anderson features in the programme. The programme, entitled Bitter Brew is now available on the BBC Sounds website.

The Conversation has published an article by Dr Rosa Salzberg of the Warwick University History Department on the accommodation issues faced by Venice during the Renaissance. Please see the full article on The Conversation's website.

 
Professor J E Smyth (author of "Nobody's Girl Friday”; Professor of History at Warwick University), Karina Longworth (author of "Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood"; creator of the "You Must Remember This" podcast), and Victoria Riskin (author of "Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir"; former president, Writers Guild of America, West), were recently interviewed by KQED News:

A Retroactive #MeToo from Hollywood's Golden Age

In 2017, the #MeToo Movement began exposing Hollywood’s culture of sexual violence, which then broadened into a global rallying cry. But sexual coercion and abuse has long had a place in Hollywood as three recently-released books attest. The books examine the working conditions of women during Hollywood's Golden Age and the abuses of casting couch predators like Howard Hughes and Harry Cohn. We'll talk with the authors about the vast contributions - and challenges - for women in the studio era.

Please see the KQED News website for the full interview podcast.

See the new video of staff and students describing the Warwick in Venice History Programme, one of the exciting opportunities available to single-honours history students at Warwick.

Ruby Tandoh is an author and journalist who’s written for the Observer, Vice and Elle. She’s currently a columnist for the Guardian’s Feast supplement and was a finalist on the 2013 Great British Bake Off. She has published two cookery books, Crumb and Flavour.

Ruby will be at the Talisman Theatre, Kenilworth, at 8pm on the 20th September 2018 (details available online) to talk about her latest book, Eat Up! – a ‘joyous manifesto for flavour and sanity’, which explores everything from gluttons and gourmets in the movies, to the symbolism of food and sex.  which was published in February 2018 and was a Sunday Times best-seller.

Ruby will be speaking in conversation with acclaimed food historian Professor Rebecca Earle of the Warwick University History Department.

Watch an interview with Professor David Anderson discussing the return of artefacts looted in imperial wars to their countries of origin, published on YouTube.
 

 
Professor Peter Marshall of the Warwick University History Department has been interviewed by Kurt Manwaring reagrding his new publication, Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation. The full interview is available on the From The Desk website and details of all the History Department's academic publications are available on the History Department website.

Kurt Manwaring is a freelance writer and contributor to many news sites, and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Utah.