1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 It was winning a Radio 1 competition age 15 to fly to LA that first piqued Sathnam Sanghera’s taste for travel and indeed journalism. His latest book EmpireLand: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past explores how the British Empire, genocidal as it often was, still shapes who we are. As well as the Empire, racism, Enoch Powell, Cambridge, 80s popular culture, the history of Brits Abroad and Boris Johnson needing therapy we chart Sathnam’s own journey from his Sikh community in Wolverhampton to journalist for The Times and more. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; On this episode we cover: &amp;nbsp; Selective amnesia and nostalgia Conquering the world We see ourselves as the people who won WW2 But actually Empire was often genocidal white supremacy 500 years of differing history More useful to talk about the modern legacies of empire Much we haven’t faced up to The book being accidentally timely with Black Lives Matter Statues not mattering Multi-culturism being much more important Our racism being explained by empire Our dysfunctional politics being explained by empire British travelling almost more than any other nation Statue toppling getting middle England angry How statue toppling can weaponise the right wing Massacres, genocide and the creation of modern racism Lisa being a product of British Colonialism indentured labour Where British moved millions of Indian people around the world British changing stereotypes of what races were good and bad at The Sikhs being made to be a martial race His parents arriving in Wolverhampton the same year as Enoch Powell’s rivers of blood speech Sikhs having a good record of integration Integration and multicultural being an inversion of racial hierarchy’ Lisa recording podcasts with Lord Mountbatten’s daughter Lady Pamela Hicks Empire not being that long ago Textbooks with offensive racial generalisations being used into the 1980s Lisa’s Indian-Fijian father marrying her white mother in the 1960s Lisa growing up with no Indian culture whatsoever Growing up in a Sikh community in Wolverhampton Most of his classmates being brown or black Being ‘Enoch Powell’s nightmare’ Hiding in a Sikh temple when far right yobs attacking houses Wolves fans wearing KKK hoods A scholarship to a private school changing his life The school fees being more than his parents earned in a year The inspirational headteacher who believed in him Going from someone who barely talked in class to being head boy Education distancing him from his family Cutting off his top knot being quite a statement His wonderful education also being a form of colonisation Indian Princes being sent to British schools His father and sister having schizophrenia Briefly deleted his heritage But appreciating his amazing childhood surrounded by cousins (52!) Factory work as a child for up to 90 hours a week Being poor in money but truly rich in love Poverty meaning you need other people more You can sense when someone hasn’t been loved as a child And quite often they end up in politics Boris Johnson needing years of therapy Boris Johnson saying crazy things about British Empire; ‘Water melon smiles’ and an obsession with being world-beating Jacob Rees-Mogg also being obsessed with Empire Not really understanding the people at Cambridge Cambridge being ‘socially confusing’ Rich people pretending to be poor Not feeling sentimental about being working class Becoming middle class as quickly as he could Regretting not be more sociable at Cambridge Is Sathnam now part of the establishment working for The Times…? Doing anti-networking journalism Asking people rude and difficult questions Feeling it’s a duty to be honest to the reader Strategy is to not say much – people struggle to handle silence The connection between Empire and travel The British love of travel going back directly to Empire We have the largest number of emigrants overseas How drunk ‘Brits Abroad’ are actually following a long tradition of Empire The British Empire being famously drunk Eating a full English breakfast in the middle of Rome Our tradition of dressing quite badly abroad Enoch Powell in a three piece suit in the heat of India Reverse missionaries – where we spread Christianity and now foreign nations are more religious British Expats being obsessed with a British education The Grand Tour, sons of wealthy families travelling for culture, art and freedom Going to Empire having been financially lucrative The real risk of death and disease in Empire Spending a year in the USA for the Financial Times Hating travelling in his 20s and being very homesick Lockdown cancelling world trips to promote his book How often the best part of travelling is coming back home Feeling he knows his home town better now he’s moved out Loving the diversity and excitement in London Winning a Radio 1 competition to see Michael Jackson Age 15, having barely left Wolverhampton he ended up in LA Flying to LA with Jackie Brambles Being pictured with Michael Jackson at the Superbowl &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; The Big Travel Podcast http://www.thebigtravelpodcast.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/17786423/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/17786423