Historians' Watch

Being an Audience to Arrest

Lucy Clarke 16 July 202617 July 2026

Lucy Clarke examines the arrest in early modern England, reconstructing how bystanders could legitimise or challenge the power of the state.

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The Return of the ‘Black Peril’

Joseph Abraham 12 February 20269 February 2026

Joseph Abraham explores how colonial anxieties about Black African men shape debates on migration and security to this day.

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The Unclaimed Dead

Nina Janz 9 December 20254 June 2026

From the Spanish Civil War to the invasion of Ukraine, Nina Janz writes about foreign fighters and the struggle over memory.

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The Surprising Origins of the BBC’s ‘Left-Wing Bias’

David Nowell Smith 8 December 20258 December 2025

David Nowell Smith explores how commercial rivalries inspired the first accusations of institutional bias at the BBC.

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No Going Back

Mary Rizzo 14 October 202510 October 2025

Mary Rizzo examines how four LA historical and cultural institutions mobilize history and practice solidarity in the fight against immigration raids and deportations.

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Imagining Trans Futures

Sam Rutherford 23 September 20253 October 2025

Sam Rutherford reflects on how trans historians can work towards building power in the trans community.

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All of this for all of you

Az Crawford 14 August 202514 August 2025

Az Crawford contemplates the historical narratives and aesthetic politics behind the new V&A East Storehouse.

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Labour, Immigration and the Far Right

Kieran Connell 22 May 202521 May 2025

Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” speech follows a well-trodden path for Labour leaders. Kieran Connell examines how far-right rhetoric on immigration has been mainstreamed in British politics.

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Queer Activists and the Struggle for AIDS Education

Lucy Kelly 6 March 202519 March 2025

Donald Trump's January 20th Executive Order is a harmful attack on queer and transgender healthcare education, but it will be resisted. Lucy Kelly turns to the legacy of queer activists and allies in the struggle for AIDS education in the…

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Boycotting the Olympics

Malcolm MacLean 5 September 20245 September 2024

How does a sports boycott work? Malcolm MacLean reflects on the place of the sports boycott in Olympic history.

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Britain’s ‘Bespoke’ Borders

Michaela Benson 29 August 202428 August 2024

Michaela Benson unpacks the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa, and how it has contributed to redrawing humanitarian protection and migration policy after Brexit.

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‘We Are Not Far Right, Just Right’

Nigel Copsey 20 August 202426 September 2024

Nigel Copsey reflects on the most recent race riots in Britain, and the changing shape of the far-right from the 1970s until now.

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Where They Hurt The Most

Susie Banks 13 August 202415 August 2024

In a visual culture of televised mass violence, what is the role of images in the making of mass shootings and notorious figures in the USA?

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Is There a Radical History of Eurovision?

Catherine Baker 10 May 20243 June 2024

With Eurovision 2024 facing renewed calls for boycott, Catherine Baker reflects on the 'radical' history of the song contest - and the alternatives that might shape its future.

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The Ancient History of the WAG

Grace Whorrall-Campbell 20 September 202320 September 2023

Footballers' Wives and Girlfriends exploded into British pop culture at the turn of the millennium, but what does the WAG tell us about feminism, football and pre-credit crunch Britain? Grace Whorrall-Campbell explores.

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75th Anniversary of the NHS

Agnes Arnold-Forster 5 July 20233 July 2023

The National Health Service’s 75th anniversary offers an opportunity to radically rethink the welfare state. Agnes Arnold-Forster explores.

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Land Acknowledgement of Crimea

Christian Raffensperger 27 June 202318 December 2023

Crimea is at the centre of the current Russo-Ukrainian war, but with its two-thousand-year history, ownership is complicated. Christian Raffensperger explores.

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Policing the Margins

Adrija Dey & Greg Sproston 20 April 202320 April 2023

As repressive legislation to restrict protest is passed in India and Britain, how can we understand its historical roots and how can this inform activism today?

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Mask Ambivalence in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Caitjan Gainty & Jesse Olszynko-Gryn 30 March 202329 March 2023

To mask, or not to mask, that is the question. Jesse Olszynko-Gryn and Caitjan Gainty explore the instructive history of an embattled technology.

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The ‘Criminal’ People Smuggler and the Illegalisation of Refugee Flight

Ruth Balint & Julie Kalman 28 March 20233 April 2023

The UK Illegal Migration Bill is inhumane and ineffectual. Australia knows.

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‘Not proven’ and building a better Britain

Valerie Wallace & Tommy Boyd 5 December 202221 January 2023

As the Scottish Parliament considers the ‘not proven’ verdict’s future, Valerie Wallace and Tommy Boyd look back at the nineteenth-century debate on the verdict in colonial New Zealand.

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On Hearing and Not Hearing Air-Raid Sirens

Olena Styazhkina 14 September 202229 October 2022

What happens to historians and their research in a time of war? Historian Olena Styazhkina reports from Kyiv.

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Abortion Before Roe

Rosa Campbell 30 June 20224 January 2023

How did US women have abortions when it was illegal? Rosa Campbell explores an archive of US women's testimonies of abortions across borders, in Japan, Puerto Rico and Mexico, with resonances for today.

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A War on History? Patriotism and Propaganda in Contemporary Russia

Hubertus Jahn 29 April 202219 January 2023

How can we understand the true forces behind Russia’s expansionist aspirations today? Hubertus Jahn traces the long ideological roots of Putin's propaganda.

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Ukraine: Histories and Boundaries of a Refugee Crisis

Jo Laycock 9 March 202229 October 2022

As its people flee Ukraine following Russia's invasion, Jo Laycock offers a historical framework through which to understand displacements from and in Ukraine. Can exploring longer trajectories of displacement help refugees make sense of…

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It Doesn’t Have to Be the End for US Abortion Rights

Lauren MacIvor-Thompson & Kelly O’Donnell 3 February 20224 January 2023

In the US, abortion rights are under threat. But, as Kelly O'Donnell and Lauren MacIvor Thompson explore, if Roe is lost, we must go back to the beginning, turning to history and what it can reveal about potential paths forward.

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Working Class Heroes?

Laura Schwartz 24 November 202129 October 2022

Why, since Brexit, have working class people in Britain come to be thought of as not just white but also male? Laura Schwartz suggests to understand this, we must look at history.

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Afghan Civil Wars and the Location of a Nation

Elisabeth Leake 19 August 202129 October 2022

The stories of Afghans themselves are frequently overlooked in reporting on the country, reflecting a long history of Western engagement. Elisabeth Leake explores the past and future of Afghan nationhood and citizenship, forged by…

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The past and future of live animal exports

James Bowen 19 May 202129 October 2022

As the government considers banning live animal exports, James Bowen unpicks the contentious history behind this practice. How have activists, farmers, and government policy converged on this economic and ethical issue since the…

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Black & Asian soldiers and the ‘White Man’s War’

John Siblon 26 April 202113 January 2023

Following the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's apology for the non-commemoration of Black and Asian soldiers in the First World War, John Siblon explores how and why their memory was deliberately hidden by Britain.

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Historians' Watch

What

Where

When

Series

Being an Audience to Arrest

The Return of the ‘Black Peril’

The Unclaimed Dead

The Surprising Origins of the BBC’s ‘Left-Wing Bias’

No Going Back

Imagining Trans Futures

All of this for all of you

Labour, Immigration and the Far Right

Queer Activists and the Struggle for AIDS Education

Boycotting the Olympics

Britain’s ‘Bespoke’ Borders

‘We Are Not Far Right, Just Right’

Where They Hurt The Most

Is There a Radical History of Eurovision?

The Ancient History of the WAG

75th Anniversary of the NHS

Land Acknowledgement of Crimea

Policing the Margins

Mask Ambivalence in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

The ‘Criminal’ People Smuggler and the Illegalisation of Refugee Flight

‘Not proven’ and building a better Britain

On Hearing and Not Hearing Air-Raid Sirens

Abortion Before Roe

A War on History? Patriotism and Propaganda in Contemporary Russia

Ukraine: Histories and Boundaries of a Refugee Crisis

It Doesn’t Have to Be the End for US Abortion Rights

Working Class Heroes?

Afghan Civil Wars and the Location of a Nation

The past and future of live animal exports

Black & Asian soldiers and the ‘White Man’s War’