What was the day-to-day life of a queer civil servant in 20th-century Britain? Dominic Janes explores routine and religion in the diaries of George Lucas.
What can a dot in the Dorset landscape, marked by a simple chapel, tell us about the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their religious and political convictions? And how might this rare vernacular chapel be restored as a site of living history today?
What can the biography of William Mcllroy, a gay humanist from post-war Northern Ireland, tell us about the negotiation of non-conforming identities in the face of inflexible religious conservatism? Charlie Lynch investigates the…
In the tenth century, a powerful leader ruled over the medieval kingdom of Rus. Today, the modern nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors. Christian Raffensperger argues that the roots of…
The campaign for women’s ordination dominated discussions about the Church of England’s gender politics during the twentieth century. Grace Heaton examines the badges produced by campaigners and untangles some of the powerful emotions…
Walter Sickert's portrait of Charles Bradlaugh, atheist, republican, and birth control pioneer, weaves together disparate threads of late nineteenth century British radical history. Robert Forder explores.
As the festive season approaches and thoughts turn to gifts and treats, Edmund Wareham explains how gingerbread could be a Radical Object in medieval & early modern Germany.
How can racialised and Islamophobic terms in common currency in Sri Lanka today be traced back to British colonial rule in the late nineteenth century? Shamara Wettimuny explores the formation of racialised colonial identities and legacies…
In our "Apocalypse Then and Now" feature, Kat Hill explores the sixteenth century world of German Anabaptism and asks what it means to believe that you are living through the End of the World.
The oldest surviving book owned by English speakers was a book made in North Africa. Alison Hudson traces how these radical fragments reveal that immigrants and cultural exchange have always been fundamental to British economies, culture,…
Delving into Sri Lanka's colonial past, Shamara Wettimuny shows how the 'Easter attacks', or recent anti-Muslim violence has its roots in the ethno-nationalistic paradigm of the island.
As debate about Obeah - spiritual and healing practices - erupts in Jamaica, Diana Paton argues that laws against obeah have historically worked to uphold colonial power and to harass poor people.
How did a papal diktat on birth control trigger a "Catholic '68" that spread across Europe? Alana Harris investigates a radical moment of cathedral pray-ins and theological dissent aimed at ‘making all things new’.
In 1534, Martin Luther combined radical theology with revolutionary technology to publish the first vernacular translation of the Old and New Testament. It was a seminal moment in development of the Protestant Reformation, print culture,…
The burkini furore is another disappointing reminder that women’s bodies and appearances remain more relevant (and newsworthy) than women’s intellects and voices.
Julia McClure reviews Jerry Brotton's new book This Orient Isle, Elizabethan England and the Islamic World showing how connections between Elizabethan England and the Islamic world were inscribed in English cultures and fashions.
The current Canadian federal election campaign has given rise to heated debates over veiling and anti-Muslim attitudes. We asked a group of Canadian graduate students and their professors at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to…
