Making History Matter: A Live Debate with Joshua Levine and Oswin

Making History Matter: A Live Debate with Joshua Levine and Oswin

Author: trappedhistory August 12, 2025 Duration: 43:57

It's time for a history reboot. In this Trapped History Special, Oswin and historian Joshua Levine discuss truth, myth and storytelling in front of an invited audience at an event hosted by Saboteur, a London-based brand agency.

In a wide-ranging conversation which covers everything from Trump and Putin to Downton and Dunkirk, we grapple with the fundamentals of what we mean when we talk about history, hidden history, forgotten history and unsung heroes. Josh gives us some fascinating insights into how history is turned into entertainment from his time as a historical consultant on blockbuster movies, while Oswin gives you his best (or actually his worst) Churchill impression!

With extraordinary and sometimes shocking tales about the SAS, 911 and America's longstanding desire for Canada, this is a great summertime listen which will set you up nicely for the rest of the season.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Head over to www.trappedhistory.com to sign up to the award-winning podcast, get our newsletter, bonus episodes and much, much more.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Trapped History digs into the corners of the past that standard narratives often overlook, guided by James Baldwin's idea that people and history are mutually confined. This podcast is a deliberate effort to loosen that grip, one story at a time. You'll hear detailed accounts of individuals and events sidelined by traditional textbooks, from strategic minds in forgotten battles to cultural pioneers whose influence was deliberately minimized. Each episode reconstructs a specific moment or life, focusing on the nuanced realities of women's history, Black history, military history, and cultural history. The aim is to provide a more complete and human picture, moving beyond dates and dominant names to the textures of lived experience. By engaging with these overlooked chapters, the podcast invites a deeper understanding of how our present is shaped. It’s for anyone who suspects there's more to the story, offering a thoughtful and researched alternative to the history many of us were first taught. Listening feels like a conversation with a knowledgeable friend, one committed to unearthing truths that resonate with our contemporary world. The result is an educational and compelling narrative that challenges simple takeaways, encouraging listeners to question what they think they know about the forces that have built and bound our societies.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Trapped History
Podcast Episodes
Hall of Fame: The Tenacious Traveller [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:03
At last, Trapped History's inaugural Hall of Fame nomination is here: Rosemary Brown's nominee from our very first episode.You may remember that Rosemary joined us to find out all about the marvellous Nellie Bly, adventu…
The Road to Vinh Linh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:10
Picture a woman of the French Resistance, printing underground papers in her cellar, making bombs at her kitchen table, cycling across her country with codes hidden in her knitting. And then spin the globe 6,000 miles an…
Hall of Fame: A Touch of Genius [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:16
In today's Hall of Fame, Fiona Keating nominates a queer, Jewish poet and novelist who slipped through the cracks nearly 140 years ago. But late last year, Cambridge University proudly announced that they had acquired th…
Smoke and Silk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:17
As we head into spring, Trapped History takes a brisk wintery walk through the streets of London’s Docklands to seek out the Limehouse Chinatown of the 1880s.Jack the Ripper is striking fear into the heart of the East En…
Hall of Fame: Beer, Bailiffs and Balls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:20
Here's a great Hall of Fame nominee from Christina Wade – and it's another oldie. In 1275, Gillian Pykard told the sheriff's bailiffs in Exeter precisely what they could do with their rules. She was a brewer and knew wha…
Kiss and Tell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:46
With a name and a story Dickens would have killed for, Peg Plunkett owned Dublin in the 1780s. Surviving a horrific childhood, she escaped to the big city and swiped right and left to her heart’s content until she blew e…
Hall of Fame: Ireland's Pirate Queen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:09
Sathnam Sanghera blows the doors off the Hall of Fame today alongside his nominee, the Pirate Queen of Ireland, Grainne – or Grace – O'Malley.Born in County Mayo when Henry VIII was on the throne of England, Grainne woul…
Hall of Fame: Britain's First Black Sports Star [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:27
After demolishing and rebuilding Halls of Fame through the ages, our guest Habib Hajallie has chosen his own nominee for the Trapped History Hall of Fame: the great Bill Richmond, an African-American born into slavery wh…
Halls of Fame: Art and Celebrity from Ludwig I to Donald Trump [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:02
We’re proud of our own Hall of Fame here at Trapped History, but what are they and where did the idea come from?As we celebrate our three-year anniversary, join Oswin, Carla and MK for a very special episode in the compa…