The National Archives Podcast Series

Researcher Tommy Norton introduces some of the 30 documents featured in the BBC 2 ten-part television series, Portillo's State Secrets. He also talks about the background to the series. Originally a journalist on local newspapers and magazines, Tommy spent four years in The National Archives' press office. He is now an independent reesearcher.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Helen Castor in conversation, discussing her new book, Joan of Arc: A history. Find out more about Helen Castor on her website. This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. We apologise for any intermittent reduction in sound quality.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

The National Archives holds a vast collection of railway related material, a legacy passed down by hundreds of railway companies which operated in all corners of the UK from 1825 to 1947. Much of this material provides opportunities for local and family historians to discover something new about the history of their ancestors and the areas in which they lived. This talk provides an overview of the railway records held here at Kew, and explores the different sources for tracing railway workers amongst these records. Chris Heather is currently the Transport Records Specialist in the Advice and Records Knowledge department at The National Archives. He has a particular interest in railway records and family history. Previously he specialised in records of criminals and transportation to Australia.

Rapid Response Collecting is a new strand to the V&A's collecting activity - one that is responsive to global events, situating design in immediate relation to moments of political, economic and social change. Corinna Gardner explores how an IKEA toy wolf, a set of Christian Louboutin shoes in five shades of 'nude', the world's first 3D-printed gun, the mobile game, Flappy Bird, and an all-female LEGO set raise questions of globalisation, mass manufacture, demography and the law. Corinna Gardner is curator of contemporary product design at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Corinna has worked with colleagues to introduce rapid response collecting as a new strand to the museum's collecting activities. Corinna is also co-curating the forthcoming V&A exhibition, All of This Belongs to You, opening on 1 April 2015.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Vanishing for the Vote tells the story of what happened on census night, 2 April 1911. Despite decades of campaigning, no woman had won the right to vote. Suffragettes urged women to boycott the census, proclaiming 'No vote, no census!'. This talk is based on the family census schedules which illustrate the wide diversity of suffrage campaigners - those who complied with the census and those who daringly boycotted. Jill Liddington is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. Her first book, One Hand Tied Behind Us (Virago, 1978), soon became a suffrage classic. Her most recent history, Vanishing for the Vote (MUP, 2014), is based on the The National Archives' census schedules released in 2009. We apologise for the poor sound quality of this live recording. This talk was part of The National Archives' Diversity Week, a week designed to highlight the ongoing work across the organisation surrounding the representation of diverse histories.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

A culture shift is taking place in the Wellcome Library's Special Collections team. Driven by a growing realisation that past acquisition policies have left patient perspectives on health and well-being woefully under-represented, they have started to re-evaluate what kinds of material may constitute an 'archive'. Focusing on an exciting, non-traditional 'archive' acquired earlier this year, Helen Wakely reflects on the issues and opportunities that such challenging collections present to the Library. Helen Wakely is Archive Project Manager at the Wellcome Library. She has responsibility for sensitivity assessment and access issues in the library's Special Collections, and takes a special interest in promoting public engagement with its archive collections, particularly in the area of food history.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Antonia Fraser's memoir describes growing up in the 1930s and 1940s but its real concern is with her growing love of History. The fascination began as a child - and developed into an enduring passion; as she writes, 'for me, the study of History has always been an essential part of the enjoyment of life'. Antonia Fraser is the prize-winning author of many widely acclaimed historical works which have been international bestsellers. She was made DBE in 2011 for services to literature. This podcast was recorded live at our January 2015 'Writer of the month' event.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

In the nineteenth century, Britain led the world in the production of illustrated books and magazines. By the 1890s, commercial artists often drew for both magazine publishers and advertisers, which gave a continuity of style. Some well-known 21st century brands were already spending heavily on advertising in the 1900s; they understood the value of advertising. And when war broke out in 1914, companies were quick to seize the opportunities which the war offered. They searched for new markets to replace their lost German trade, and invented new products. This talk outlines how the First World War changed the face of advertising. Amanda-Jane Doran was the archivist at Punch magazine for 13 years. She is an expert in 19th century illustrated books and magazines, and she curated the exhibition Charles Stewart: Black and White Gothic, at the Royal Academy. Andrew McCarthy directed the documentary film Toys For The Boys, which told the story of how Hew Kennedy built a full-size working replica of a medieval trebuchet (siege machine). Andrew and Amanda co-wrote The huns have got my gramophone: Advertisements from The Great War (Bodleian Library, 2014).