Politics on Trial: Charles I vs Parliament
Today’s political trial is perhaps the most consequential in English history: the trial and execution of King Charles I for treason in January 1649. How could a king commit treason when treason was a ...
12 Juni 20251h 2min
Politics on Trial: Galileo vs the Inquisition
Today’s trial is one of the most notorious in history but also one of the most misremembered. Galileo’s epic confrontation with the Catholic Church over the question of whether the earth moves round t...
8 Juni 20251h 4min
50th Anniversary Special: The 1975 European Referendum w/Robert Saunders
Today’s episode is about a pivotal event in British history that took place exactly 50 years ago: the 1975 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Community. David talks to historian Robert...
5 Juni 20251h
Politics on Trial: Mary Queen of Scots vs the Secret State
In today’s episode an extraordinary political trial that culminated in the execution of one queen at the behest of another: Mary Queen of Scots, convicted of treason in 1586 and beheaded in 1587. But ...
1 Juni 202554min
Politics on Trial: Thomas More vs the King
In today’s episode another trial that forms the basis for great drama: the case of Thomas More, tried and executed in 1535, events dramatised by Robert Bolt in A Man for All Seasons and Hilary Mantel ...
29 Maj 202557min
Politics on Trial: Joan of Arc vs the Church
Today’s political trial took place in 1431 though it was still being re-litigated right through to the twentieth century: the case of Joan of Arc, charged with heresy by the Church and burned at the s...
25 Maj 20251h
Politics on Trial: Socrates vs Democracy
The first political trial in our new series is the one that set the template for all the others: the trial of Socrates in Athens in 399 BCE, which ended with a death sentence for the philosopher and a...
22 Maj 202553min
Politics on Trial: A History of Lawfare
To introduce our new series about historic political trials – from Socrates to Marine Le Pen – David explores what makes political confrontations in a court of law so fascinating and so revealing. Why...
18 Maj 202551min
