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Public historian Greg Jenner watches archive of the veteran campaigner Mary Whitehouse and reflects on the portrayal of private life through time.

Public historian Greg Jenner listens to an archive clip of Mary Whitehouse, the vocal critic of sex on screen, delves into the history of privacy with historian David Vincent, and asks to what extent private space and intimate relationships can be preserved in the digital age with writer and digital journalist Sophia Smith Galer.

Marking the centenary of the ´óÏó´«Ã½, Past Forward uses a random date generator to alight somewhere in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s vast archive over the past 100 years. Public historian Greg Jenner hears an archive clip for the first time at the top of the programme, and uses it as a starting point in a journey towards the present day. The archive captures a century of British life in a unique way - a history of ordinary people’s lives, as well as news of the great events. Greg uncovers connections through people, places and ideas that link the archive fragment to Britain in 2022, pulling in help from experts and those who remember the time – and sometimes the speakers themselves, decades later - along the way. What he discovers are stories, big and small, that reveal how the people we were have shaped the people we have become.

Produced by Eliane Glaser for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Fri 28 Jan 2022 19:00

Broadcasts

  • Thu 6 Jan 2022 13:45
  • Fri 28 Jan 2022 19:00