Free Thinking Essay: A War of Words
Arts & Ideas
BBC
4.2 • 598 Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2018
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A fashion show in Buenos Aires was put on for propaganda but football fixtures were deemed too risky. New Generation Thinker Dr Christopher Bannister, from the University of Manchester, looks at attempts to influence opinion about World War II in Latin America. Although relatively untouched by violence, support in such a strategically important region was vital to the British war effort. Bombs and bullets were no use here, so fashion shows, book launches, soap operas and films became the British Ministry of Information's weapons of war as New Generation Thinker Dr Christopher Bannister, from the University of Manchester, explains.
Recorded with an audience at Sage Gateshead for BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival.
New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio.
Recorded at the 2018 Free Thinking Festival and includes questions and answers from the audience at Sage Gateshead
Producer: Jacqueline Smith
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.0 | Hello, I'm Shah Hadabari. |
| 0:33.6 | Welcome to BBC Radio 3's Arts and Ideas podcast. |
| 0:37.0 | And while you're there, please rate and review us. |
| 0:39.5 | It'll help other people find us too. |
| 0:41.5 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:48.2 | Christopher Bannister from the University of Manchester, |
| 0:51.0 | A War of Words. |
| 0:53.3 | On the 24th of May, 1941, the Battle of Denmark Strait resulted in the German battleship |
| 0:59.4 | Bismarck, sinking the HMS HUD. |
| 1:03.0 | This was greeted with dismay at home, with the loss of one of the Royal Navy's most famous |
| 1:07.5 | ships, a further setback in Britain's stuttering war effort. |
| 1:14.0 | However, the day was not a complete disaster. |
| 1:19.7 | In Argentina, the war effort gained a considerable boost in the form of a fashion show held in the Buenos Aires branch of the Harrod's department store. |
| 1:24.9 | The show was advertised as a display of British mannequins and showcased the latest |
| 1:29.2 | designs from London, which since the fall of Paris had inherited the mantle, a fashion capital |
| 1:34.4 | of Europe. British mannequins was a roaring success. Doors were due to open at five, but opened an hour |
| 1:41.9 | early. If they hadn't, one observer noted, the vast throng |
| 1:45.5 | trying to get in would have caused a riot in the street. Three thousand tickets had been sold, |
| 1:52.4 | but an estimated 5,000 turned up. Every step, gangway and window was packed. Even the private box of the local chief of police was not exempt. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.