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The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Love, sexuality and the true lives of men at war

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Memories of the Second World War are often oversimplified through the lens of politicians. A common thread missed is that of love and sexuality – particularly the experiences of queer men. Kasia Tomasiewicz is joined by Luke Turner, author of the book Men at War: Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering 1939-1945, to discuss the sexual revolution that happened during that period.  “It’s true the British can’t stop going on about the war. But there is so much left to discover.”  “Outsiders often have an interesting perspective.”  “I’d gotten sick of judging the past by the standards of the present.” “We still are incredibly repressed about sex in Britain.” Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast  Presented by Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

My name is Stan. I'm at. Nice to meet you. So you took up photography where? I've always loved

0:05.5

photography but I turn it into earning a living at 60. I enrolled on a day course.

0:11.8

Well college. I loved going to college. It's good you can retry. I'm enrolled on the day course. But college?

0:13.0

I loved going to college.

0:14.0

It's good you can retrain and do something.

0:16.0

Yeah, yeah.

0:17.0

Let's talk about working, learning, saving and making the most of living longer.

0:22.0

Phoenix Group is the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business.

0:28.0

Search Phoenix Group living longer.

0:30.0

Pets brings so much joy.

0:32.0

From those happy greetings at the door to the warm cuddles on the sofa

0:36.7

so give a little love back with dental life from Purina a range of delicious chues made for dogs and tasty snacks for cats that help clean and support your pets, teeth and gums, essential for their overall well-being and a happy, healthy life. They give you plenty of smiles so

0:55.3

look after theirs with dental life. Pick up dental life in the pet food aisle. Hello and welcome to the bunker I'm Dr. Kasha Tomshevich. In Britain, stoicism, bravery, death and adventure are just some of the experiences we associate with the Second World War.

1:21.0

But almost 80 years later and with the increasing

1:24.3

passing of the war generation the memory of the war, so how we make sense of it and

1:29.2

its relevance today seems to have flattened to the point of 2D caricature.

1:35.0

G Libb references by politicians to Blitz spirit or austerity during times of hardship,

1:40.6

along with keep calm and carry on mugs are the enduring sclerotic memory of an event

1:46.2

that transformed the lives of millions of people across the globe.

1:50.3

Adding some complexity to how we remember the war, I'm thrilled to be joined by Luke Turner, author of the new book, Men at War.

1:58.5

In his book, Luke uncovers the lives of the queer men who've been missing from the history books.

2:04.8

In doing so, he shows that sexuality obviously wasn't invented in the 1960s, and he makes the case

...

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