Migrants in London
Thinking Allowed
BBC
4.4 • 997 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2021
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
MIGRANTS IN LONDON: how has London been shaped by the history of immigration? Laurie Taylor talks to Panikos Panayi, Professor of European History at De Montfort University, & author of a new study which examines the contribution of immigrants to London’s economic success and status as a global capital - from Jewish & Irish immigrants in the 19th century to the Windrush generation and beyond. They’re joined by Esther Saraga, a retired social scientist, whose recent book charts the emotional journeys of her parents, two German Jewish refugees, reconstructing their story from a substantial collection of family material, archives and secondary historical sources. She argues that their contradictory experiences of welcome and restriction challenge simple views of Britain's liberal tradition of welcoming refugees. Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of |
| 0:07.0 | Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.4 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. |
| 0:36.0 | This is a Thinking Loud Podcasts from the BBC, and for more details and much, much more about |
| 0:42.2 | thinking aloud, go to our website at BBC.co.uk. |
| 0:47.0 | Hello. A Childhood Christmas memory. My mother and my father and myself are sitting around a |
| 0:58.0 | kitchen table in Liverpool making out our Christmas cards, one for Auntie Grace, one for Cousin Peter, one for Granny and Grandad, |
| 1:05.0 | but there's a problem. |
| 1:07.0 | What about our new next-door neighbors? |
| 1:09.0 | We haven't yet exchanged a single word, but Mother thought we should at least send them a card. |
| 1:15.0 | But even though I was only ten or eleven at the time I had an idea that this wasn't somehow right. |
| 1:20.0 | Yes, haven't we been told that they were German Jews? |
| 1:23.8 | And hadn't I heard at my Catholic school that Jews didn't believe in Christmas? |
| 1:28.8 | Mother wasn't convinced, didn't everyone celebrate Christmas? |
| 1:32.4 | Surely it was only seasonal to send them some festive greetings. |
| 1:35.9 | It was my father who selected the card. He tactfully pushed aside any which made reference |
| 1:40.8 | to religion, no baby Jesus, no wise men, and eventually settled on one which featured a sausage, with the capitalised words, |
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