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?

It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music

when it's out of ice cream.

Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.

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Hello and thanks for downloading this episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast.

The 16th of August 2019 marks the 200-year anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre.

A campaign for parliamentary representation saw a gathering of 60,000 women, children and men in St Peter's Field in Manchester.

The crowd who had come from towns and villages around the region were charged by cavalry,

who were trying to arrest the Speaker Henry Hunt, and it's estimated that between 11 and 15 people

were killed and up to 700 injured.

The catastrophe was given the title Peterloo as an ironic reference to the Battle of Waterloo four years earlier,

which had been followed by food shortages and unemployment,

contributing to the calls for greater political reform

which prompted the Manchester gathering.

This historical event inspired the most recent film from Mike Lee, now out on DVD.

So in the week of the anniversary, we thought it would be interesting to hear him in conversation

with Matthew Sweet, recorded before the film came out, talking about both his take on Peterloo

and the way his Sulphid upbringing has affected

his outlook and the way he's chosen to portray history and politics in past projects.

When Mike Lee comes into the studio, legions attend him.

Nearly five decades of past since he first began ushering his characters onto our screens.

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