Hello and welcome to a between season bonus episode of Origin Story. I'm Doreen Linsky.

And I'm Ian Dunn. This is the podcast where we take a word or a figure or an event from history,

explain what happened and what it means today.

In light of the recent far-right riots in British cities, we decided to tell the story of the

Battle of Cable Street on the 4th of October, 1936, perhaps the most fabled episode in the history

of British anti-fascism, unless you count the entire Second World War, which was also

a strong anti-fascist effort. Ian, what does Cable Street evoke for you? I think just the standard.

It was definitely part of the narrative growing up in sort of lefty circles, you know, this great

sort of moment, left-wing pride.

I remember almost stumbling across the mural one day without looking for it.

Things always seem to mean so much more when you stumble across them without meaning to see them.

And I was quite struck by it.

I think it was actually, it's very, very beautiful.

I presume, but I think I might be wrong, that there's a bit of myth making involved there

and it wasn't quite as pronounced and pure as I've been told, but I think you're about to

tell me, really?

Yeah, no, slightly disappointing research.

No.

So the myth, I mean, it's not that it's untrue, like myths aren't necessarily false, but

they are kind of versions of what happened.

So in that version, a working class alliance of anti-fascists clashed with Oswald Mosley's British Union of fascists,

routing them as a national force and proving that grassroots resistance to fascism is more effective than state action.

...