The Legacy of Empire: How to Reckon with the Past (Simukai Chigudu)
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is removing statues and decolonising the curriculum the answer?
A member of the first generation born after the end of colonial rule in Zimbabwe, Simukai Chigudu came to the UK as a teenager and later became one of the founding members of a campaign to try to get the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes moved from Oriel College in Oxford.
Now an associate professor of African politics at the University of Oxford, he’s written a memoir called Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire.
In this episode he discusses the legacy of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and whether countries like Britain should pay reparations for slavery.
TIMECODES:
(00:03:00) The history of colonialism in Zimbabwe
(00:05:10) Cecil Rhodes’ role in Zimbabwe and the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign
(00:09:35) Attitudes to England
(00:16:37) Decolonising the curriculum
(00:18:47) Statues
(00:34:53) Experiencing racism
(00:44:40) The case for reparations
GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd and Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Philip Bull. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
Transcript
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| 1:17.1 | much for all the feedback on that. Right. As to this week, we're discussing some mildly controversial |
| 1:22.1 | subjects in a thoughtful way. We are talking about empire, colonialism, how a country reckons with its past, |
| 1:30.3 | and we're doing so with a man who came to the UK from Zimbabwe as a teenager and would later |
| 1:35.3 | help to found a campaign to try to get the statue of Cecil Rhodes. The man who gave his name |
... |
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