Transcribing the Past

  This from a radio program that runs on the BBC called Great Lives, essentially a series of audio biographies on people chosen by the guests. This episode on the life of Louise Michel was chosen by Paul Mason, this was in 2013 before he reminded us all that he is firmly a social democrat. He the host and the other guest Professor Carolyn Eichner author of Surmounting the Barricades Women and the Paris Commune. Link  https://youtu.be/yIv3P1p47Ro Its very comprehensive and covers her life from childhood to working as a teacher, to the Commune and her time in exile and her return to France. Louise Michel Great Lives Transcript. Matthew Paris Show Host: Our Great Life this week was known as the “Red Virgin of Motmartre” the “Red She-wolf” and “Bonne-Louise”, she’s also been called the “Grande dame of Anarchy”.   And she used the pseudonym Clémence. But she had a name, it was Louise Michel. She was a school teacher, writer, orator, anthropologis...

  Destruction of the Roehampton Estate , January 1832, by Adolphe Duperly Link  https://youtu.be/gRGPwnlsFvk *** Contains descriptions that some listeners may find upsetting *** Enslaved Africans are forced to work in sugar cane fields - the hours are long and there are frequent, brutal punishments. They have endured these conditions for 200 years. By 1831 the anti-slavery movement is gathering pace and the slaves decide to take action - by going on strike. Samuel Sharpe became a Jamaican national hero as he led the island's slaves in a rebellion against the overseers and sugar plantation owners. The rebellion was brutally crushed, but over time, the rebellion had a significant impact - and two years later in 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act is passed.   Transcript (Broadcast 1 st October 2013) Program Producer: Hello and thank you for downloading Witness from the BBC World Service. And today we’re taking you back to the 27 t...