Brexit, Trump and Aldershot FC

This week David and Helen talk with the historian David Kynaston about his diary of the 2016-17 season in football and in politics, when a lot happened both to the world and to his beloved Aldershot FC. It's a conversation about loyalty, identity and belonging, and about what sorts of change we can tolerate and what we can't. Plus Helen reflects on her life as a West Ham fan. Talking Points: For David Kynaston, football is about identity. - We all have our personal myths. - Continuity of space, even colours, is also important. Football in Britain has derived a lot of meaning from the relationship between club and place. - The continuity between location and fan base broke at some point in the 1990s, maybe earlier.  - And then there are questions of ownership, management. For David Kynaston, football is rooted in place; politics is not. - Small and medium sized towns feel ‘left behind’; these places have also been left behind in the football sense.  - But anger about the inequalities or the premier league doesn’t have a lot of political purchase.  What is the relationship between the planning period of the 50s and 60s and Brexit voters? - People who lived through that maybe had reasons to distrust people telling them what was best. - There was also a coarsening of popular culture, led by Murdoch and the Sun. Mentioned in this Episode: - David Kynaston’s new book, Shots in the Dark - Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time - Colin Shindler’s books on Manchester United and Manchester City - Our post-Trump episode  - David Goodhart on somewheres and anywheres - Liverpool’s vote and Sun readership - The Financial Times editorial on Trump and Portland Further Learning: - Helen on West Ham - Helen on coronavirus and the Premier League And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking  

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