TRIGGERnometry

Robert Tombs, historian of modern Britain and France, and Nigel Biggar, academic on moral philosophy and empire, debate how national history is taught. They tackle fragmented school histories, curricular choices that emphasize some totalitarian crimes over others, contested accounts of empire, archives and access limits, and efforts to create a fuller, balanced story of Britain.

Tom Slater, editor at Spiked, joins the conversation. He weighs in on civil servants upset over England flags and community tensions in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets. He discusses Trump, US midterm risks and wider geopolitical fallout. He also tackles controversies in Cambridge hiring, teacher training and social media regulation.

Nathan Cofnas, philosopher of biology who researches evolution and cognitive group differences. He recounts uncovering plagiarism by Jason Arday and the media fallout. He discusses hereditarian views on IQ, the limits of environmental fixes, genetic research like GWAS and polygenic scores, and the policy implications for meritocracy and institutional reform.

Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and bestselling author of narrative histories, guides a wide-ranging tour of Middle Eastern history. He traces Ottoman complexity, the collapse after World War I, the birth of modern Turkey and the tangled origins of modern Arab–Israeli conflict. He also examines Iran’s revolutions, regional rivalries and the cultural depth of Arab, Persian and Hebrew poetry.

Tom Slater, editor at Spiked, offers sharp takes on media coverage and culture wars. Winston Marshall, commentator and podcaster, brings views on immigration and contemporary politics. They dissect media responsibility, contested narratives around public scandals, immigration and crime statistics, and the rise of conspiratorial, charismatic political figures. Short, provocative, and debate-driven.

Colin Brazier, an experienced British journalist and broadcaster, reflects on growing up in Bradford and how it shaped his warnings about Britain. He discusses media detachment from local communities, failures to report grooming and Islamist provocation, social engineering by government comms, political decline, immigration and welfare trade-offs, rising antisemitism, and demography's future impact.

Dan Snow, historian and founder of History Hit, explains Britain’s rise from island power to global hegemon. He covers geography and naval strength, colonial economics from sugar to India, the Industrial Revolution and finance, the Seven Years War, slavery and abolition, imperial costs and decline, and the long legacies that still shape law, language and trade.

Professor James Hankins, a historian and former long-time Harvard professor who studies Western intellectual history. He discusses the origins and continuity of Western tradition from Greek innovation to Roman law and Christian formation. They explore how education transmits—or erodes—that ‘golden thread’ and the risks of deconstruction replacing cultural literacy.

Robert Hardman, British royal reporter and author with deep access to the monarchy, joins to unpack modern royal life. He explores why the crown still matters to Britain. He traces ceremony, soft power, scandals from Diana to Harry and Meghan, and how Elizabeth II reshaped the institution. He ends by weighing the future under Charles and William and an overlooked note on loneliness.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former British Army CBRN specialist and Syria investigator, explains how decades of disinvestment hollowed out UK defence. He discusses recruitment, the £28bn shortfall, and why morale and tanks still matter. He explores Ukraine’s drone innovations, rising bio and radiological risks, and asymmetric threats like espionage and cyber.