{"podcast":{"title":"In Our Time","slug":"in-our-time-318133","podcast_index_feed_id":318133,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qykl.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0m1q0p7.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":1092,"summary":"Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world. History fans can learn about pivotal wars and societal upheavals, such as the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Sack of Rome in 1527, and the political intrigue of the Russian Revolution. Those fascinated by the lives of kings and queens can journey to Versailles to meet Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV the Sun King, or to Ancient Egypt to meet Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Or perhaps you're looking to explore the history of religion, from Buddhism's early teachings to the Protestant Reformation. If you're interested in the stories behind iconic works of art, music and literature, dive in to discussions on the artistic genius of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Van Gogh's famous Sunflowers. From Gothic architecture to the works of Shakespeare, each episode of In Our Time offers new insight into humanity's cultural achievements. Those looking to enrich their scientific knowledge can hear episodes on black holes, the Period…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-04T20:19:40.434534+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-our-time-318133"},"episode":{"title":"Indian Indentured Labour","slug":"indian-indentured-labour","published_at":"2026-05-21T09:15:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-our-time-318133/indian-indentured-labour","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-our-time-318133","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002vc9m","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0nfnqs9.mp3","summary":"Misha Glenny and guests discuss how, after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, sugar planters recruited workers from India to replace or compete with their formerly enslaved labourers. Over the next 90 years, more than a million people in India travelled under five year contracts of indenture across the empire from Guyana to Trinidad to Mauritius and Fiji and colonies in between. These indentured labourers were to share vivid accounts of deception and abuse, especially in the early decades. From the outset there were critics and opposition gained pace with Gandhi and others in South Africa arguing the system was close to slavery and calling for the Indian government to stop the practice, which was to happen in 1917 with the last shipments of people in the 1920s. Meanwhile, rather than return after their contracts, a section of indentured labourers stayed where they were for their own reasons, negotiating their new identities alongside formerly enslaved people and the planter culture in a new Indian diaspora. With Purba Hossain Lecturer in Modern History at the University of York Neha Hui Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Reading And Clem Seecharan Emeritus Professor of History at London Metropolitan University Produced by Simon Tillotson Reading list: Gaiutra Bahadur, Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture (Hurst and Co., 2013) Marina Carter, Servants, Sirdars and Settlers: Indians in Mauritius, 1834-1874 (Oxford University Press, 1995) Marina Carter and Khal Torabully, Coolitude: An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora (Anthem Press, 2002) Jonathan Connolly, Worthy of Freedom: Indenture and Free Labor in the Era of Emancipation (University of Chicago Press, 2024) Maria del Pilar Kaladeen and David Dabydeen (eds.), The Other W…","meta_description":"Misha Glenny and guests discuss how, after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, sugar planters recruited workers from India to replace…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3095,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/in-our-time-318133/episodes/indian-indentured-labour/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-our-time-318133/indian-indentured-labour.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}