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More Jam Tomorrow

More Jam Tomorrow

By: Ros Taylor
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From teeth to Trident — post-war British history as you've never heard it before. In each episode, Ros Taylor delves into the truth about how our lives changed after World War Two — and what it means for politics now. Now independent, this is the sequel to the hit "Jam Tomorrow" podcast.©️ 2025 More Jam Tomorrow Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Motorways
    Feb 19 2026

    Dynamic, dreary – Britain has 2,300 miles of motorways, and the country would grind to a halt without these tarmac arteries. But they were part of a fast, futuristic post-war vision. Will we ever build another one?

    Ros Taylor talks to Chris Marshall, who runs roads.org.uk, and the musician and comedy writer Jason Hazeley. You can find a special MJT motorway playlist on Spotify, compiled by Jason, Ros, producer David Turnbull and listeners.

    Readings are by David Turnbull . Ernest Davies, MP for Enfield, spoke about the need for motorways in 1957 and R Gresham Cooke (Twickenham) discussed speed limits in 1958.

    I drew on Motorways (James Drake, H L Yeadon and D I Evans, Faber & Faber, 1969), On Roads (Joe Moran, Profile Books, 2009) and Always a Welcome - the glove compartment history of the motorway service area (David Lawrence, Between Books).

    The Motorway Archive contains a vast amount of detail.

    The National Express 'Elaine' and Trusthouse Forte ads are on YouTube. The BBC broadcast a documentary in 1969 on The Cost of Motorways. Egon Ronay's service station reviews are available here.

    Donate to More Jam Tomorrow at Ko-fi.com.

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    47 mins
  • Decimalisation
    Feb 5 2026

    Britain was one of the last countries to go decimal – and had Margaret Thatcher not abolished the Metrication Board, we might have abandoned miles and pints too. Ros Taylor finds out how Britons were persuaded of the merits of getting rid of shillings and farthings, and why the revolution went unfinished.

    Mark Stocker is an art historian who works with the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) and is the author of When Britain Went Decimal: The Coinage of 1971.

    Warwick Cairns is the author of About The Size of It: The Common Sense Approach to Measuring Things.

    Seth Thévoz voiced a Commons speech by the MP for Horsham, Peter Hordern, in 1970. He also read an extract from a Guardian article by Anthony Burgess, Damned Dots (1966) which is not available online.

    Sir John Wrottesley's intervention in 1824 and the riposte can be read here.

    The BBC's Decimal Day 1971, Nationwide, ITV's Granny Gets the Point, the Royal Mint history of decimalisation and a Thames TV report on metrication were useful sources. Max Bygraves' Decimalisation is on YouTube. Your Guide to Decimal Money, circulated to all households, can be read online. A 1975 Conservative memo discussing metrication is at the Margaret Thatcher Archive. I also drew on Andrew J Cook's PhD thesis, Britain's Other D-Day: The Politics of Decimalisation (University of Huddersfield, 2020).

    The UK Metric Association and Metrication UK campaign to complete the metrication revolution.

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    40 mins
  • Women's Trousers
    Dec 18 2025

    "Ask a man whether women should wear slacks and the answer is almost certain to be a firm 'No.'" How did women get to wear the trousers? Ros Taylor talks to fashion expert Belinda Naylor and Purna Sen, who wore trousers to her sixth form in 1978 – and was thrown out.

    Belinda Naylor is a producer with an MA in fashion curation. Her Instagram, where you can find some of her favourite women in trousers, is @fashion_chatter.

    Purna Sen is the former head of human rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat and a visiting professor at London Metropolitan University.

    The extract from the Manchester Guardian in 1952 is voiced by Seth Thévoz.

    The clip from The Seven Year Itch starring Marilyn Monroe is available on YouTube.

    Man Alive: The Office Christmas Party (1970) is also on YouTube.

    In 2002 the Guardian explained why schools could still choose whether to impose skirts. I also drew on Amy Gower's doctoral thesis, Schoolgirls, identity and agency in England: 1970-2004, University of Reading, 2021.

    Lego has pictures of its early minifigures.

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    22 mins
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good podcast. like the first two episodes need to hunt out the earlier 3 series

good podcast like the first two episodess

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