“Treating the population like idiots, insisting we all cling on to a series of myths rather than know the true and often far more interesting story of our past, is just patronising dross.”
In this ‘Nailed It!’ episode we look back on Chris’s two conversations with author and journalist Otto English, picking out some of the most entertaining, moving, and eye-opening moments from those episodes on his books Fake History and Fake Heroes.
Chris and Otto jump straight into the mythos of Winston Churchill and how such falsehoods have contributed to an unhealthy relationship with our past, which can drastically affect politics today. They move on to the iconic image of Che Guevara that became a symbol of revolution throughout the world in the 1960s, and why the truth about Che makes this problematic.
John Wayne, a figure of adoration in popular culture as one of the biggest ever Western movie stars, took a dark turn with his leading role in the McCarthy-era witch hunt in the 1950s. In this episode, Otto, who worshipped John Wayne as a child, comes to terms with this reality.
In this episode we discuss:
- What did Winston Churchill actually say?
- How the propagation of ‘the good old days’ philosophy caused Brexit.
- Would Che Guevara’s image be so iconic if he weren’t so “damned good-looking?”
- Otto’s childhood hero John Wayne and how he let him down.
- Chris on the Beatles, Dick James, and Robin Hood.
