Skip to main content

Modern slavery in The Archers: how credible is its latest shocking plotline?

When Ambridge builder Philip Moss turned out to be a gangmaster – employing homeless Britons as unpaid workers – some thought it a plot twist too far. But the radio soap had done its homework

When characters in The Archers discuss feeding their horses, you assume they are talking about taking hay out to their livestock, so it is perplexing to discover that these “horses” thrive on pizza, cigarettes and beer.

The more casual listener might have formed the impression that divorced builder Philip Moss was a mild-mannered, middle-aged birdwatcher who never says anything interesting. It has been startling to learn that he is in fact an evil gangmaster. Over the past year, Philip has acquired three slaves, who have been working unpaid on his construction projects. In muttered conversations with his son, he refers to them as “horses”, talking approvingly about one who is placid and easy to manage, and praising another who is strong as an ox.

Continue reading...

from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3aof4lr

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tracey Emin decorates Regent's Park and a celebration of Islamic creativity – the week in art

Emin and others survey the state of sculpture, Glenn Brown takes his decadent imagination to Newcastle and artists offer northern exposure – all in your weekly dispatch Frieze Sculpture Park Tracey Emin, Barry Flanagan and John Baldessari are among the artists decorating Regent’s Park with a free survey of the state of sculpture. • Regent’s Park, London , 4 July until 7 October. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2IDCpPV

When Brooklyn was queer: telling the story of the borough's LGBTQ past

In a new book, Hugh Ryan explores the untold history of queer life in Brooklyn from the 1850s forward, revealing some unlikely truths For five years Hugh Ryan has been hunting queer ghosts through the streets of Brooklyn, amid the racks of New York’s public libraries, among its court records and yellow newspaper clippings to build a picture of their lost world. The result is When Brooklyn Was Queer, a funny, tender and disturbing history of LGBTQ life that starts in an era, the 1850s, when those letters meant nothing and ends before the Stonewall riots started the modern era of gay politics. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2H9Zexs