The London Society Podcast

Broadcaster Robert Elms gives The London Society's Banister Fletcher Lecture

"The poor, the marginal, the young, the creative and the bohemian are the lifeblood of urban life, but they are being excluded, expelled, exiled from our great urban centres by the process of making everything luxury, exclusive, designed and desirable.

We must desist from ‘developing' every area to within an inch of its life; Kings Cross, once a dangerous wonderland is now a chic but sterile designer mall. Punk once happened on the Kings Road. Pushing people to the periphery, like in Paris, is disastrous for the health of a city which is hollowed out.

Cities need areas of arrival, they need slums, where people from all around the world and all classes can settle and start their journey. Notting Hill, Spitalfields, Camden Town, Brixton, these were all considered ‘slums' in living memory but are now gentrified and atrophied by affluence."

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Episode 1 of the London Society's new podcast, London Explained, will investigate ideas for regenerating Earls Court, a place of legend in inner west London. Little has been achieved beyond the flattening of the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, which gave the area much of its life and character. Now, a new development company with a new approach is putting a new plan together. It says it wants to create a sustainable, affordable, mixed-use scheme that has community support and will, in its own words “bring the wonder back” to the area. Dave Hill tells the story of a unique part of the capital, explores the latest vision for its renewal, and asks local people what they think.

London Explained is a series which explores why and how areas of London have changed and what the future may look like.

The episode is written and presented by Dave Hill. The producer is Andrew McGibbon. It’s a Curtains For Radio Production for The London Society.

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In the fifth episode of this series, Dave Hill explores Brick Lane, which runs through the heart of Spitalfields in the East End and has a special place in London's history. For centuries, the narrow street and its surrounding area has been a place of industry and of sanctuary for incomers from other parts of the world.

In recent decades, this avenue has transformed into a creative and leisure quarter, full of cafés, bars, crafts markets, vintage clothing shops and entertainment as well as workspace. Central to this has been the reinvention of the former Truman Brewery, which stopped making beer in 1989 and became today's buzzing cultural and retail hub.

Seeking to build on its success, the Truman company has produced plans to develop a car park and yards within its complex, with the goal of adding to its widespread appeal. However, an alliance of opponents has been seeking to block the plans, claiming they will compromise the architectural essence of Spitalfields and have a detrimental effect on local businesses and residents, in particular Bengali Londoners who have been integral to Brick Lane's character for many decades.

This latest episode in our London Explained series aims to bring enlightenment to a contentious subject, with interviews, archive material and historical insights. It tells a more nuanced story about the issues involved, leaving listeners to reach their own conclusions about the best way to look to the future while valuing the past.

The podcast he podcast is researched, written and presented by Dave Hill, editor and publisher of the website OnLondon.co.uk and a London Society trustee, and produced by Andrew McGibbon for Curtains for Radio Ltd. It was supported financially by the Truman Brewery Company, with The London Society retaining full editorial control.

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The London Society and OnLondon.co.uk welcome you to the podcast series called Talk About London in which co-presenters Leanne Tritton, chair of the London Society, and Dave Hill, publisher and editor of On London, explore big themes about the capital’s built environment, including housing, transport, architecture, planning, culture and all else that goes with it with the help of expert guests.

Each episode will seek to enlighten, educate and entertain its audience about a topical issue that affects the daily lives of Londoners and their futures, rising above the fray of culture wars and political point-scoring to bring much-needed clarity to debates about how to make London a better place.

Episode 1 discusses the London Growth Plan launched by the Mayor of London in conjunction with London Councils.

The expert guests for this episode are Antonia Jennings, CEO of Centre for London and Dr Jack Brown, Lecturer in London Studies Kings College London who explain what the short term and long term implications are for London and how the plan has been received so far.

Antonia Jennings Biography

Antonia is Chief Executive Officer at the Centre for London. She joined in September 2023, from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies. Prior to joining the team, Antonia worked in numerous charities, think tanks and campaigning organisations promoting new economic thinking. She has expertise across progressive local economic development, deepening democracy and sustainable economics. Antonia holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Politics and Communications, and a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She is Chair of the board of Rethinking Economics.

Dr Jack Brown Biography

Jack Brown is Lecturer in London Studies and is part of the Strand Group, in the Policy Institute at King’s. Previously, Jack was Researcher in Residence at No. 10 Downing Street, Research Manager at thinktank Centre for London, and studied Contemporary British History at BA and MA level at Queen Mary University of London. His PhD thesis, also undertaken at QMUL, was entitled ‘The London Docklands Development Corporation under Reg Ward and the Emergence of Canary Wharf: 1981-87’.

Dr Brown is author of No.10: The Geography of Power at Downing Street (published by Haus), The London Problem: What Britain gets wrong about its capital city (Haus); and co-author of London's Mayor at 20, published by BiteBack.

The London Society - https://londonsociety.org.uk/

OnLondon - https://www.onlondon.co.uk/

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In this episode of TALK ABOUT LONDON, co-hosts Dave Hill (OnLondon) and Leanne Tritton (Chair, The London Society) are joined by award-winning landscape designer Charlotte Harris to explore the growing momentum behind London’s green revival—and how one of Britain’s most beloved institutions, the Chelsea Flower Show, sits at the heart of it.

Charlotte, a multi–Gold Medal winner at Chelsea, shares insights into what makes the event so extraordinary—from its scale and style to its £200 million direct economic impact and its deep cultural resonance. Charlotte reflects on how Chelsea have shaped her career designing spaces for RHS Bridgewater, commercial developers like Fabrix, and even celebrities like Cara Delevingne.

We then broaden the lens to look at the renewed focus on greening London. Is it a genuine revival or just a fashionable phase? And how does it compare to earlier moments in the city’s green history, like the Victorian park movement?

From public realm regeneration to private commissions, Charlotte offers a grounded view of how urban landscapes are evolving, and what planners, developers and designers need to do to keep pace with Londoners’ growing demand for natural space.

If you're interested in how plants, policy and public space intersect in the capital, this is a conversation not to miss.

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