Recording of the week: A conversation right up our alley

In the Spoken English department we love dialects in all their varieties. Dialects are made up of accent, grammatical forms and vocabulary, and are often specific to or associated with a particular geographical location. As populations change, so do dialects, and therefore many people might think of these as a…

Recording of the week: South Asian history and medical practices in Britain

Mahomed’s Baths from 1826. Alamy. The NHS as we know it today has been built – and continues to be sustained – by migrant contributions. South Asians have played a major role in this. But did you know that we can place South Asians in the medical profession in Britain…

Recording of the week: Vintage voice notes from a remote island

Postcard of Pitcairn Island post office, dating to the 1940s. Public domain. I’ve chosen this recording of the week to celebrate World Post day, which marks the anniversary of the creation of the Universal Postal Union. The Union was established to create and maintain a postal system for the free…

Listening Desk by Emily Peasgood at the British Library

What can you see and hear on the upper ground floor of the Library? If you find yourself by the gallery outside the King’s Library, you will discover our Listening Desk, a cross between a gramophone horn, a desk, and a touch screen. This sound sculpture, and others around the…

Recording of the week: Harold Wilson’s 1963 pledge to harness the white heat of a scientific revolution

Today’s selection comes from Emmeline Ledgerwood, Discovering Science website co-ordinator. Sixty years ago, on 1 Oct 1963, the then Labour party leader, Harold Wilson, delivered his famous ‘white heat’ speech at the Labour party conference in Scarborough. In this speech he outlined the party’s plans to harness a ‘scientific revolution’…