Law and Disorder

James, John and the evolution of homosexuality and the law, with Chris Bryant MP

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Episode notes

James Pratt and John Smith: the last two men to be executed in Britain for the crime of homosexuality. It is a story recounted by politician and historian Chris Bryant in his book James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder. But how far has the law come since the 19th century? Was the image that Charles Dickens painted the truth? And how did feminist historian Naomi Wolf come to misunderstand the term "death recorded"? These, and many more, issues will be tackled in this episode of Law & Disorder, where Nicholas Mostyn, Charlie Falconer and Helena Kennedy look at Britain's dark, and homophobic, legal history.

This episode was generously sponsored by Harbottle & Lewis.

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Law and Disorder is a Podot podcast.

Executive Producer and Editor: Nick Hilton.

Associate Producer: Ewan Cameron.

Music by Richard Strauss, arranged and performed by Anthony Willis & Brett Bailey.

PR by Sally Jones.

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