Page 80 - All About History - Issue 54-17

Interview

Taj Mahal

Dan Snow’s top 5 historic places

Angkor Wat

Chatsworth house

With Trump in the White House, “you can no longer go into
do you think history is under attack?
With propaganda and ‘alternative facts’, with the Tutankhamun’s tomb as the
rise of the far-right, we absolutely need to be
incredibly vigilant. History is a vast early warning moisture from our breath
system. We’ve seen people like Trump come to
power before on the back of economic distress causes too much damage, but
and international uncertainly, so we know that
experiments like Trump don’t work. VR could transport you there”

Your father was BBC television discussed the stories that my mum and dad were Well, I plan on carrying on with regular TV at the
journalist Peter Snow and your aunt is covering as journalists and what was their genesis, same time. Regular TV has been a huge blessing
the Oxford history professor Margaret how they came to be and the answer, of course, is for me, but it would be great to work in this new
MacMillan. Was history a big thing in always in the past. format, too.
your household growing up?
Of course, history was talked about all the time. You’re also crowdfunding a new Do you think that social media has
I think a lot of people talk about history without on-demand video channel — what led changed the way we consume history?
realising it’s history. You discuss your memories, you to the idea of HistoryHit.TV? Of course! People now access history through
your family’s past, how your mum and dad got It was the next logical stage of podcasting, tweeting Facebook, Twitter and more. Some are still
together, why they got together. My grandparents and Facebook-ing. Now you see the rise of these watching television and reading books, but I think
met as a result of the Battle of the Atlantic; they niche, on-demand channels and there isn’t really that more are engaging with history on their social
were both stuck in Canada at the same time one for history, so I thought, “Let’s do this.” media platforms. We all created these accounts to
because they couldn’t cross the ocean. History hang out with our mates, but we discovered that all
affects all of us. The big history made in Downing As a television broadcaster, do you these politicians, sportsmen and historians are on
Street, the White House and the Kremlin touches think you can have the same impact there. My Facebook has a really remarkable reach
the lives of all of us. So, yeah, in my family we through a “niche, on-demand channel”? and I’m really excited by that.
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