Consumers and Conscience

"Consumers and Conscience" sheds light on a fascinating yet conflicted chapter in 18th-century Britain, a time of flourishing art and affluence fueled by the dark reality of the slave trade.

This episode delves into the contradictions, showcasing opulent estates adorned with treasures funded by exploitation. Counterbalancing the extravagance, satirists like Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth lampooned the upper class's hypocrisies.

A rising social conscience emerged during this era. Emma Bridgewater highlights potter Josiah Wedgwood's innovative anti-slavery campaigns using teapots and abolition medallions. Martin Rowson discusses James Gillray's pioneering political cartoons. The Georgian period was also a literary golden age, featuring Olaudah Equiano's powerful slavery narratives and Jane Austen's timeless novels.