When you need to see a GP, you can - though you might have to wait a couple of weeks. But half the people who need an NHS dentist have no realistic chance of finding one. Tooth pain is agonising. So why is dentistry so neglected by the government? Is it because we prefer to think bad teeth are … well … probably your own fault? Ros Taylor asks professor of dentistry Ian Mills why it’s so hard to find an NHS dentist and how the way we think about our teeth has changed since the war. And Dr Charlotte Sleigh tells the story of the furious campaign against fluoridation in the 1960s. The British Dental Association’s Dental Witness Seminars: dentistry in the UK since 1948 (N.H.F. Wilson and S. Gerbier, 2016), the House of Commons’ Health: Fifth Report (2008) and the Committee of Public Accounts’ Fixing NHS Dentistry: 21st Report of Session 2024-25 (April 2025) were invaluable. Dr Charlotte Sleigh talks about her Royal Society report, Fluoridation of drinking water in the UK, c1962-67: A case study in scientific misinformation before social media. Seth Thévoz read speeches by Lord Douglas of Bardoch, John Cronin MP and Michael Meacher MP, all from Hansard. The Fudge advert is part of a YouTube compilation. Toothpaste ads are Gibbs SR (1955) and Aquafresh. Public information ads are Look After Your Teeth (1979) and Jeremy’s Toothache (1975). Audio editing is by David Turnbull. More Jam Tomorrow is a KTC production.
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Curry
Queen Victoria loved a curry, but it took the entrepreneurial efforts of South Asian migrants for it to become part of the British diet. How did it go from Windsor Castle to M&S ready meals and Dishoom? Ros Taylor looks at how curry got political with historian Shrabani Basu and Professor Anand Menon of King’s College, London. You can support More Jam Tomorrow at https://ko-fi.com/morejamtomorrow Show Notes Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London and the director of The UK in a Changing Europe. Shrabani Basu is the author of Victoria & Abdul: The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant. Lord Soper’s speech is on Hansard. I am also grateful to Nishah Malik for the extract from London Life magazine.
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Channel Tunnel
Episode 1: Channel Tunnel How did the Channel Tunnel get built? And why has it not quite lived up to its promise? You can support More Jam Tomorrow at https://ko-fi.com/morejamtomorrow Show notes Jon Worth blogs about European rail. The opening speech is from Shakespeare’s Richard II. I am grateful to Terry Gourvish, the author of The Official History of the Channel Tunnel (Routledge) for insights into the long process of getting the tunnel built. How John Bull Lost London is available at the Internet Archive. I also drew on The Churchill Project, BNP Paribas’ Origins of the Channel Tunnel 1957-87, Peter Keeling’s essay at Public Domain Review, material from the National Archives and INA footage from 1975. Politicians’ speeches are from Hansard. The 1998 Eurostar ad features Antoine de Caunes.
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Season 4 Teaser
How did it feel to watch the Channel Tunnel breaking through? The NHS made dentistry free – so why were British teeth still so bad? And what did police find at Club Eleven in 1950 that would change how we saw the world? All this and more in season 4 of MORE JAM TOMORROW. Subscribe now to get every episode. Support the newly independent podcast at ko-fi.com/morejamtomorrow and get a shout out on the next episode.
From teeth to Trident — post-war British history as you've never heard it before.
In each episode, Ros Taylor delves into the truth about how our lives changed after World War Two — and what it means for politics now.
Now independent, this is the sequel to the hit "Jam Tomorrow" podcast.
Australia