Conflict of Interest

By: Imperial War Museums
  • Summary

  • Celebrities ask the simple questions about the world’s most complex conflicts, from the First World War to the present day. Who was fighting in Vietnam? What was the Malayan Emergency? Why is Korea divided between North and South? Guided by an IWM curator, each celebrity is taken on a journey through IWM - discovering the objects, people and stories that shape our understanding of the modern world.
    Imperial War Museums
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Episodes
  • Edmund Clark on Controlled Environments
    Feb 14 2025

    How do modern conflicts change the way artists respond to warfare? In this bonus episode, Edmund Clark discusses his experiences of depicting life for those who are living in controlled environments.

    In this wide-ranging conversation with Rebecca Newell, Head of Art at Imperial War Museums, we touch on many of the themes explored over series three, as well as how Clark tries to capture the invisible; how relationships form an integral part of his process, and the stories and artwork that can be created from the seemingly mundane.

    Narrator:  James Taylor. Producer: Matt Hill at Rethink Audio, with support from Eleanor Head, Daniel BenChorin, and the IWM Institute team at Imperial War Museums

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    33 mins
  • Sanjeev Baskar on Dreams and Nightmares
    Feb 7 2025

    How do we begin to understand how civilians felt in a time of war? We often look to diaries and poetry - but today we look to the surrealist artists that sought to make sense of the most extreme times imaginable.

    Actor Sanjeev Baskar is taken on a specially curated tour of the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Gallery by Iris Vasey - to discover  history's most private thoughts as their society descends into war.

    Joining them both is  an expert in the psychological impact of warfare; from the First World War right up to today's drone wars, Dr Beryl Pong.

    Objects discussed:

    Beatrice Viola Fergusson, 'Snapshots' sketchbook, 1938

    Keith Vaughan, Echo of the Bombardment, 1942

    Julien Trevelyan, Premonitions of the Blitz, 1940

    Edward Burra, Blue Baby: Blitz Over Britain, 1941

    Chisty, By the Moonlight, 2013


    Narrator:  James Taylor. Producer: Matt Hill at Rethink Audio, with support from Eleanor Head, Daniel BenChorin, and the IWM Institute team at Imperial War Museums

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    31 mins
  • Geoff Norcott on Technology & Innovation
    Jan 31 2025

    What did it take to capture 20th Century warfare on film - and how were they used in the war effort? Geoff Norcott joins curator James Taylor for a personalised tour of the artworks on display at the Imperial War Museum, London.

    From reconnaissance missions by air to the cameramen risking their lives on the ground, images from this time have endured in our consciousness and shaped the way we have recorded war since. Expert Toby Haggith explains how the increasing sophistication of filmmakers impacted our view of the world.

    Objects discussed:

    FWW reconnaisance 'AVIATION AS A RECONNOITRING POWER © IWM (IWM 1132)

    Eric Ravilious, De-icing Aircraft, 1942

    'AIR RAID DAMAGE, LONDON, INDIAN AMPC © IWM

    Fire Over Hamburg, Royal Airforce Bomber Command, 1942-45

    Film still: IWM (IWM 1132)

    Film still: IWM (AYY 57)

    Film still © The rights holder (HOY 26)

    Narrator:  James Taylor. Producer: Matt Hill at Rethink Audio, with support from Eleanor Head, Daniel BenChorin, and the IWM Institute team at Imperial War Museums

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    33 mins

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