Podcast celebrates Hackney and Newham’s Modern History
The second series of The Hackney and Newham History Social Podcast has now launched.
Produced by Immediate Theatre, the docuseries is hosted by actor and broadcaster Sue Elliott-Nicholls. It crafts music, sound and a collection of human-interest stories that capture the essence of East London.
Building on the success of the first series, which explored Hackney and Newham from the 1960s to the 1990s, this new season takes a closer look at the connections between the past and present.
Focusing on enterprise and family, it highlights the resilience and creativity that define the area while addressing pressing contemporary challenges including fractured communities, gentrification and the cost-of-living crisis forcing family run businesses to close their doors.
Sue Elliott-Nicholls said: “East London has been my home since the 80s, I’ve worked in local pubs and cafes when I was starting out as an actress in my twenties. My husband works in the community, and we’ve raised our family here. But it wasn’t until this podcast that I really started paying attention properly to the history right on our doorstep.
“People often ask me about gentrification, and my answer is simple: areas change, especially in London. Just pay attention to what was here before you came.”
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in conjunction with the Hackney and Newham archives, the podcast was initially conceived to preserve firsthand accounts of the borough’s communities.
From the first recordings it was clear that Sue and the team had tapped into something special so it was decided to develop the captured audio into podcast form.
They are now two seasons in, an award nomination under their belt, a reach in excess of 50,000 people and a community excited to journey through time with intimate, heartfelt stories of secret weddings, cherished family recipes, secret savings clubs, and local refuges from the National Front—stories that paint a vivid picture of a borough shaped by love, struggle and resilience.
The Hackney and Newham History Social Club Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts.