Legacy Inbox: The Gold Britain Still Won't Return

What does it take to get a room of ex-military festival-goers in rural Wiltshire to agree Britain should return its stolen gold? And why does an obsolete Victorian law still make it a criminal offence for the British Museum to give any of it back? Afua Hirsch just spent a week testing both — with a Buckingham Palace thought experiment, a courtroom-style cross-examination, and a verdict on two centuries of looted treasure that even British Museum members found hard to argue with.

Afua brings Peter inside two sold-out tents at the Chalke Valley History Festival — one on the Ashanti gold Britain still won't return, the other on the German peasants written out of history. Welcome to Legacy Inbox, a new lighter-touch addition to the feed.

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[0:00] Afua's back from Chalke Valley, sold-out crowds and all

[4:10] Barnaby Phillips and a sequel to Loot bring Ashanti gold into the tent

[12:05] A sacked palace, a stolen throne, and a case Afua calls open and shut

[18:55] Her answer to "it's illegal to give it back": test it in court

[21:52] The 2024 loan Britain calls generosity — and Ghana calls something else

[24:00] A blacked-out England XI, and what it says about the British Museum

[25:38] Why a tent full of skeptics left more hopeful than they arrived

Stay connected with Legacy:

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:

Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

legacy.supportingcast.fm

Stay connected with Legacy:

Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

TikTok: @legacy_productions

Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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