“I don’t know how to put this…but I’m kind of a big deal.” – Ron Burgundy

In each episode of Kind of a Big Deal you can listen to an exclusive & intimate conversation between our Features Editor and the kind of big deal folk our world-class arts scene attracts – writers, performers, movers and shakers.

Listen again to Kind of a BIG Deal S02E02 ft. Chris Breward, Edinburgh University’s Professor of Cultural History, Principal of Edinburgh College of Art and Vice-Principal Creative Industries and Performing Arts HERE.

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This week’s conversation is between Dan Lentell and the author of The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Post-war Britain

ANGELA BARTIE

#EdFringe was once seen as “people from London trying to foist their dirty culture on fine, upstanding people.”

Angela is an historian of the post-1945 era. Her research interests cover social and cultural change in the second half of the twentieth century. Her focus is on the role of the arts in society, cultural policy, and arts festivals – research topics which grew from, and alongside, her ongoing interest in youth gangs, violence, media representations of young people, and official responses to delinquency.

Her history of the festivals – from their inception through to the 1970s – deals with post-war culture and society in general and the world’s largest arts festival in particular. Edinburgh has been the site of numerous ‘culture wars’ since the festivals began in 1947. Key debates that took place across the Western world about the place of culture in society, the practice and significance of the arts, censorship, the role of organised religion, and meanings of morality were all reflected in frequent contests over culture in the Festival City.

The Edinburgh Festivals explores these ‘culture wars’ – up to the 1970s – and is the first major study of the origins and development of the annual arts extravaganza. This first critical history of the world’s biggest arts festival uses Edinburgh as a lens for understanding wider social and cultural change in post-war Britain. It draws upon a range of archival sources, including original oral history interviews with key players in the arts scene of Edinburgh and beyond.

Dan Lentell Talks to Dr. Angela Bartie

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The jingle is used with the gracious permission of Moving On Theatre’s Laurene Hope Omedal (star of Piaf: Love Conquers All) and is voiced by Edinburgh Nights host Ewan Spence.

This season of Kind of BIG Deal interviews is supported by the good people at the superb Cult Espresso – the coffee lover’s Southside choice.

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