Joshua Levine and Hallie Rubenhold talk to David Olusoga

Two history-for-broadcast writers discuss their knack for uncovering the human truths behind familiar narratives, and for turning neglected lives into compelling, authentic stories, with history consultant David Olusoga. They consider the significance of history, and how the past should – and should not – be presented.

In The Secret History of the Blitz, Joshua Levine reveals a time of extremes of experience and behaviour. People were pulling together, but looters also prowled the night to prey on bomb victims. Levine was historical consultant for Steve McQueen’s new film Blitz.

Hallie Rubenhold (author of Story of a Murder) also homes in on the pitch-black streets of wartime London, which offer cover to a murderer as terrible as Jack the Ripper. In her new series of podcast Bad Women, she tells why the Blackout Ripper’s murders were swept from view.

David Olusoga presented the BBC’s Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners and is author of Black and British. He is a historical consultant and executive producer on Hulu’s A Thousand Blows.