Jonathan Meades' Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness back on iplayer.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Heads up:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b03w7b7x/bunkers-brutalism-and-bloodymindedness-concrete-poetry-with-jonathan-meades

[sevendaughters]

if you want to watch nearly all of Meades then they're here: http://meadesshrine.blogspot.com/p/shrine.html

he even endorses that link on his own site. think some of his stuff might not ever get on DVD because of various licences and what have you. shame.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nice, I've got the BBC Collection on DVD but it's by no means a complete anthology.

[Lost Oliver]

Amazing - thank you both. Only recently started watching his stuff after a friend recommended 'Jargon' and although I need to watch his stuff at least twice before any of it goes in I love it.

[jobotic]

Have recorded this. I did enjoy the Meades programme years back when he went to lower league Scottish football grounds.

Isn't he in Toby Young's new magazine? He's not one of that lot is he?

[Norton Canes]

Fantastic heads up OP, ta

[gilbertharding]

Have recorded this. I did enjoy the Meades programme years back when he went to lower league Scottish football grounds.

Isn't he in Toby Young's new magazine? He's not one of that lot is he?

I wouldn't like to delve into all the things he believes - but apparently he's a hardcore Humanist. His cultural, architectural and aesthetic views are interesting, and often contrary to the 'received wisdom'. He could be a tory - but as long as it never shows (and I never buy The Spectator), who cares?

[studpuppet]

By the way - I seem to recall that he also introduces the episodes of Nairn Across Britain on the iPlayer (edit: he does). If you like Meades then Nairn is very obviously his antecedent.

[gilbertharding]

I might have said this before - but I discovered recently that the person who did the Architectural History lectures when I was at college in the mid '90s was Jacob Rees Mogg's future step-father-in-law.

[sevendaughters]

Meades is someone who believes the thing that leads to the best in humanity is trade - in the Magnetic North two-parter he is very positive about the Hanseatic League. This could lead to accusations that he is a Tory, or that he's progressive. He doesn't seem bothered about the financial acquisition aspect but the meeting of cultures and the development of aesthetics. I suspect he was a Blair voter in 1997.

[pigamus]

Is it just the first part?

[A Hat Like That]

Watching the Birmingham one from 1998.

It's great.

[sevendaughters]

my favourite one is his entry in the Pevsner's Britain series on Worcestershire. Brilliant essay, funny, lots of style, emotive and powerful. Top class telly.

[Shit Good Nose]

He's always been VERY critical of Thatcher, but I know that doesn't automatically make him not-tory.  Based on the few times he has touched on politics, I suspect he doesn't lean towards one particular party and probably believes elements of all of them.


Massive fan of Meades since stumbling by accident upon Abroad In Britain when it was first on.  Five minute monologues which need a dictionary and thesaurus immediately followed by low-brow jokes about farts and Brummies.  Sterling stuff.  Still remember a few years ago when he went to Alsace and a restaurant that serves beaver.  "I've never eaten beaver before"(knowing long stare at the camera).

[Zetetic]

I think he believes in social liberalism combined with being quite humane and very clever. Which is not a terrible personal position, perhaps, at least.

There's a bit in Ben Building, skirting around the ideological emptiness of Italian fascism (if I represent Meades correctly) roughly equating anti-fascists with those they call fascists.

I must see if Joe Building is as good as I remember or if that was the product of watching it ignorance of him and the subject, by accident, some time ago. Bits of stayed with me quite a while after that (mostly Vasily Yakovlev portrait of Zhukov in the ruins of Berlin).

[poodlefaker]

I suspect he was a Blair voter in 1997.

Hmm, he rarely misses a chance to have a go at Blair these days. I can't think of a politician he would like, tbh; Richard Ingrams used to describe himself as a conservative anarchist, which fits JM pretty well, I think.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I think he's more left wing than I thought he was, based on things like this
edit: meant this:
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/node/43739

[Neville Chamberlain]

if you want to watch nearly all of Meades then they're here: http://meadesshrine.blogspot.com/p/shrine.html

You need to be pumped so hard full of positive karma for this post.

[Phil_A]

I think he believes in social liberalism combined with being quite humane and very clever. Which is not a terrible personal position, perhaps, at least.

There's a bit in Ben Building, skirting around the ideological emptiness of Italian fascism (if I represent Meades correctly) roughly equating anti-fascists with those they call fascists.

If you'll permit me to Meadesplain, I think the point he was making is that the term fascism is misapplied when it's used by those on both ends of the political spectrum to slur their opponents, when in fact real fascism doesn't even respect distinctions of left and right, only power and control matters.

[Endicott]

if you want to watch nearly all of Meades then they're here: http://meadesshrine.blogspot.com/p/shrine.html

he even endorses that link on his own site. think some of his stuff might not ever get on DVD because of various licences and what have you. shame.

Another thanks from me, that's a great resource. I don't think I've seen them all, and if I have I've forgotten the older ones.

I watched the golf one and the caravan one last night, both wonderful. Great little sound effects every so often, I particularly laughed at the groan when he pretends to get shut inside the folding caravan.

[jobotic]

Post-war English churches? yes!