What could be more innocent than a nice cup of cha? In this episode we hear from Seren Charington-Hollins, Markman Ellis, Mathew Mauger and Mukta Das on how England's love of tea is deeply intwined with the British Empire, including how Britain once forced the trade of opium for tea in China. The historians Catherine Hall and Padraic Scanlan also tell us about England's taste for sugar and its origins in slavery.This show was produced by Lewis Bassett. Music comes from Forest DLG. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.