223. Empire of Plants: From Kew Gardens to Botany Bay

Empire

Jack Davenport

History

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

Kew Gardens near London is one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world, welcoming countless visitors every year. But what many visitors may not know is that the history of Kew and that of the British Empire are intimately intertwined… At the height of the empire, Queen Victoria visited the iconic glass Palm House six times in the first few weeks it opened, and palm houseplants became a proud symbol because of her patronage. The botanical gardens also served as a laboratory that allowed imperial industries to boom. For example, seeds collected by Kew gardeners developed rubber plants that were shipped around the empire. The rubber plantations in British Malaya became so valuable that Britain fought a bloody war in 1948 to keep them. Listen as Anita and William are joined by Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireworld, to discuss how Kew was instrumental to the empire. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [email protected] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Anouska Lewis Senior Producer: Callum Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you want access to bonus episodes reading lists for every series of Empire, a chat community,
0:06.7	discounts for all the books mentioned in the week's podcast, add free listening, and a weekly
0:11.4	newsletter, sign up to Empire Club at www.mpower.com.
0:21.5	This episode is brought to you by our old friends Babel.
0:26.6	Language has always been a bridge between cultures, from ancient trade routes like the
0:32.0	Golden Road to modern diplomacy.
0:35.0	Babel teaches you real-life conversations, enriched by cultural insights and supported by
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0:57.3	Valid for a limited time only, Babel. Language, learning, that works.
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1:41.7	Hello and welcome to Empire with me, Anita Arnh. And William Derrimple and it is up to me to congratulate my co-host on becoming Prime Minister of Canada.
1:51.7	Can I just say how much you have absolutely eaten my time this week?
1:56.6	So for those of you who don't know, what a jolly chafester, William Derrimpoll is.
2:01.9	He literally ruined my week.
	...

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