George the Poet on Music, Memory, and the War on Blackness (Part One)

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, Mpanga has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics reflecting on his upbringing to shed light on how race and inequality still shape Britain today. His debut poetry collection in 2015, Search Party, tackled the north-south divide, the housing crisis and critiqued government anti-immigration policies, to widespread acclaim. Since then, Mpanga’s work has bridged grime, prose, spoken-word performance, and most recently longer-form audio, as he has continued to interrogate the socio-political status quo. In February 2025 he joined us on stage to discuss the themes of his new memoir, Track Record: Me, Music, and the War on Blackness. He discussed his personal story alongside a broader social history of race and identity in Britain, and examined what he terms “the war on Blackness”: the systemic forces that continue to oppress people of African descent worldwide. ----- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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1:02.2	where great minds meet. I'm producer Mia Serente. On the show today, George the poet,
1:09.0	the author, poet and spoken word performer.
1:12.6	George is seen by many as one of the UK's most compelling voices in poetry, music and social commentary,
1:19.6	originally hailing from St Raphael's estate in Leesden.
1:22.6	George has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics to shed light on how race and inequality still shape Britain today.
1:31.3	His innovative brand of musical poetry has won him critical acclaim as a recording artist and a social commentator and seen his words broadcast to billions worldwide.
1:42.3	In 2018, he was appointed as a member of the National
1:46.2	Council of Arts in England, and the same year he wrote The Beauty of Union, a poem read
1:51.7	at the Royal Wedding for Prince Harry and Megan. In 2019, George turned down an offer to become an
1:58.3	MBE, citing the British Empire's treatment of his ancestral homeland,
2:02.6	Uganda. His podcast, Have You Heard George's podcast, uses fiction and music to tell stories
2:09.7	about city life, society, history and creativity, and has received five British podcast awards.
2:17.2	George recently joined us on stage at the
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