ShortList collar Dan Snow to find out what he’s listening to, reading and watching when he’s not making documentaries about World War II.
Book to read: The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
“I read a beaten-up paperback of it years ago. I fell in love with a girl while travelling in Africa. I found the book in a hostel and I had a steamy affair with this older woman. It felt as though I was living like a character in the book. I later met Rushdie and told him this, and he was thrilled.”
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TV show to watch: Vikings
“I’m loving it. It’s a drama depicting a mythical family, the Lothbroks. They were the first Vikings to penetrate the Mediterranean. They invaded England and started to topple the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. They went over to France as well. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a geek so I do apply a historian’s eye to it, but I also just try to enjoy it for what it is. I love seeing history realised, seeing what a fleet of Viking ships would have looked like. There are also good strong female characters for my daughters to look at, so that’s good.”
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Must-see film: BlacKkKlansman
“I’m quite liking BlacKkKlansman: very cool, very stylish, darkly amusing. It’s based on a true story of an African-American detective serving in the police, trying to take on the forces of racism. It’s good. There’s real humour in it: comic timing, dramatic pauses. It’s really fun.”
Podcast to download: Justice
“Edwina Grosvenor [Dan’s wife] is a prison reformer and she interviews people who’ve been in prison about what it’s like, and ministers and campaigners about how we can improve the disaster that is our system.”
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Album to listen to: Hamilton soundtrack
“My kids love it. I never thought, as a lover of rap music and 18th-century history, that I would ever be able to combine the two. Hearing Hamilton and Jefferson rap about whether or not to go to war against Britain in the 1790s is a total joy.”
App to download: Ordnance Survey
“I use it all the time. I can roll out of bed when I’m filming and go on an amazing walk.”
WW1’s Secret Shame: Shell Shock is on BBC Two, 9pm on 12 Nov
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