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November 2, 2026
  • The late 1980s love affair with French movies
  • Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’
  • Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s
  • Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog

Three Decades of History with TV historian Tony McMahon

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  • French movies 1980s

    The late 1980s love affair with French movies

    4 minutes ago4 minutes ago
  • yuppie flu

    Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’

    1 day ago1 day ago
  • 1980s illiteracy

    Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s

    1 day ago1 day ago
  • TV 1970s 1980s

    Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

    2 months ago2 months ago
  • 1976 drought summer heat climate change

    Summer of 1976 and Climate Change

    5 months ago5 months ago
  • 1986 Britain

    1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

    10 months ago9 months ago
  • Politics

Can we avoid a recession by looking at the 1990s?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago9 months ago09 mins

The next recession will very likely resemble the early 1990s when suicide rates soared as TV historian Tony McMahon recalls and reports

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attica prison riot
  • Politics

Horror at Attica Prison in 1971 – Riot and Massacre

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago9 months ago012 mins

The 1971 Attica prison riot resulted in a massacre of inmates and guards and drew in the Black Panthers and President Nixon

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  • crime

True Crime insight: Truck hijacking in the 1970s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago9 months ago04 mins

The start of the 1970s saw a huge surge in truck hijacking with billions of dollars worth of cargo stolen by organised crime

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  • Politics

Munich Olympics massacre of 1972 – the facts

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago9 months ago04 mins

The Munich 1972 Olympics saw the murder of Israeli athletes and a row over the Palestinian group being termed guerrillas and not terrorists

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brainwashing cult
  • Culture

Most evil cults – from Branch Davidians to Aum Shinrikyo

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago9 months ago041 mins

Five evil brainwashing cults are examined by TV historian Tony McMahon including the Branch Davidians and Heaven’s Gate

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yuppie TV ad
  • Politics

Yuppie TV ads of the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago4 years ago26 mins

In the 1980s, the yuppie phenomenon was latched on to by the advertising industry creating a slew of yuppie TV ads as Tony McMahon discovers

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Kojak 1970s
  • Politics

Kojak – 1970s police drama game changer

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago4 years ago09 mins

Kojak was one of the great true crime police series of the 1970s with Telly Savalas as the lollipop sucking detective

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  • Politics

1970s feminism – the fight for women’s liberation

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago9 months ago07 mins

Women’s Lib burst on to the scene in the 1970s but the fight for sexual equality was fierce as Tony McMahon discovers

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I Claudius
  • Culture

I Claudius – best historical TV drama ever?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago4 years ago513 mins

In 1976, the BBC broadcast the Roman drama series I Claudius but as Tony McMahon discovers, some TV critics savaged this TV gem

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  • 1980s
  • economics

Nigel Lawson – the 1980s Tory Chancellor

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago3 years ago07 mins

In the 1980s, I lived with Nigel Lawson’s nephew while his uncle was Thatcher’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and architect of her financial policies.

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Buy Original Rude Boy – biography of Neville Staple, The Specials

Boxing and racism in the 80s

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Tony McMahon – your blogger – circa 1982

TV historian Tony McMahon journeys through the politics, culture, and history of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s

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