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April 14, 2026
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The 70s 80s 90s Blog

Three Decades of History with TV historian Tony McMahon

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1980s

1980s unsolved murders
  • 1980s
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The Unsolved Murder of Dian Fossey

The 70s 80s 90s Blog9 months ago3 months ago07 mins

There’s an astonishing number of unsolved murders from the 1980s and it’s very striking how varied these cases are. Mobsters, members of cults, victims of homophobia, and racist homicides. Some of the stories are truly sinister so let’s investigate. The People’s Temple and a cult defector In 1980, Jeannie Mills, her husband Al, and daughter…

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  • 1970s

British Extreme Right, violence and riots

The 70s 80s 90s Blog2 years ago2 years ago05 mins

The British Extreme Right has a long history of violence and riots going back to the early twentieth century when Jewish communities were its main target. But it was the 1970s, that saw groups like the National Front and British Movement become a menace on the streets of Britain. Many of those who have shaped…

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GAY'S THE WORD
  • 1980s
  • Politics

Police raid Gay’s the Word bookshop

The 70s 80s 90s Blog2 years ago2 years ago013 mins

Nearly forty years ago, an LGBT bookshop in London was raided by customs officials leading to a court case against nine directors and staff who faced over a hundred charges. This proved to be a landmark case, largely forgotten now. It advanced gay rights while also raising questions about censorship by the authorities. Key issues…

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1970s cult parents ACLU
  • 1970s
  • 1980s

How 1970s parents rescued their children from cults

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago06 mins

In the 1970s, parents increasingly tried to rescue their children from cults but ACLU objected on civil liberties grounds

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  • Culture

LGBT struggle for liberation in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago2 months ago09 mins

In the 1980s – gays had the choice to be Tories or rebels. Faced with Clause 28 and bigotry around AIDS, most chose the latter as Tony McMahon discovers.

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  • Culture
  • Politics

Shocking anti LGBT bigotry in parliament in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago2 months ago014 mins

A debate in the House of Lords on the Local Government Act reveals 1980s homophobia at its very worst as Tony McMahon discovers

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  • 1981 riots
  • fascist

The menace of British fascism in the 1970s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog4 years ago4 years ago012 mins

British fascism experienced a surge in the 1970s led in the main by the National Front

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It's a Sin
  • Culture
  • Politics

It’s a Sin – LGBT in the Thatcher era

The 70s 80s 90s Blog5 years ago5 years ago011 mins

The Russell T Davies series It’s a Sin shows what it was like to be young and gay in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and with AIDS

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LGBT 1980s
  • Politics

LGBT woes in the early 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog6 years ago6 years ago02 mins

LGBT people faced discrimination, the AIDS virus and homophobic legislation from the Thatcher government in the 1980s as Tony McMahon reports

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austerity economics failure
  • Politics

Austerity economics – failure 35 years ago

The 70s 80s 90s Blog9 years ago6 years ago05 mins

The 1979 Thatcher government introduced a form of austerity economics called monetarism that ended up being a complete failure

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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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