Humour vs. Tyranny: Eric Von Essex on History, Hidden Hands and Local Life

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.comCo-host Mr Scott sits in for Shelley and welcomes broadcaster Eric Von Essex for a wide‑ranging, good‑humoured conversation that blends personal history, media literacy, and local culture. We discuss Cornwall’s pull, smuggling lore, lost chapels in the dunes, and how pubs and parish life once anchored real community. Eric shares moving family recollections from Malta, Sicily and D‑Day, the gap between Hollywood myth and wartime reality, and why he published his father David J. Powis’s memoir, My World War Two, to set the record straight. We explore propaganda old and new, from Disraeli and Chesterton to modern “thumbscrew tightening,” phones-as-cages, staged political theatre, and the power of humour to puncture tyranny. We also trail an upcoming Christmas special on the 1914 Christmas Truce and a forthcoming mini‑series on nuclear energy myths featuring Galen Windsor—plus shout‑outs to independent artists listeners can support. Resources mentioned include Powis’s book, the warveteran.co.uk site, archive.org for Lt-Col J. Creagh Scott’s Hidden Government, and indie music from Blood Ruby, First to Eleven, Whom By Fire and Trevor John. Listeners are invited to join the conversation, share local stories, and reconnect with neighbours—because community begins on your own doorstep.