Modern Travel | The Original Gap Year | 1

What actually turned a teenage aristocrat into a "finished" gentleman in the 1700s? Why did one incredibly long, incredibly expensive holiday end up inventing the whole idea of "the West"? And why can you still trace a straight line from that holiday to Frankenstein, the contents of half of Britain's country houses, and this year's tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote?Send a nineteen-year-old aristocrat to Europe for three years with a credit line and a chaperone paid to keep him out of trouble, and what comes home is part fashion victim, part looter, part accidental philosopher — the invention of modern Western identity, Frankenstein, and a culture war about "the Continent" that's still running.Join Legacy Plus for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.legacy.supportingcast.fm[0:00] Peter admits his own anti-aging anxieties before Afua reveals what the new series is really about[3:34] Meet "The Original Gap Year" — and the ex-priest travel blogger who coined the term[13:51] The bear leader — the 18th-century minder whose entire job was damage control[15:51] The macaronis — home from Italy in silk and powder, mocked as "un-British"[21:19] Standing where Gibbon stood — how one ruin becomes an entire theory of civilisation[24:56] A wrecked holiday, a volcano, and a ghost story that becomes Frankenstein[25:37] Ten years since the Brexit vote — and the Grand Tour's fingerprints are still on it[31:09] Where Chatsworth's marble busts actually came fromStay connected with Legacy:Instagram: @originallegacypodcastTikTok: @legacy_productionsExplore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.comJoin Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.legacy.supportingcast.fmStay connected with Legacy:Instagram: @originallegacypodcastTikTok: @legacy_productionsExplore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.