Sentence:  I suspect it's these pictures that —— and his cronies have in mind when they <WSD>rhubarb</WSD> on about iconicity and retro imagery and the 'solid, uncomplicated, talismanic Englishness' (that is, counterfeit Americanness) of the immediate post-war years that I'm supposed to represent. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Of an actor in a film, stage play, etc.: to repeat the word "rhubarb" to create the sound of indistinct conversation; "hence", to converse indistinctly, to mumble.