Episodes
5 days ago
Ashley Mullinger - My Fishing Life
5 days ago
5 days ago
Ashley Mullinger is a commercial fisherman.
She used to work in an office but found it dull and stressful. She decided to go on a half day fishing trip with a couple of her friends just to make a change.
The friends sort of liked it but Ashley REALLY liked it and now does it as a full time job. She is so good at it she was awarded the title of 'Fisherman of the Year'.
In this conversation she explains her passion for the life and her fears for the future of the whole commercial fishing industry.
6 days ago
Rebecca Frayn - Lost in Ibiza
6 days ago
6 days ago
There is an article in the Culture section of The Sunday Times about father and daughter Michael and Rebecca Frayn.
Rebecca is a farmer and environmental activist and writer who lives in the north of Ibiza.
Her new novel 'Lost in Ibiza' is coincidentally, about a young environmental activist who travels to Ibiza to meet her biological father for the very first time.
It's a story of family drama, but it is also the story of a paradise island under threat.
A great holiday read!
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Eric Bibb talks about his life in music
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Eric Bibb remembers his introduction into music via his dad Leon and the musical luminaries who visited the family home.
Paul Robeson was his Godather, and a very young Bob Dylan gave him some sound advice.
Now 72 Eric is still touring, playing, and writing songs. He is one of lifes gentlemen!
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Leslie Howard - The Celestial Wife
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Friday Apr 05, 2024
This novel is set in the 1960s with a backdrop of The Beatles and other music of the time.
It tells the story of Daisy Shoemaker who is 15 in 1964. She was born into a fundamentalist Mormon community on the US - Canada border.
In a ceremony called Placement she is given as a teenage wife to a much older man. She finds this intolerable and runs away.
The church official who makes the decisions is known as Bishop and he assures his followers that he has a direct line to God. Amazingly they believe him.
It's a gripping and enraging read. It's fiction but events like the book describes are still happening today. The fundamentalist cult is vey much alive and well.
There is a Netflix documentary about the group .. Keep Sweet : Pray and Obey.
Monday Mar 25, 2024
Angus Hanton - Vassal State
Monday Mar 25, 2024
Monday Mar 25, 2024
This brand new book examines the astonishing extent of American ownership in UK business.
Whether you are interested in 'taking back control' or how much of our day to day financial transactions happen via the US, you will find this fascinating and possibly horrifying.
Monday Mar 18, 2024
Gareth E. Rees - Sunken Lands
Monday Mar 18, 2024
Monday Mar 18, 2024
Sunken Lands is about a journey through flooded kingdoms and lost worlds.
Gareth tells of places he has visited to see history and extrapolates forward to imagine the world we are leaving for future generations.
There is anger, poetry, myth .... and David Bowie.
Monday Mar 04, 2024
Robin Dunbar - How Religion Evolved And Why it Endures
Monday Mar 04, 2024
Monday Mar 04, 2024
In the spring of 2024 clashes driven by different religious beliefs and identities seem frighteningly threatening.
Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford. From his academic standpoint he charts the evolution of religion in all its many guises and forms.
Does the professor's analysis explain the enduring but shrinking appeal of non logical beliefs?
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Harriet Walter - Thoughts on Acting
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Succession is one of the great TV events.
Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong. Kieron Culkin and Sarah Snook are rightly lauded for their acting ability but don't forget Harriet Walter who portrays the mother of Shiv, Kendall and Roman, Lady Caroline Collingwood.
David Freeman talked to the actress Harriet Walter when her autobiography 'Other People's Shoes' was published in 2003.
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tariq Ali - The Clash of Fundamentalisms : Christianity, Islam and Capitalism
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
The year 2024 is proving as troubled as it's immediate predecessors. Why is this? Is there any cause for optimism? Where do non rational beliefs and convictions fit in the conflicts?
This conversation with the activist and thinker Tariq Ali was recorded soon after the outrage of 9/11.
There is a plan for the future in what Tariq was saying but I wonder if he is as optimistic today. Will rational thought and reasoned discussion bring peaceful coexistence?
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Robin Eggar - biography of Tom Jones
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
This conversation was recorded in 2000 when Robin Eggar's biography of Tom Jones was first published.
At this time Tom's wife, Linda, was still alive and Tom himself was a mere 60 years old.
It emerges from this interview that the man born Thomas Woodward was driven by two passions. What they are is revealed in this Author Archive episode.