Old News Podcast

Episode 22 in which we remember the 1984 Bhopal disaster, David takes a natural break and Russell tells "The Toilet Story".

Welcome to Season 2 of the Old News Podcast! Freedom from the Humber to the Tweed! In this episode we have more referendum talk, this time about the North East England regional assembly referendum. David calls for the establishment of the People's Democratic Republic of Northumbria while Russell agitates for the Royal and Ancient Kingdom of Northumbria. Eventually we settle on re-establishing the Danelaw and requesting admittance to the Nordic Council. We also consider annexing Strathclyde.

First of all I would like to apologise for how late this episode is, it was recorded in March when the Winter Olympics were still on and it was snowing rather heavily here in the UK. It is all my fault not Russell's, I have been struggling to concentrate on editing for any period of time and have only been able to do it in short bursts. Here it is though, I hope you enjoy it. David. In this episode we leave our comfort zone and talk about sport. Yes, anyone who knows us knows that neither of us have a clue when it comes to sportsball, but we’re going to get a little bit controversial talking about nobody’s favourite Canadian sprinter - Ben Johnson. We also thank a man in a Land Rover and Russell suggests the possibility of allowing outboard motors in Olympic swimming.

And...we're back! In this here episode 19 we discuss the Year 2000 or Y2K problem. What it was, what caused it, similar issues in the past and future, and the effects it has had on today's world.David unleashes the Haylinator on an unsuspecting world and we also welcome our Wikipidean overlords after a very strange interruption...

We're looking back over all our old episodes and bring them up to date with anything that has happened over the last two years. There's a surprising amount. There's trips down several memory lanes and of course Russell has more car problems! He should probably just get the bus.    

This is the episode you've all been waiting for! We've been trailing it for over a month now but this is the joint episode we did with the guys from The Last Tuesday Project. Just to explain what happens: Russell and David acted as the first ever joint "Dimblebies", we gave them one subject to discuss but they're allowed to veto that subject and move on to our second choice but if they do that they aren't allowed to go back to the first. We all then get one hour to research the subject (David and Russell may or may not have cheated on that) and then come back and talk about what we found out. You'll have to listen to find out how it went. It was great fun to record and we can't thank Alex from TLTP for doing all the hard editing work, it can't have been easy.

We're getting out of our comfort zone this time and talking about art, specifically the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Meanwhile, Russell is having yet more car trouble, uses the word "bunkum" and David reveals how much he reviles a particular dead art critic. If you'd like to feed back on the subject matter or the advertising that we are trying out get in touch via e-mal oldnewspod@gmail.com, tweet @OldNewsPod or leave a comment on our Facebook page. We'll also be posting pictures of the Quayside area of Newcastle and Gateshead on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so you can see what we mean about the area.

Remember the Human Genome Project? Remember how it was going to change all our lives? We look into what happened. Is it going to take another 40 years? Meanwhile, Russell discovers "Some kind of bacterial thing", David gets his third new job in a year and we have 3 whole new "Old News" stings! Plus a little treat at the beginning! Remember if you'd like to send in a sting for us just record yourself saying "Old News" in any way you like and send it to oldnewspod@gmail.com

After Russell's trip to Canada Old News is back with another marathon about BSE, or Mad Cow Disease as you might know it. We find out about how boring David's job sounds, which countries we're big in and we invent the Trudeau Scale of Canadian-ness. We're still looking for "Old News" stings from our listeners. Record them on any device you like, in any format you like, and send them to us at oldnewspod@gmail.com

A tired sounding Russell and David discuss the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (known in Britain as the Boxing Day tsunami), the events of the day, the reconstruction, the charity effort, and the unexpected outcomes. David also reveals his yearning to own a fez as his podcasting hat and we invite our listeners to send us recordings of themselves saying "Old News" for us to use as links. If you would like to send us an "Old News" record it in any way you like, in any file format, and e-mail it to us at oldnewspod@gmail.com **This episode was recorded two weeks ago which is why there is no mention or condemnation of current events**

and President We're digginging ourselves into a big hole and doing and episode on the Channel Tunnel. Russell indulges his love of trains, David guesses some French, the Queen and President Mitterand do the business, and somehow we end up in Turkmenistan. We also talk about shed erections, David still being stiffer than said shed, and pineapple cider.

Just a little announcement to say we're still here, we haven't dissapeared and we'll be back soon.

The year is 1989 and one of the worst oil spils the world had ever seen occurs off the coast of Alaska. In this episode we look at the impact the disaster had on the shipping industry, the environment and the economy. We also mention Schrodinger's car, try to make money out of cheesy meat and David uses the word "splurge".

We're heading back into space this time to talk about the discovery of the first exoplanet. During the discussion of observation methods, signals and space telescopes we mange to include broken cars, the 57 varieties of hard left politics, ancient Rome and the East India Company. This is the BBC Future article Russell mentions towards the end of the episode: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161215-if-we-made-contact-with-aliens-how-would-religions-react ESA's CoRoT overview page: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/COROT_overview NASA's Kepler page: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

We metaphorically cross the pond in this episode to investigate Hurricane Katrina, its effects on New Orleans and the aftermath. This leads us into the sensitive subjects of race, politics and equality. While doing this of course we still manage to take a quick interlude, talk about banana shaped vegetable scrubbing brushes being used for the wrong thing and internet fu. All while drinking the ever-present beer of indeterminate strength. Listen out for some more easter eggs after the end music! This episode was brought to you by the numbers 4, 7 and The Last Tuesday Project podcast available wherever you find podcasts and their website www.lasttuesdayproject.com

The story of how and why Czechoslovakia broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. What has happened since and what the world can learn from it. We also talk about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and two different types of spring.

This time David and Russell look back at the UK's switch to digital TV and radio while drinking some actual real beer. Somehow noodle-like worms, French Canada, monkeys and good old John Logie Baird come into it.  

In this episode, somewhere amongst the chat about Godzilla, echidnas, reindeer slippers and wooly mammoths we manage to talk about the 1997 return of Hong Kong to China. We also revisit and update some of our old episodes - hence the mammoth. There was no beer for this one, just some massive cups of tea, and listen out for David's wonderful singing!  

We're back! With another listener suggested episode. This time David and Russell discus the man hunt and subsequent stand-off, for Raoul Moat in the north east of England. We then move on to its ramifications for the media and society. Somehow we also manage to include roosters, camel’s noses, hippo’s testicles and of course no Old News episode would be complete without some “beer of indeterminate strength.” Listen out for an Easter egg after the music as well!

For the first time we have a listener suggested subject - the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Once again, Russell reveals he is skipping the country while David has, surprisingly, not had any DIY related problems. Welsh sheep, the pronunciation of "Bath" and cheesy chains all make unexpected appearances. We also give a shout out to our friends at The Last Tuesday Project podcast. Give them a listen at www.lasttuesdayproject.com   NOTE: Russell mentions that he can't remember what SCRAM stands for. It could stand for "Safety Control Rods Activation Mechansim", "Safety Control Rods Actuator Mechanism", or the slightly strange "Safety Control Rod Axe Man".

In this episode we talk about the Kosovo war, it's aftermath and the existance (or not) of an independent state of Kosovo. We try to be as even handed as possible but please feel free to deedback in the usual ways, remembering that we aren't historians or journalists. We also discover the Russell has to get out of the country for "tax reasons"... We try to explain where Kosovo is but just in case anyone is still wondering, here is a link: Kosovo on Google Maps

We tell the story of Dolly the Sheep, talk about cloning, woolly mammoths, the concept of marsupial frogs (yes, we know...), Jurassic Park, spare parts for your body and for some reason ballet. Barnard Castle and New Zealand also raise their comedic heads again.

We're trying a new half hour, single subject format this time ands its about the UK's AV referendum in 2011. What? Which referendum? Exactly. Note: We had some technical difficulties recording this one so if you notice anything unusual in the sound quality we apologise.

Sub-titled "Right, we're not going to start with the word right are we?" In this episode we introduce ourselves and talk about the Columbia disaster and then move on the North Korean nuclear program.