Talk Media

Here's the first topic from today's Talk Media Episode. To hear the full hour long podcast, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic from today's Talk Media Episode. To hear the full hour long podcast, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic from today's Talk Media Episode. To hear the full hour long podcast, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic from today's Talk Media Episode. To hear the full hour long podcast, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's a 20 min listen to this week's Talk Media. To hear the full 3 topics, Listener questions and recommendations, go to https://www.patreon.com/posts/enoch-starmer-in-128938550?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

This week, in the second of our series of deep dives, we are talking about Ukraine with Talk Media pal David Pratt. We are really grateful to David for bringing his real life experiences and insights to the podcast and listeners. This podcast was recorded in advance of release.

We've taken this opportunity to welcome Talk Media regular David Pratt in to the studio to record this 2 part series starting with Palestine. With Trump taking up so much of the news space, this gives us a chance to do a deep dive into this horrific conflict that seems to have dropped down the news cycle. A huge thanks to David for taking the time to come in and give us the benefit of his experience and expertise. Part 2 Ukraine will be available next week.

This week we've gone for 2 topics and 7 listener questions. Get the kettle on! We made the 6 part podcast Hunting The Whisky Bandits with BBC Disclosure. Check itnout here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0029kxz

The boys are in great form this week as they chat through the topics that hit their media radar. Listener questions from Lorraine Kerr, Roger Hyam and Thomas Devlin.

This week the boys are on good form as they chew over the week's topics. Listener questions come from Alex MacDonald and Kevin Rinchey. Apologies for not getting the shout out for questions earlier. If you want to submit a question for the boys, please fire us a question in by 2pm on a Wednesday in the comments areas or messaging areas of Patreon and we will do our best to get it discussed. To hear the full episode, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

This week the dynamic duo return to talk the week's big media stories with listener questions from Iain Campbell, Gordon Cuthbertson, Alex MacDonald and Michael Mackinnon.

This week we welcome Stuart back to the podcast as we start our 5th year of Talk Media on The Big Light. Thank you to all of you who support us - every penny you give us goes towards the costs of making the podcast. To hear the full episode, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic of today's Talk Media. To hear the full episode go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic of today's Talk Media. To hear the full episode go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia

Here's the first topic of today's Talk Media. To hear the full episode go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia An extended listener questions this week featuring questions from Alex MacDonald, Bill White and Colin Bone.

Here's the first topic of today's Talk Media. To hear the full episode go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia We are delighted to welcome John Nicolson to the show today for the first time. Thanks to John for joining us remotely, hopefully next time we will have him in for some tea and biscuits! Listen question this week is from John Nichol. Recommendations: Angela Severance - Apple TV Eamonn The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson John The Plot Against America - Philip Roth Brian and Maggie - The real interview CH4

Here's the first topic of today's Talk Media. To hear the full episode go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia Today's show was recorded before Israel announced their delay in releasing Palestinian prisoners. Listen questions from Jim Hunter, James Ross and Linda. Recommendations: Eamonn The Rose of Tibet - Lionel Davidson David War was my comfort zone, until I had to walk away - BBC Outlook

Here's a free listen to the first topic from this week's show. If you want to hear the other two topics, listener questions and recommendations, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia and help us to continue our independent look at the stories hitting the news and the media behind them.

Happy New Year to you all from everyone at The Big Light. Here's a free listen to the first topic from this week's show. If you want to hear the other two topics, listener questions and recommendations, go to www.patreon.com/talkmedia and help us to continue our independent look at the stories hitting the news and the media behind them. We're really happy to be back in the studio and delighted to have such a packed first episode.

A bumper show today full of energy and great debate. We'll be back with our first show of 2025 on 8th January. Wishing all of you a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year. Recommendations: Catriona Swiped - CH4 Emma and Matt Willis challenge a group of Year 8 pupils at the Stanway School in Colchester to give up their smartphones completely for 21 days Angela Irresistible -BBC2 Why are ultra-processed foods so irresistible, and how they have come to dominate food culture? This documentary by medical doctor and academic Dr Chris van Tulleken features interviews with former food industry insiders who talk openly about the way in which popular foods have been designed to be irresistible. Food companies go to extraordinary lengths to ensure their products connect with consumers - from using brain scans to assess the deliciousness of ice cream to carefully engineering the sound of a crunch. Ultra-processed foods are hyper-delicious and super-convenient, have long shelf lives and are extremely cheap. But a growing body of evidence is linking these products to our declining health. David A Quiet Evening: The Travels of Norman Lewis Collected here, from a period of nearly five decades, are thirty-six of Norman Lewis's best articles. In each, his writing crackles with poker-faced wit and stylistic brilliance. As a witness to his times – the good, the bad and the absurd – he was unmatched, and his instinct for important events, and moments, was infallible. His range here includes Ibizan fishermen, an interview with Castro's executioner, the genocide of the South American Indian tribes, a paean to Seville and his meeting with a tragic Ernest Hemingway. That meeting was ‘a shattering experience,' Norman wrote to Ian Fleming who had commissioned him, ‘of the kind likely to sabotage ambition.'Fortunately it didn't, and the articles assembled between these covers are compulsive, hilarious, tender and beautifully written, at times deeply upsetting, and always unforgettable. The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World  With a mind-boggling mastery of sources, Dalrymple weaves a thrilling tale of India's cultural hegemony, not forgetting its invention of mathematics and related disciplines still in use today - Andrew Lycett, Spectator Eamonn Comfort and Joy Alan Bird (Bill Paterson, Outlander, Dad's Army) thinks he has life pretty well organised. Glasgow's top DJ, with a nice apartment, and the only red BMW Cabriolet north of Manchester, he has little to worry about until his kleptomaniac girlfriend Maddy ditches him just before Christmas.

Listener questions from Kay Springham and Iain Campbell. Recommendations: Eamonn The Only Girl In the Orchestra - Netflix This short documentary celebrates trailblazing double bassist Orin O'Brien, the first woman to become a full-time member of the New York Philharmonic. Angela Cover - BBC Sounds The man tasked with finding and killing alleged IRA informers was an informer all along. Reporter Mark Horgan traces the story of the secret British Army Agent known as Stakeknife. David My Silent War - The Autobiography of a Spy - Kim Philby In the annals of espionage, one name towers above all others: that of H. A. R. "Kim" Philby, the ringleader of the legendary Cambridge spies. A member of the British establishment, Philby joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1940, rose to the head of Soviet counterintelligence, and, as M16's liaison with the CIA and the FBI, betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians, fatally compromising covert actions to roll back the Iron Curtain in the early years of the Cold War. Written from Moscow in 1967, My Silent War shook the world and introduced a new archetype in fiction: the unrepentant spy. It inspired John Le Carre's Smiley novels and the later espionage novels of Graham Greene. Kim Philby was history's most successful spy. He was also an exceptional writer who gave us the great iconic story of the Cold War and revolutionized, in the process, the art of espionage writing.

At the end a question from Alex MacDonald. Recommendations: Eamonn Me and Mon Ami - YouTube Adventures On The French Riviera In a Citroën Ami. We may not have driving licences but that won't stop us. Join us as we go up mountain and down dale in this sunny place for shady people. Along with our chihuahua Twiggy we'll take you to amazing villages, fantastic local restaurants, and off the beaten track beauty spots in our tiny sans permis electric car. History, culture, property and a healthy dose of Northern humour. So why not subscribe and join us on our ever so slightly crazy journey? Angela Say Nothing - Disney+ FX's series “Say Nothing” is a gripping story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. The 9-episode series is based on the book by Patrick Radden Keefe. Spanning four decades, the series opens with the shocking disappearance of Jean McConville, a single mother of ten who was abducted from her home in 1972 and never seen alive again. Telling the story of various Irish Republican Army (IRA) members, Say Nothing explores the extremes some people will go to in the name of their beliefs, the way a deeply divided society can suddenly tip over into armed conflict, the long shadow of radical violence for all affected, and the emotional and psychological costs of a code of silence. Paddy Hot Ones - YouTube The show with hot questions and even hotter wings. Watch Sean interview celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Tommy Chong, and DJ Khaled as they burn their tastebuds.

Included questions from Paul Hampton, David Arnott and Muriel Cockburn. A deep dive into the fast moving situations in both the Middle East and Ukraine, discuss the threat of strikes at The Guardian and The Observer and we consider the latest drama to spark court dealings - this time it's the Netflix and the Mendez Brothers. Recommendations: David UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese calls David Lammy a 'genocide denier' Trump team divided over Ukraine war end plan, debates demilitarized zone, NATO freeze Semi-Invisible Man: The Life of Norman Lewis Norman Lewis Books Eamonn Dominic Dunne Vanity Fair The Mansions of Limbo by Dominick Dunne Justice: Crimes, Trials and Punishment by Dominick Dunne Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne

This week our question comes from Alison McKeever. Recommendations: Catriona Who Killed Emma - BBC Scotland The naked body of a young woman is found in isolated woods. Police never catch her killer. Journalist Sam Poling's investigation takes her into a dark and unsettling world of sex, rape, lies and murder. And it leads her to confront the man she believes is the prime suspect. From BBC Scotland, Who Killed Emma? Is an eight-part podcast that forensically takes apart the police investigation into Emma's murder and unravels the impact of a series of coincidences and missed opportunities until a clear suspect starts to emerge. Angela Silo - Apple Tv Silo is the story of the last ten thousand people on earth, their mile-deep home protecting them from the toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built and those who try to find out face fatal consequences. Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer who seeks answers about a loved one's murder and tumbles onto a mystery that goes far deeper than she could have ever imagined, leading her to discover that if the lies don't kill you, the truth will. In addition to Ferguson, Silo season two stars new addition Steve Zahn, alongside returning stars Tim Robbins, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Avi Nash, Alexandria Riley, Shane McRae, Remmie Milner, Clare Perkins, Billy Postlethwaite, Rick Gomez, Caitlin Zoz, Tanya Moodie and Iain Glen. Eamonn The Day of the Jackal - Book - Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal - Now tv - Original Film The Day of The Jackal - Sky Tv Series The Day of the Jackal is a brand new thriller based on the classic 1971 book by Frederick Forsyth about a lone wolf and his global scale threat. The official synopsis, from Sky, reads: “An unrivalled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal, makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.” With a fresh twist on the source material, including the subsequent award-winning 1973 film from Universal Pictures, The Day of the Jackal promises a chase across the world as the hunter becomes the hunted.

Recommendations: Ruth Cove and Kilcreggan Book Festival 2024 Amongst the popular authors this year are Liz Lochhead, Alex Gray, and a much lauded new kid on the block called Jen Stout, who has been recalling her adventures covering the conflict in Ukraine. Tickets, both weekend and single event are available via the button below. Breaking News ! We are pleased to announce our full list of Authors. Saturday 23rd November Liz LochheadAlex GrayAasmah MirJosie Long Sunday 24th November Ken McNabJen StoutGavin FrancisPeter Ross More details on the authors can be found here Tickets for the Individual Author Sessions are now available at the link below at £8 per session. Weekend Passes at £55 each are still on sale and offer a £9 saving on individual tickets. You will receive a ticket by email in the form of a PDF attachment which can be printed out or presented on your phone at the event. As soon as your payment is processed your name will be added to our list which will be available at the Cove Burgh Hall door.  Cove Burgh Hall, Shore Road, Cove, G84 0LY. Shetland - BBC The dark side of one of the most beautiful places on earth. Uncovering secrets and lies from the past - detective drama starring Douglas Henshall, Ashley Jensen and Alison O'Donnell. A Glasgow Girl: A memoir of growing up and finding your voice - Aasmah Mir A Glasgow Girl is the coming of age story of Aasmah Mir's childhood growing up in 1970s Glasgow. From a vivacious child to a teenage loner, Aasmah candidly shares the highs and lows of growing up between two cultures - trying to fit in at school and retreating to the safe haven of a home inhabited by her precious but distant little brother and Helen, her family's Glaswegian guardian angel. Intricately woven into this moving memoir is the story of Aasmah's mother, as we follow her own life as a young girl in 1950s Pakistan to 1960s Scotland and beyond. Both mother and daughter fight, are defeated and triumph in different battles in this sharp and moving story. A Glasgow Girl is a remarkable memoir about family, identity and finding yourself where you are. Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church - Peter Ross A thoroughly beguiling tour around the manifold riches of Britain's churches, Ross' immersive book ranges from unassuming parish to mighty cathedral and tells a defiantly human story of art, architecture, history and culture. David: Rebels and Renegades: Sheila Rock Street Level Photoworks are pleased to present REBELS & RENEGADES, a two part exhibition featuring the outstanding work of Sheila Rock and Jill Furmanovsky, two pioneering women photographers who captured the zeitgeist of punk and the post-punk unfolding in music and style. https://www.middleeasteye.net/ - Why Dutch support for Israel's football hooligans has roots in colonial racism Eamonn My Salinger Year - film In New York City's late nineties, a young aspiring writer lands a day-job at J.D. Salinger's literary agency. While her eccentric and old-fashioned boss tasks her to process Salinger's voluminous fan mail, she struggles to find her own voice. SALINGER- Documentary Features interviews with 150 subjects - including Salinger's friends and colleagues who have never spoken on the record - as well as film footage, photographs, and other material never before seen.

A bit of a U.S. Election Special here. As we all wonder what the next 4 years of President Trump will bring, here is this week's episode with this trio on good form. Recommendations: Eamonn The Kominsky Method - Netflix Acting coach Sandy Kominsky and best friend Norman Newlander keep each other laughing as they navigate the ups and downs of getting older. The War Room - Amazon This documentary follows President Clinton's campaign trail and focuses on his aides, James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Paddy https://theonion.com/ - America's Finest News Source.. Ludwig - BBC iplayer David Gideon's Spies: The Inside Story of Israel's Legendary Secret Service The Mossad (Paperback) Gordon Thomas has a grasp of history… this is one of the few books to have captured the true nature of the Israeli Government and the thorough process of the Israeli power elite. Ari Ben-Menashe, Former Adviser on Intelligence to the Israeli Government Created in 1951 to ensure an embattled Israel' s future, the Mossad has been responsible for the most audacious and thrilling feats of espionage, counterterrorism and assassination ever ventured. Gideon' s Spies has been created from closed-door interviews with Mossad agents, informants and spymasters, and drawing from classified documentsand top-secret sources, revealing previously untold truths about the Israeli intelligence agency. Bang-up-to-date, this new paperback edition of this best-selling book includes startling new information on subjects ranging from Weapons of Mass Destruction, international terrorism, North Korea' s bird-flu war games and ‘ ethnic bombs' . The riveting text is supported by glossaries, appendices and shows a Mossad as it has historically been: brilliant, ruthless, flawed but ultimately fascinating.  David Pratt: What I learned from the US election result - The National

We are very lucky to have the participation of all our guests who give up their time to chat through the week's topics. Today we are ally pleased to welcome back Alison and Catriona. Recommendations: Alison Why We're Polarized (Paperback) - Ezra Klein America's political system isn't broken. The truth is scarier: it's working exactly as designed. In Why We're Polarized, Ezra Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America's deep political divisions, revealing how a system filled with rational, functional parts can combine into a dysfunctional whole. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicisation of everyday culture. Klein shows how and why American politics polarised in the twentieth century, what that polarisation did to Americans' views of the world and one another, and how feedback loops between polarised political identities and polarised political institutions drive the system toward crisis. This revelatory book will change how you look at politics, and perhaps at yourself. Catriona The Londoner The Bell - link to Catriona's article on Easdale Bros. Eamonn "What's the secret to still dancing at 106?"

Recommendations: Angela The Wild Robt - film From DreamWorks Animation comes a new adaptation of a literary sensation, Peter Brown's beloved, award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot. The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot--ROZZUM unit 7134, "Roz" for short--that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. David Searching For Gerda Taro - film SEARCHING FOR GERDA TARO celebrates the life and work of Taro — a charismatic Jewish refugee from Germany, an anti-fascist, and a trailblazing photographer whose work would be forgotten for decades. In 1935, Taro (then going by her birth name, Gerta Pohorylle), met Endre Friedmann, a Jewish photographer from Hungary trying to make a name for himself in Paris. They fell in love and moved in together. The next year, they changed their names to Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. Capa taught Taro photography. Taro in turn helped sell his photos and build his reputation. Together, they went to Spain to report on the civil war from the front lines. She captured the heroism of Republican fighters and documented the world's first deaths of civilians from aerial bombardment. SEARCHING FOR GERDA TARO shares dozens of stunning archival images by and of Taro. We come to understand her life and work through conversations with curators, authors, and descendants of those who knew her. For decades, her legacy was wrapped up with Capa's, many of her photos seemingly lost. But with the discovery of thousands of her negatives in the mid-1990s, Taro can finally enjoy the credit she deserves as a brilliant photographer in her own right. Eamonn Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out - Doc Celebrate one of Britain's most-loved comic creations as Jennifer Saunders, Dame Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha and Jane Horrocks reunite to share anecdotes and backstage secrets.

Episode 244 of Talk Media discusses the media coverage following the sudden death of Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who in 2014, took our country within touching distance of Independence. Eamonn, joined by Catriona Stewart and David Pratt, have a frank discussion on the media coverage , a look at the horrors taking place in the Middle East and the frankly strange news of Labour pushing weight loss drugs in an attempt to cut back the welfare bill. Recommendations: Eamonn The War Room- doc - Amazon Prime This documentary follows President Clinton's campaign trail and focuses on his aides, James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Catriona Break Up - : How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War - Book Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's political partnership changed the face of Scotland, bringing the country to within 200,000 votes of independence and holding sway at Holyrood for more than a decade. So how and why has their thirty-year alliance irretrievably broken down? Break-Up tells the inside story of how the once unbreakable unity of the Scottish National Party was ripped apart amid shocking claims of sexual assault. With unrivalled access to both camps and the women who made the allegations, and with rigorously fair-minded reporting, journalists David Clegg and Kieran Andrews go behind the headlines to uncover the truth about this extraordinary episode, in a piece of political history that reads like a thriller. Now fully updated, this is a jaw-dropping tale of inappropriate behaviour in the highest reaches of power, of lies, distrust and alleged conspiracy, with profound implications not only for Salmond and Sturgeon themselves but for Scotland's governing party and the wider independence campaign. David Wild Thing - book Paul Gauguin is chiefly known as the giant of post-Impressionist painting whose bold colours and compositions rocked the Western art world. It is less well known that he was a stockbroker in Paris and that after the 1882 financial crash he struggled to sustain his artistry, and worked as a tarpaulin salesman in Copenhagen, a canal digger in Panama City, and a journalist exposing the injustices of French colonial rule in Tahiti. In Wild Thing, the award-winning biographer Sue Prideaux re-examines the adventurous and complicated life of the artist. She illuminates the people, places and ideas that shaped his vision: his privileged upbringing in Peru and rebellious youth in France; the galvanising energy of the Paris art scene; meeting Mette, the woman who he would marry; formative encounters with Vincent van Gogh and August Strindberg; and the ceaseless draw of French Polynesia. Prideaux conjures Gauguin's visual exuberance, his creative epiphanies, his fierce words and his flaws with acuity and sensitivity. Drawing from a wealth of new material and access to the artist's family, this myth-busting work invites us to see Gauguin anew.

This week we are in sync with our listeners with all 3 topics matching questions submitted. Thanks to all! We have our fingers crossed that we can have Stuart back with us next week. Recommendations: Angela Hounded: Women, Harms and the Gender Wars - Jenny Lindsay The last decade has seen countless cases of women being fired, disciplined, protested or no-platformed for their views on sex and gender. Whether high-profile celebrities or previously unknown feminists, such women's vocal non-belief in ‘gender identity' as a universal human condition bears a high social cost. These ‘houndings' are often presented starkly, clinically, in headlines or fleeting social media moments, stripped of the true cost of holding such beliefs. But what is the reality behind the headlines and noise? What are the true consequences of holding – and living with - such seemingly now-heretical thoughts? Hounded charts the often hidden and unspoken harms women face for prioritising and defending sex-based language and rights. Outlining the often-bewildering array of tactics used by opponents against such women, as well as the resilience required to refuse to be silenced, Lindsay presents a compelling argument for recognition of the individual and social harms that are being enacted under the auspices of ‘gender identity activism.'  This debut non-fiction book by award-winning poet and essayist Jenny Lindsay, whose own ‘hounding' offers a unique perspective, is a solid, sane, witty but also compassionate account about the very human cost of this extraordinary cultural and political schism. David Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star - BBC iplayer Lena Zavaroni was a child superstar, barnstorming the charts, sharing the stage with Sinatra, and performing for the US president, all before her 11th birthday. But her light was dimmed too soon by a battle with anorexia.  Told from the perspective of her 84-year-old father, Victor, this poignant story reflects on parental regret as he seeks peace with his daughter's untimely fate.  Inside Barlinnie - BBC iplayer This series explores the lives of current prisoners and staff as well as delving into a dark history of hangings, riots and escapes that have shaped the prison for over a century. Eamonn ‘It's all I think about': Stanley Tucci on love, grief and pasta - Guardian Screen favourite, cocktail maker, cancer survivor, sex symbol… Stanley Tucci is a man of many parts. The ‘Tooch' discusses fame, his new book – and the perils of cooking for children

We are still missing our big pal Cosgrove so we're really grateful to Simon and David for getting the TM jersey on and getting stuck in to the day's subjects. Recommendations: Eamonn In Vogue - the 90's Disney+ The '90s was the decade when high fashion walked off the runway and into mainstream culture. Featuring an A-list cast from the worlds of fashion, film and music, alongside Vogue's Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful, this landmark series reveals the inside story of the 90's most celebrated fashion and pop culture moments. David Algiers, Third World Capital:Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers - book The life of an unexpected revolutionary with the Black Panthers in Algiers Mokhtefi (née Klein), a Jewish American from Long Island, has had an exhilarating life. In the 1960s, she served as a press adviser to the National Liberation Front in postwar Algiers, before going to work with Eldridge Cleaver, who was wanted in the US for his role in a deadly shoot-out with Oakland police. Half a century later, as an eighty-nine-year-old painter living on the Upper West Side, Mokhtefi still seasons her prose with the argot of revolution. Simon The Hundred Years' War on Palestine The twentieth century for Palestine and the Palestinians has been a century of denial: denial of statehood, denial of nationhood and denial of history. The Hundred Years War on Palestine is Rashid Khalidi's powerful response. Drawing on his family archives, he reclaims the fundamental right of any people: to narrate their history on their own terms. Beginning in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, Khalidi reveals nascent Palestinian nationalism and the broad recognition by the early Zionists of the colonial nature of their project. These ideas and their echoes defend Nakba - the Palestinian term for the establishment of the state of Israel - the cession of the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, the Six Day War and the occupation. Moving through these critical moments, Khalidi interweaves the voices of journalists, poets and resistance leaders with his own accounts as a child of a UN official and a resident of Beirut during the 1982 seige. The result is a profoundly moving account of a hundred-year-long war of occupation, dispossession and colonialisation. https://www.channel4.com/news/

Hopefully we will have Stuart back with us next week, but in the meantime we are delighted to have two of Scotland's best commentators on the show - welcome back Angela Haggerty and hot from the Labour Party Conference - Catriona Stewart . Recommendations: Eamonn The Seige - Book - Ben Macintyre On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens. A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod. Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue. Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself. Angela Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: This riveting true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills. Catriona Tell Me Everything - book - Elizabeth Strout Tell Me Everything is a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world. It's autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. Together, they spend afternoons in Olive's apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known – “unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them – reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning. Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love."

Stuart is off this week so we have brought in the wonderful Angela Haggerty and David Pratt to discus this week's topics with Eamonn at the helm. Recommendations: Angela Darren McGarvey's trauma industrial complex Royal Society of Edinburgh Darren McGarvey – author of Poverty Safari and The Social Distance Between Us – began his new project, “The Trauma-Industrial Complex”, by delivering a Signature Lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Tuesday this week. Youtube David Mozart - Rise of a Genuis Child prodigy, flawed human, musical giant. Letters, manuscripts and performances reveal the making of a man who created some of the world's most magnificent music. Eamonn Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos - Amazon Prime In WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos, acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney delves deep into the psyche of renowned "Sopranos" creator and writer, David Chase, to illuminate his life and career while offering a unique window into his unparalleled work on the iconic program.

This week we're talking about yesterday's big Labour vote , the candyfloss royal pop video and discussing what might be the one and only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We took as many questions as we could get through and have kept submissions from Lorraine Kerr, Edward Docherty and Gill Blair for next week. RECOMMENDATIONS: Paddy Colin from Accounts - iplayer Two single(ish) people, brought together by fate, a car accident... and an injured dog. Warm-hearted Aussie rom-com about a flawed, funny couple getting it all utterly wrong. Eamonn The Perfect Couple - Netflix Amelia is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket, until a shocking death derails the wedding — and turns everyone into a suspect.

This week we've given the dynamic duo a chance to talk over this week's headlines by themselves. Recommendations: Eamonn From the Vine - Film - Amazon Prime A downtrodden man experiences an ethical crisis and travels back to his hometown in rural Italy to recalibrate his moral compass. There he finds new purpose in reviving his grandfather's old vineyard, offering the small town of Acerenza a sustainable future, and reconnecting with his estranged family in the process. Stuart Sing Sing - Film - General Release Based on the real-life arts rehabilitation programme founded at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Greg Kwedar's new film follows a troupe of incarcerated actors who work on a play as part of a theatre workshop at the prison. Every six months, the men gather in a circle of chairs, often looking to Divine G (Colman Domingo) to help decide their next play. When he recruits a new member called Divine Eye, he gets more than he bargained for. The group's dynamic begins to shift as Divine Eye suggests they do a comedy for the first time, prompting the men to throw out a jumble of wild ideas — from pirate ships to Roman gladiators to Old West gunfights. Flustered at first, Divine G quickly starts to see Divine Eye's discomfort with the vulnerability required for what seems like a silly pursuit. While planning for his own clemency hearing, he tries to forge a connection with Eye, as the men collectively unpack the pain of their experience while undergoing the joy and escape of creativity. Domingo gives one of the most memorable and affecting performances of his career, bolstered by a cast made up almost entirely of formerly incarcerated actors and alumni of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme. Their participation brings an authenticity to the group's founding principle that human dignity must be a part of the justice system. Directed with a dynamism that matches the charm, mischief, and compassion of the men themselves, Sing Sing recognises the value of a place we can gather in which to discuss, debate, and create, wherever that may be. It's an ode to art as a process, much the same as life, through which we can strive to better understand ourselves and each other.

If you like this trailer, come and join us @ www.patreon.com/talkmedia for the price of a cuppa coffee each month. A lively show today with our pal David who brings us up to date on Ukraine and Gaza, then it's off to the business of "propaganda"....... Enjoy! Recommendations: David Tangier: City of the Dream (Paperback) 'A dream concealed in stone...sky supersonic, orgone blue, warm wind...Such beauty, but more than that, it's like the dream is breaking through.' William Burroughs No city in the world has quite the exotic allure of Tangier. From the 17th century, it has been a place on the edge, beyond the normal disciplines of government, a city of refuge and excitements where sex is cheap, drugs are plentiful and where the outcasts of the world can breathe easily. The golden years of Tangier began after World War I and barely survived World War II. Among those who sought sanctuary in or inspiration from this legendary city were Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Paul and Jane Bowles, Ronnie Kray, the unhappy Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, Tennessee Williams, Joe Orton, Cecil Beaton and Truman Capote. It is this 'last resort of the living dead, alive but not madly kicking' which Iain Finlayson explores in his witty, enthralling book. Eamonn Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (Hardback) For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of ageing that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late, prolonging lifespan at the expense of quality of life. Dr Peter Attia, the world's top longevity expert who is featured on Chris Hemsworth's National Geographic documentary LIMITLESS, believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalised, proactive strategy for longevity. This isn't 'biohacking,' it's science: a well-founded strategic approach to extending lifespan while improving our physical, cognitive and emotional health, making each decade better than the one before. With Outlive's practical advice and roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before. Stuart Monsters, Inc. Lovable Sulley (John Goodman) and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top scare team at MONSTERS, INC., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it's the monsters who are scared silly, and it's up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.

It was a pleasure to welcome Alison to the podcast. We hope you enjoy it - we did. Recommendations: Stuart Radio WHUR Eamonn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2KYZ1BritY Alison Listen to a cd - from top to bottom!

Both social and print media gets the going over today in this episode as the dynamic duo, in the company of oor pal Catriona Stewart talk over the weeks talking points. Recommendations: Stuart White Robes and Broken Badges Infiltrating the KKK and Exposing the Evil Among Us In this shocking memoir, a former FBI informant reveals what he learned from successfully infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the backwoods of the Sunshine State, uncovering details about the hate group's structure and its modern far-right spinoffs which are operating to achieve the same goal: inciting a second civil war by whatever violent means necessary. Catriona Lady in the Lake Apple TV When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore in 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Eamonn BBC Four Who Killed Caravaggio? (Full Documentary) (2010) When Caravaggio died in 1610, he was 39 years old, the most famous painter of his age and an exile from Rome after killing a man in a street fight. But his death has always been a mystery, with no body, no grave site, and conflicting stories of what happened. In 2001, art critic Andrew Graham- Dixon went in search of the true story of the extraordinary life and mysterious death of one of the greatest painters in western art, travelling from Rome to Naples to Malta and Sicily, meeting experts and scouring archives on the way. He uncovered the painter's criminal record, a trail of violent incident, sexual intrigue and conspiracy, and came face to face with some of the most profoundly spiritual paintings ever painted. Graham-Dixon has been researching and working on the story of the artist ever since. Caravaggio's art has never been more popular, and now he thinks he may have found some of the answers.

Stuart is back!!!!!! We've missed him in the studio and our setting the world to rights chats pre show. Again, we've tried to answer all your question in the topics themselves so forgive us for not reading out all your questions. We tried to address them in the discussions but of course will have missed a few opportunities. Recommendations: David Jungle Novels - B Traven B. Traven's legendary Jungle Novels series, which begins with Government, details the oppression of the Mexican indigenous people and the subsequent uprising of the Mexican Revolution. This critically acclaimed but overlooked collection of six volumes is a classic that belongs on any historical fiction lover's bookshelf and “constitute[s] one of the richest portraits of revolution in all literature” Eamonn Paris '44: The Shame and the Glory - Patrick Bishop Paris '44 tells the story of the occupation and the liberation, but it does not read like military history . . . The book resembles some epic thriller, with vividly evoked characters all somewhere on the spectrum between collaboration and resistance, shame and glory . . . Paris '44 is a wonderful book: droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it. Stuart Michael Johnson - 4 TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST

Eamonn is back at the helm with a show packed full of great observations. At the end of the show we had more questions lined up but no time to fit them in so apologies to you that missed the cut. This week's recommendations: Angela Women on Death Row. Of the nearly 3000 inmates on death row in America, only 51 are women. This documentary series examines these women's stories. Part of True Crime on Channel 4. Presumed Innocent A horrific murder upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney's' office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. David KIM SENGUPTA Fearless, intrepid, dogged – Kim Sengupta never gave up on a story Independent's Kim Sengupta Named Journalist of the Year 2016 Eamonn Art Matters Melvyn Bragg draws on a career spanning more than 60 years, making a rousing case for why the arts matter - exploring his early years and the stories of influential interviewees.

To hear the whole episode go here! Nothing much to talk about this week.... aye right! Always good to have Angela and Paddy on the show - good insights. At the end of the show we had lined up a huge listener question section but due to time constraints we had to edit it a bit. Recommendations: Angela Dark Matter - Apple TV Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his life; to get back to his true family, he embarks on a harrowing journey to save them from the most terrifying foe imaginable: himself; based on Blake Crouch's best-selling book. Dark - Netflix A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations. Paddy Last Week Tonight - HBO Winner of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, British comedian, actor and writer John Oliver delivers all the breaking news in his own inimitable style. The North Face of Soho - Clive James - Book From Fleet Street to the television, North Face of Soho is the fascinating and hilarious fourth volume of memoir from much-loved author, poet and broadcaster Clive James. Eamonn House Arrest - Alan Bennet - Book A year in and out of lockdown as experienced by Alan Bennett. The diary takes us from the filming of Talking Heads to thoughts on Boris Johnson, from his father's short-lived craze for family fishing trips, to stair lifts, junk shops of old, having a haircut, and encounters on the local park bench. A lyrical afterword describes the journey home to Yorkshire from King's Cross station via fish and chips on Quebec Street, past childhood landmarks of Leeds, through Coniston Cold, over the infant River Aire, and on.

It's girl power this morning here at Talk Media Control. Eamonn is hopefully safe and well in Spain this week and not being chased down a cobbled street by a bull!!!!! At the end of the Show a question from Ian MacKinnon. Recommendations: Ruth Homecoming: The Scottish Years of Mary, Queen of Scots - Rosemary Goring In this book, Rosemary Goring tells the story of Mary's Scottish years through the often dramatic and atmospheric locations and settings where the events that shaped her life took place and also examines the part Scotland, and its tumultuous court and culture, played in her downfall. Whether or not Mary Stuart emerges blameless or guilty, in this evocative retelling she can be seen for who she really was. https://www.waterstones.com/book/from-our-own-fire/william-letford/9781800173439 - William Letford This prose and poetry tour de force of storytelling has the narrative punch of a novel. It is a new departure for the poet, and for poetry itself. It takes the reader into the not-too-distant future: an artificial intelligence rules the world, and a working-class family use their wits to live off the land. William Letford blends prose and his inimitable poetry: sci-fi and hunter-gatherer are merged into a coherent story in the pages of a stonemason's journal. Americast - BBC Sounds Shona Dancing for the Devil - Netflix After TikTok dancers join a management company and its associated church, unsettling details about the founder and their dark realities come to light. Catriona AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders - Netflix Follow the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from auditions to training camp and the NFL season as they chase their dreams and a coveted spot on the squad.