Podcast appearances and mentions of al kennedy

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

What happens when the state infiltrates your most intimate relationships? How do we protect the innocence and imagination of children in an increasingly authoritarian world? “"If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:17) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(5:14) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(8:23) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(17:45) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(22:07) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(28:29) The Power of the Powerless: Radical WhimsyHow absurdity, humor, and inflatable costumes can disrupt authoritarian mindsets and potential violence.(33:13) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(42:53) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(1:29:40) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

"The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?"My guest today is AL Kennedy. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel Day, as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant.Her latest novel, Alive in the Merciful Country, takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It's a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It's a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy.(0:00) Finding Your VoiceOn the Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed(2:30) Reading from Alive in the Merciful CountryKennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times.(4:43) The Myth of Shrinking Attention SpansChallenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling.(6:22) Education and the Foundation of DemocracyThe dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism.(10:26) The Spy Cop Scandal and State SurveillanceUnpacking the reality of undercover police infiltrating peaceful protests and intimate lives.(13:59) Lockdown: A Global Pause and the Inrush of EmpathyThe fleeting moment of unified humanity during the pandemic and how it was ultimately betrayed.(17:34) Writing Without Theft: The Ethics of Character CreationKennedy explains her imaginative process and why she refuses to steal details from real people's lives.(28:16) AI, Digital Slop, and the Loss of TrustReflections on artificial intelligence as an unstable plagiarism machine and its impact on truth.(30:03) Nature, Spirituality, and the Merciful CountryFinding healing in the natural world and navigating the future with love and awareness.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

It's back to the future as we welcome back to the podcast our very first guest, Al Kennedy from House to Astonish. The original plan was to discuss one of Al's Mastermind subjects, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (and DC's Who's Who), but we only got there after a meandering bit of chat about a variety of subjects, including wrestlers from the 2010s and their current identities (no kayfabe breaking here). But we do a deep dive on the original 1980s version of the Handbook, how DC's approach to Who's Who differed, Marvel's readjustment with the Deluxe Handbook, the art in both books and more. Amazingly, we didn't mention the three-ring binder era of Who's Who or DC doing a spinoff Who's Who for Star Trek (which DC was publishing at the time). There's also some dicussion on some current books we are enjoying, including work by past guests Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited) and Al Ewing (the gone too soon Metamorpho, with Steve Lieber). There's also reminiscing about late 90s comics, including John Ostrander and Pascual Ferry's Heroes for Hire and Starman. Sadly, no Swingers talk, although I had it in my notes. Shame on me. There's also some sci-fi media talk, but nothing on Doctor Who (I stopped watching after Capaldi left). Since Al and Paul O'Brien do a Thunderbolts podcast, we obliquely discuss the new movie, the Fabian Nicieza era of the book and rehabilitating of super villains, how the pod with deal with the “fight club” era of the book and more. Al also discusses some of his other projects, including his Terry Pratchett podcast Desert Island Discworld and some shout-out for our pals Joe and Todd at Longbox Heroes.

The 'overwhelm' - noun, not verb - has been around 'since at least 1596', AL Kennedy discovers.She looks at the reasons why the word is making a comeback - and she has some advice for those who also feel lost in 'the overwhelm.'Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Tim Worthington has a new book out called The Golden Age Of Children's TV - all about the best, worst and most just plain baffling shows you grew up with in the sixties, seventies and eighties - and the lines are open now for an hour of fun, facts, laughs and thrills. School's out but Emma Burnell is here to take the register for another term at Grange Hill. Mark Thompson will be dropping by to explain why they keep talking about 'bins' in Running Scared. Send in your puns for Al Kennedy, who'll be giving out prizes to any that could work as a Count Duckula episode title. Justin Lewis will be joining us for a live link-up with Emu's Broadcasting Company, and Genevieve Jenner will be going behind the scenes for a look at how they make Faerie Tale Theatre. So if you want to join in the fun - or just swap a copy of You Know The Teacher (What A Smash-Head) for a copy of Count Duckula 2 Featuring Tremendous Terence - ring the show now!You can get The Golden Age Of Children's TV in all good bookshops, and from Amazon here, Waterstones here or directly from Black And White Publishing here - and if you want to know more about what you can find in it, head for timworthington.org!

Viv Groskop and David Benedict join Tom Sutcliffe to talk about Maria, the Maria Callas biopic staring Angelina Jolie. They also review Alive in the Merciful Country by A.L. Kennedy and Architecton, a study of concrete and stone from the Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky. Plus Jeremy Treglown, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, who talks about the changes that are happening within the organisation. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

Director of Spiracle, Kate Bland speaks to author AL Kennedy's 1999 book On Bullfighting. Written during a difficult time in her life, Kennedy reflects on the book's symbolic exploration of life, death, beauty, ugliness, risk, and cultural traditions, while both discuss its lasting relevance and Kennedy's personal and literary evolution. We learn about Kennedy's writing process and personal growth during an extremely painful and challenging time.

That doesn't work. But this does! Stuart Gipp, Dave Bulmer and Desert Island Discworld's Al Kennedy convene for Ankh-Mortalk. Now THAT doesn't work. Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts

At a village fete in rural France, AL Kennedy finds herself among barrel organs, sleeping piglets and 'a guy in a flowing blue smock gliding about on an ancient motor bicycle, just because he could.' After US Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz turned the word 'weird' into 'the soundtrack of our summer,' Alison relishes how the concept is reclaiming its roots. Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Tom Bigwood

Imagine the possibilities if brilliant scientists and engineers could figure out how to use natural materials like silt and clay, dredged from waterways, to make nature-inspired, 3D printed structures like reefs and roots to restore habitat and protect coastal shorelines. In Season 7, Episode 6, host Sarah Thorne is joined by Al Kennedy, Burton Suedel, and Andrew McQueen from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). All three are Research Biologists in the Environmental Laboratory at ERDC. They're discussing the 3D printing workshop they hosted in February 2024 to explore the potential of nature-inspired 3D printing. As a special feature of this episode, several of the workshop participants share highlights from the workshop discussions and the inspiration for their future work. The Corps dredges more than 200 million cubic yards of sediment from navigable waterways every year. In Season 5, Episode 6, Lieutenant General Spellman, USACE Commander and Chief of Engineers, spoke about his 70/30 goal–achieving 70% beneficial use of dredged material by 2030. 3D printing can enable new and novel ways to use sediment as a resource and improve the Civil Works' mission delivery, unlocking some of the constraints on traditional infrastructure engineering by using simple bioinspired design, leveraging natural geometries to produce more pleasing recreational uses, improved ecological functionality, plus economic and social benefits.The workshop was a key step in advancing the potential of 3D printing by bringing together a diverse group of experts from government, academia, and the private sector to explore the potential of 3D printing using natural materials. Workshop breakout groups focused on four major research areas:Ecosystem restoration and bioinspired designCoastal resilience and sustainabilitySediment propertiesScaling up  Key discussions and takeaways from the workshop, include: The importance of being more intentional with infrastructure design, incorporating nature-inspired features to leverage optimizations from nature, and delivering multi-functional materials that offer co-benefits like habitat enhancement alongside primary infrastructure objectives.Discussions on the properties of natural materials and their performance in 3D printers, including stability of end products, and the potential need for pre- and post-processing to meet requirements.Exploring and innovating the best applications for 3D printed materials, such as using dredged material from confined disposal facilities (CDFs) for ports and coastal areas, enhancing community resilience with new or rehabilitated infrastructure like berms.The necessity for maturation and scaling up of 3D printing applications, transitioning from lab-scale to larger format printers suitable for field use, encompassing nozzle design and managing available dredge material for use.The potential safety benefits of using 3D printing to automate infrastructure production in hazardous work environments. Synergy, engagement, and collaboration was evident throughout the workshop, and participants expressed a strong interest in continuing the dialogue. A report on the workshop results will be available on the EWN website.For more information and resource links, please visit the EWN Podcast page on the EWN website at https://www.engineeringwithnature.org/  Burton Suedel at LinkedInAlan Kennedy at LinkedInAndrew McQueen at LinkedIn

AL Kennedy on the recent theft of her backpack and how misfortune can help us reclaim who we really want to be.She reflects on how an an accident of birth - being white, able-bodied, heterosexual, being baptised a Christian and having English as a first language - has put her in 'a position of completely unearned privilege' when asking for help.But 'in a decade when so many people, in so many places, have lost everything,' Alison ponders the role we all have in helping people whose needs aren't being met. 'I believe in helping', she writes. 'I didn't lose that worldview in my backpack.' Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Adam Driver stars in Michael Mann's film Ferrari, set in the summer of 1957 as the ex-racer turned entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari pushes his drivers to the limit on a thousand mile race across Italy while his business and marriage are failing. A poet would never publish a first draft. Well, not until Rosanna McGlone interviewed 15 of our finest poets – Don Paterson, Gillian Clarke and Pascale Petit among them. They revealed their first drafts alongside their finished poems in her book The Process of Poetry. Tom Sutcliffe talks to her and to Don Paterson about writing poetry. As radio drama turns 100 this year, Bill Nighy is stars in A Single Act, a new radio drama going out on Boxing Day written by long term collaborator AL Kennedy. They both talk to Tom Sutcliffe about their mutual love of the form – and whether the pictures really are better on radio.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paul Waters

Here's the recording of SILENCE! To Astonish from Thought Bubble 2023. Gary Lactus, The Beast Must Die and Al Kennedy put Al Ewing, Rachel Stott, Lucy Sullivan and Not Caspar Wijngaard to the test. 

Join us on the island for a giant-sized series finale, as guest host Marc Burrows turns the tables on Al Kennedy to talk about formative fandom, anoraks, and the 41st Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown.

AL Kennedy discusses the addictive nature of hate. 'Religion', she writes, 'was once called the opium of the masses; hate is now the Oxycontin of the masses. That low thrum of resentment, spikes of rage, hate gives them a logic, an addictive rush.' Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Bridget Harney

Our July episode about The Long Utopia, fourth of the Long Earth series, is going to be late! To tide you over for the next week or so, here's a long footnote of a bonus episode presenting a quick recap of the Long Earth so far. Was this helpful? Would you like a recap like this for any of the other series we cover? Do you dare us to do this for the Discworld series as whole? (Please don't...) Let us know what you think, using the hashtag #PratchatPreviously on social media, or get in touch via email or our subscriber Discord. As mentioned by Ben at the top of this footnote, Liz and Ben appeared alongside hosts from The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret and Who Watches the Watch on the June 18th episode of Al Kennedy's Pratchett interview podcast Desert Island Discworld, “7A.1 Discworld Podcasters and Eric”. Our own discussion of Eric is #Pratchat7, “All the Fingle Ladies”, from May 2018. Our next episode is still #Pratchat69, with Deanne Sheldon-Collins discussing The Long Utopia. Watch out for it in mid July. Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book (etc)? You can support Pratchat for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus stuff, including the exclusive supporter podcast Ook Club! Click here to find out more.

AL Kennedy explores how we get information without an overload of negativity. 'Sadness, rage, anxiety...our media use them to hook us, withhold the good news, exhaust us with the bad', she writes. She reflects on why 'selective news avoidance' is on the increase. Producer: Adele Armstrong Sound: Peter Bosher Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Penny Murphy

In which Jay returns; babies are bad at pretty much everything; continuity flies straight out the window; Cable should speak English with a Scottish accent; Harry Leland knows how to dress; Tanya Trask makes the same time travel mistake everyone makes; and we love Al Kennedy forever.

And now for something completely different. (Death's Head II #1) In which Death's Head gets around universes; AIM fails to recognize closed narrative loops; we need more huscarls in comics; time travel occasionally solves the problems it creates; and we bid a fond farewell (for now) to Al Kennedy. X-PLAINED: Death's Head Death's Head II #1-4 Marvel UK Death's Head I Minion Earth-8410 The far future of 2020 Dr. Evelyn Necker How to dress for time travel Reed Richards's mother's name Earth-12892 Robin Hood of Future Past Heavily armed nuns Tuck Spratt The Lord High Protector Huscarls Baron Strucker V Charnel A large number of deaths A deft solution to a complex problem Essential Marvel UK Marvel UK vs. Marvel US NEXT WEEK: Go outside and touch some grass! NEXT EPISODE: The return of Jay! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here! Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

AL Kennedy finds echoes of the movies of her childhood in our current state of affairs. "Jaws, like many disaster and horror movies contain the core lesson - whenever there's a problem, greedy people will ignore it - corporations, local authorities, politicians, contractors - people who love money more than, well, people.' Producer: Sheila Cook Sound engineer: Peter Bosher Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Proust as an agony uncle, Romeo and Juliet rewritten as 21st century Welsh teenagers in a new drama by Gary Owen, the Lesbian coming of age novel by Rita Mae Brown that inspired the lead character in Willy Russell's Educating Rita to change her name and a new book inspired by the historical figures who collaborated on the first English medical textbook on homosexuality. Tom Crewe's novel The New Life depicts the married lives and love triangles of John Addington Symonds and Henry Havelock Ellis and the impact of Oscar Wilde's trial on their attempts to publish their study of what they called "inversion". Naomi Paxton is joined by Tom Crewe, Gary Owen and New Generation Thinkers Julia Hartley and Diarmuid Hester. Romeo and Julie by Gary Owen runs at the National Theatre in London until April 1st and then moves to the Sherman Theatre Cardiff Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown was first published in 1973 and is available now as a paperback. On the Radio 3 website you can find an Essay from Diarmuid Hester about the writing of Dennis Cooper and a Sunday Feature about the radical life of suffrage pioneer Edith Craig. New Generation Thinker Julia Hartley has published a book looking at reading Proust and Dante. Tom Crewe's novel is called The New Life. Other conversations about love in the Free Thinking archives include Sappho, Jonathan Dollimore and a Punjabi version of Romeo and Juliet A quartet of researchers exploring dating, relationships and stories from the National Archives to London's gay bars. Free Thinking, Being Human: Love Stories And we've discussions of poetry, philosophy and novels about love with the likes of AL Kennedy and Andrew McMillan, Alain de Boton and Tahmima Anam And a discussion and article about Rude Valentines' cards https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/34JCKJtrl07f5kY3G9kFNpd/eight-incredibly-offensive-victorian-valentines Producer: Robyn Read

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Al Kennedy and Miles enter a somewhat post-OZT world, the art of Frank Teran (whose uncle built a jetpack) elevates an otherwise merely decent story, Puck is played by Bob Hoskins, Wild Child gets a chance to shine, Mystique and Forge are sitting in a tree, and Swamp Thing is amazing. X-PLAINED: Spider-Man's head cold Sabretooth: Back to Nature #1 Sabretooth (Victor Creed) Wild Child (Kyle Gibney) Horrible violence, expertly implied The ubiquity of sewers Saturday morning cartoons of R-rated movies Serial killers with G.I. Joe names Improbable tracking Bilingual crime Chekhov's waterfall DRUGS X-Factor #136-137 The Hound program Skeumorphism Doctor Valerie Cooper and Major Edmond Atkinson, excellent exes Questionable wound-dressing Holograms Government jobs The sad fate of the Chase family Nimrod disambiguation The Marvel Universe According to Doctor Seuss NEXT EPISODE: The X-Men return from space! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here! Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we spend too long trying to place a time-travel miniseries in continuity, Al Kennedy does us a solid, Bernard Chang draws some excellent New Mutants young and old, Al Ewing x-plains X-Men: Red, Forearm and Random play Nintendo, and we reveal the winners of The Ninth Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence! X-PLAINED: Jay's spatial and temporal whereabouts Cannonball, Mirage, Magik, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Karma, Magma, Cypher, Warlock, and Douglock New Mutants: Truth or Death Kitty Pryde and Illyana Rasputin, gal pals Triple-dog dares Nova Roma, or not Mikhail F**king Rasputin The arrogance of reality warpers How to write Magma The Technarchy and the Phalanx Hardee's X-Men: Time Gliders Farmboy chic Bernard Chang's 21 Panels Branching vs. overwriting timelines The effects of de-aging and history rewriting on immunology Found family She Who Swam With The Acanti Sleep-Eeze Mattresses Starring The Hulk Arrako Continuity synchronicity S.W.O.R.D. as a workplace drama The moral downfall of Abigail Brand The leadership styles of Storm, Magneto, and Sunspot Himbo disambiguation The fates of Armor, Risque, and Peeper Mysterium Clicker Santa Claus The Ninth Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence (Note: Our interview with Al Ewing contains spoilers for X-Men: Red!) NEXT EPISODE: Sabretooth betrays an X-team! Again! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here! Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

EPISODE 102: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT No. 1: George Santos is the Brian Williams of politics. I joked last week "If that IS your real name." Now there's question as to whether or not it is. And about where he went to HIGH SCHOOL. And the time he claimed he was black. And about how he could get Kevin McCarthy elected speaker - and get him fired later. As the Feds begin to follow his equally dubious campaign money, I repeat my plea to Democrats: don't try to keep him from being seated by the House of Representatives next Tuesday. After it dawned on me that the comp for Santos is my unfortunate former friend Brian Williams, it also dawned on me that there might still be a way for Santos to worm his way out of it. And that's also reflected in the saga of the George Santos of 1954: Congressman Douglas Stringfellow of Arizona. B-Block (18:36) SPECIAL COMMENT No. 2: There is method to the January 6th Committee's madness of waiting until the Christmas-New Year's Break to release its final report and these fascinating deposition transcripts. I think they did it to shield the recommendation to invoke the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment. As a bonus yesterday we got testimony that Kim Guilfoyle is an idiot, and that Melania Trump lived in mortal fear of being seen in her robe by Rudy Giuliani. B-Block (33:51) IN SPORTS: The death of Pele, an analysis of the athletic gifts that made him his game's greatest ever, and his surprising legacy in New York and the United States. (37:55) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Bad reporting at The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Politico is no match for - as Scottish tweeter Al Kennedy wrote - "I have to hand it to Andrew Tate, this is the first time I've seen someone be so outwitted by a teenager that they end up in jail without it involving a dog that solves fake ghost mysteries." C-Block (43:21) FRIDAYS WITH JAMES THURBER: His most reprinted story: "The Night The Bed Fell."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Americans prepare to go to the polls in the US midterm elections and the COP27 environment conference gets underway, AL Kennedy takes the temperature of debate and of the environment from a barn in upstate New York. And she reflects on being a Brit these days in the US. 'In the normal course of events,' she writes, 'it's Brits who like to make fun of Americans. Now, Americans are bewildered by us'. Producer: Adele Armstrong Production coordinator: Iona Hammond Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Here we are: the heroes are all dead, and god-king Doom stands triumphant over all. But there's one more oversized issue left, so once more special guests Kirsten Howard and Steve Morris join Al in order to talk about the epic conclusion to Secret Wars! They talk about Dr Doom's man-cave complete with snazzy beanbag chair, Enchantress's magic talking bath, and then they threaten Al with having to do the Bendis-written Secret War miniseries next. That'll teach him!   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kirsten Howard is the News & Features editor for Den of Geek. You can find their byline on the website here, or follow them on Twitter right here! Steve Morris runs this site! Having previously written for sites including The Beat, ComicsAlliance, CBR and The MNT, he can be found on Twitter here. He's a bunny.

Is that the chiselled jawline of Zac Efron we see? No, 'tis Doctor Doom, who is handsome now! Al is joined by special guests Dan White and Fraser Geesin to talk about the transformed Doom, as seen in issue #11 of Secret Wars. They also discuss the foundations of eternity, the intertwining of energies which are the basis of all that is, and the moment where Reed Richards uses his powers to become a plastic bag.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Dan White doesn't know who The Beast Must Die is, but he would probably recommend their comics podcast SILENCE!, which you can find on the Mindless Ones website. Dan is also co-host of The Savage Beast podcast, which talks about cult films, and runs through the same site. You can find Dan on Twitter here! Who is Gary Lactus? I'm sure Fraser Geesin couldn't say, other than the very talented other half of SILENCE, which, uh, you can find on the Mindless Ones website. For more from Fraser, however, you can follow him on Twitter here!

Dr Doom is very interested in the idea of beating up god and stealing all his stuff, which means it's time to talk about issue #10 of Secret Wars! Al joined by special guests Kelly Kanayama and Chloe Maveal to discuss the particular sound that Reed Richards' bones make, The Thing's poetic side, and what it'd look like if Magneto were a fashion Influencer with a grudge. Also Doom fights a god, if you're into that sort of thing.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don't believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here! Chloe Maveal has written all over the comics internet – including pieces published by Polygon, WomenWriteAboutComics and The MNT.  She's also the Culture Editor-at-Large for NeoText. You can find her on Twitter here!

As we begin our final rotation around the glowing sun that is Secret Wars, Al is joined once more by special guests Jay Edidin and Paul O'Brien to talk about issue #9 of the series. That means an extensive breakdown of Colossus's choice of boots, Iron Man's new high-tech dodging software, and the deep emotional thoughts of Reed Richards. Oh, and they explore Galactus's eating habits too, for good measure.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Jay Edidin is co-host of the mega comics podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, which, if you ask me? About time somebody did that. A writer, editor, and hero of the people, you can find more from Jay here, or follow him on Twitter here! Paul O'Brien is the other co-host of House to Astonish, alongside Al. Paul writes regularly on the House to Astonish website, where amongst other prolific things he's been covering every single Wolverine comic to ever exist, if such a task is possible. You can find Paul on Twitter here!

Behold! The Mighty Enchantress! *hic* ohboy. Yes, it's time for episode 8 of the podcast, and Amora has had a little too much to drink. This week our cosmic host Al Kennedy is joined once more by special guests Kirsten Howard and Steve Morris to talk about Jim Shooter's thought process, as they take on issue #8 of Secret Wars. They chat about the smell of brain vapours, Shamrock's side-business as a hairdresser, and this strange new black suit Spider-Man has found...   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kirsten Howard is the News & Features editor for Den of Geek. You can find their byline on the website here, or follow them on Twitter right here! Steve Morris runs this site! Having previously written for sites including The Beat, ComicsAlliance, CBR and The MNT, he can be found on Twitter here. He's a bunny.

When things get scary, we like hero(+ine)s. We kind of automatically create them - like there was always a hero-shaped hole in our stories that was just waiting for someone to pop into. Why? Are we really hardwired to look for heroes? Do they all wear capes? And for something as complex and fiddly and *wibbles hands expansively in the air* as climate change, is it a good or a bad thing that we cast Greta, David Attenborough and whoever comes next as a climate hero?  Do we need new types of heroes? Or maybe none at all? Joining Dave this week is Al Kennedy, expert in superheroes as a thing, and a deep thinker on how and why  hero stories work. You can follow him on twitter @housetoastonish.  Extra reading as highlighted by the owl noises: -- 13:57: Scott Allison and George Goethals define 'hero', actually at a bit more length than I suggest in the show, oh well.  -- 21.51: Massive at the time, but you may be too young to remember what an Inconvenient Truth was. -- 23:03: Severn Cullis-Suzuki addresses the world at the Rio Summit in 1992. -- 33:33: I appear as a guest on Al's splendid Desert Island Discworld podcast. Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency.  Contact the show:  @brainclimate on Twitter, or hello@yourbrainonclimate.com. The show is hosted by Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Twitter.  All music throughout the show and audio production is by Dave, because he's far too much of a control freak to let anyone else loose on it. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.   

We've reached issue #7 of Secret Wars, and everybody loves Zsaji! Our cosmic host Al Kennedy is joined once again by both halves of the SILENCE! podcast, Dan White and Fraser Geesin, to discuss all the goings-on off-world! They talk about Julia Carpenter's sudden arrival on the scene, Galactus's special smile, and bicker over who the Fonz of the Marvel Universe is.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Dan White doesn't know who The Beast Must Die is, but he would probably recommend their comics podcast SILENCE!, which you can find on the Mindless Ones website. Dan is also co-host of The Savage Beast podcast, which talks about cult films, and runs through the same site. You can find Dan on Twitter here! Who is Gary Lactus? I'm sure Fraser Geesin couldn't say, other than the very talented other half of SILENCE, which, uh, you can find on the Mindless Ones website. For more from Fraser, however, you can follow him on Twitter here!

As we reach the halfway point for the series, Al is joined by special guests Kelly Kanayama and Chloe Maveal to talk about issue #6 of Secret Wars, which means we're in for a whole lotta talk about Janet Van Dyne. When not discussing The Wasp, they chat about Klaw's love of soup, Johnny Storm's seductive rendition of Thriller, and the lasting cultural impact of Dazzler. Because of course they do.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don't believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here! Chloe Maveal has written all over the comics internet – including pieces published by Polygon, WomenWriteAboutComics and The MNT.  She's also the Culture Editor-at-Large for NeoText. You can find her on Twitter here!

Our special guests Jay Edidin and Paul O'Brien return for episode #5, ready to talk about the fifth issue of Marvel's Secret Wars! And they're just in time, too, because Galactus is about to destroy everything! They talk to cosmic host Al Kennedy about Xavier's bedside manner, Molecule Man's glow-up, and reveal what Jim Shooter's idea of a psychedelic mind-expanding experience looks like.   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Jay Edidin is co-host of the mega comics podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, which, if you ask me? About time somebody did that. A writer, editor, and hero of the people, you can find more from Jay here, or follow him on Twitter here! Paul O'Brien is the other co-host of House to Astonish, alongside Al. Paul writes regularly on the House to Astonish website, where amongst other prolific things he's been covering every single Wolverine comic to ever exist, if such a task is possible. You can find Paul on Twitter here!

For our fourth episode of the show Al is joined by special guests Kirsten Howard and Steve Morris to talk about Secret Wars #4, and you better believe they're talking about Hawkeye's singing ability! They also cover Muppet Treasure Island, Volcana and Molecule Man's blossoming romance, and Al's personal origin as a Marvel reader!   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kirsten Howard is the News & Features editor for Den of Geek. You can find their byline on the website here, or follow them on Twitter right here! Steve Morris runs Shelfdust! Having previously written for sites including The Beat, ComicsAlliance, CBR and The MNT, he can be found on Twitter here. He's a bunny.

For our third episode Al is joined by special guests Kelly Kanayama and Claire Napier to talk about Secret Wars #3. They talk about Mr Fantastic and Cyclops being the ultimate wife guys, Magneto's fabulous chairs, and, of course, Claire's myriad thoughts about Jim Shooter. And more besides!   The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!   Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He's also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here. Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don't believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here! Claire Napier is a writer and editor, and has been published by The Guardian, ComicsAlliance, and of course at WomenWriteAboutComics, for which she served as Editor in Chief for several years. You can find her on Twitter here, you can find her website here, and you can buy her comic Dash Dearborne here!