Podcasts about bethnal

In this episode, I speak with Paul Miller, Managing Partner and CEO at Bethnal Green Ventures, which has invested in over 150 startups that aim to create a more sustainable planet, an inclusive society, and healthy lives. Paul is a trailblazer who spearheaded early-stage impact venture capital investing in the early 2010s at a time when this was highly unusual for VCs to do.He was awarded an Officer of the British Empire award for services to startup investment in 2020.Miller's early exposure to social and environmental issues, thanks to his parents' activism, laid the foundation for a unique perspective later in his career. His stint as a policy advisor at Forum for the Future marked a pivotal period, working on sustainability with tech giants like Amazon and Vodafone.This experience fueled a desire for a more direct impact, leading Miller to venture into the startup scene. In 2006, the School of Everything was born – a groundbreaking attempt to revolutionize adult education. Around 2012, as the School of Everything continued to pioneer adult education, Miller's focus expanded to co-founding Bethnal Green Ventures. Securing an initial investment of approximately £150,000 from Nesta, a UK foundation, Bethnal Green Ventures took flight.Google provided office space, and the venture attracted mentors and contacts to nurture the startups. Paul's venture into impact venture capital with Bethnal Green Ventures was a pioneering move, especially considering the prevailing industry norms around 2012.At a time when impact investing was in its nascent stages, Paul brought a level of authenticity and maturity to the venture capital landscape.Today, he'll be taking us through his 'Tech for Good' approach, investing in early-stage companies aiming for both high growth and positive social or environmental impact.I hope you enjoy my conversation with Paul as much as I did! Show notes: https://sri360.com/podcast/paul-miller/About the SRI 360° Podcast: The SRI 360° Podcast is focused exclusively on sustainable & responsible investing. In each episode, I interview a world-class investor who is an accomplished practitioner from all asset classes.Connect with SRI360°:Sign up for the free weekly email updateVisit the SRI360° PODCASTVisit the SRI360° WEBSITEFollow SRI360° on X/TwitterFollow SRI360° on FACEBOOK Key TakeawaysIntro (00:00)Paul Miller's academic and professional background (04:29)How Bethnal Green Ventures came about (20:18)Bring a level of authenticity and maturity to venture capital (23:36)An overview of Bethnal Green Ventures (29:33)Tech for Good  Concept (32:22)Theory of Change at Bethnal  (35:00)Impact VC Vs. other impact investing (37:59)Examples of impact investments by Bethnal (50:09)Measuring impact at early-stage businesses (58:38)Role of AI in Tech for Good paradigm (1:08:41) Additional ResourcesBethnal Green VenturesBethnal Green Ventures on LinkedInBethnal Green Ventures on TwitterPaul Miller's LinkedInSchool of EverythingForum for the FutureDemos

101 years ago today a large crowd assembled on a crisp October morning in 1922, when Bethnal Green's first permanent public library opened its doors in a handsome red brick building in Barmy Park. The philanthropy of Scottish businessman Andrew Carnegie provided £20,000, and the remaining £16,000 was raised by the local authority.‘The council was handing down to future generations a legacy which would enable them to obtain knowledge and sweep away misery and poverty,' said the Mayor in his opening speech. This was a thinly veiled reference to the fact that only two years previously, an asylum stood on that site.Bethnal ‘madhouse' operated for 120 years in Bethnal Green, East London, and was notorious for its cruel treatment. Even today, most East Enders still refer to the grounds around the library as Barmy Park. Shockingly, the asylum only closed in 1920. Two years later, the library opened in what had been the male block. The disturbingly cruel incarceration of the mentally ill, replaced with learning and literacy. What a message of hope that must have sent to the community. But trials loomed ahead. Eighteen years after the library opened, in September 1940, a bomb crashed through the roof of the adult lending library at 5.55 p.m. on what would later be known as ‘Black Saturday', the start of the Blitz. What had been an orderly and well-equipped library became in a split second a scene of destruction. And here the story takes a surprising twist. Rather than simply hurrying for the nearest shelter, the borough librarian, George F. Vale and his deputy, Stanley Snaith, calmly pulled a tarpaulin over the shattered glass dome roof and set about planning a pioneering social experiment that would transform the lives of wartime Londoners.Bethnal Green Underground was a half-completed stop on the Central Line when war broke out. Builders were working on connecting it to Liverpool Street, but from 1939 it had been locked up and left to the rats. One week after the Blitz began, East Enders defied Churchill's orders not to shelter in Tube stations and claimed their right to safety. At seventy-eight feet below ground, it was one of the few really safe places to shelter in Bethnal Green and was referred to by locals as an ‘Iron Lung'.Over the course of the next twelve months, it was transformed into a fully-functioning subterranean community with an astonishing array of facilities. Metal triple bunks sleeping up to 5,000 stretched three-quarters of a mile up the eastbound tunnel. A shelter ticket reserved you a bunk.There was a three-hundred-seat shelter theatre with a stage and spotlights, which hosted opera and ballet, a cafe, doctor's quarters and a wartime nursery, which enabled newly enfranchised women to go out to work. But here's the best part – there was a library! I love surprises in history and finding out about George and Stanley's secret underground library, built over the boarded-up tracks of the westbound tunnel, felt like nothing short of magic.100 years on from the library's opening, on October 13th 2022, I launched my novel, The Little Wartime Library, in Bethnal Green Library and I was joined by some very special  guests.No one knows more about the complex labyrinth of Tube tunnels that run beneath our feet than Siddy Holloway, actress, historian and presenter of Secrets of the London Underground. 

How good are we at waiting? How do we cope with a hope taking it's time to be realised?When God seems to be hidden in life, how do we wait with trust rather than hurry and make things happen ‘in our own strength'? And what do rivers have to do with any of this?

We make the road by walking.The life of faith is etched by a wider metaphor of journey, of pilgrimage. Using the film "Wild", starring Reese Witherspoon, James explores this metaphor considering how, as disciples, we are to journey towards God, who in turn, leads us on a journey of becoming ourselves.

Intro.   Cheap Trick.  I like That skit.  Bethnal

A warm welcome to the Aerial Roots Podcast from show co-hosts Antonia & Balraj featuring a summer solstice weekend tour of the plot. Original music from Aerial Roots crew. Produced, recorded and edited by Balraj Samrai & Antonia CanalShow Transcript: Antonia: Hi everyone. My name's Antonia. Balraj: My name's Balraj  Antonia: Welcome to the aerial roots podcast series one, episode one big big, thanks for tuning in. If you want to get interactive with aerial roots now or in the future, we're at @aerialrootsMCR on Insta. do message us, comments, questions, give us some signal we'd love to hear from youBalraj: so we wanted to start this podcast, share our green fingered schemes and happenings and adventures. And, you know, just give you a sense of what it's like to be able to, you know, grow fruit and veg because we've been fortunate enough to really, to get an allotment plot near where we live in South Manchester for the last nine months.We're learning as we go, and, we thought it'd be good to share these experiences with you. Antonia: So a little bit of fact, checking for the record an allotment is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening, or growing of food plants. So sadly we can't use our plot to get filthy rich, but we can use it to feed ourselves and share some fun stories. In other parts of the world an allotment is sometimes called a community garden or personal veg patch. We rent our allotment plot from our local council for a small amount of money per year. It's actually really surprisingly affordable. If you are based in the UK, you can sign up and join a waiting list to try and get a plot near to where you live.Balraj: We know you're eager to get down to the plot. So today we're going to give you a little bit of a whistle stop tour. Tell you about what we've been up to, what jobs we've got, you know, what we're growing over there currently. So yeah, let's get over to the plot. Aerial Roots episode one.Antonia: So here we are at the plot, 20th of June, summer solstice, longest day. Balraj: Bethnal Drive. Antonia: Bethnal Drive. I think we're the only people on Bethnal drive today. Um, I'm sure we'll see some more heads later and we're just trying to figure out what to focus on today aren't we?Balraj: Yeah. Just looking around we've got. Some garlic that needs weeding a little bit starting to get a little bit yellow on the edges. I don't know what that means. I think it may mean that its starting to kind of approach. Yeah. Antonia: Cause you were saying when it goes Brown. Balraj: Yeah. When the, when the stems go fully Brown, uh, I think it's towards the end of summer and then it's maybe time to get it picked and then we need to dry out. Antonia: The Garlic's a real success story. Isn't it of our plot? It's the first thing we planted, isn't it? Yeah. Balraj: Yeah, it was actually, uh, just put it in quickly, just in winter, just before the end of the year. Antonia: And didn't think too much about it. I can be a bit of the over planner and I was like, it's not in the plan. No, actually it's been such a motivator. Hasn't it. To see it thriving. Have something growing each time you come feels good, doesn't it? Balraj: Yeah. Yeah, sure. Antonia: Cause how long we had this plot for now Balraj: Had it since September. So that is maybe nine months now. Nine, ten months. Antonia: So coming up to a, not far off our year anniversary of the plot. So we got the garlic, What else we got?Balraj: Got some strawberries that, are, in probably the wrong place to where they should be there they're in a shady place. Antonia: They get a bit of sun but they also get quite a bit shade which yeah, Balraj: So we've got quite a few green strawberries that we hope will turn red.Antonia: If not we will be pioneering some green strawberry recipes. I'm sure you can make Chutney out of Green strawberries.Balraj: The first time transplant plant. Somebody gave us some kind fellow plot member gave us. Um, so I think it's a good look. There's something coming and there's been some flowers on there. Um, so if you cut the flowers and the fruit comes from the flowers. Antonia: Yeh they've not been unproductive there are there have been flowers.There are fruit coming, so, that's cool.Balraj: And we've also got beetrootsAntonia: I feel very invested in the beetroot. They, we, we started to beetroot off from seed at home on the recommendation of someone I work with an old hand in this allotment game, he was like, don't listen to the seed packets start it off at home.And they really thrived. Didn't they, those beetroot seedlings, they were very like elegant and beautiful and big and, um, put our poor little kale seedlings to shame quite quickly, I think. our Kale have some, you know, self-esteem issues, but now we've transplanted the beetroot and, and they're happy. I mean, a few of them haven't really survived the transplant.Balraj: There's always collateral in this gameAntonia: But we've got one, two. I'd say we've got one, two, three, four, five, very strong beetroots. And then one, two, three middling beetroots that might still come through and we planted some seeds directly into the ground. Balraj: Seeds are coming up as well. Yeah, I think it's good seed packet.Antonia: And then here, we've got our..Balraj: Beans, I sometimes call them peas, Antonia: Which will produce peas, you know, like green beans, French beans. Balraj: So in a few of those coming up, which is cool. Antonia: Yeah. Two of them popping up and we've actually got, uh, four rows of them. So we should, Oh, he's another one look Balraj: Trying to unfold. Yeah. So there's one as well.And there's another one over there and over there because the twine kind of marks it. Antonia: The weather's actually been really kind to the plot this week. Hasn't it? Oh, that's a plane going overhead. You can tell we're in South Manchester. Balraj: Yeah. Manchester airport. Not too far away. Yeah.Antonia: But this week has been. Loads of rain, loads of sun, it's been warm. I think that it's made everything very happy. Hasn't it? Balraj: Yeah. Almost a bit too much rain, but I think it's just on the right side of it now. Antonia: The soil actually looks lovely. love it when it gets this deep dark color, I think.Balraj: Cause it's remained fairly mild, like, you know, kind of 15 ish. Yeah. Today, today kind of up to 20, hopefully. Should be a good look and trying to think of what else we're sorting today...  Antonia: We also have the marigoldsBalraj: Yep marigolds planted from seed. Seeds bought from unicorn. Unicorn Manchester, and they are starting to flower because we have some in our garden as well that we have put in pots that have come out out today.There's one of the plot now here that is almost kind of about half open now. Isn't it? That it's just trying to bloom. Yeah. Which is a big success. Antonia: Yeah. I think we're hoping that. Cause we, we, this is our, this is the first plot that we've just looked after ourselves. Isn't it? But we've previously helped at our friend's plot and they had like an amazing, like, spread of marigolds didn't they?And I think hopefully they'll self seed and spread and that'd be really exciting Balraj: And they can be edible as well, can't they? In salads and stuff in the summer as well. Antonia: And they, um, what do they, they give something to the soil. Don't they give nitrogen. I think that goes when you do have nitrogen. Yeah. That's one of the reasons people plant them.Balraj: It's good to have some flowers on the plot I think some of the people in the plots have got amazing flowers that are out now now, bit jealous of some of them, Antonia: We get, we get a lot of motivation from other people's plots, but it's great. It's a real, real community vibes. isn't it? Yeah. Great. Well, shall we, shall we crack on? Balraj: Oh, and lastly, there's a bit of card to put down isn't there as well. Antonia: Oh yes. The jobs today is weeding, putting card down and that's the main stuff. Isn't it? Cause we, yeah, we putting the card down because, um, we're still kind of like managing the plot aren't we? And we're trying not to, we're try not to be too ambitious with that growing all over the place.But by putting the card down, it means we can kind of get things cooking can't we? Balraj: And it means we, some of the weeds, cause we've got quite a big space. There's some of the weeds are trying to go a little bit. Yeah. They're getting excited. Um, and it just means we can keep them in the control a bit and stop the weeds spreading into like too far into where we're growing things too.So, yeah. Yeah. Antonia: And it should be like, you know, when we're starting to get growing like later in the year or next year, These beds that are covered we'll uncover them to find some nice rotted down weeds and soil ready to go. Balraj: And it's a balance though, isn't it? Cause we want to make sure that there's a, there's a resident frog around somewhere who I seem to see every weekWe have a pond as well. So we just need to make sure there's a bit of space for the frog to kind of do his thing too. Cause you know, we need that kind bit of biodiversity. Antonia: Yeah. We were chatting about  that earlier today, weren't we that it's nice to keep it, keep it a little bit wild. Yeah. Balraj: Should we get crackin? Antonia: Let's do it.So there you go. First taste of the plot, as we said before, we'd really love to hear from you. If you have any questions or things you'd like us to cover on this podcast, do you get in touch. Balraj: Yes. If you want to get in touch, remember the Insta @aerialrootsMCR. You know, make sure you get interactive, want to hear from you, you know, want to see what you've been up to yourselves, what you growing and yeah, let's see you next time.Thanks for tuning in. Antonia: Bye!

Are you feeling it yet? The urge to get going in the garden?   I was reading a book from 1915 about spring, it started this way, "If you are not dead, you will feel the sap start within you..."   Everyone comes to the garden in their own time.   If you're not yet ready to put your pots together or take on gardening the way you did last year, that's completely fine.   Sometimes the seasons of our lives, don't align with the seasons of the year.   In seasons of loss or grief or depression, we can lose time. We can be out of sync.   If that is happening to you this season, please know it is ok to take a break.   Instead, enjoy the beauty around you in ways that feel right to you... until you feel the sap start within you again...       Brevities #OTD Today in 1510, Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli died.    His painting Allegory of Abundance or Autumn is one of his most elaborate and detailed drawings and it depicts an abundance of flowers and fruits.       #OTD Today in 1874, the horticultural hornet, George Glenny died.  He was 83 years old.   Glenny was an opinionated gardener. Known for his sharp tongue and difficult personality, he was called the horticultural hornet by Will Tjaden.  He was critical of John Claudius Loudon, Joseph Paxton, and Joseph Harrison.  And yet, he was benevolent; assisting the efforts of numerous charities and causes during his time; including the Duke of York Column in London.   Glenny started the Horticultural Journal, which was followed in 1837 with the first garden newspaper, The Gardeners' Gazette. These early accomplishments brought Glenny much satisfaction; he knew his work was taken to heart by his readers and his suggestions were being acted upon. As the editor of his paper wrote,   "There will be few to deny that his vigorous pen has contributed as much as, that of any single writer to the great and ever-increasing popularity of gardening amongst the people." Through it all, Glenny was a devoted garden writer; sharing his knowledge of gardening with the people, week in and week out, through the very first gardening column and through numerous other articles and writings. His books were affordable; anyone could buy them - and they did. During the Victorian age Glenny was an active contributor to garden literature. No doubt Glenny's advice was swirling about in the heads of many new gardeners.       #OTD Today in 1934, The Times Herald out of Port Huron Michigan, shared quite the article about Plant Exploration.   With the onset of commencement season, The USDA Would receive an annual batch of letters asking about "agricultural exploring as a career, what the job Is, how to qualify, and what the future prospect are".   The article shared that answers to those questions would be spelled out this way:   "Knowles A. Ryerson, formerly in charge of the plant exploration before his promotion to Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, recognizes such ambition as the natural outcropping of adventurous spirits, and he sympathizes with the boy whose mind is turning that way.   An agricultural explorer has to be a natural plant lover and must have studied botany and other plant subjects, and must have worked with plants in the field and garden. In addition, he must have a good general education as well as sound technical knowledge.   He must have certain other Indispensable qualities - robust health and a good sense of humor.   He must not only stand hard traveling in rugged countries day after day, but must be able to go to bed on an empty stomach after a trying day's work and sleep on a rough box without feeling abused.   "I see no Indication that plant exploration will become unnecessary, but every indication that the requirements for plant exploration will continue to become even more exacting.    I would not want to discourage any boy from the effort, but there is no denying that it would-be Plant Hunter has a man-sized job ahead of him if he is to prepare himself to qualify for one of the relatively few openings."         #OTD Today is the birthday of Bernadette Cozart born in 1949.   Cozart was a professional gardener and urban gardening advocate.   She founded the greening of Harlem coalition in 1989.  Her efforts transformed Harlem, bringing flower gardens and green spaces.   It was Bernadette Cozart who said,   "Instead of taking children on field trips to see farms and gardens, why not bring nature into the community? I don't think it's fair that they should have to go outside the community to have that experience of seeing things grow."     #OTD Today in Lafayette Colorado, the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism starts their Rocky Mountain Field Botany Certificate Course.   Designed to provide a thorough introduction to field botany, positive plant identification, wild-crafting ethics, and Sustainable harvesting and preservation techniques, this year they will have an additional focus on wild edible plants.       #OTD Today in New Zealand, there is a one-day interactive workshop open to anyone interested in learning more about the concept of market gardening, creating one for personal food production, or setting one up as a business.   The workshop is sponsored by the Green Cauldron Farm and presented by a range of industry experts including internationally renowned bio-intensive gardening educator and restoration grazing consultant Jodi Roebuck from Roebuck Farm.   This is a unique opportunity to hear and learn from industry leaders about how to start and operate a successful market garden, with the workshop conducted on the 105-acre Green Cauldron Farm, set in the beautiful Tyalgum ("Tal-gum") hills just one hour from the Gold Coast and nestled in the shadow of Mt Warning.   The brainchild of Katie and James Geralds, the farm was established as a research and development hub to realise their goal of innovative and sustainable use of harvests from around the region. It already produces a range of fresh produce supplied to some of the best-known restaurants in South East Queensland and a range of pantry preserves highlighting Australian native ingredients.     Unearthed Words: May and the Poets by James Henry Leigh Hunt A poem naming a handful of the poets to have written about Maytime   There is May in books forever; May will part from Spenser never; May’s in Milton, May’s in Prior, May’s in Chaucer, Thomson, Dyer; May’s in all the Italian books:— She has old and modern nooks, Where she sleeps with nymphs and elves, In happy places they call shelves, And will rise and dress your rooms With a drapery thick with blooms. Come, ye rains, then if ye will, May’s at home, and with me still; But come rather, thou, good weather, And find us in the fields together.      Today's book recommendation: “The Golden Circle” (1977) by Hal Borland This is a book of writings for children, arranged by months of the year. I love these month-by-month books.  The drawings in this book are outstanding. Mr. Borland won the John Burroughs Medal, considered the country's highest award for nature writing, in 1968. Two of his books, “Sundial of the Seasons” (1964) and “An American Year” (1973), are collections of his editorials. His other books include “A Place to Begin: The New England Experience” (1976). Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden.   Today take pictures of all the trees in your garden. Trees provide your garden with tremendous structure and a ceiling - making your space seem more intimate.         Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart   After researching George Glenny, I came across his obituary which appeared in Lloyd's weekly newspaper ten days after his passing.   It talked about how for 25 years, Mr. Glenny's Garden article had faithfully appeared in the paper. In fact, he had sent his last column to the editor only a day or two before his death.   Glenny had titled his article "A Few Words For Myself". But, then, he must've had a change of heart because he had crossed that out.  Whatever new title he thought would be better never made it onto the page.  His readers no doubt were moved by his recollections - especially since they them with the knowledge that Glenny was gone. Here's what he wrote about his life:   "Sixty-seven years ago I had a very fine collection of auriculas and of twenty rows of tulips, and visited several good amateur cultivators, from whom I received great encouragement and occasionally presents of flowers and plants.   I cultivated my stock at Hackney.   I was soon old enough to attend floral meetings, and there were plenty of them at Bethnal-green, Hoxton, Islington, Hackney, and other suburban localities.   And from observation of the doings of the most successful amateurs I had become a very successful grower of the auricula, the tulip, ranunculus, polyanthus, and other florists' flowers.   I had learned something from everybody and took many prizes.   I then, at the earnest request of some real friends of floriculture, wrote treatises upon all the flowers I had cultivated, and they were all founded on my own practice."       Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

A pregnant British woman who fled to Syria aged 15 to join the Islamic State terror group says she wants to return to the UK. Plus, another big day for Brexit in Parliament, and the world’s biggest passenger plane is to be scrapped.

In this episode we speak to Vicky-Marie Gibbons who is a partner and general manager of Bethnal Green Ventures. Bethnal Green Ventures is an accelerator programme for startups who are using technology to solve social and environmental problems. BGV support startups who are focused on one of the 3 streams of social change i.e health and wellbeing, education and employment and sustainability.   Examples of BGV alumni include Open Utility and Fairphone. Open Utility is a UK based cleanweb company which is creating a peer-to-peer online marketplace to connect generators and buyers of renewable energy to buy and sell clean energy in a transparent way while building local communities. Amsterdam basedFairphone is creating an ethical smart phone that is maximising social impact at every stage of the value chain, from sourcing and production to distribution and recycling.   If you have a startup idea and would like to hear more about how Bethnal Green Ventures would be able to support you in your startup journey be sure to get in touch and check out their Summer 2015 accelerator programme now. Deadline for application is 20th April 2015. In this episode we speak to Vicky-Marie Gibbons who is a partner and general manager of Bethnal Green Ventures. Bethnal Green Ventures is an accelerator programme for startups who are using technology to solve social and environmental problems. BGV support startups who are focused on one of the 3 streams of social change i.e health and wellbeing, education and employment and sustainability.   Learn more about cleanweb: cleanweb.tv   Listen to the podcast at ITunes:  http://cleanweb.tv/itunes Stitcher:  http://cleanweb.tv/stitcher   Connect on our Twitter account: @Cleanweb_tv   Connect with Woon: @Woontan

The last episode of Mat Ricardo's London Varieties - recorded live at the Leicester Square Theatre - features all the usual low-grade shenanigans, plus an interview with delightful comedy bloke Dave Gorman, who reveals himself to be - spoiler alert - smart, funny and charming. We also juggled sink plungers together. Let's see another comedy interview podcast do THAT!

This month's London Varieties podcast is a bit of a special one - we have some snippets from one of the great comedy acts that we featured on the live Leicester Square Theatre show, but most of the podcast is devoted to my interview with Eddie Izzard. In the late 80's we were both street performers at London's Covent Garden, so we chatted about the things we learned during those years that influenced what we do these days - and it's more than you might think.

May's London Varieties saw Mat Ricardo hosting a bill of the best cabaret and variety performers in the country, headlined by his interview with TV legend Paul Daniels. They chatted about his life and career, the current state of magic and variety on television, and the resurgence and importance of live cabaret. Mat says: Paul Daniels's TV show put me on the path to what I do for a living, and there aren't many people that know more about TV light entertainment, so it was a joy to pick his brains! Hope you enjoy the show. The interview with Paul Daniels starts 10 minutes in.

On this month's Mat Ricardo's London Varieties, live at the Leicester Square Theatre, you'll get a little taste of what goes on at the monthly live show, and my full interview with Al Murray, away from his Pub Landlord persona, plus a song from the very funny Elliot Mason. If you enjoy this podcast, go to www.MatRicardo.com and watch the whole show in glorious HD video, and then book your tickets for the next monthly live show!

This episode of the Varieties devotes itself to just one interview. Live at the Edinburgh Fringe, Mat sat down and talked to legendary professional wrestler and New York Times bestselling author Mick Foley about his life in and out of the squared circle, and what someone who's done it all in his chosen profession does next. Mick was just exactly as great as you'd hope him to be - hope you enjoy the podcast as much as the live audience, and I, did!

This episode of the Varieties focuses on people who have started out as street performers, but who have then gone on to other things. First, we chat to Stuart Goldsmith, one of the fastest rising stand-ups in the country, then we convince The Boy to take The Tape off His Face (Sam Wills) and talk about his roots in street theatre, and finally we talk to leading light of the cabaret and sideshow circuit, and one of the last surviving female sword swallowers, Miss Behave.

Mat Ricardo's London Varieties has moved to the Edinburgh Fringe and become The Voodoo Varieties. We're at the Voodoo Rooms Ballroom every day except Monday, with a different line-up every night. In this show we chat to legendary Fringe comedy reviewer Kate Copstick, and then talk to best-selling author, crazy genius, and ex-magician professor Richard Wiseman. Enjoy!

The last London show of 2012 was the biggest of the year, with a packed bill of magic, stunts, dance music and comedy. Headlined by the mighty Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer, and in conversation, the delightful Arthur Smith, who amongst other things, advised not to go to the Edinburgh Fringe, confessed he had nothing against jugglers and sang Jingle Bells. Backwards. What's not to like?

This month The Varieties played host to Irish dance sensations The Lords of Strut, the amazing sleight of hand of Richard McDougall and the hilarious Noel Britten, but the night belonged to Merian Ganjou. This glamorous acrobat was a star of variety in the 50's and 60's, and she sat down with me to tell tales of the glory days of variety, partying in Vegas with Sammy Davis Jr, and having a bra strap pop live on The Ed Sullivan Show!

This episode of the London Varieties featured - live on stage - fringe stars Eastend Cabaret, the infamous Up & Over It, the legendary Peter John, Circularity Thinking and the filthy & fantastic Jenny Eclair. To see the next show live, go to www.MatRicardo.com, but for now, enjoy the podcast, which has snippets of all the acts, a song from Eastend Cabaret and the complete interview with Jenny Eclair.

In a packed show this month the king of light entertainment Lenny Beige talks about his life as a cabaret superstar, and you'll hear his version of an Eminem classic. Also I sat in a broom cupboard backstage at the O2 Arena and chatted with professional wrestler William Regal about his life, career and love of British comedy. At the age of 15 he was taking on all comers on Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and now is one of the most beloved and respected performers in the WWE. He has quite the story. As an added bonus we've also included a lecture I gave at part of the ToMax talks project about how I got into variety and cabaret, and why it's so important to me. Thanks for listening!

Mat Ricardo hosts another night of variety Live from the Bethnal Green Workingmen's Club in London. This month he sat down for a chat about comedy, writing, naked women and penguin webcams with the man behind Father Ted, Black Books, Big Train and The IT Crowd - Graham Linehan. There's also a taste of the amazing variety acts the live crowd saw on the night, and to top it all off, two exclusive songs from cabaret superstars Frisky & Mannish. Enjoy!

Live from the Bethnal Green Workingmen's Club, Mat hosted Craig the Incredible Hula Boy, Mandy Muden and Big Howard & Little Howard, and then sat down for a chat with Andre Vincent, Rob Ballard and Matt Barnard - three of the UK's most respected street performers - for a look at the life of a professional busker. (Apologies for the sound quality - we had some issues on the night, and subsequent shows will be dramatically improved!)

Every month, juggler and comedian Mat Ricardo will be hosting a variety show live from the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club in East London, where the best of the best from the worlds of cabaret, variety, comedy and circus do their thing. In this teaser podcast trailer Mat explains more about what's coming up.