Podcasts about British Isles

Title: Rare Earths to Truffles: Diversified Investments You've Never Heard Of with Louis O'Connor Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes back Lou, an international investor, to discuss diversification, rare earth metals, and a unique agricultural investment opportunity. Lou, who splits his time between Europe and Latin America, emphasizes the importance of global diversification for peace of mind and flexibility. He highlights the geopolitical dynamics affecting rare earth metals, where China dominates the refining process, and discusses the increasing demand due to restricted exports. Transitioning from metals to agriculture, Lou introduces his truffle farm investment. Leveraging agri-science and Ireland's favorable climate, the project offers investors ownership of inoculated truffle trees with professional farm management. Returns are projected to begin in year 4-5 and continue for up to 40 years, offering IRRs between 14% to 69% based on historical truffle prices. Risks include mismanagement and natural elements, though strong biosecurity and proven success mitigate concerns. Lou finishes with a valuable mindset tip: improve by 1% daily to compound results over time. Bullet Point Highlights: Diversification across countries and industries provides flexibility and peace of mind China's control of rare earth refining and export restrictions create scarcity and opportunity Truffle farm investment offers strong IRR potential, with returns starting in years 4-5 and lasting 30-40 years Minimum $30K investment includes 400 saplings and full farm management with a 70/30 profit split Primary risks are mismanagement and nature, mitigated through biosecurity and replacement guarantees Lou's golden nugget: Focus on improving 1% daily to unlock exponential long-term growth Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Lou, what's going on, brother? Welcome back to the show.   Thank you very much Seth. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. Good to see you again.   Yeah, absolutely man. Great to catch up with you. Are you tuning in from where?   Well, in Europe still, you know, I'm back and forth between Ireland, Germany, mostly, a little bit of time in Panama as well, because my wife's from there, but I'm in temporary in Ireland, horse breeding country and agricultural heartland actually of Europe. And at the moment anyway, yeah, so in Europe.   (Seth Bradley) (01:16.664) awesome, awesome. That's the beauty of being on a video conference call that you can talk to anyone from anywhere in the world now. That's the one good thing that came out of COVID is it made it normal to do it.   Yeah, it's funny, unbelievable. Just yesterday I was contacted actually by CNBC in the US, I'm in Europe, about the metals. We're not talking about metals today, but I've spoken with you before about the rare earth metals. And I guess the US chamber, secretary chamber of commerce is in China this week because China is restricting the export of certain technology metals and that's their area.   And within a day, there's like an hour after I speak with you, I'm doing an interview with CNBC on, I think it's Power Launch or something they call it. So it's fascinating really how quickly you can sort of ping around the globe and find somebody and do this.   Yeah, yeah, very cool, very cool, man. Well, thanks for taking the time to tune in with us today. And we've got a brand new thing to talk about and we'll jump into that. But before we do, just for listeners who didn't listen to your previous episode, give us a little bit about your background and your story. Just a general synopsis,   Sure, thank you. Yeah, so I'm obviously, you can tell from the accent, I'm Irish or Scottish or Australian, but it's Irish. And I suppose you could say I'm bit of a world traveler who has come back home specifically for this project we're going to talk about. Ireland is known as sort of the breadbasket of Europe. But yeah, I lived in Germany for 10 years, lived in Central America and traveled extensively in South America during that time.   (Louis O'Connor) (03:05.422) But my niche, if you will, you know one other business we're involved in. And my niche, what I'm looking for is always what I call, I don't know what you might call it in the US, but we sort of call it a path of progress play here, which is if you sort of look at an industry or a product, what's happened in the last 10 years, or even a country or even a business for that matter, if you look at what's happened in the last 10, you can sort of   have a look at likely what's going to happen in the next 10. So I'm always looking for somewhere where demand is increasing and supply is either going to be limited or subject to disruption and somehow, and that's what we will be talking to an agricultural product and we'll talk more about it. But I like to be diversified in every way. So I have business in Germany, this agricultural product is in Ireland.   I do my banking in Belize and Panama and different parts of Europe. So just trying to be as diversified as possible.   Right, right. And that's part of your kind of plan as well, right? Like to be kind of this international man of mystery, right? Like you have different ties to a couple of different countries, which gives you flexibility in case something goes wrong in one of them, right? Like, you know, I think a lot of people were worried here for a while and I think it's still in the back of people's minds in the United States about, you know, the strength of the dollar and   You know, people were talking about getting a second citizenship and things like that. Can you speak to that a little bit about kind of, you know, how you've done that and what your kind of thoughts and feelings are around that?   (Louis O'Connor) (04:46.552) Sure, sure. Well, you my feeling always has this peace of mind, you know, I just want peace of mind. I want to be at peace with myself and the world around me. that's, I mean, I'm probably talking about more philosophically and spiritually as well, but also, you know, in business or residencies or banking. I suppose it's because I left Ireland quite young and I did live.   I didn't just go on a vacation somewhere. lived in Germany for 10 years. I learned the language. Ireland is an island, even though we're part of Europe, continental Europe is completely different. And then I went to Latin America, which is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. And I suppose it was those experiences that the perspective that gave me was that, that sounds very simple, really, root of entry, but there's...   there's good and bad, know, you we do certain things in Ireland very well, and maybe other things not so well in Germany, they do, you know, they've made better cars and better roads. And we do and you know, Latin America, I think they dance better and drink better maybe than you know, but so yeah, what I learned is, you know, you know, you can pick is a bit like life can be a bit like a buffet, and you can pick what you like, and you know what you don't like leave behind, you know, so and the idea, I suppose the point I should make is that   What I've learned is it's not expensive or difficult to be diversified. Like have your banking in different jurisdictions really doesn't cost anything. Having a second or third residency if you do the right homework on I'll go into more detail if you want. have residency still in Panama and I three passports. I'm working on the fourth and it has been a little bit of effort but not expensive or costly.   And will I ever use it? I worried that the world's going to end? No. But it's just that peace of mind you have when you've got these other options that, God forbid if something did happen here in Ireland or Europe, I have a residency in Panama, I banking there. So it's just that, suppose it's like having a parachute or a safety net that's always there.   (Seth Bradley) (07:00.13) Yeah, yeah, I agree. mean, that's, you know, especially the way that things are today and people kind of just worry about things generally, right? If you have that peace of mind and you have that, you know, second or third option, it's just something that can kind of let you sleep at night a little bit better. It's like having a nest egg or, you know, having a second, third, fourth, fifth stream of income.   things like that that can let you sleep at night and while other people are panicking and worrying and making, you know, maybe even bad decisions based on that, you know, based on those worries, you can sleep soundly and make decisions that are best for you.   Yeah, yeah, and you're not limited, know, if you're just, you know, like, I mean, it's funny though, as well, I think it's timely. I think the time has come. I you see people, you know, we were chatting earlier, you know, being involved in multiple different industries and, you know, with technology, we're allowed to do that. We can reside in one country, we can do our bank in another, we can do our tax responsibility somewhere else, we can do our business. So it's probably just in the last 20, 30 years that we can move so freely.   with all this stuff, know, you know, only maybe 25, 30 years ago, I wanted to, I couldn't really do business in Germany, but live in Ireland, it'd have to be one or the other. There was no internet, you know, everything. So, so yeah, I think, I think we're heading in that direction anyway. And it's just, yeah, there's great freedom in it and great peace of mind, even though, you know, I mean, I'll be in Ireland for, you know, my two kids are, there's another six or eight years.   before they finish school. So I plan to be here, but I just have other options as well, you know.   (Seth Bradley) (08:41.42) Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. And speaking of diversification, mean, your investments are very diverse, right? I mean, in the previous episode, we jumped into rare earth metals. And then in this episode, we're going to jump into something new. Before we jump into the new thing, though, give us a little update on what has changed in your business with the rare earth metals or if anything has changed or how those things are going.   Yeah, well, thanks. Thanks for asking, Seth. Since we spoke, actually, the big news is just in the last 60 days, I think I mentioned to you that China pretty much sort of dominates the rare earth industry. it's, I think really, it's possible and we understand now that China sort of saw before the EU and maybe before the US or they understood at least that rare earths would become   the backbone of manufacturing in the 21st century and they've been, you know, they've taken action on that. So we're in a situation now and it's not really an economic strategy. It's more of a geopolitical strategy that China has big plans for electric cars, big plans for solar, big plans for wind. you know, they, they've hundreds of million people, they're, taken out of the poverty, into the middle class all the time. So sort of   thinking strategically and long term, they rightfully secured their supply of rare earths. And what happened just in the last 60 days is the US sort of initiated a sort of a block. Now it was also supported by Holland and Japan and they're blocking sort of the latest sort of semiconductor technology from going to China. And in retaliation for that, China   You know, they have, you know, an ace up their sleeve, which is where it hurts. So the West has the technology and China has the raw materials. And just in the last 60 days, China has said they're going to, well, effective August 1, which is a month ago, they're restricting the export now of gallium and germanium, which is two of these technology metals, and that China, you know, is responsible for 95 % of the global production. so we're seeing the prices go up and this is sort of.   (Louis O'Connor) (10:57.826) what I talked to you about that these metals are in demand on a good day, you know, you will make a nice return. But if something like this happens where China sort of weaponizes these metals economically, then you'll see prices increasing quite dramatically, which they are. Yeah, that's that's what's happening there. It's basically a market where there's surging demand and you have sort of political landscapes affecting as well. So   It makes for interesting investment.   Yeah, yeah. Are these rare earth metals, are they not something that we can mine or is it something we're not willing to mine, like let's say in the West?   (Louis O'Connor) (11:44.142) Yeah, good question actually. that actually gets right to the heart of it, Seth, because despite the name rare earths, they're not all that rare. Some of them are as sort of common as copper and stuff, but there's about eight or ten of them that are rare and they are available in the US. But this is what's changed dramatically in the last 30 years is the rare earths don't occur naturally. So they always occur as a byproduct of another raw material.   They're sort of, they're very chemically similar. they're, sort of all stuck together. So they have to be extracted and separated and then refined and processed into, you know, high purity levels for jet engines or smartphones or whatever the case might be. what's happened where China dominates is, is China is responsible for 95 % of the refining. Now there's about 200 or sorry, $390 billion available in subsidies in the U S.   from the Inflation Reduction Act, which despite the name is all about energy transition. And that's all very well, except the human capital and the engineering expertise to refine rare earths is depleted in, it doesn't exist in Europe, and it's very much depleted in the US. Just to give you some context, there's 39 universities in China, where they graduate degrees in critical minerals.   So the Chinese are graduating about 200 metallurgists a week, every week for the last 30 years. I think the US has a handful of universities. I'd say there's probably 300,000 metallurgists in China and there might be 400 in the US and probably none in Europe at all. So it's not just a question of if they're there, it's how do we get them into 99.99 % purity? Without the engineering expertise, we can't, not anytime soon anyway.   Wow, yeah, yeah. mean, that just alone sounds like a recipe for a pretty good play for an investment. you know, there's these bottlenecks, right? Whether that's people that can refine it or the actual element itself or willingness to mine it, you know, all these different things come into play to make it a good investment. All right, let's switch over a little bit here. Let's talk about the new investment vehicle.   (Seth Bradley) (14:06.99) that you talked to me about. It's an agricultural play, correct? we're talking about truffles, talking about mushrooms, right? Tell me a little bit about it just to get started here.   Okay, well, you probably I mean, you know, truffles are in the culinary world, they're known as the black diamond of the kitchen, you know, they're, they're a delicacy going back to, you know, thousands and thousands of years. Traditionally, the black perigord, which is the Mediterranean truffle would have originated in France, but for the last sort of, you know, the last 100 years or so,   they've been growing abundantly in sort of South, Southwestern France, Northern Spain and Italy. So traditionally, you know, that's where they grow and they sort of, know, because the truffle, as you said, it's a mushroom that has a symbiotic relationship with a a native tree, an oak tree or hazel tree or sometimes beech. So it's a very delicate balance, you know.   And although I have invested in agriculture before, we started, we, I mean, a collective does not just me involved here, and I don't want to sound like I take credit for any of this really. I was just a part of a team where we had some agri-science people, and we had sort of four generational farmers involved. But we were looking at, it is no question that climate, there's a climate change, right?   It doesn't matter to me whether people, whatever the causes of that are, the reality is if you talk to an olive grower or a truffle grower in Italy or France, they'll tell you the climate has changed because their harvests have been decreasing for about the last 30 to 40 years actually, but really more so in the last 10. So we were sort of, I'll tell you basically the AgriScience partner involved in this.   (Louis O'Connor) (16:10.958) As a test back in 2005, they started to plant and the trees inoculated, the baby trees inoculated with the truffle sort of in the root system as a test all over different countries, not just Ireland, England, UK, also the US. So this has been in sort of research and development since about 2005.   And we got seriously involved in about 2015 when history was made and this Mediterranean truffle was grown here in the British Isles for the first time. we then with our agriscience partner in 2015 planted a thousand trees in five different locations in Ireland where I am.   and one of them is about 20 minutes away from me here. They're all secret locations. I won't even tell you where they are because they really are. They're highly valued or highly prized. And so it takes about four or five years to see if you're a business. So yeah, we now are growing the Mediterranean truffle, not just in Ireland, but in other parts of the UK. But the real interesting thing, Seth, it's just now ready for scale. And all of the farmers,   who were involved in the original research. None of them are going to take it to scale. The one that's local to me is a lovely gentleman. in his 60s and he planted a thousand trees really just as a retirement. His daughter works in banking in Switzerland and so there's nobody really to take over the farm. So we're the first to do it with scale. So we're inviting in...   a portion of some investors in as well.   (Seth Bradley) (18:05.87) Gotcha. Are there specific, I assume there are, are specific growing conditions where these things can prosper? Like I can't, I'm in San Diego, I can't just plant them in my backyard and wait five years and be a millionaire.   Well, if you you if I hear you're growing truffles death, you know, we should assign an NDA we should assign. You could try but no, they wouldn't grow in San Diego because I mean, there's a very delicate balance and you're what you're you're what you're using here is agri science and nature. You're working with nature. And because the reason they've grown so well in demand is   No way.   (Louis O'Connor) (18:48.738) just because of that balance up they get a sort of a dry season or sort of they got to get a lot of rain and then they get the dry season and what's happened is they're getting more drought and less rain and it's just upset the balance. So it's a very, very delicate balance. But what people wouldn't know, I think, is that truffles have always grown wild in Ireland.   There was a time five or 600 years ago when Ireland was 85 % forest and our native tree is the oak and the hazel tree, is the tree that's also where the fungus grows. And what happened was when the Brits were before, you know, when shipbuilding was the thing and the British Navy were, you know, the Spanish were, so the Brits sort of chopped down a lot of the forest for the wood for shipbuilding. you know, our forests were depleted. But to this day,   Truffles do still grow wild here, but we're doing it differently. know, we're only planting on land where you have like certain protein and pH levels and limestone. And then we're planting baby saplings that are already two years old that were inoculated with the truffle fungus like at birth, like in the root system. And we only plant them after we see that the root system and the fungi are already thriving.   So if you get into the right soil and it's already thriving, then two, three, four years later, you'll get truffles.   (Seth Bradley) (20:17.216) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   That's awesome. just, I think about like wine and like, you know, you can grow it, you know, vines in different places. Some places they grow, some places they don't, some places they grow and the result isn't good and some places they grow and the result is awesome. It's probably a very delicate balance between, you know, environment plus how they're raised, how they're taken care of and all those sorts of things.   It is 100%. I mean, first and foremost, mean, because of angry science and technology today, you know, I mean, we can plant baby saplings that are already and not, I mean, we're playing God a little bit with nature, but you know, I mean, it's just amazing, you know, like you could do it. And then, you know, the biggest threat is actually mismanagement. You know, if you don't then manage it correctly. If you have a root system inoculated with the fungus and you have the right soil conditions,   after that and it's management and it's sort of bio security meaning they have a very pungent smell. mean, squirrels and pigs and they love them. They love to eat. So you have to, mean, you're literally it's like protecting a bank, know, you have a bio security fence. You've you know, you limit visitations to the farm, you've, know, special footwear and cleaning and stuff. so yeah, it's serious stuff, you know.   Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Well, let's dive in a little bit to the kind of the investment itself. Like what does that look like for an investor? Like what are your projected returns? You know, what, how does it all kind of, how does it all shape out? Like you've grown these wildly valuable truffles and now I guess the first step would be what's the business plan? Who are we selling these truffles to? What makes them so valuable? And then get into kind of the investor   (Seth Bradley) (22:33.794) portion like how would someone get involved in whether projector returns.   Okay, so we sell, first of all, the estate that the farm is, it's called Chan Valley Estate. People can Google it, it's beautiful. It's 200 acres of north-temporary farmland. The estate itself, it's a bit like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. It's a Georgian.   a three story Georgian home, it's over 200 years old. It's also a museum and we have events there and it's also a working farm. And it's a herbal farm. So we grow plants and herbs there that we then we have our own, we work the value chain where we also sell those herbs for medicinal purpose and we convert them into medicinal oils and things like that. So the location is already up and running.   And what we're doing with the truffles is for every acre, we can plant 800 trees. And so what we're doing is we're offering investors, well, a client, the minimum investment is $30,000 and the investor for that price gets 400 baby saplings already inoculated with the truffle fungus. And then they get the farm management   included up to the first four to five years. takes about, there'll be truffles after, bearing in mind that the sapling, the baby tree is two years old. So after three years in the ground, it's already five years old and there'll be truffles then and the returns don't begin until then. But what's included in the price is all the farm management, know, all the, you know, the,   (Louis O'Connor) (24:23.508) implementation of the farm, the irrigation, the electricity, the hardware that's needed. So all the management right up until there is production and then when they're producing, the investor gets 70 % of the growth and the farm management company, we get 30%. So it's a 70-30 split. Now the great thing about the oak and the hazel is they'll produce   for 30 to 40 years. it's a long term, it's a legacy investment, you might call it, because you won't see returns until the fourth or fifth year. But once you do, you'll see returns then for another 30 to 35 years. And they're very, very good. mean, we have three numbers in the brochure. We looked at what's...   price half the truffles never dropped below. So we have the very low estimate, which is they've never gone below this price. That brings in an IRR, which would be from day one of about 14%. And then the highest that they've sold for, you're looking at about 69%, but the average is about 38%.   So the returns will be very, very good once production kicks in and then they'll maintain. We've included an inflation for 30 to 40 years. I hope, I think I answered everything there.   Yeah, definitely. sorry. I gave you about six questions there to answer in a row. But yeah, I think you covered everything. And having an IRR, which is time-based on something that has this long of a horizon and even takes four or five years to even start producing, those are really, really strong numbers.   (Louis O'Connor) (26:23.63) Yeah, well, again, even the, you know, one of the reasons obviously we like truffles because they're very, very expensive. mean, they're a luxury product. You know, we're about an hour from Shannon Airport here, which is the transatlantic hub between Europe and the U.S. So we can have truffles in U.S. or anywhere in Europe or even the Middle East or the Far East, for that matter, in less than 24 hours. that's important as well. But they're a luxury item. There's huge demand for them. mean,   You know how the world is. mean, there are, unfortunately, you know, there's always sort of, people are getting richer and some people maybe are getting poorer. But the luxury, you know, high end market and the culinary, international culinary explosion means that, you know, there's huge demand for truffles. And also you have to factor in the fact that the harvests in the Mediterranean are less and less every year. And I mean, very, very sadly,   I mean, it's an opportunity for us, but very sadly that they've done very specific scientific studies and it's going to over the next 50 years, the truffle harvests in the Med will go will decline between 73 and 100%. So literally, they will not be growing truffles there in 50 plus years from now. So that's an opportunity for us. you know, again,   We've been working on this really since 2015. And it was only, you know, it was only 2019, 2020 when we began to get to truffles we knew because there was no guarantee, you know. But yeah, now that we're growing them, we just need to scale up.   Gotcha. Gotcha. what's kind of the I see that you know, for that minimum investment, you get X number of baby saplings. How many was that again? 400. That's what I Okay, 400. What's kind of the survival rate, I guess, of those saplings? Do you have kind of a percentage on that? Is it like?   (Louis O'Connor) (28:17.102) 400   (Louis O'Connor) (28:27.086) Yeah, well, we expect you got what's happening so far is within in about year three, which is actually year five, because the sapling, you should get three of the five trees producing. But once you have production, once that fungi is thriving, it will just continue to grow. So in year four, you should have four of them. In year five, you should have all of them producing.   Now we also put a guarantee in the farm management contract that if any tree, you know, if it dies or if it's not, you know, producing truffles, we'll replace it free of charge at any time. in the event, you know, for some reason, I mean, we put a tree in that's inoculated and it doesn't take, then we just replace it. So either way, over the first four to five years, we get them all. And the great thing is if you protect that soil from   pests and diseases and other sort of unwelcome sort of mycorrhizal or fungi, then it will thrive. It will thrive. It'll keep, you know, it'll spread, you know, it's a symbiotic relationship underground between the tree and the fungi.   Got it. Yeah, that's awesome to know. like survival is not one of the things that we should consider because if for some reason it wouldn't survive or is not producing, then it just gets replaced. So you actually are getting those full 400 saplings turning into trees that will be producing.   almost they mature and produce and you know as I said barring you know any pests or diseases or you know interference then they just continue you just protect them you just allow nature then to do its work.   (Seth Bradley) (30:18.848) Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the risks then? What are the downsides that you can foresee if something were to go wrong? What would it be?   Well, the greatest threat is mismanagement, literally. I obviously we're doing this with scale, so it's a professional endeavor, you know, people from time to time, know, I mean, some of the test sites here, mean, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and they're not that hard to manage, but people just lose interest, or the younger kids don't want to farm. But the greatest threat is mismanagement. So as long as you put in these biosecurity measures,   and manage, you know, there's got to be some clearing done, there's got to be some pruning done, there's got to be tree guards. So there is a process involved in bringing them to nurturing them along and then keeping everything, you know, neutral, if you will. that's first, weather is always, you know, factor in agriculture. We don't feel it's as much of a threat here, because although we're for the first time,   growing the Mediterranean truffle. Truffles have grown, they grow here wild anyway. So the climate is right and has been right for thousands of years in Ireland. So, you know, and again, we'll have irrigation as well. You know, we get a lot of rain here. It's not likely we'll need any more rain, but yeah, we, you know, the agri-science will kick in there as well. And then, you know, as I said, like,   you know, biosecurity we call it, which is, you know, very, very serious fencing, limited visits to the farm, know, special footwear if people are going up to the area and sort of rinse. We have a pool area where they have to disinfect before they go into, you know, it's a very, very, very protected area from pests and from diseases or anything, you know, that could be brought in from the outside on whether that's machinery or humans.   (Louis O'Connor) (32:22.892) So yeah, it's almost like a laboratory. mean, you keep it very, very delicate balance and keep it very limited on who visits and, you know, people are a visit, but they have to be properly, you know, the feet have to be cleaned and footwear has to be worn and stuff like that. So, but, know, at the end of the day, Seth, it's, you know, well, any investment really, but agriculture, you know, the final say is in nature's hands, you know, not ours. mean, we...   We like to think, suppose, we're in the results business, but the reality is we're not. in the planning business and all we can do is plan everything as well as we can. It's just like, you if you planted a rose, you know, bush out in your backyard there today, you wouldn't stand outside and will it to grow, right? You know, grow quicker. You know, we have to allow nature and the cosmos to do its work. so yeah, nature has the final say, you know.   Yeah, yeah, no, totally, totally understand. And any investment has its risks, whether you're investing in truffles or real estate or any of the above. Quick question on this. Don't want to paint you like in a bad way at all, but we have had and it's not you, of course, of course, but we've had an influx of bad sponsors and people that are anything from mismanaging investor capital on one end, which can happen pretty easily. And there's not a whole lot of   Not a lot of bad blood there. Things happen. And then on the other side of the spectrum, we've seen everything from fraud to Ponzi schemes and all kinds of stuff lately. One thing that I tell investors is to make sure you know who you're investing with and make sure your investing dollars are actually getting invested where they're supposed to. Could an investor invest with you and actually go to the farm?   and see their saplings or see the farm and see this business.   (Louis O'Connor) (34:24.654) 100 % in fact, we would rather people do I mean, I it's not always possible. Right. But Shan Valley Estate, I mean, I'll give you the website and stuff after Shan Valley Estate. It's a 200 acre farm. It's already a museum. have events there. It's a herb dispensary as I said, as I said, it's our our manage our farm management partner is the Duggan family, their fourth generation farmers and they're being in temporary, you know,   longer than that even. absolutely, you you know, of course, there's legal contracts. mean, people get a legal contract for the purchase of the trees and then we have a legal contract for the farm management that we're responsible for implementing the project, we're responsible for bringing the hard, the trees to truffles to harvest. But we do, we just beginning, we just had our first tour, but it was sort of Europe from Germany. Last, sorry,   the 18th, 19th of August. But we will be having tours every quarter. And if anybody wants to come at any time, we'd be delighted to have them because it's like I said, it's like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. And we've accommodated, we converted the stables into accommodation, you know, because we have weddings and events and stuff there as well. It's not just a field that we bought.   Yeah.   And so it's a big deal. I'll give you the website. The location is spectacular and clients can, you know, stay the night, you know, and there's a three story Georgian estate house and the bottom floor is a museum. So it's like walking into a pharmacy from 1840, all the bottles and the counter is 200 years old, you know, and then the middle level, we've an organic vegetarian restaurant, all the   (Louis O'Connor) (36:17.24) food is grown on the farm. There's an old walled garden that they used to wall the gardens years ago to keep out the pests. And all the food that's served is grown on the farm. And then the top floor is accommodation as well and the stables have been converted. look, it's all about trust, Seth. And, you know, I would say to anybody, you've   I mean myself, if I have any doubt about anything, don't do it. And it might not be that somebody's a scam or a fraud, it's just if you're not 100 % sure about it, don't touch it. But what I would recommend is people do their due diligence because we've done ours. We've eight years invested in it, put a lot of time and effort into it. And at the very least, we'd like people to check it out and see it all the way through.   for what it is. yeah, we'll be, we're hoping to, we have a partner in Europe and we're to connect with somebody in North America. I don't want name anybody here because it might not come off, but there's a few sort of marketers and there's plenty obviously that we might sort of do a sort of an agreement with where they'll, you know, I mean, we could even have sort of investment real estate conferences on the farm.   you know, and do farm tours as well. so definitely 100 % we'd love for people to visit and, and they get to drink some Guinness and they're really brave, they can swim in the Irish sea.   Yeah, and I'm looking at the website right now. We'll drop that in the show notes, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it's making me want to get on a plane right now and check it out. It's incredible.   (Louis O'Connor) (38:00.046) Yeah, that's the estate, shambali.ie. I mean, what I love about it's 100 % organic or members of the Irish Organic Association, track ref, fourth generation. You know, this is not me, I'm a part of this, but the farm management team are, you know, they're already like growing herbs and plants and converting them to medicinal, you know, oils and things. And this is just another, it's more of a farming enterprise, I suppose, than a farm.   And then the other partner is the Agri Science Partner, which is this team of scientists who basically made history by growing for the very first time eight years ago, the black, the Mediterranean truffle in Ireland, you know, so there's a lot of professionalism and thought and effort being put into a chap.   Love that. Love that man. Is there anything else about this type of investment that I didn't ask about that I should have?   I think you know Seth, you should be on CNN or something because I you did. I'm pretty sure you did, you definitely covered it. I mean I may have left something out but I think it's a good foundation for somebody if they're interested, I'll give them my email and you know it's not that expensive to get to Europe and it's a great way to mix a holiday and you know come to the farm and stuff you know.   Absolutely, absolutely. Well, since you're repeat guest of the guest of the show, we won't go into the freedom for but you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   (Louis O'Connor) (39:34.446) You know, I knew you were going to ask me that, Seth, you caught me off guard. So I have one ready and I stole this from someone else. So I'm not going to take it. But I was listening to a guy last week and he, sort of a big operation in Europe. And he was talking about a phrase they have in the office and it's 1%. And they always look at each other and when you pass them, they go 1%. And I love what it's about. It's about the idea that in a way it sort of comes back to what we talked about earlier, which is forget about.   Yeah.   (Louis O'Connor) (40:04.664) the fact don't think you're in the results business. You're in the planning business. And the 1 % is every day, try and improve every little action. I'm not just talking about work. I'm talking about family, your spiritual practice, if you have one, increase it by 1 % every day. And you know, it's like compound interest, isn't it? That in a way, then you don't have to worry about the big picture. And the results will just look after themselves then, you know.   Yeah, yeah, I love that man. Always improve. mean, you you've got to take small steps to get to those big goals. And a lot of times you just need to ask yourself, did I improve 1 % today? If the answer is yes, then it was a successful day.   Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And it's great because, you know, if I was to try and think now, or you were to try and think now, everything you have to do in the next three weeks, right, you just be overwhelmed, right. And sometimes my head is like that, you know, I mean, I've got meditation practice and stuff, but I watch my thoughts and you know, I mean, it's it's a fact. I mean, it's a human condition. I don't know, some disestimates of how many thoughts do we have a day? How many are repetitive and how many are useless?   A lot of them are repetitive, a lot of them are useless. So it's good just to narrow it right down to what's the next thing I can do right now and can I do it 1 % better than I did yesterday, you know?   Absolutely. Love that man. All right, Lou, we're gonna let us find out more about you.   (Louis O'Connor) (41:34.954) Okay, so they can email me. It's Truffle Farm Invest. Sorry, it's a new website www.trufflefarminvest.com or they can if somebody from your your audience wants to email me directly, it's louis at trufflefarminvest.com   Alright, perfect man. We'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on the show. Always a pleasure, brother.   Thank you very much, Seth. A pleasure.   (Seth Bradley) (42:08.088) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Louis O'Connor's Links: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054362234822 https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-o-connor-a583341b8/ https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/30/strategic-metals-founder-louis-oaconnor-breaks-down-china-u-s-rare-metal-wars.html

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss John Barbour's epic poem The Brus, or Bruce, which he wrote c1375. The Brus is the earliest surviving poem in Older Scots and the only source of many of the stories of King Robert I of Scotland (1274-1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce, and his victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314. In almost 14,000 lines of rhyming couplets, Barbour distilled the aspects of the Bruce's history most relevant for his own time under Robert II (1316-1390), the Bruce's grandson and the first of the Stewart kings, when the mood was for a new war against England after decades of military disasters. Barbour's battle scenes are meant to stir in the name of freedom, and the effect of the whole is to assert Scotland as the rightful equal of any power in Europe.WithRhiannon Purdie Professor of English and Older Scots at the University of St AndrewsSteve Boardman Professor of Medieval Scottish History at the University of EdinburghAndMichael Brown Professor of Scottish History at the University of St AndrewsProducer: Simon TillotsonReading list:John Barbour (ed. A.A.M. Duncan), The Bruce (Canongate Classics, 2007)G.W.S. Barrow, Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 1988)Stephen Boardman, The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III (Tuckwell Press, 1996)Steve Boardman and Susan Foran (eds.), Barbour's Bruce and its Cultural Contexts: Politics, Chivalry and Literature in Late Medieval Scotland (D.S. Brewer, 2015)Michael Brown, Disunited Kingdoms: Peoples and Politics in the British Isles, 1280-1460 (Routledge, 2013)Michael Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)Thomas Owen Clancy and Murray Pittock, Ian Brown and Susan Manning (eds.), The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, Vol. 1: From Columba to the Union (until 1707), (Edinburgh University Press 2006)Robert Crawford, Scotland's Books: A History of Scottish Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)Robert DeMaria Jr., Heesok Chang and Samantha Zacher (eds.), A Companion to British Literature: Vol 1, Medieval Literature, 700-1450 (John Wiley & Sons, 2014), especially 'Before the Makars: Older Scots literature under the early Stewart Kings' by Rhiannon PurdieColm McNamee, The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland 1306-1328 (Tuckwell Press, 2001)Michael Penman, Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots (Yale University Press, 2014)In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio ProductionSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

Rob first learned about the Wild Trout Trust when he interviewed British musician Craig Joiner. Craig's website states £1 from all sales of his latest album ‘ A Kind of Calm' will be donated to the 'Wild Trout Trust'. Rob contacted Wild Trout and found Shaun Leonard. Shaun has a degree in marine biology and pollution. He was Head of Fishery Studies at Sparsholt College until 2009 when he became the director at the Wild Trout Trust.  Rob and Shaun discuss all things being fish nerds, growing up watching the Cousteau documenters, and seeking peace on the water. Shaun shares stories about non-native signal crayfish, natural history of British Isles fishes and the physical geography that currently makes this land islands. The mission of the Wild Trout Trust states they are a river conservation charity focused on improving habitat for wild brown trout. As excellent indicators of river health, improving the habitat of these iconic fish benefits an enormous range of other freshwater wildlife. They specialize in restoring rivers and empowering others to do the same. They deliver habitat improvement projects across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and provide expert advice to their partners, landowners, and communities.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the sauna bench, we head to Oslo, Norway, and visit with the folks at Oslo Badstuforening, (Oslo Sauna Association). This is my second trip to Norway in as many years. They say that you never step into the same river twice, and I'll contend that we never sit on the same sauna bench twice. For last year, I took many saunas in the Oslo Harbour, as well as published a Sauna Talk with the Oslo Sauna Association team – and you can listen to that episode which is #99. And this year, I get right back into the Oslo sauna spirit, yet with more focus on the “behind the scenes” history, construction, operation, and warm hearted people who make it all happen. Because frankly, I'm overwhelmed with the Badstu Boom, as it's called. I really dig the Norwegians! The Norwegians They have sauna (badstu) deep in their Viking history. They approach it width depth and culture like the Finns, but with the open minded collaborative artful attention and appreciation of the Brits. AND without the capitalistic franchise money to be made CEO Instagramification land grab of many Americans. Take this Sauna Talk as example. Main guests on this show are Ragna, Secretary General, Oslo Badstuforening. And Aslak, who also has an official sounding title at Oslo Badstuforening, along the lines of “chief operations manager” which could mean loading firewood in the morning and replacing a burned out stove in the afternoon. A few different countries And we get to sauna serendipity also, as Hannah Mary Goodland joins us from Haar Sauna which is located way up north in the British Isles. Haar Sauna is the first mobile sauna in Scotland. Hannah Mary is also in Oslo and so what better than a bunch of sauna business folks from different a few different countries Sauna Talking it out on the bench, while over looking the fjord in Oslo. For those familiar, and for those who keep up with SaunaTimes and sauna travel, Oslo Sauna Association has an every expanding fleet of floating saunas. Each one unique, named after a particular bird, and pretty much guaranteed to have local Oslo residents with a few foreigners sprinkled in for contrast social therapy. For our Sauna Talk, Ragna chooses for us the Seagull Sauna. And you'll soon get to hear why she chose this particular sauna, out of the 24 or so floating nearby. I think about the floating sauna revolution. I wrote about it here over two years ago. And since then, I have written and reviewed several other floating saunas, such as my friends Nick and Jess at Löyly floating in BC Canada, who now have three more floating projects in development. David, of course, from Von Sauna in Seattle, who I met at Sauna Days aboard the Viking Floating Sauna. And has what many report to be incredibly great heat on Lake Washington. But the thing is, floating saunas are all over the place in Europe, and you can check in with Sauna Sam who takes us dockside in Amsterdam, for example. Catching the floating sauna bug Many of these floating saunapreneurs caught the bug and inspiration from their times in Oslo, including the just christened Alex and Gabe's aptly titled Fjord Sauna, the first floating sauna in San Francisco Bay Area. And soon to be launched, we will visit with Kate Butchart, an American who lived in Oslo for seven years, who is introducing Kos Sauna, the first floating sauna to open on Saratoga Lake in Saratoga Springs, NY, scheduled to debut in September 2025. Kos “koos” translates from Norwegian as a concept meaning cozy joy—simplicity that fosters small delights and community. Sound familiar? Well, let's get to it. From the floating sauna bench in Oslo Norway, I am pleased to bring you this episode of Sauna Talk!

RETCON: ‘Retroactive Continuity' — generally used in science fiction and fantasy to re-write historical lore to make it conform to modern interpretations. That's what the BBC is doing to their new series on The Norman Conquest: William I of Normandy's successful invasion of the British Isles and the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

In today's podcast, we're heading slightly beyond the Tudor world — north to Scotland — to uncover the story of a young queen who deserves far more recognition than she gets. On this day in 1486, Queen Margaret of Denmark, consort of James III of Scotland, died at just 30 years old. But her brief life left a permanent mark on British history. Because of Margaret, Orkney and Shetland became — and remained — part of Scotland. A forgotten dowry, a pledged territory, and a queen who quietly changed the map of the British Isles. But there's so much more to her than diplomacy.  Join me as I delve into the fascinating story of Margaret of Denmark — her Danish roots, her turbulent royal marriage, her influence on Scottish politics, and the tragic mystery of her early death. Had you heard of Margaret before? What do you think of her impact? Let me know in the comments below! And don't forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for more history videos every week! #OnThisDay #MargaretOfDenmark #ScottishHistory #QueenMargaret #Orkney #Shetland #TudorEra #MedievalQueens #JamesIII #JamesIV #WomenInHistory #ClaireRidgway #AnneBoleynFiles

From the files of Delise & Hall, The Diver's AttorneysDelise & Hall is a New Orleans, Louisiana, based law firm with offices in New Orleans and Covington and associate attorneys nationwide. Our firm concentrates in the representation of an international clientele of commercial divers, public safety divers, technical divers and recreational divers and their families in all areas of maritime and admiralty law. For over a quarter of a century Delise & Hall has represented American and international clients from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Cadiz, and from the British Isles to the Marshall Islands in maritime matters concerning the Jones Act, products liability, personal injury and wrongful death litigation as well as treasure/salvage law. Consultations are also available in matters concerning marine insurance and vessel documentation.Article Link:https://divelawyer.com/proven-case-results/public-safety-diver-killed-during-training-training-negligence-inappropriate-rescue/Website:https://divelawyer.com/

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #626 is an hour of sinuous, dynamic acoustic improvised music played by The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, dulcimer, harmonica, shruti box, acoustic guitar and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and Native drum. Recorded live on a hot June day in 2025 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today's show begins with the upbeat, shimmering “May The Floodgates of Love Open Wide”, a breathless, energized song driven by Mariam's chiming dulcimer, imaginative piano and throbbing congas. “All Life Unfolds” is a powerful, mysterious drone song with an ancient British Isles vibe, Mariam's fundamental message supported by heartbeat Native drum, imaginative piano and tight, racing dulcimer work. “One More Day” is a powerful raga version of the track from Mariam's “Release” album that features powerful vocals and soaring Native flute lines interspersed over wide-ranging classical piano figurations. “Going Down To The River” is a hallucinogenic summer ballad featuring a fine melody and imaginative, intense work from the ensemble and “Amaru Machay” is a powerful, spiritual song by Mariam about an ancient Andean cave rendered in a funky Afro-Cuban frame. “Painty The Turtle” is another relaxed, summery narrative about a little turtle and her babies at Singing Brook Farm and “Reborn”, a favorite Mariam song of the band's is a rocking, acoustic-guitar driven requiem with powerful lyrics. “Salamini” is a mystical, delicate ballad with a gorgeous vocal from Mariam and liquid, shimmering piano and “Summer Solstice” is a gently percolating, bluesy summer dream that showcases the ensemble's laid-back side. Today's show ends with the dreamy “Make A Difference”, an affecting minor ballad with earthy Native drum, chiming acoustic guitar, circular, imaginative piano and a lilting, gentle melody from Mariam. Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

The lyrics start like no song we'd ever heard back in the 1960s (or, well, since): Where the Walker runs down to the Carson Valley plain…The words also speak of pretty lights at nights “in Yerington town” and about a young woman whose beauty was toasted by strangers “where the Truckee runs through … (and) in Virginia City too…”Magical were all those names of Nevada rivers and tiny towns on the range. They were especially evocative to a bunch of teen-aged Easterners who had grown up watching cowboys on television and in the movies, but who had been not farther west than, say, Louisville.When eager young folkies first heard the song — on Ian & Sylvia's classic 1965 Early Morning Rain album — Californians Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell's “Darcy Farrow” also came with a to-die-for back story.The LegendThe original story came from the album's liner notes, written by Lee Hays of The Weavers. Citing Sylvia Fricker as his source, Hays wrote that one of the songwriters “had considerable experience as a student of an eminent folklorist where much effort was given to writing songs that would fool the teachers and pass as authentic.“Ian feels that this is no less authentic,” Hays added, “for it was written in the tradition of old-time cowboy tunes — just sentimental enough — and mighty convincing in its mention of names and places.”Hays' spare little origin story spread from coffeehouse to coffeehouse across the country, regularly embellished with each re-telling until it became something of “an urban legend,” folk musician Jim Moran recently noted on his website “Comparative Video 101.”By the time Moran heard it, the story had grown to relate how Gillette and Campbell had been two enterprising young men who had been given “what they regarded as an impossible assignment in a class in the UCLA department of folklore, one of the most distinguished of such university departments in the world. “The assignment was to do some field work in folk music,” Moran writes, “to go off into a rural section of the Mountain West and find either a traditional song that had been as of then undiscovered, or a significant variant of a song already known.”However, the story went, after covering hundreds of miles over spring break, visiting dozens of small towns in the rural Nevada/California border country in the shadows of the Eastern Sierra and along the Walker River, the two found nothing.“In desperate fear of failure on the assignment and perhaps in the class,” Moran says, “the two decided to write an original song in a traditional ballad mode about a pair of ill-fated young lovers in the Old West and submit it as a ‘discovery.' The song sounded so convincingly authentic that the professor of the class awarded them an A for the project.”Great story, but — now, isn't there just always a “but”? — the real roots of “Darcy Farrow” are at least as interesting as the myth, and we've got Steve Gillette himself to tell the real tale.Darcy Farrow's Real StoryAs he tells it on his own website, Gillette met Tom Campbell in the early 1960s. “My mom liked Tom a lot and encouraged him to be a part of our family, which he did. My sisters, Darcy and Karen, and my brother Jeff all adored Tom.”A pair of incidents in the Gillette household made a big impression on Campbell. “One night,” Steve writes, “Karen was driving home from a friend's wedding. She had a cold and had taken some cold medication, which combined with a little champagne at the wedding caused her to fall asleep at the wheel. She was lucky to escape with only a broken arm and some bruises. “That same weekend, Darcy, just 12 years old, was kicked by her horse and suffered a concussion and a broken cheekbone.“Tom was very moved by the twin tragedies, and came up with the whole saga of our song, ‘Darcy Farrow' set to a tune that I had adapted from a piece by Pete Seeger called ‘Living' In the Country.'”Gillette said he was initially reluctant to accept Campbell's lyrics, “because the story was so dark and my sister's name was used. My mom was the one who encouraged me to give it a chance. Both the lyrics and the music underwent substantial change as we worked on the song together. We drew on the traditional cowboy songs, many of which come down to us from the British Isles.”Meanwhile, sister Darcy “has been pretty good about the whole thing,” Gillette writes, “maybe a little embarrassed to be injured by a horse. (She admitted years later that she was trying to encourage the horse to buck.) But she has carried it well, and I think she even enjoys being a part of the story.”And About That UCLA Connection?Gillette also acknowledges that he and Tom were the ones who provided the seed for the urban legend about the song's origin. “When we had finished the song in the summer of 1964,” Steve says, “we had a chance to sing it for Ian & Sylvia. … Tom had taken a folklore class with D.K. Wilgus at UCLA and mentioned to Ian that he used to turn in songs he had written or added to and claimed he had collected them from his grandfather.”Ian Tyson got a big kick out of that idea, Gillette said, “and incorporated it into his introduction to the song. In their travels, Ian and Sylvia spread that story to lots of people around the country. Of course, they introduced the song to all those people at the same time. But we still have people ask if we wrote it for a college class.”Meanwhile, Back in West Virginia…In the Floodisphere, tunes like “Darcy Farrow” bring back lots of sweet memories. In the world of the Bowen Bash music parties in the 1970s where The Flood was born, the foremost performers of just about any Ian & Sylvia tune you could think of were the members in the wonderful Samples Brothers Band. Want a sample from The Samples? Click the Play button on the video above for the brothers' version of “Darcy Farrow,” recorded at a bash in the spring of 1979. That's Mack singing the rock-solid lead, Roger on the close harmony and Ted playing those sweet solos (with, as a bonus, a little soft background fiddling by The Flood's Joe Dobbs).Our Take on the TuneThis old tune hadn't been played in The Flood band room in more than a decade, but when “Darcy Farrow” dropped in at last week's rehearsal, it fit the moment as comfortably as a good old shoe.More Song Stories?If you enjoy our historical research on the songs The Flood plays, you can browse an archive of earlier articles in the Song Stories section.Click here to check it out. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com

In this episode, we find the May 2025 New Music Train chugging around the British Isles. First it picks up Liam McIndoe and then Roger Grace sprints down the platform just in time to hop on board. The twosome discusses new music from Voom, Orbit Culture, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, Billy Nomates and Heartworms.  Rockin' the Suburbs on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or other podcast platforms, including audioBoom, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iHeart,Stitcher and TuneIn. Or listen at SuburbsPod.com. Please rate/review the show on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends. Visit our website at SuburbsPod.com Email Jim & Patrick at rock@suburbspod.com Follow us on the Threads, Facebook or Instagram @suburbspod If you're glad or sad or high, call the Suburban Party Line — 612-440-1984. Theme music: "Ascension," originally by Quartjar, next covered by Frank Muffin and now re-done in a high-voltage version by Quartjar again!  Visit quartjar.bandcamp.com and frankmuffin.bandcamp.com.

The third film in this zombie apocalypse trilogy was once again directed by Danny Boyle & written by Alex Garland who previously worked on the previous 2 films in 2002 & 2007. This film stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor - Johnson, Alfie Williams & Ralph Fiennes. In this film, 28 years after the “Rage Virus” wiped out the British Isles, a small village is still prospering despite not having access to the rest of the world. When a man and his young son tread to the infected area, they encounter zombies that have surprisingly evolved into a much more deadly force and seem to be more cult like than rabid monsters. The pair must get back to the village before the tides wipe out their only way back. This film was announced a year after “28 Weeks Later” had been released but due to conflicts of film rights, the film remained in development hell until late 2023. Cillian Murphy, who starred in the first film, was slated to return but ended up taking an executive producer role. Boyle & Garland had also announced that this film was to be shot simultaneously with a sequel, which is now slated for a 2026 release.

Welcome to the LIVING FOR THE BOYLE review series!  Daniel Francis Boyle originally hailed from Manchester, England and his filmmaking career took off thirty years ago in 1995 with the release of acclaimed cult thriller Shallow Grave.  And ever since then, Danny Boyle (as he's officially known) has carved out a uniquely successful career not only achieving box office success several times but also winning a few Oscars along the way.  During this time period, he has also become one of MY personal favorite directors, having helmed excellent ORIGINAL stories spanning several genres including children's fantasy, science fiction, crime drama, horror, and biopic.  Over the next few months, I will be reviewing some of my favorite entries from his filmography in the lead-up to the long-awaited sequel to one of his more successful films….28 Years Later which will be released in the U.S. on June 20!It's finally here!  Following several months of hype including one of THE more iconic trailers of recent years, Danny Boyle has returned to this ongoing post-apocalyptic saga.  Also returning is screenwriter Alex Garland (Annihilation, Ex Machina) and together they have crafted a new story within this post-apocalyptic universe taking place entirely on the British Isles several years (28 actually) after the initial outbreak of the "Rage virus" which overtook the UK.  This story focuses on young Spike (Alfie Williams) who lives on a remote island off the coast of the infected mainland in a quaint village with his mother (Jodie Comer) and father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).  There are several harrowing run-in's with the infected but at its core, this is a coming-of-age story.  So does it live up to the hype?  Let's find out....Host & Editor: Geoff GershonEditor: Ella GershonProducer: Marlene GershonSend us a texthttps://livingforthecinema.com/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/Letterboxd:https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

This week's Out Now with Aaron and Abe is dealing with serious alpha rage. The Lambcast's Richard Kirkham and Cal State Fullerton's Professor Mike Dillon join Aaron for a review of 28 Years Later from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland. Hear what this group has to say about this return to the world of the rage-infected British Isles. Plus, there's plenty of time for other movie chatter, games, and listener thoughts. Tune in for Out Now Quickies™ (7:10), Trailer Talk for I Know What You Did Last Summer(18:42), the main review (27:20), spoiler-themed thoughts (1:06:00), Games (1:43:10), and Out Now Feedback (1:52:00). So now, if you've got an hour or so to kill… Get yourself a free audiobook and help out the show at AudibleTrial.com/OutNowPodcast! Follow all of us on Twitter/Bluesky: @Outnow_Podcast, @AaronsPS4, @WalrusMoose, @LambThe Check out all of our sites, podcasts, and blogs:  TheCodeIsZeek.substack.com, Why So Blu?, We Live Entertainment, Kirkham A Movie A Day, The Lambcast Read Aaron's review for 28 Years Later Trailer: I Know What You Did Last Summer Next Week: F1

Sam and Tom sit down with Nigel Notley (archivist) & Michael Morrison (club historian) from Royal Worlington & Newmarket Golf Club - affectionately refered to as 'the sacred nine' or simply 'Mildenhall' to discuss the history of one of the most unique clubs in the British Isles. As a course, it's simple, elegant and a monument to penal design at the hands of Tom Hood and Tom Dunn. As a club, it's synonymous with The Pink Jug, a concoction of just about everything in the spirit cabinet which comes together in a potent cocktail and now serves as the club's emblem.  We'll also be releasing a film from Royal Worlington on Tuesday evening (24th june) so please head over to YouTube for more. Link to find us there can be found here. If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!You can follow us along below @cookiejargolf Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Website

Blank Check is going back to the British Isles with Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and one extraordinarily well-endowed zombie this week as they discuss 28 Years Later. This movie has so much to love in it – wet bones, third-act Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer doing a thing, the Angel of the North, Teletubbies, the aforementioned well-endowed zombies, mind-bending digital photography, and did we mention THE WET BONES??? Be prepared for David to get REAL British, for Marie to cry on mic, for Griffin to bring up the manosphere, and for Ben to learn about Operation Yewtree. Gosh, we love this movie so much. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 21-years-old Jasmine Harrison became the youngest female to row solo across the Atlantic. A year later she set a record as the first woman to swim the full length of the British Isles. Currently, she's participating in the Mini Globe Race, a solo, around-the-world race for 5.8 meter mostly home-built yachts. Before starting the race, Jasmine didn't know how to sail. We crossed paths in the Marquesas where we discussed her exploits. Follow her progress on the Mini Globe website or her Instagram page.

Send us a textFinally, another Literary Aviatrix Classics episode with my guest hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty! This episode is all about Amy Johnson. We started off with her book Sky Roads to the World but, truth in advertising, we did not love this book. It's a great history of aviation exploits of the time with insightful predictions of what aviation would offer in the future, but we gleaned almost nothing about Amy herself. We were able to cobble together our impressions of her, her life, and her aviation exploits from other sources, and Jenny, fabulous book and women's aviation history nerd that she is, gives us a rundown of several additional books and places Amy in the context of other women who were flying in the British Isles around her time. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Join me in a conversation with adventurous paddlers Andy Mullins and Geoff Cater. Under the banner of Midlife Kayak, Andy and Geoff share their experiences, challenges, and the unique bond of friendship forged through sea kayaking. Embark on an inspiring story that navigates from the scenic coasts of Cornwall to the thrilling waters of Ireland. This episode explores not only the thrills of paddling around the prominent British Isles but also delves into the personal growth, camaraderie, and life-changing adventures that the open waters offer. Get insights into the essence of enjoying the moment, and how adventure leaves a lasting impact both on the paddlers and those they meet along the way. Midlife Kayak

They made the chimps watch too much LiveLeak and it infected them with Rage, cut to 28 days later and the entire British Isle is fucked. That's right, we're getting our MiniDV cams out and going back to the glorious days of post-9/11 with 28 DAYS LATER. This film reinvented a genre when it came out... but how does it hold up now?Joining us are the three lads from a new screening series in Toronto: Truth and Dare. Each month Nick Armstrong, Adam Bovoletis, and Sacha Kingston-Wayne program cutting-edge documentaries that challenge the idea of what a doc needs to be. Before we talk about this weeks film we also discuss some recent stuff we've been watching: VULCANIZADORA, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, MOUNTAINHEAD, and of course the actual first film in this franchise, the Sandra Bullock comedy 28 DAYS. Adam also walks us through his 29th birthday movie marathon and we all try out Shaq-a-licious XL gummies to determine whether or not they truly taste like Shaq.Come see Ben's film CHERUB next week on June 22nd at 3pm at the Paradise Theatre and then head to the latest Truth and Dare screening TREASURED STACKS OF JODIE MACK, a retrospective of the incomparable experimental filmmaker Jodie Mack. That screening is also on June 22nd at 7pm at CineCycle, PWYC.CHERUB tickets: https://www.goelevent.com/FOFS/e/CherubTREASURED STACKS OF JODIE MACK info: https://theseventhart.org/treasured-stacks-of-jodie-mack/Follow us @thefranchisees on Instagram and Twitter and email us at thefranchiseespod@gmail.com

This week, Joe welcomes Milly Johnson and Samuel Burr to the studio to chat about their new novels.They talk about their writing habits, author mates, female friendships and the menopause amongst man other things. They also give us some great book recommendations too! THE BOOK OFF 'We All Want Impossible Things' by Catherine NewmanVS 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen And here's more on our guests books...The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers - by Samuel Burr Clayton Stumper is an enigma.He might be twenty-five years old, but he dresses like your grandad and drinks sherry like your aunt.Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution.When the esteemed crossword compiler, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle to him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for his future.Yet as Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve – and it's a secret that will change everything…Same Time Next Week - by Milly JohnsonWelcome to Spring Hill, home to a square of independent shops and cafes, a thriving local community and nearby the newest venture, Ray's Diner. Here a group of women meet once a week over a cup of something warming.Amanda is primary carer to her elderly mother and one of the only women in a male-dominated company. Used to being second-best all her life, is this her time to finally break ranks and shine?Sky works at the repair shop, patching up old teddy bears, and their owners' hearts. But her heart beats for the one man who is strictly off-limits.Mel has been a loyal and loving wife to Steve for thirty years. Then when he goes to his old school reunion, life as she knows it will never be the same again.Erin is trying to get over a traumatic loss where her guilt weighs more than her grief. Can she find the first step to healing lies in sharing an hour with strangers once a week?Astrid is feeling in need of a change and a challenge. But when a fantastic opportunity presents itself, who is around to convince her she is worthy enough to take the risk?Can these women find the answers to their worries, acceptance, courage, support here? Join them at the same time next week to find out… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Local Legends, the penultimate for Series 6, Martin is joined around the campfire by folklorists, academics, and Folklore Society big-wigs, Dr Owen Davies and Dr Ceri Houlbrook.They are the masterminds behind, the University of Hertfordshire's Masters degree course in Folklore Studies. It's a one of a kind qualification, and we speak about it during this chat.Outside of that, though, Ceri has written and edited several books, and her primary research interests are, and I'm quoting here, “the heritage and material culture of ritual and folklore in the British Isles, from c.1700 to the present day.” Very cool.And then there's Owen, who is a British historian who specialises in the history of magic, witchcraft, ghosts, and popular medicine. And Professor Ronald Hutton described Owen not too long ago as Britain's "foremost academic expert on the history of magic." He's a notable figure in the field, everybody, so doff your caps accordingly!You can learn more about the University of Hertfordshire MA in Folklore Studies here, and can find Herts Memories here, as mentioned by Owen during the chat.For now though, let us throw another log onto the Three Ravens campfire and listen in to a chat about the Hertfordshire giant, Jack O' Legs, the last person convicted for witchcraft in England – a trial which took place in Hertfordshire, chalk streams, haunted Prodigy Houses, and added Boggart Hole Clough for pudding, plus so much more, with two true Local Legends: Dr Ceri Holbrook and Dr Owen Davies!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britpop legends Pulp are back after 24 years. They released their 8th album, More, which was recorded over the span of three weeks, starting in November of 2024. In the Bandcamp description for the album, Jarvis Cocker writes: “We hope you enjoy the music. It was written & performed by four human beings from the North of England, aided & abetted by five other human beings from various locations in the British Isles. No A.I. was involved during the process. This album is dedicated to Steve Mackey. This is the best that we can do. Thanks for listening.” Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts on the album. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our feature story in this episode takes us to the Highlands of Scotland, where we'll meet the elusive Loch Ness Monster, AKA Nessie. We'll also learn about some other Nessie-like creatures across the world, and some different water-dwelling creatures in the British Isles, Scandinavia, and western and central Africa. Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board! All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales. Transcript for Episode 7 If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!). ----more---- The "Surgeon's Photograph": Stuff to Read: Nessie:  Visit Inverness: The Loch Ness Monster History Channel: The First Sighting of the Loch Ness Monster NPR: 55-year-old camera set up to track the Loch Ness monster found in Scotland The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register The Loch Ness Centre Kelpies:  Historic UK: The Kelpie Ancient Myth in Modern Art Folklore of Scotland: Kelpies Jormungandr and the Kraken Jormungandr at World History Encyclopedia Jormungandr: The Midgard Serpent in Norse Mythology Ancient Origins: Jörmungandr: The Misunderstood Midgard Serpent of Norse Mythology Sea monsters and their inspiration: serpents, mermaids, the kraken and more Ninki Nanka Gambian Folktales: The Ninki Nanka BBC: The Hunt for Gambia's Mythical Dragon CNN: Here be monsters: The search for Africa's mythical beasts Coffee and Creatures: It's Hard to Keep Things Straight With the Ninki-Nanka Mokele Mbembe Cryptid Archives: Mokole-Mbembe Sightings Of The Legendary Mokele-Mbembe "Dinosaur" Of The Congo Are Increasing. What Is Going On? How Stuff Works: Mokele-Mbembe: The Truth Behind Africa's Mythical River Monster Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube Playlist for this episode!

The BiG Scuba Duo, Gemma and Ian chat to Dominic Robinson.  Dominic  Robinson is a technical deep diver who specialises in exploration and in particular ship wrecks around the British Isles and he documents his adventures on his YouTube Channel.. YouTube         https://www.youtube.com/@D33pUK Instagram       https://www.instagram.com/d33puk/# Facebook        https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574229267789 The BiG Scuba Podcast is brought to you by Narked at 90.   “Beyond Technical”   Narked at 90    If you are thinking of moving across to tech diving or completely new to diving, Narked at 90 can advise and guide on the best equipment and set up for your personal or commercial requirements  https://www.narkedat90.com/. We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast.  Please give us ★★★★★ review, and tell your friends and share and like, it all makes a difference.   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via our media links or email   thebigscubapodcast@gmail.com  Take a look at the  Insta3620 Store    https://store.insta360.com/ and use our affiliate link  INRAI8S We are on Instagram              @thebigscuba   We are on Facebook              @thebigscuba   We are in LinkedIn                 https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian%F0%9F%A6%88-last-325b101b7/ The BiG Scuba Website                      www.thebigscuba.com Amazon Store :                       https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thebigscuba  Visit   https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe - Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.  

From the mist-shrouded moors of Britain to the backroads of America, massive black hounds with glowing red eyes have terrorized witnesses for centuries—but when archaeologists unearth the bones of a 200-pound, 7-foot-tall dog near the site of a legendary hellhound attack, the line between folklore and reality begins to blur in the most chilling way.Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicateABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.IN THIS EPISODE: Eerie tales of spectral Hellhounds have haunted humanity for centuries, from the misty moors of the British Isles to the dense forests of Appalachia. These colossal black dogs with glowing eyes are said to be harbingers of doom, leaving a trail of fear and mystery in their wake. Over the years, the line between folklore and reality has blurred after numerous individuals have reported their own true tales of coming face-to-face with these denizens of the underworld. (True Tales of Hellhounds: Ancient Myths To Modern Cases) *** When the criminal justice system falters, the dead may step in to rectify the errors of the living. Through eerie whispers, unsettling dreams, and ghostly apparitions, sometimes, the deceased help to ensure justice is served. (Victims Who Solved Their Own Murders From The Grave) *** On June 9th, 1979, approximately 35 riders boarded the Sydney Ghost Train ride in Australia's beloved harbor attraction Luna Park. Seven of them would not leave the train tunnel alive. (The Haunting Tragedy of the Sydney Ghost Train Fire) *** On a fateful night in 1860 New York City, John Walton was gunned down in cold blood, setting off a desperate chase through the shadowy streets. As his cousin pursued the mysterious assailant, another life was claimed, plunging the city into a gripping tale of murder, intrigue, and a relentless quest for justice. The aftermath revealed a tangled web of family secrets, betrayal, and a courtroom drama that would captivate the entire nation. (Mystery of the Distiller's Demise) *** In the late eighteenth century, terror gripped the streets of London as a mysterious figure known as "The London Monster" targeted aristocratic women with cruel precision. Over fifty attacks within two years sparked widespread panic, leading to the formation of vigilante groups and a media frenzy that captivated the city's working class. What made him a monster, you may ask? He snuck up behind women and stabbed them… in the buttocks! (London's Butt-Stabbing Monster)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Lead-In00:04:53.967 = Show Open00:07:54.061 = True Tales of Hellhounds, Part 100:23:48.602 = True Tales of Hellhounds, Part 200:53:27.928 = Mystery of the Distiller's Demise01:02:32.947 = London's Butt-Stabbing Monster01:09:55.039 = Victims Who Solved Their Own Murders From The Grave01:21:02.933 = The Haunting Tragedy of the Sydney Ghost Train Fire01:28:27.949 = Show CloseSOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…“Victims Who Solved Their Own Murders From The Grave” source: Lyra Radford at ListVerse.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckrb5d7“The Haunting Tragedy of the Sydney Ghost Train Fire” by Carolyn Cox for The-Line-Up.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y5ssbkyd (used with permission)“London's Butt-Stabbing Monster” source: Creative History Stories: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckk95u2“Mystery of the Distiller's Demise” source: Robert Wilhelm at MurderByGaslight.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yck5vxwv“True Tales of Hellhounds: Ancient Myths to Modern Cases” source: Brent Swancer at MysteriousUniverse.com:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4ry86tcp=====(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: July 15, 2024EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/hellhounds

Welcome to the thirty-second episode of the Zoology Ramblings Podcast!The podcast has a new intro tune, a big thank you and credits to the very talented Al Middleton for the epic jingle. In this episode, Emma and Robi share news about their recent travels. Emma shares the nature highlights from her recent trip to North America and Robi shares his relaxing time in the Botswanan bush. Emma and Robi's animals of the week range from the very fluffy (Sea otter) to the very "sexy" (Onager). We then get into our first rewilding deep dive outside the British Isles exploring Project Cheetah in India. An intricate discussion into the decline of the Asiatic cheetah and the complexities of their highly political reintroduction. Robi and Emma delve into how Southeastern cheetahs from South Africa and Namibia are being used as a proxy to the lost Asiatic cheetahs. Some deem this project a failure but Emma and Robi draw out some of its successes. Robi ends with a tribute to Vincent Van Der Merwe, an inspirational South African conservationist, scientist, and National Geographic Explorer. Vincent was known for his role in cheetah conservation and reintroduction projects in Africa and Asia. About the hosts:Robi Watkinson is a Conservation Biologist and wildlife filmmaker specialising in the spatial and movement ecology of large carnivores, camera trapping survey methods, rewilding, metapopulation dynamics and conservation planning. He has an MSc in Conservation Biology from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, and the Institute of Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town. He is based between Cape Town and London, and has strong interests in equitable and inclusive conservation, palaeontology and wildlife taxonomy and evolution!Emma Hodson is a Zoologist and wildlife content creator, currently working in the community and engagement team at Avon Wildlife Trust. Emma's role as a Wildlife Champions Project Officer involves supporting and upskilling people to take action for nature in their local communities. Emma has experience in remote wildlife fieldwork, and has been part of Arctic fox, macaw and cetacean research teams in Iceland, Peru and Wales respectively. She has also been involved in animal care and rehabilitation work in Costa Rica and South Africa. Emma is particularly passionate about the interface between community engagement and wildlife monitoring, and enjoys running workshops and giving talks on topics including camera trapping, beaver ecology and rewilding. Follow up links:You can watch "Rewilding A Nation" for free on WaterBear by following this link: https://www.waterbear.com/watch/rewilding-a-nationYou can follow more of our weird and wonderful wildlife adventures on instagram: @zoologyramblingspodcast & @robi_watkinson_wildlife & @emma_hodson_wildlife 

Another week, another sticky situation for the prime minister and some of his MPs - this time it's centred around his language on immigration.When Sir Keir Starmer announced his White Paper, he argued that Britain "risked becoming an island of strangers" if immigration levels were not cut.So was he intentionally evoking Enoch Powell's infamous 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech? Or was this a big mistake?Also, with the Assisted Dying Bill back in parliament this week, Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman go on a tour of the British Isles to look at how different parliaments are approaching their legislation. If MPs in Westminster vote their bill down, could it stop it in its tracks in Holyrood too?Come and join us live on Tuesday 20 May at Cadogan Hall in London, tickets available now: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/electoral-dysfunction-live/Remember you can also watch us on YouTube!

This week Shelley and I delve into fairytale combinations and tricktaking in 3 Chapters by Joe Hout from Amigo (thanks to Amigo for the review copy) and then we check out the rejuvenation of society on the British Isles in Rebirth by Dr. Reiner Knizia from Mighty Boards Thanks as always to our sponsor Bezier Games! You can sponsor the podcast directly by going to www.patreon.com/garrettsgames OR  Check out our extensive list of games that no longer fit on our shelves, but belong on your table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ovRDNBqur0RiAzgFAfI0tYYnjlJ68hoHyHffU7ZDWk/edit?usp=sharing 3 Chapters was just released here in the US and here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4GJCDMG  

Quase um terço da população europeia deixando a vida em um pandemia de alguns anos! Separe trinta minutos do seu dia e aprenda com o professor Vítor Soares (@profvitorsoares) sobre o que foi a Peste Negra.-Se você quiser ter acesso a episódios exclusivos e quiser ajudar o História em Meia Hora a continuar de pé, clique no link: www.apoia.se/historiaemmeiahoraConheça o meu canal no YouTube, e assista o História em Dez Minutos!https://www.youtube.com/@profvitorsoaresOuça "Reinaldo Jaqueline", meu podcast de humor sobre cinema e TV:https://open.spotify.com/show/2MsTGRXkgN5k0gBBRDV4okCompre o livro "História em Meia Hora - Grandes Civilizações"!https://a.co/d/47ogz6QCompre meu primeiro livro-jogo de história do Brasil "O Porão":https://amzn.to/4a4HCO8Compre nossas camisas, moletons e muito mais coisas com temática História na Lolja!www.lolja.com.br/creators/historia-em-meia-hora/PIX e contato: historiaemmeiahora@gmail.comApresentação: Prof. Vítor Soares.Roteiro: Prof. Vítor Soares e Prof. Victor Alexandre (@profvictoralexandre)REFERÊNCIAS USADAS:- SHREWSBURY, J. F. D. A History of Bubonic Plague in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005- NASCIMENTO, Flávia Vianna do. Sacerdotis profanus: a crítica ao clero em Decamerão de Giovanni Boccaccio. In: Semana de Historia da UFF, 2012, Niterói. Semana de História da Uff - Caderno de Resumos. Niteroi: Universidade Federal Fluminense, 2012.- PIRENNE, Henri. As cidades da Idade Média: ensaio de história econômica e social. 2. ed. Lisboa: Europa-América, 1964.- VILA-CHÃ, João J. “Renascimento, Humanismo E Filosofia: Considerações Sobre Alguns Temas E Figuras”. In: Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, vol. 58.4, 2002. Disponível em: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40337719 Acessado em: 01/03/2016- SIMONI, Karine. De peste e literatura: imagens do Decameron de Giovanni Boccaccio. Anuário de Literatura (UFSC), v. 12, p. 3, 2007. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/literatura/article/viewFile/5447/4882

The modern western calendar tells us that summer arrives in the northern hemisphere this year on June 20th – the summer solstice. It’s the longest day of the year, and the Sun stands farthest north for the year as well. In ages past, many calendars had a less direct link to the solstices and equinoxes. The seasons began not on these dates, but about halfway between them. Such dates are known as “cross-quarter” days. And in the calendars of the ancient British Isles, one of those days was commemorated on May 1st. In Ireland and Scotland it was known as Beltane; in other regions, it was May Day. The rituals of Beltane celebrated the end of the cold, dark time of year and the beginning of the longer, warmer days of summer. The centerpiece of Beltane was a village bonfire – or perhaps two bonfires. The fires themselves chased away the darkness and ushered in the light of summer. The flames and smoke were thought to have special protective powers, so villagers doused the fires in their homes, then relit them using a torch from the bonfire. They also paraded their livestock past the fires on the way to their summer fields – providing a bit of good luck for the start of the summer growing season. These rituals were part of a deep connection to the cycles of nature, and especially the Sun – which warms and lights the summer no matter when the season kicks off. Tomorrow: different clocks for different flocks. Script by Damond Benningfield

On this week's episode of Local Legends, Martin is joined by folk musician, editor of Facts & Fiction magazine, and author of books including Derbyshire Folk Tales, Pete Castle.If you're part of the storytelling world then you will likely know of Pete already. Likewise, if you are an English folk musician, as, after a career spanning almost 50 years, including the release of literally dozens of albums, Pete is a bit of a national treasure in both fields.Like a true, traditional bard or raconteur, as part of his musical performances, Pete weaves stories and folky anecdotes into his sets. And as if this wasn't all enough to chat about already, there is also his writing!Pete's books including Derbyshire Folk Tales, Nottinghamshire Folk Tales, Where Dragons Soar: Animal Folk Tales of the British Isles, and Folk Tales of Song and Dance - on top of which he is also the long-time editor of Facts & Fiction, the world's only storytelling magazine.To learn more about Pete and his work, do visit his website at petecastle.co.uk, and otherwise gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire for a chat about the Derby Ram, the English folk music scene from the late 70s onwards, rival groups of lead miners going to war with one another, Little Red Hairy Men, and so much more!We really hope you enjoy it, and will be back on Monday with the first instalment of our Lang's Fairy Tales project!Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ronald Hutton is a professor of history at Bristol University. He is a leading authority on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and on global context of witchcraft beliefs. He is the author of seventeen books, including The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present, and his recent book, Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe: An Investigation.Ronald frequently appears as an expert on Paganism and witchcraft on British television and radio programs too numerous to name (though one of Pam's personal favorites is when he pops up in the hilarious docu-parody series, Cunk on Britain). His work has been trailblazing in the realms of academia and religion, as well as in shaping a more humane geo-political response to the very real witch hunting that still happens across the globe. Ronald was recently awarded the title Commander of the British Empire, an honor bestowed to those who have made a highly distinguished contribution in their field – as he certainly has.On this episode, Ronald discusses his pioneering work that helped establish the field of Pagan Studies, the boons and banes of his academic view of magical history, and the ever-evolving figure of the witch.Pam also talks about spiritual lineages, and answers a listener question about what the cards are saying regarding these tumultuous times.Check out the video of this episode over on YouTube (and please like and subscribe to the channel while you're at it!)Our sponsors for this episode are The Stormcloud Oracle, BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and TU·ET·AL soapWe also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam's monthly online rituals, and more! That's patreon.com/witchwave

How much information can you extract from a burnt fragment of human bone? Quite a lot, it turns out - not only about the individual, but also their broader lives and communities; and these are the stories unearthed by Jacqueline McKinley, a Principal Osteoarchaeologist with Wessex Archaeology.During her career, Jackie has analysed thousands of ancient burial sites across the British Isles, bringing to life the old traditions around death via often cremated human remains. She's also assisted criminal investigators with forensic analysis, and contributed to some of the UK's best-loved archaeological TV shows. And one thing she's absolutely clear about: far from being macabre, osteoarchaeology is more about the living, than the dead...In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jackie talks about the stories we can derive from skeletal remains, how western attitudes to death have gone through a major recent shift, and why she's kept some of her late father's bones.Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor

What's that? A new Fresh Grave and it's been recorded by *GASP* Ian?!? That's right kiddies, time for your OTHER favorite horror podcaster to take the reins on a solo episode! Though to be fair, it isn't exactly a solo venture, because our brother-in-pod and co-conspirator Paul Waller actually had the inspiration to put this baby together.  So get comfy, and listen to the most luscious voice that the British Isles have to offer, as we go through an AMA style interview that really gets into the nitty gritty of what makes Ian the sick bastard that he is. Enjoy! Have any questions or comments for us? Send us a message to our social media pages or email us directly at webelongdeadpod@gmail.com. And if you liked the music you heard on this or any other episode, check out the We Belong Dead Tunes playlist on Spotify!

Live from the Grand Teton Music Festival takes a trip to the British Isles with this week's program of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Ralph Vaughan Williams.This episode features:Grand Teton Music Festival OrchestraSamuel Coleridge-TaylorBallade in A minor, Op. 33Christian Reif, conductorRalph Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 5 in D MajorSir Donald Runnicles, conductorLive from the Grand Teton Music Festival is hosted by Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles and GTMF General Manager Jeff Counts. Episodes premiere on Wednesdays at 8 PM MT on Wyoming Public Radio and are available the next day wherever you get your podcasts.The Grand Teton Music Festival, founded in 1962, unites over 250 celebrated orchestral musicians led by Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles in Jackson Hole, Wyoming each summer. Stay connected for the latest Festival updates: Instagram Facebook Email List GTMF Website

Forests hold stories—ancient memories woven into their roots, whispered through their leaves, and carried on the wind. In this special gathering, Katherine Parker invites us into a deeper relationship with the Forest as both a place and a presence.We begin by exploring the connection between Forests and ancestral memory, touching on how these living landscapes hold the echoes of those who came before. Katherine then shares a Forest story, offering a glimpse into the mythic consciousness that has long honored the wisdom of trees.From there, we turn to practice—ways to attune to the intelligence and consciousness of the Forest, to listen rather than simply observe, and to experience the Forest not as separate from us, but as a part of who we are.This session is an invitation to slow down, to listen, and to remember. Join us as we step into the stillness and presence of the Forest together.Katherine Parker, PhD is a Wilderness Rites of Passage Guide and recovering psychologist. She wanders the liminal space between mythology, psychology, and animism, looking for ancestral connections. Kat is an oral storyteller in the tradition of the British Isles and created the podcast Celtic Medicine Stories. She writes “Adventures in the Otherworld, the Science and Mythology of the non-ordinary” on Substack. You can learn more about her work at https://ancestralconnection.earthSupport the show

My guest today is Chris Fitch, author of the upcoming book Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle. In this episode we discuss case studies of cities around the world that embrace wilder nature.We go beyond the usual case studies like Singapore to explore lesser known examples like:Tallinn, Estonia - the city with pollinator corridors Tokyo, Japan - mini forests in a hyper-dense cityFlagstaff, USA - the Dark Skies cityWellington, New Zealand - a hotspot for native birds+ many othersPre-order the book Wild Cities here - out on 10 April 2025More about Chris Fitch here.*Correction: At 44:10, Chris says that Sydney harbour has more marine species than the British Isles or Mediterranean. He actually meant fish species rather than all marine life. It's also more accurate to say that the biodiversity in Sydney harbour is equivalent to the Mediterranean. - - - https://greenurbanist.org/ Consulting: Book a Discovery Call to discuss your project Course: Urban Sustainability Career Kickstart Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter The Green Urbanist podcast is hosted by Ross O'Ceallaigh. Register for the Webinar (25 April): Nature-based Masterplanning

Thanks to Alyx and Richard from NC for their suggestions this week! Let's learn about rabbits! Further reading: Why your pet rabbit is more docile than its wild relative FOUND: Small enigmatic rabbit with black tail lost to science for more than 120 years rediscovered hopping around mountain range in Mexico The Omiltemi cottontail rabbit, as caught on a camera trap [photo taken from second article linked above]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I'm your host, Kate Shaw. This week we're going to talk about bunnies, and also learn about how a wild animal differs from its domesticated counterpart. Thanks to Alyx for suggesting this excellent topic. Thanks also to Richard from NC who alerted me to a rediscovered rabbit we'll discuss too. Thanks for all the well wishes in the last few weeks about my surgery. It went just fine and all I have now is a cool-looking new scar, although I was seriously hoarse for about a week. It's pretty weather here in East Tennessee and officially it's spring in the northern hemisphere, so let's talk about some springtime bunnies! Collectively rabbits and hares are called leporids after their family, Leporidae. Leporids are famous for hopping instead of walking, and they're able to do so because their hind legs are longer than their front legs and have specialized ankle joints. Ancestors of leporids developed this ankle as much as 53 million years ago, but their legs were much shorter so they probably ran instead of hopped. Hares have longer legs than rabbits and can run faster as a result, but both rabbits and hares are known for their ability to bound at high speeds. When a rabbit or hare runs, it pushes off from the ground with the tips of its long hind toes, and its toes are connected with webbed skin so they can't spread apart. If the toes did spread apart, they would be more likely to get injured. Rabbits and hares also don't have paw pads like dogs and cats do. The bottom of its foot is covered with dense, coarse fur that protects the toes from injury. Its long claws help it get a good purchase on the ground so its feet won't slip. Leporids eat plants, including grass, weeds, twigs, and bark. Animals that eat grass and other tough plants have specialized digestive systems so they can extract as many nutrients from the plants as possible. Many animals swallow the plants, digest them for a while, then bring up cuds of plants and water to chew more thoroughly. Rabbits and hares don't chew their cud in that way, but they do have a system that allows them to twice-digest the plants they eat. After a leporid eats some plants, the plant pieces go into the stomach, naturally, and then travel into the first part of the large intestine, called the cecum. The cecum separates the softer parts of the plants from the harder, less digestible parts. The hard parts are compressed into hard pellets that the rabbit poops out. But the soft parts of the plants, which are most nutritious, develop into softer pellets. These are called cecotropes, and as soon as the rabbit poops out the cecotropes, it immediately eats them again. This allows the digestive system to get a second round to extract more nutrients from the plants. Hares aren't domesticated, but rabbits have probably been domesticated many times in different places over the last several thousand years, first for food and fur, and then as pets. The domesticated rabbit we have today is descended from the European rabbit, also called the cony. If other species of rabbit were ever domesticated, we don't have record of it. The rabbit has also been introduced into the wild in places it has no business to be, like Australia, where it's an invasive species. You know where else the European rabbit has been introduced? The British Isles. It's native to mainland Europe, not England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and smaller islands nearby. Historians think the rabbit was introduced to England soon after the year 1066,

Exciting news: GTI is headed back to Europe! Not only do we run tours to Germany and Switzerland, but now also England and Scotland! The British Isles are steeped in 1800 years of Christian history from Bible times to our times. Pastor Adam Richardson brings his passion for church history, thorough education, and experience living and studying in England to bear in leading this incredible tour. We will follow the ancient path of our faith from 2nd-century believers under Roman occupation in Britannia to the late Middle Ages to the English Reformation and beyond, studying not only the astonishing architecture but the people who lived out the Gospel and passed it down to us today. Join us October 7-16, 2025 to understand the history of the Word and the People of the Word, and to invest in your own spiritual life. This trip is limited to 20 participants, so register today! https://gtitours.org/trip/signature-england-scotland-2025 

5/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024  by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 magine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1899 NORWAY

6/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024  by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 magine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1898

7/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024  by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 magine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1898

8/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024  by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 magine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1777 SAINT CUTHBERT AT LINDISFARNE

1/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024 by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 Imagine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1777 LINDISFARNE

2/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024 by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 Imagine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate.

3/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024 by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 I a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 2016 LINDISFARNE                                       

4/8: Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Hardcover – August 29, 2024 by  Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Embers-Hands-Eleanor-Barraclough/dp/1788166744 Imagine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country. Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of the other people who inhabited the medieval Nordic world-not only Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia- a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of different ages, genders and ethnicities, as told through the traces that they left behind, from hairstyles to place names, love-notes to gravestones. It's also a history of humans on an extraordinarily global stage, spanning the centuries from the edge of the North American continent to the Russian steppes, from the Arctic wastelands to the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. 1777 CUTHBERT ZLINDISFARNE

//The Wire//2300Z February 20, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: THOUGHT CRIMES REMAIN CONCERNING THROUGHOUT EUROPE. KASH PATEL CONFIRMED AS FBI DIRECTOR. TWO JUVENILES ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED SCHOOL ATTACK PLOT IN TEXAS.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Scotland: This morning a 74-year-old woman was arrested for speech and thought crimes. Rose Docherty (a well known, pro-life advocate) was arrested for demonstrating via standing on a sidewalk outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, a very large medical complex that houses abortion facilities. At the time of her arrest she was holding a sign that read "Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want".-HomeFront-Texas: Two juveniles were arrested for an alleged plot to attack a school in Houston. The two unidentified girls, aged 15 and 16, allegedly posted the details of the plot on social media.Washington D.C. - In Congress, Kash Patel was confirmed as the next Director of the FBI this afternoon. This morning Senator Mitch McConnell announced that he will be stepping down from his seat in the Senate. AC: This is not an immediate resignation, but rather an announcement that he will not seek reelection next year.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: The arrest of Rose Docherty was made under the so-called "buffer zone" laws, which have recently gained scrutiny after being denounced by American Vice President JD Vance. Regardless of the recent media coverage, the policing of thought crimes and the persecution of Christianity throughout Scotland, the British Isles, and almost all of western Europe has remained a little-discussed (yet exceptionally grave) concern for many years. Silent Christian prayer, even including praying inside one's own home, has been relentlessly targeted by authorities, drawing the ire of those who have been subjected to public Islamic calls for prayer, which have included the participation of hundreds of official government officials and buildings. As pointed out by American diplomats (such as JD Vance), this double standard is a very large societal problem that is impacting civilization itself throughout Europe.Regarding the alleged threats in Texas, neither of the two girls were attendees of the school which was threatened (Memorial High School), both were students at neighboring schools. While inter-school rivalries are extremely common throughout the nation, in this case authorities state that the undisclosed attack details were specific and credible enough to warrant the arrests. However, the FBI is the lead agency in charge of this investigation, which has caused doubts due to the FBI's long and very questionable history pertaining to these types of events.Analyst: S2A1Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground//END REPORT//

On episode #74 of the Infectious Disease Puscast, Daniel and Sara review the infectious disease literature for the weeks of 1/30/25 – 2/12/25. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Sara Dong Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Puscast! Links for this episode Viral Global Impact of mass vaccination campaigns on circulating type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks (JID) Co-infection of SARS‐CoV‐2 and influenza A/B among patients with COVID-19 (BMC Infectious Diseases) Oseltamivir reduces 30-Day mortality in older adults with Influenza (OFID) Bacterial Predicting benefit from adjuvant therapy with corticosteroids in community-acquired pneumonia (LANCET Respiratory Medicine) Rethinking antibiotic prophylaxis for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with cirrhosis (CID) Determining the optimal antibiotic duration for skin and soft tissue infections (Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases) The stealth and potentially fatal nature of Kingella kingae outbreaks in daycare facilities (OFID) Piperacillin/tazobactam vs. cefepime or carbapenems for the treatment of bloodstream infections due to bacteria producing chromosomal AmpC beta-lactamase (Infection) Is systemic dissemination of BCG following neonatal vaccination required for protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis? (JID) Risk of aortic aneurysm or dissection following use of fluoroquinolones: a retrospective multinational network cohort study (eClinical Medicine) Fungal The Last of US Season 2 (YouTube) Developing mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccine effective for cryptococcosisin a murine model (Vaccines) The araneopathogenic genus Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae: Hypocreales) in the British Isles, including a new zombie species on orb-weaving cave spiders (Metainae: Tetragnathidae) (Fungal Systematics and Evolution) Sensitivity of Coccidioides serologic tests among culture-proven coccidioidomycosis patients with hematological malignancy compared to a matched immunocompetent cohort (Medical Mycology) Parasitic New WHO guidelines for treating rhodesiense human African trypanosomiasis: expanded indications for fexinidazole and pentamidine (LANCET: Infectious Diseases) Miscellaneous Remote practice of infectious diseases through telemedicine (OFID) Telemedicine offers solutions for the rural disparities in infectious disease (ID) care delivery (OFID) Music is by Ronald Jenkees Information on this podcast should not be considered as medical advice.

In this bonus episode, we're going through the new summer 2026 Disney Cruise itineraries that were released earlier this week. Disney Cruise Line will be visiting places like Alaska (with two ships!), the Mediterranean, Norway, the Caribbean, and the British Isles! Lots to unpack and I've invited my friend, CT, to help me sort it all out. New bookings open next week based on your Castaway Club status: Monday 2/10: Pearl Tuesday 2/11: Platinum Wednesday 2/12: Gold Thursday 2/13: Silver and DVC Monday 2/17: General booking If you'd like to work with me, send me an email at wes@mickeyworldtravel.com!