Podcasts about channel four

Social media bosses from Meta, X, TikTok and Google were grilled by the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee yesterday. We speak to Labour Chair of the committee, Chi Onwurah, for her reaction. Also on the programme, a career interview with the British-American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan. He discusses his new media business Zeteo, his departure from MSNBC and the importance of opinion journalism. As the BBC faces criticism about its Gaza documentary – it's emerged that the boy who narrates the film is the son of a Hamas official – we discuss the controversy with former Head of News & Current Affairs at Channel 4, Dorothy Byrne, and TV executive Leo Pearlman. Plus, Max Chafkin, Bloomberg reporter and author of The Contrarian, profiles Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel.Guests: Chi Onwurah, MP, Labour; Mehdi Hasan, broadcaster and CEO, Zeteo; Dorothy Byrne, former Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel Four; Leo Pearlman, Co-CEO, Fulwell Entertainment; Max Chafkin, tech reporter and author, BloombergPresenters: Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall Producer: Simon Richardson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai

On this week's show, the hosts reflect on 50 years of music, culture, and comedy with the 50th anniversary of SNL and QuestLove's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. For that, the team is joined by Jason Zinoman, critic at large for culture at The New York Times.  Then they discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow – where we follow the adventures of an unlikely group of animals led by a curious black cat. Finally, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe joins to talk about Kendrick Lamar's “double whammy” of a Super Bowl halftime show. Read her article reflecting on the performance here. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel invites Jason Zinoman back to discuss his article on standup comedy's move to soften the punchline in exchange for a long, humor-infused setup. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Henry IV playing at the Theatre for a New Audience in New York and K.D. Lang's SNL performance of Johnny Get Angry in 1989 (audio only, as the video performance has been removed) or this other performance of the song (with visuals) on UK's Channel Four from 1991 Julia: Vulture critic Craig Jenkins' halftime show review – Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior and Pom Pom maker Steve: Pope Francis' letter to Vice President J.D. Vance Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, the hosts reflect on 50 years of music, culture, and comedy with the 50th anniversary of SNL and QuestLove's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. For that, the team is joined by Jason Zinoman, critic at large for culture at The New York Times.  Then they discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow – where we follow the adventures of an unlikely group of animals led by a curious black cat. Finally, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe joins to talk about Kendrick Lamar's “double whammy” of a Super Bowl halftime show. Read her article reflecting on the performance here. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel invites Jason Zinoman back to discuss his article on standup comedy's move to soften the punchline in exchange for a long, humor-infused setup. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Henry IV playing at the Theatre for a New Audience in New York and K.D. Lang's SNL performance of Johnny Get Angry in 1989 (audio only, as the video performance has been removed) or this other performance of the song (with visuals) on UK's Channel Four from 1991 Julia: Vulture critic Craig Jenkins' halftime show review – Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior and Pom Pom maker Steve: Pope Francis' letter to Vice President J.D. Vance Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, the hosts reflect on 50 years of music, culture, and comedy with the 50th anniversary of SNL and QuestLove's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. For that, the team is joined by Jason Zinoman, critic at large for culture at The New York Times.  Then they discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow – where we follow the adventures of an unlikely group of animals led by a curious black cat. Finally, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe joins to talk about Kendrick Lamar's “double whammy” of a Super Bowl halftime show. Read her article reflecting on the performance here. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel invites Jason Zinoman back to discuss his article on standup comedy's move to soften the punchline in exchange for a long, humor-infused setup. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Henry IV playing at the Theatre for a New Audience in New York and K.D. Lang's SNL performance of Johnny Get Angry in 1989 (audio only, as the video performance has been removed) or this other performance of the song (with visuals) on UK's Channel Four from 1991 Julia: Vulture critic Craig Jenkins' halftime show review – Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior and Pom Pom maker Steve: Pope Francis' letter to Vice President J.D. Vance Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, the hosts reflect on 50 years of music, culture, and comedy with the 50th anniversary of SNL and QuestLove's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. For that, the team is joined by Jason Zinoman, critic at large for culture at The New York Times.  Then they discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow – where we follow the adventures of an unlikely group of animals led by a curious black cat. Finally, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe joins to talk about Kendrick Lamar's “double whammy” of a Super Bowl halftime show. Read her article reflecting on the performance here. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel invites Jason Zinoman back to discuss his article on standup comedy's move to soften the punchline in exchange for a long, humor-infused setup. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Henry IV playing at the Theatre for a New Audience in New York and K.D. Lang's SNL performance of Johnny Get Angry in 1989 (audio only, as the video performance has been removed) or this other performance of the song (with visuals) on UK's Channel Four from 1991 Julia: Vulture critic Craig Jenkins' halftime show review – Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior and Pom Pom maker Steve: Pope Francis' letter to Vice President J.D. Vance Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, the hosts reflect on 50 years of music, culture, and comedy with the 50th anniversary of SNL and QuestLove's new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. For that, the team is joined by Jason Zinoman, critic at large for culture at The New York Times.  Then they discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow – where we follow the adventures of an unlikely group of animals led by a curious black cat. Finally, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe joins to talk about Kendrick Lamar's “double whammy” of a Super Bowl halftime show. Read her article reflecting on the performance here. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel invites Jason Zinoman back to discuss his article on standup comedy's move to soften the punchline in exchange for a long, humor-infused setup. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Henry IV playing at the Theatre for a New Audience in New York and K.D. Lang's SNL performance of Johnny Get Angry in 1989 (audio only, as the video performance has been removed) or this other performance of the song (with visuals) on UK's Channel Four from 1991 Julia: Vulture critic Craig Jenkins' halftime show review – Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior and Pom Pom maker Steve: Pope Francis' letter to Vice President J.D. Vance Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Awesome Aussie Adam Hills has us giggling with news of the latest 32nd series of The Last Leg, which continues on Friday at 10pm on Channel Four.The National Lottery's longest serving Winners Advisors, Kathy Garrett and Andy Carter tell us what it's like to help some very lucky lottery winners.Join Chris, Vassos and the team every morning from 6.30am for laughs with the listeners and the greatest guests. Listen on your smart speaker, just say: "Play Virgin Radio." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by Lizzie Charnock, Dog Matching Officer, at Wood Green Pets Charity, talking about Christmas and its impact on impulse puppy purchases that often lead to young adults being handed into the charity. We chat about the rise in abandonment since the pandemic, and why Wood Green's service to match the right dog to a prospective owner is key. Since 2019, Channel 4's The Dog House has been capturing hearts across the nation. We chat about the programme and why it's helped so many understand how the Wood Green teams turn dogs' lives around, and the prospective owners whose lives are enriched by the power of the dog. Lizzie explains that this wildly successful series follows our four-legged friends' search for their perfect match, and it's always an emotional roller coaster. From heartbreaking backstories to happy endings, there's never a dull moment. But behind every success story is a team of passionate people at Wood Green working to turn a pet's life around. And, as a new series is unleashed, the charity and The Dog House's production team are looking for candidates, people wanting to adopt a dog in 2025, and might make the grade to contribute to the show. If that might be you, please follow the link below to contact Five Miles Films.Contact the show here or Channel Four or contact Wood Green directFor more about Anna go to annawebb.co.ukMusic and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People ProductionsCover art by JaijoCover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff PawtraitsTo advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Ben Riley-Smith of The Daily Telegraph assesses the latest developments at Westminster.Following the Prime Minister's 'Plan for Change' speech, Ben speaks to the architect of Sir Keir Starmer's five missions, Peter Hyman, who was a senior adviser to the Prime Minister until the election and former Downing Street Director of Communications, Sir Craig OliverTo discuss the Prime Minister's speech on foreign affairs at the Lord' Mayor's Banquet, Ben is joined by Dr Karin von Hippel, the Director-General of the defence think tank, the Royal United Services Institute. Parliament's newly created Modernisation Committee is considering ideas on 'driving up standards, improving culture and working practices and reforming procedures'. To discuss their thoughts on this. Ben is joined by two new MPs, Tom Morrison, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle and Dr Beccy Cooper, the Labour MP for Worthing West. And, finally, as Oxford University Press announces its 'word of the year' Ben is joined by Susie Dent, lexicographer and resident expert on Channel Four's Countdown and Tom Peck, parliamentary sketch-writer of The Times, to discuss their thoughts on the political words and phrases of the year.

Rose Cartwright is a screenwriter and the author of Pure, a hugely successful memoir which was then turned into a series for Channel Four. She is also a writer and producer on Netflix's 3 Body Problem. Pure portrayed Rose's autobiographical account of finding that she had OCD, a “mental illness”, and the breakthrough that this medical framework provided her. This was short-lived. In her new book The Maps We Carry, she writes about the dawning realization that the “illness” story she had believed in and publicly advocated for, was wretchedly incomplete and often dangerous. In this interview, Cartwright charts  her journey of painful and lonely disillusionment with the “mental illness” framework. She talks about understanding the place of her own childhood trauma and also the limitations of simplistic trauma narratives. She speaks about the place of psychedelics and meditation in helping her uncover her disconnection, eventually to realize the importance of trusting relationships and communities. In this brutally honest book and interview, Cartwright reflects on the importance of holding all our understandings around mental health and suffering, lightly. *** Thank you for being with us to listen to the podcast and read our articles this year. MIA is funded entirely by reader donations. If you value MIA, please help us continue to survive and grow. https://www.madinamerica.com/donate/ To find the Mad in America podcast on your preferred podcast player, click here: https://pod.link/1212789850 © Mad in America 2024. Produced by James Moore https://www.jmaudio.org

In this episode of the podcast we talk to journalist and broadcaster turned filmmaker, Matt Lorenzo about his latest documentary, Stand or Fall: The Remarkable Rise of Brighton & Hove Albion.  Told through the eyes of the fans who fought to save the club from extinction, the special feature film was made to mark 25 years since Albion's survival from relegation out of the Football League on the final day of the 1996/97 season.  Now firmly established in the Premier League, this brilliant new film 'Stand or Fall' is set to tell the story of the club's astonishing rise. Matt has worked for The Guardian and The Times, and presented a variety of programming for BBC TV and Radio, Sky News and Sky Sports, ITV, Channel Four and GMTV. He also remains the youngest ever host of a networked World Cup. To watch Stand or Fall: The Remarkable Rise of Brighton & Hove Albion at one of seven special screenings this November, click the link below: https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/pages/en/media-article/club-news-watch-stand-or-fall-at-the-amex-october-2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert McKee, A Fulbright Scholar, is the most sought after screenwriting lecturer around the globe. He has dedicated the last 30 years to educating and mentoring screenwriters, novelists, playwrights, poets, documentary makers, producers, and directors internationally. Those who have learned from McKee have called him "the Aristotle of our time" because of his insight into the substance, structure, style, and principles of the grand art of story.Peter Jackson (writer/director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit) has lauded him as "The Guru of Gurus." For the writers of Pixar (creators of Toy Story 1, 2, & 3, Finding Nemo), McKee's Story Seminar is a rite of passage. Emmy Award-Winner Brian Cox also portrayed McKee in the Oscar-nominated film Adaptation.McKee's former students include over 60 Academy Award Winners, 200 Academy Award Nominees, 200 Emmy Award Winners, 1000 Emmy Award Nominees, 100 WGA (Writers Guild of America) Award Winners, 250 WGA Award Nominees, and 50 DGA (Directors Guild of America) Award Winners, 100 DGA Award Nominees.A winner and nominee of BAFTA for his popular Channel Four series Reel Secrets, McKee also wrote and hosted 12 episodes of BBC's Filmworks series. He was profiled by Bob Simon of 60 Minutes for CBS news.McKee's articles on Story have also appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines around the world including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker Magazine, Swiss Business Magazine, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, CBS Morning News, BBC, Channel 4 in UK, RAI (Italy), CBN Weekly News & Morning Glory (China), MBC TV, KBS & Arirang TV, Korea Times (South Korea), Kiev Weekly, Kultura Moscow, all major TV, Radio and/or newspapers of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, France, India, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland and given seminars in all of the above countries.Since 1984, more than 100,000 students have taken McKee's courses at various cities around the world: Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Helsinki, Oslo, Munich, Tel Aviv, Auckland, Singapore, Madrid, Beijing, Shanghai, Barcelona, Lisbon, Malaga, Hamburg, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome, Stockholm, São Paulo, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Beijing, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Seoul, Istanbul, Hyderabad, Mexico City and many cities regularly.McKee continues to be a project consultant to major film and television production companies such as 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, & MTV. In addition, Pixar, ABC, BBC, Disney, Miramax, PBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount, GLOBOSAT, MNET and other international TV and Film companies regularly send their entire creative and writing staffs to his lectures.His new book is Action: The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page, and Game.ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.Topics include:Understanding the Four Core Elements of ActionCreating the Action CastHook, Hold, Pay Off: Design in ActionThe Action McGuffinAction Set PiecesThe Sixteen Action SubgenresA must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time including: Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Avengers: Endgame.Enjoy my conversation with Robert McKee.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Oliver Heath is a designer, architect, author and one of the world's leading advocates for biophilic design. Along with his team and the sustainable platform Planted, he currently has an exhibition at the Roca Gallery in South London, which focuses firmly on bio design – illustrating what it is, why it's important, and how it can be used in the spaces we inhabit. Oliver has been a fixture on our TV screens since 1998, working for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, the Discovery Channel and Norway's TV2. He is a regular on DIY SOS and was, of course, one of the designers on the iconic '90s show, Changing Rooms.In this episode we talk about: his fascination with biophilia and how it affects his practice; its core principals and history; why sustainability is about more than counting carbon; problems with architecture education; his issues with clay; the importance of evidence in his design approach; how wood effects the heart rate; being average at school; getting famous on Changing Rooms; reinventing himself professionally… and the importance of soup. And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspxSupport the Show.

There's a kind of conventional wisdom among broadcasters that an interview has to be adversarial. The interviewer must probe in a critical kind of way. You must have arguments. This was brought home to me some years ago when I had a conversation on stage in London, a very large audience with Steven Pinker, and it went very well. The audience liked it, and the BBC, who weren't there, got wind of it and decided they'd like to have a reprise of it later in the evening, in the News Night programme. So they asked us whether we would do it, and we agreed. Then the BBC producer rang me up and she said to me, “What's the nature of your disagreement with Dr. Pinker?” I said, “Well, I don't think there is a disagreement. I think we agree about most things.” She said, “No disagreement?” The interview was promptly cancelled.That's just an illustration, and it came to mind again when I did an interview with Steve Pinker in Boston, at Harvard. It was part of the programme I did for Channel Four in 1998 called The Genius of Charles Darwin. We had a very long conversation lasting about an hour, I suppose, and we agreed about just about everything. But I think it is illuminating. I think it's one of the best interviews I've ever done. It's two people who pretty much agree about everything we discussed, and it's as though one person was having a conversation with himself. But it's somehow better than that. I think that when you have two people who agree with each other in that kind of way, each one raises the game of the other. Let's see if you agree, listen to this conversation between me and Steve Pinker.

Nick Hennegan looks at Wales, Dylan Thomas, the Edinburgh Fringe, Skins on Channel Four, Winston Churchill and the 80th anniversary of D-Day! www.BohemianBritain.com  

Nick Hennegan looks at Wales, Dylan Thomas, the Edinburgh Fringe, Skins on Channel Four, Winston Churchill and the 80th anniversary of D-Day! www.BohemianBritain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bohemianbritain/message

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Ann Marie McGivern is a Vaccine injured.  GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: John Mair is one of the most prolific editors of books on modern journalism in Britain today. This publication is his 24th ‘hackademic' text; he is currently putting together the 25th – on ‘Anti-Social Media'. The books bring together the work of journalists and academics to discuss vital issues such as data journalism, Brexit, Trump and the media, the death of print and the Leveson Inquiry. The genre he invented – with books jointly edited with Richard Tait, Tor Clark, Richard Lance Keeble, Raymond Snoddy and others – is widely recognised as constituting a major addition to contemporary journalism studies. John has practised journalism at the BBC, Channel Four and other broadcasters and taught it at the universities of Coventry, Westminster, Brunel, Kent and Edinburgh Napier. He has judged the British Press Awards, the British Journalism Awards, the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards and helped to set up the Steve Hewlett Memorial Lecture and Scholarships.  

In this episode, Toni speaks to Tom Williams, an adventurer and the winner of the TV survival show "Alone." Tom shares insights into his humble beginnings, overcoming challenges, and his experiences on the show. He discusses the preparation and mental fortitude required for surviving alone in the Canadian wilderness, highlighting the transformative impact of the experience. Tom also delves into the business side of his ventures, including Desert Island Survival, and his plans for expanding into new wilderness adventures. KEY TAKEAWAYS Tom Williams is an adventurer, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker who won the TV survival show "Alone" on Channel Four. Tom's humble beginnings and challenging upbringing fueled his desire to prove people wrong and push himself out of his comfort zone. His experience of being alone in the Canadian wilderness on the show "Alone" had a profound impact on Tom, leading to a new level of appreciation for simple things like food and nature. Tom's business, Desert Island Survival, offers unique wilderness experiences on uninhabited islands, and he plans to expand into different environments like Lapland and the Amazon. BEST MOMENTS  "I was preparing mentally to be out there for 65 days. I was ticking off the days, and in my mind I'd got to halfway. It was very jarring to come out of that." "I'm thinking of setting up a new company as well called The Primal Reset, where people can get their gut biome checked, they can get their blood levels done, they can do the epigenetic test and find out their age from their makeup." "I was definitely disappointed. I won't lie. I did think maybe I'll be on TV again, and maybe I'm going to get 50,000 followers on Instagram, and this is all going to be really good for finding business for Desert Island Survival." HOST BIO Toni's journey defies the norm. Raised with a strong work ethic and a traditional career path in mind, she initially pursued a corporate job in HR after earning her degree. However, in 2015, everything changed when she attended a property training seminar. Little did she know that this event would ignite a profound passion for property investment. With her husband Chris, Toni raised millions in joint venture finance, creating a multi-million-pound property portfolio. But her story doesn't stop there. By the age of 33, she left her HR job behind to empower others in building their successful property businesses. Toni's passion for public speaking led her to become a world record holder. Beyond the accolades, she sees it as a calling to educate and inspire. Toni hosts training events and uses her "Talks with Toni" podcast to share insights, interview captivating guests, and motivate her audience.

Deepak Chopra is a medical doctor with mystical leanings, who has built a highly successful second career as a purveyor of alternative remedies, and deepities that I would say – and here, I suppose I show my bias – impress those who think that if they can't understand something it must be profoundly significant. As part of my Channel Four documentary Enemies of Reason, I asked him to explain his concept of Quantum Healing. We went on from there.

Kim St. Onge, Co-host of the Marc Cox Morning Show & former KMOV-TV reporter, joins Mark Reardon to discuss her reaction to Channel Four apologizing after an anchor used the word "colored" to describe minority homeowners.

Hour 1: Kim St. Onge, Co-host of the Marc Cox Morning Show & former KMOV-TV reporter, joins Mark Reardon to discuss her reaction to Channel Four apologizing after an anchor used the word "colored" to describe minority homeowners. Then, Matt Pauley, with KMOX Sport, calls in from Jupiter, Florida to share with Mark Reardon the latest update on Sonny Gray and the Cardinal's Spring Training so far.

Welcome To Horror Presents: “We Have Been Watching And The Monster From Hell”. It's time, faithful listeners, for the WTH team to have another one of our fireside chats about our inter-schedule viewing, and this time we're joined by special guest; Lady Jennifer (her motivation: it's half term and she was bored). This episode we discuss 70s anthology series “Thriller”, 1959's “Horrors of the Black Museum”, Channel Four's “Don't Hug Me I'm Scared”, Hammer's “Scars of Dracula” and “Taste the Blood of Dracula”, 2014's “It Follows”, 2023's Ghost Story for Christmas “Lot No. 249” and the brilliant series “Wellington Paranormal” which now has a podcast. No prep needed, but listeners beware, as here be (possible) spoilers and (definite) swearing. Join us!

This episode features a fascinating conversation with Fiona Millar, a journalist and campaigner on education and parenting issues whose work I have admired for many years. Following a career in journalism, Fiona worked in the office of the Leader of the Opposition from 1995 to 1997, and as an adviser to Tony and Cherie Blair from 1995 to 2003. On leaving Downing Street, Fiona started writing a monthly column for The Guardian about education, and in 2004 she made a documentary film for Channel Four called The Best for My Child, examining how the quasi-market in schools was working in practice. In 2018, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Education Reform Act 1988, Fiona published a fascinating book with the same name as her earlier documentary - The Best for My Child: Did the schools market deliver? Of this book, Melissa Benn wrote: Fiona Millar combines a profound understanding of the way schools work on the ground with unrivalled political acumen. This insightful account of what the market revolution has really meant for England's education system is an important and absorbing read. I whole-heartedly agree. It's very well written and I think it's really required reading for anyone who wants to understand the weirdly hierarchical, disjointed school system that we have today - and therefore how we might create a more equitable system that works for all young people. It's also well worth reading back through Fiona's many excellent articles in the Guardian, including her most recent setting out how Labour can fix the education system - a topic on which we alight in this conversation. There's a link to her Guardian profile below and it's well worth an hour of your time. LINKS Fiona's Guardian articles: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/fionamillar  Education Policy Alliance: educationpa.org Sign up to the Rethinking Education Round-up Newsletter: rethinkinged.beehiiv.com DON'T BE A STRANGER The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact SUPPORT THE RETHINKING ED PODCAST: Become a patron: https://patreon.com/repod Buy James a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/repod

The recent Channel Four documentary, The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence saw historian Philippa Langley and TV personality Judge Rinder examine documents which they believe prove Edward V and Richard Duke of York were not murdered by their uncle Richard III, but were in fact spirited away to mainland Europe. From there they plotted both their return and the overthrow of Henry VII, victor over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Joining today me in the first of a new series of bonus episodes is Jackson van Uden, the host of the History with Jackson podcast. Jackson chats about this evidence, as well as past episodes on his pod, and then we both talk about what to expect in 2024. Episode Links History with Jackson - Jackson's Podcast History with Jackson site The Princes in the Tower: David Pilling on 'The New Evidence' - Aspects of History Channel Four: The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence Image of The Princes

Puntata a cura di Untimoteo.Top Boy (Netflix, cinque stagioni per un totale di trentadue episodi) è una serie creata dall'ex militante IRA Ronan Bennett per Channel Four nel 2011. Caduta nel dimenticatoio dopo 8 episodi, in verità ben accolti da pubblico e critica, nel 2019 Netflix e il noto rapper Drake decidono di produrne altre tre stagioni. Felice intuizione: Top Boy è avvincente e spietata. Un'opera che non risparmia colpi allo stomaco agli spettatori, grazie a una scrittura tesa, una regia senza sbavature e personaggi carismatici dal tragico destino. Anche se il protagonista principale non è una persona ma un luogo: Summerhouse, ‘la casa estiva', un nome che suona come una beffa. In realtà si tratta di un complesso di casermoni dell'East London che accoglie il nuovo proletariato inglese: immigrati per lo più delle isole caraibiche e dell'Africa sub sahariana, anziani infermi, genitori rimasti single perché i compagni sono in prigione o morti. La lotta quotidiana a Summerhouse è per la sopravvivenza e la dignità."5 minuti 1 serie" è il format del podcast di Mondoserie che racconta appunto una serie in poco più di cinque minuti (o meno di dieci!). Senza fronzoli, dritti al punto.Parte del progetto: https://www.mondoserie.it/Iscriviti al podcast sulla tua piattaforma preferita: https://www.spreaker.com/show/mondoserie-podcastCollegati a MONDOSERIE sui social:https://www.facebook.com/mondoseriehttps://www.instagram.com/mondoserie.it/https://twitter.com/mondoserie_ithttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwXpMjWOcPbFwdit0QJNnXQhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mondoserie/

Twenty years ago today, Channel Four in the UK first aired "Shattered," a show where contestants tried to stay awake the longest to win a grand prize. Plus: this month in 1970, German artist Wolf Vostell unveiled a work in Chicago in which he'd taken a 1957 Cadillac and encased it in concrete.  Shattered: legacy of a reality TV experiment in extreme sleep deprivation (The Guardian)  VOSTELL CONCRETE 1969–1973 JANUARY 1 (Smart Museum of Art) Sleep better knowing that you've backed this show on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

In the fifth episode of this series on the broken plate, the Food Foundation's annual report on the state of the nation's food system, Dominique Woolf, author of Dominique's Kitchen and winner of The Jamie Oliver Great Cookbook Challenge on Channel Four looks at the impact of sugary cereals and yoghurts clearly marketed at children on their dental health. Click here for the full Broken Plate reportClick here for the Food Foundation Manifesto Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Cady's Commercial Gym Work with Jason  About Jason Figgis: Jason Figgis is an award-winning IFTA-nominated film and TV director who has had feature work commissioned or acquired by major broadcasters that include Sky One, Sky Arts, Channel Four, Hulu, RTE, Apple+, iTunes, KSM, SVT, Cinedigm, Discovery Channel, Amazon Prime, and Lionsgate Studios.  This work has been placed in territories that include 150 countries worldwide.  Figgis' work includes the IFTA-nominated Discovery Channel documentary THE TWILIGHT HOUR, the Sky Arts documentary A MAVERICK IN LONDON (featuring Alan Rickman, Richard E. Grant, and Joanna Lumley), SIMON MARSDEN'S HAUNTED LIFE IN PICTURES (featuring John Hurt), High Fliers Films / Pinewood Studios release THE GHOST OF WINIFRED MEEKS (starring BIFA winner Lara Belmont) and LOVE? (written and presented by Samantha Beckinsale).  Figgis directed the official music videos for the QUEEN OF ENGLAND'S PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS IN 2022.  He also restored the classic German horror film NOSFERATU for the 100th anniversary. Figgis is in production on the authorized documentary looking at the life and work of actress Olivia Hussey called THE GIRL ON THE BALCONY and has just completed an authorized series of films looking at the life and career of prolific writer and philosopher Colin Wilson under the title COLIN WILSON: HIS LIFE AND WORK.  Other feature documentary work on the slate include A MAN FOR ALL REASONS, which looks at the life and work of former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, the Manchester County Council sponsored feature documentary SHIRLEY BAKER: LIFE THROUGH A LENS which looks at the life of the celebrated Mancunian street photographer, DIE STRONG which looks at Fallacy of Barriers founder Lily Brasch and FATHER OF DRACULA which looks at the life and work of Dracula author, Bram Stoker.  Figgis started his career in TV and film in animation for Murakami-Wolf on the celebrated cult TV series TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. He went on to work for Steven Spielberg at his London-based Amblimation Studios on the feature classic AN AMERICAN TAIL 2: FIEVEL GOES WEST and for legendary animator Richard Williams at his studio in Camden, London, on the cult classic THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER, which starred Vincent Price and Kenneth Williams. I started in communications and then decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker. As a boy, I'd always wanted to be a filmmaker; when the digital world opened up, and it became something feasible, I realized I could launch and start getting work done. So I moved into the field of documentary because I've always liked reality over artifice. Even when I write screenplays, I put my mind into a real situation instead of creating something fantastical. So I'm much more interested in relationships, other than big spectacles. In the film industry and writing, a lot of the things that happen, you don't plan for you. You have relationships with people that you feel simpatico with, and you start developing things. So I worked a lot with a writer called Simon Golding, and he's a real facilitator. He puts people together who he feels will work together.  I like to write because when I write, I have to get my mind into a character as a real flesh and blood person. I always loved the idea of putting a camera on a real subject. And having people and letting it just unfold in an interview, for example, but the horror and the beauty, I always think the two of them can live quite well together and that a lot of the real horror in the world is what goes on behind closed doors and people's houses. Obviously, I don't mean everybody; I mean, even in ordinary couples where you might have an explosive argument and for that brief moment, there might be fear between the couple that it could escalate into something terrible. Thankfully, it rarely ever does, but there still is that how you can go from a really happy moment to a very dark moment in the blink of an eye, if somebody says the wrong thing or something happens, or even if a vase is dropped on the ground and suddenly this explosive anger. I just think that the light and the dark live very closely together, and to be able to show that on-screen and for people to see a beautiful couple, but then what they hear about, in the narrative or the narration, is the complete opposite to what they're looking at. So you can have beauty and horror right there simultaneously on screen.  The discipline of documentary filmmaking has helped you with scripted content.  When you're interviewing a real person for a documentary, when they're talking about their own real-life experience, I find that if you're really concentrating on the person and what they're telling you, you get a much greater understanding of the human condition all over because you're forced to put your attention on a subject when you want to bring it to life. For example, if you're directing narrative fiction, you're worried about all the different aspects. You're concerned about the lighting, camera setup, exterior, and any extraneous noise, and it's quite stressful. But if you're doing a documentary, it doesn't matter about the other stuff happening around you. If something annoys the person while you're doing an interview, it's part of the reality and that real moment. What are the key questions to get the best response instead of just the standard questions? I like to get to know the person before I film. So then you get an idea of how you can relate to them on camera. Will they be able to trust you in a given circumstance? I'm working on one at the moment. An amazing thing called Gladiator School with a guy who was a former prison inmate and who decided that when he was in prison, he was going to change his life. He's come out of prison, and he's now setting up a thing called gladiator school for kids on the street to get them away from crime, motivate them to do creative things, and follow their passion. But again, when working with the young man involved, I had to be very careful about the kind of questions, I had already spoken to him beforehand. I said, “Look, what kind of things can I ask you? Is there anything triggering that will throw you right off the page?” And he was like, “Ask me anything you want. Ask me anything you want. I'm here to be honest. I'm here to be truthful.”  So I did. So I asked him some searing questions about how he ended up in prison, what led him, what were those life choices, what were those experiences that moved on and rolled onto another experience that got him into a position where he ended up in drugs and prison. But again, it's still essential that I get to know him first and have a few phone calls to build that between us so I can ask the right questions.  If you're passionate about something and put your mind, thoughts, heart, and feelings into something, it's amazing how the Universe works on your side and allows those things to happen. But what's really important is to be yourself, be genuine.  Don't have somebody meet you and go, “There's an artifice there. I don't believe how he's dealing,” because if you do that, they're not going to trust you. They're not going to work with you. One of my main things is I'm always myself. I never tried to be anything other than. Just being yourself is highly important in anything you do because people know.  How do you come up with your ideas?  It could be anything. I could read a headline. I could see a little snippet in a book; it is a line that will lift off the page as an idea. It could be a name; from that name, an entirely fleshed-out story could emerge just from the title, which has happened with several things.  I'm open to being inspired by absolutely anything. Once I come up with the story and know who the characters are, I will allow the characters to speak to each other. And a lot of the time, I've no idea the direction they're going in, and I just follow it. I speed write with it, so I don't think, if anyone saw my notes, they're illegible, and I do have very neat handwriting, but when I'm writing a script, I always write freehand in notebooks, like A5 notebooks. I'm usually excited by the characters' direction and the elements of their life that emerge just through a conversation.  What are the questions that you ask them to start getting, moving them in the right direction?  Decide on a character they're comfortable with and then get to know the character and allow the character to speak to them. But if you're going to write a one-woman or one-person show, don't miscast yourself in the role, right? Write something that's going to suit you. That the people are going to look at you and go, “I believe this immediately, I believe this.” What's the story you want to tell? Now, take that story and put it into the mouth of a character you can inhabit in that 45 minutes or an hour and a half on stage and grab people's attention.  The scripted content becomes a documentary because it's that real, or you know a character so well that it's not a character; it's a person. It's taking what I've learned in making documentaries and bringing them into scripted, you know, narrative drama because if you listen and listen, the words will come to you.  Now, just find this character in a particular situation and let them tell their story. When I started writing, I never knew I could write screenplays.  I realized that with honesty, you could write things that came across powerfully. I believe that Characters exist in space, waiting for the right actor that they can choose to play them.  Creating the backstory for your character, you arrive in a scene, but who were you before that? Acting is reacting to your environment and the people you're in the scene with.  People just need to get out of their own way. Find the people who can see what you're trying to do.

Edward Stourton has worked in broadcasting for more than forty years, and has been a foreign correspondent for the BBC, ITN and Channel Four. He was a one of the main presenters of Radio 4's Today programme for ten years and still regularly presents The World at One, The World this Weekend and Analysis. He's also been the main presenter of Sunday – the radio 4 programme which looks at the religious and ethical issues of the week. He's recently written a book about it with his producer Amanda Hancox which we discuss as well as another very personal book Ed has published this year called 'Confessions:Life Re-examined'. “I am endlessly impressed by the young people I work with, because it seems to me, they've got absolutely the sort of hunger and curiosity and healthy scepticism and love of the job that I like to think I and my mates had when we were all starting off all those years ago. And they don't dismiss things, they ask. They want to know about Hamas, they want to know about what most of us would consider its distorted religious inspiration.”“I think I'm just so soaked in Catholicism, that it's just me and trying to drag it out of me would be a hideously painful process. So, I just think it's easier to acquiesce is my sort of my watchword, just give in and believe - it's just easier. And it's helpful, I think it does provide you with a structure and approach to life.”Support the podcast by signing up to Patreon hereFind all our podcasts here Twitter: @BeebRogerMastodon: @RogerBolton@mastodonapp.ukemail: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russell Brand was taken out by the Times, The Sunday Times and Channel Four. Establishment media vs Russell Brand. Guilty or not? #RussellBrandListen on... and THANK YOU! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the sad news of her untimely passing on September 15, 2023, here's a chance to remind ourselves why Uchenna Okoye was one of the UK dentistry's most beloved personalities.   Originally broadcast in December 2020, the episode touches on Uchenna's London Smiling group of clinics and ITV and Channel 4 TV roles for which she will be remembered.  “I don't understand the jealousy and all that nonsense. There's enough teeth for everybody.”  Uchenna Okoye In This Episode 01.12 - Backstory 05.19 - Race and gender 24.01 - Cosmetic dentistry 26.44 - TV and PR 32.21 - Fitting in 36.21- Patient journey 43.21 - Training 50.31 - Motherhood 55.34 - Day in the life 58.52 - Being strict 01.04.38 - Being a brand 01.14.25 - Legacy About Dr Uchenna Okoye Cosmetic dentist was the founder of the London Smiling group of clinics.   She was a frequent contributor to radio and TV, best known for her role on Channel Four's Ten Years Younger and ITV's This Morning. Uchenna passed away on September 15, 2023.  

Rundown -    Dick Wadhams - 12:06   Troubadour Dave Gunders - 01:56:18   "All That Water" by Dave Gunders - 02:01:40   The most accomplished Colorado Republican strategist in modern times is Dick Wadhams and he comes clean about everything right here. Born and raised on a farm in Las Animas, CO, he's been a lifelong Republican. As CO GOP party chair, he won elections, and gained funding from Phil Anschutz among many others.   But now, this former GOP state Chair Wadhams feels shut out as MAGA moves in. Great Republicans of Colorado's past are discussed, as is their silence now in wake of MAGA threat to the Republican Party and to America. Wadhams is the rare Republican willing to stand up on air to this MAGA menace.   Wadhams was a powerhouse behind the throne for Governor Bill Owens, Senator Wayne Allard, Senator Bill Armstrong, Senator John Thune (who toppled Tom Daschle and may become GOP's Senate Leader), Senator George Allen, Senator Conrad Burns and others.   Find out how it all started for this Colorado boy. Analyzed is almost every major politician in Colorado including Senators Hickenlooper, Bennet, and Governor Polis. Dems and GOP once got along. Those days are gone and the reasons why are explored.   Changing faces of the media, especially here in Colorado, are reviewed. Special shout outs go to Shaun Boyd and Anne Trujillo from Dick Wadhams who works for Channel Four as their GOP political analyst. We also discuss radio and the decline that has accompanied the rise of MAGA.   Dick Wadhams is a columnist for the Gazette and a certified news junkie. He shows his class as he decries the broadcasters who talk about a “Biden Crime Family.” Wadhams is not OK with name calling, disinformation, and propaganda. He likes to win based on policy.   We discuss the GOP presidential field and sudden courage of star witness Mike Pence. We also discuss Ron DeSantis and whether there were benefits to slavery. Spoiler alert: answer is no. Tim Scott has Colorado connections. But there is no real GOP race. And the host predicts no real debates.   Trump is a criminal defendant now. In a passionate start to the show, the host explains what happens now that Trump has gone near the line by posting “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!” Great advice dispensed in the opening monologue to Judge Tanya Chutkan, presiding over USA v Trump.   Wadhams is passionate regarding Jan 6 and the need for 45 to be prosecuted. Jack Smith's bona fides as prosecutor discussed. Smith obtained a rare NY death penalty. So did the host on a Denver case. Normally, the GOP would love a law and order guy like Jack Smith but those days are gone.   MAGA is ruining Colorado GOP with staff not being paid yet. 50K went to Conspirator #2 John Eastman and RNC Committeeman Randy Corporon for futile lawsuit with budget for 250K. Wow! Wadhams reacts. State GOP being asked to approve Stalinist measure.   Harsh names are flying which is only appropriate since the GOP elected as chairman a man who wants to be known as Dave “Let's Go Brandon” Williams. Wadhams dislikes Williams and explains his many reasons why. We talk about all the ways Trump's Big Lie flowed out of Colorado.   Show Troubadour Dave Gunders delivers wonderfully once again with his song, "All that Water," which can be a metaphor for all the legal cases and charges now flooding America's 45th president and accomplished serial interstate criminal, Mr. Trump.

In the second of this 12 part series on the state of the nation's food system, we're talking about the marketing of baby and toddler snacks. Dominique Woolf, author of Dominique's Kitchen and winner of the Jamie Oliver Great Cookbook Challenge on Channel Four unpack one of the key findings of the Food Foundation's flagship Broken Plate report. With expert analysis from Dr Kawther Hashem from Action on Sugar, Camilla Kingdon, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Zoe McIntyre of the Food Foundation, MP, Alison Thewliss and first time mums, Sara and TJ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest for this episode is legendary paranormal investigator and author Lionel Fanthorpe. Lionel has had a prolific writing career dating back to 1952 which has seen him pen hundreds of books. Not only has he written science fiction stories, but together with his wife Patricia, also non-fiction books on an array of subjects, most notably the paranormal, unexplained mysteries of the world, poetry and religion. He has travelled the world in search of the unexplained, endeavouring to unravel such mysteries as the ‘Oak Island Money Pit' and ‘The Creeping Coffins of Barbados'. He has presented a number of television series, perhaps the best known being the cult Channel Four show, ‘Fortean TV'. During this time in his career he was also a practicing Anglican priest, which added a novel element to his televisual exploration of the unknown. Currently he is also the president of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. As well as being a major contributor to paranormal research, he is a former journalist, teacher, head teacher, army rock climbing instructor and also a World Judo Association Black Belt Fifth Dan. I begin the interview by talking with Lionel about his early experiences of the paranormal and how his interest in that field developed. From there we discuss his writing career, his time as a journalist, what prompted him to become an Anglican priest and how all of these things have in some way influenced the way he investigated and contemplated the unusual phenomena he has encountered. Further information about Lionel can be found at his official website https://www.lionelfanthorpe.co.uk/. He also has a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@lionelfanthorpeofficial5752. If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!   The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.  

Jim Howick is best know for playing the Scout Master Ghost, Pat, in the BBC One sitcom Ghosts which he co-created and co-writes. The same team stared in the hugely popular kid's show Horrible Histories, created the Sky1 comedy Yonderland and the film Bill, a comedy based loosely around the early life of William Shakespeare. Jim was also Gerard in Peep Show, Gerry in Danny Boyle's Babylon and Anthony in the revival of Reggie Perrin. Jim stars in the Netflix series Sex Education as Mr Hendricks, played Aaron Mayford in the ITV thriller Broadchurch, was recently in the BBC comedy series Here We Go and is also in the Channel Four comedy, The Change, written by and starring our recent MTC guest, Bridget Christie. In film, Howick played Cpl. Matlin in the Guillermo del Toro adaptation of Hellboy .Jim Howick is guest number 302 on My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .Follow Jim Howick on Twitter: @JimHowick .Follow My Time Capsule on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people. Get this podcast ad-free by becoming a team member with Acast+! Your support will help us to keep making My Time Capsule. Join our team now! https://plus.acast.com/s/mytimecapsule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Outer Realm Welcomes the return of dear friend, Philip Kinsella Discussion will include his newest book soon to be released, "Terrestrial Trespassers" - The Greys, Abductions & Areas of High Strangeness -also touching on his book "You-The Public Deceived" -Reptilians-Philip will discuss his abduction experience in 1989 About Our Guest: Philip Kinsella is both a clairvoyant medium and UFO investigator/author. Having had many bizarre UFO/paranormal experiences throughout his life, along with his identical twin brother, Ronald, he began to research the phenomenon on a serious level of investigations after an alien abduction in 1989. This led to him writing several books: ‘Reaching for the Divine: How to Communicate effectively with your Spirit Guides and Loved Ones on the Other Side,' ‘Believe: Bridging the gap between the psychic and UFO phenomenon' and ‘SKY CRASH – Throughout Time: A Continued Investigation Into the Rendlesham UFO Mystery,' This book had been co-authored with UFO investigator Brenda Butler. These had been published by Capall Bann Publishing Ltd in England. Philip also wrote another book which he brought out through Amazon entitled: ‘A Passage Through Eternity: The Enigma of the Dead, UFOs & Aliens.' Philip won the British Mediumship Award in Portsmouth, England in 2008. Although he had no wish to become what is referred to as a ‘Medium,' he was nevertheless intrigued in the thought of the deceased being able to communicate with the living. His understanding is that the human brain serves merely as the conduit for the flow of information and alternate realities which exist all around us, and which, often, we cannot see. This all came about through his own personal struggles in searching for those he had loved and lost through death. Although dealing with both aspects of UFOs and mediumship, he has always felt there is a connection. This has been illustrated within his works. He has appeared on national television, most notably Channel Four, Central, Live and Digital and has also hosted many radio programs. He, along with his identical twin brother, have also written and illustrated children's books and had published a Science Fiction novel entitled: ‘The Ungodly Agenda' which had been endorsed by the Best-Selling author of ‘Cocoon,' David Saperstein. This was made into a smash-hit Hollywood movie. In 1996, Philip had a revolutionary theory published in the magazine ‘Alien Encounters' which dealt with a revolutionary theory regarding the ‘Greys.' This was entitled: ‘Spirits in a Material World.' Through his initial abduction he'd had back in 1989, he was determined to piece the evidence together in establishing what had happened to him. This led to a whole new understanding of what a certain faction of the Greys may represent. His theory deals with cloning, the soul and the dangers inherent should we proceed with this ourselves on a spiritual level. Philip, along with his brother co-host a radio program for the Paranormal UK Radio called ‘Twin Souls' where they interview many authors/experiencers/investigators on all topics within the world of the bizarre. One of his UFO experiences had been caught on camera. This occurred on the 9th April 2016 around 11.15 pm at night and has been recorded and analyzed as ‘Unknown.' He is currently working on more books surrounding the UFO field of investigations. Philip Kinsella can be contacted on email at: philip.kinsella2@aol.co.uk

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2022 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the first digital benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends July 31st 2023. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.  Show references:  https://www.alnwickgarden.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianjmcallister/https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2023-05-24/worlds-biggest-play-park-set-to-open Ian McAllister is the Strategic Head of Marketing and Communications at The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei.  His route into attraction marketing wasn't an obvious one – from not joining the RAF (based mainly on eyesight and petulance) he dabbled in recruitment ( based mainly on proximity to his flat) then television (based mainly on flatmate work envy).  He manages a team of marketers who deliver all marketing, PR and communications to these two attractions based in Northumberland. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip The Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. In today's episode I speak with Ian McAllister, Strategic Head of Marketing and Communications at The Alnwick Garden.Ian shares with us the magical story behind Lilidorei, logistics of creating a play structure over 26 meters tall, snot ice cream, free Fridays and the impact this will have on the local area and children. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue. Kelly Molson: Ian, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for coming to join me. Ian McAllister: No problem. Kelly Molson: Let's start with some icebreakers, shall we? Ian and I, we had a little pre podcast chat a few weeks ago and we established that we're both from sunny old Essex. This could end up quite messy, really, couldn't it? Because I tend to whenever I'm speaking to my Essex kinfolk, my accent goes, very Essex. This might get messy. Ian McAllister: The good thing is, living up here, people don't know my real accent, but once they hear that, I'm sure that it'll come out. Kelly Molson: They will after this, Ian. Right, okay, icebreakers. I want to know, topical, what's the worst Essex nightclub that you've ever been in? Ian McAllister: Tots, Southend. But it was so bad that I used to go every Friday. It was bad for the sticky floors and for the people that were there and for the music they played and everything about it was terrible. But every Friday I would still go up there. I don't know why.Kelly Molson: So bad. It's so good. I can remember driving there from my part of Essex and going out Tots. Someone broke my big toe into Tots. Literally, like, stamped on my big toe and broke it. Ian McAllister: Do you remember? There was a place called Ritzes, which I think was in Romford, and went there one night, and this was back in the day, where people thought if you were wearing trainers, you were going to cause trouble, so you weren't allowed to wear trainers. And a mate of mine, Paul Mayo. I had two good friends in Essex, Paul Mayo and Ross Gherkin, so they were the three of us. But Paul Mayo went up to the club and they wouldn't let me say trainers. So he left the queue and went around the corner, took his shoes off and took his black socks off, put his trainers back on and his black socks over his trainers, and they just let him straight in. Kelly Molson: Wow. Ian McAllister: Yeah. Which made Moonwalking brilliant, because he had a really good sock that he could moonwalk across the dance floor. Kelly Molson: That is ridiculous. That's ridiculous. So sorry, we just need to go back to your friend's names as well. Mayo and Gherkin. Are you joking? Ian McAllister: Mayo and Gherkin? No. So, I mean, I was always Mac. So I was always Ian Mac. Then there was Mayo and Gherkin. So they were the three of us that used to kick around together in Essex. Kelly Molson: That is chaos already. Ian McAllister: There you go. Opening question. Kelly Molson: This is an ethics thing as well, right? Everybody has nicknames, don't they? You know the Gavin and Stacy thing, where you got Smithy and what? Chinese Allen. That's the thing. That is so Essex, it's ridiculous. Ian McAllister: My nickname for ages was I wasn't a good looking chap growing up. And I had a brace, a demi wave, and I had these big reactor like glasses and I don't know if you've ever seen the National Lampoons European vacation, but the sun was called Rusty Grizzwald. So my friend Gary decided that I was just called Rusty, so he still calls me it to this day. So I'm still just Rusty. Kelly Molson: Oh, God, that's so weird, because my next question was going to be, if you ever been told you look like someone famous, who was it? Ian McAllister: Yeah, but that's not a positive thing. Kelly Molson: No. I wasn't expecting Rusty from National Lampoons to come up. Ian McAllister: I mean, lots of people to try and compare themselves to you, like some Brad Pitt and George Clooney, whereas I'm going for 15 year old Rusty Grizzled. Kelly Molson: Humble. I think that's quite humble, isn't it? Right, final one. I feel like the ice is well and truly broken, melted. What is your best scar story? Ian McAllister: My best scar story is a very recent one. Last year on New Year's Day, I took the kids for a lovely walk to our local woods with the dog. And me being me, I challenged them both to climb a tree. And it was a tree that was like one of these trees that's too good not to climb, do you know what I mean? It was really big branches and big trunk. So I've got twins, 14 year old twins, a boy and a girl. So my daughter was like a whippet and she went up the tree and then my son, with a bit of encouragement, went up the tree and he got his foot wedged in, like the V of the branch, about seven and a half, eight foot up, so he couldn't get out. Ian McAllister: So I climbed up behind him and I held onto a branch either side of him. I said, "Right, all you got to do is just wiggle your foot a little bit". So he obviously didn't hear a word I said. He yanked his foot out, so we both fell out the tree. So I grabbed onto him and he landed on me. And as he landed, I heard ankle snap. So I'm at the top of a woods, probably a mile into the woods. So the kids that week before have been at Scouts and they learned about what three words. So we had to phone an ambulance and they did the what three words and this, that and the other. Ian McAllister: So the ambulance had to then he couldn't drive, so you had to push the stretcher for a mile, pretty much up an incline to get to me. Had to take a breather because it was so far up, put me on the stretcher, but then the ambulance had to drop, so it's just me and the kids that live here with the dog. So the ambulance then had to drop the dog and my kids at my house before they took me to hospital. So turned out I completely broken my ankle, so I had to go for an operation. And I had a metal plate pulse, ligament and wiring all around my ankle. Ian McAllister: So I've got a treat of a scar on my ankle that they also cut through two nerves, so I also can't feel from a nerve down from the little toe, from a knee down to the little toe at the minute. Kelly Molson: I feel like we're going to have to put a warning on this podcast episode, if anyone's like a slightly queasy disposition. Wow. I was not expecting that. Ian McAllister: Yeah, it's a lovely story, isn't it? I think I've learned the lesson. I made a blue plaque on photoshop about Ian fell here and I went back to the tree afterwards and pinned it on the tree. Kelly Molson: It's a special moment. Ian McAllister: That tree will always be in my memory. Kelly Molson: But well done, your children, on learning the skills to get you out of a very tricky situation. Ian McAllister: Yeah, it was great, but they loved it because they got riding an ambulance, so their Snapchat stories were filled up that day with pictures of them and the dog in an ambulance on a muddy New Year's Day. Kelly Molson: Great story. Thank you for sharing. I feel like we've started the podcast on high. Ian McAllister: We can't really go any lower than this, can we? Kelly Molson: Not really, no. Your unpopular opinion, Ian. I dread to think what this might be. Ian McAllister: Had a few and I was trying to think which one would upset the least people. So I had a few. I was trying to think which one upset the least people. So this one's cake. And I hate cake. And I've always hated cake, really dislike cake. And I think people say to me, "what is it you don't like about cake?". And I think I've narrowed it down to the taste, the texture, the smell and the look. Because just everything about a cake, I don't like. So when it comes to birthdays, the kids obviously get me a birthday cake because they can eat it themselves, but I just don't like cake. I've got a bit of a funny not so much now, but I had a funny food thing. I'm sorry in advance. I didn't eat yellow food for about six months. Ian McAllister: It was anything yellow, even to the point where if I got a packet of M&Ms, I wouldn't eat the yellow ones. Kelly Molson: Can I just ask what age you were? Was this 30? Ian McAllister: Probably worse than that? It's about 35. Like my late 30s. Genuinely, genuinely developed an aversion to yellow food. So my friend Steven, who's head of HR at work, he went through a phase of thinking to try and reeducate me. So every Friday he'd go through Steven's adventures in food. It was all the food that I probably should have eaten by the time I was, like, 40 years and hadn't. So things like sushi or porridge. Every Friday he'd bring in something and it would be a chart, like a reward chart. And he'd put a little sticker on if I liked it or didn't like it. Just because people don't know I'm a 47 year old man with two children. Kelly Molson: Oh, God. And have you eaten a banana since? That's what I need to know. Ian McAllister: Yeah, since I started re eating yellow food, I'm all over it. I like a banana, like a bit of pineapple. Cheese is great. We just have the argument because people would say to me, and this was my bugbear, and they get really irritated with this. It's a what about chips? Chips aren't yellow. They're like a beige. So chips were allowed. Kelly Molson: Okay. And pasta as well. They're all in the beige category rather than yellow. Okay. Ian McAllister: Yeah. So can you imagine presenting me with a yellow cake? Yellow cake? That'd be my idea of h***. Kelly Molson: That's your worst nightmare, isn't it? Jaffa Cake. How do you sit about that? Is that a cake or a biscuit? Ian McAllister: But food of choice would always be a chocolate hobnob. No question. Kelly Molson: Great biscuit. Yeah. In the fridge. Ian McAllister: Great biscuit. Crunch. Good for the dunk. Always in the fridge, yeah. Chocolate. What do you think about this chocolate? Does it live in your cupboard or in your fridge? Kelly Molson: Fridge. I like a crunch. I like it to go crunch and then I like that it then melts in your mouth. It's like two different sensations in one. People will argue about this. This is not an unpopular popular opinion, by the way, but people will not be happy about this at all. Ian McAllister: No, but I mean, the people that aren't happy with it are wrong. Kelly Molson: They are. Agreed. Oh, my goodness, what a start for this podcast. Okay, how did an Essex boy end up in Northumberland? Tell me a little bit about your background, because you're not from attractions background at all, are you? You come from a completely different sector. Ian McAllister: Yeah, when I got married, which since divorced, but when I got married, my best man suggested it was witness protection. That's what kind of brought me 350 miles north. But the fact was I was working, I'm from Essex, as we've previously mentioned, and I then went to university in Surrey. I went to Kingston and I was working just locally, really, just in pubs and clubs. And I went downstairs to my flat and it was a redeployment, so I thought, it's time to get a proper job. And it was literally under my flat and I ended up working there, mainly because it was under my flat and it took about 10 seconds to commute to it. So I spent a bit of time in recruitment and at the time I was living with two flatmates weirdly, both called Marcus. Ian McAllister: So Marcus One and Marcus Two both worked in TV. One worked, I think Channel Five and One was a BBC or ITV. And I kept telling how good their jobs were and how great their life was, and I thought, "Well, you know what, can't beat them, got to join them". So I did actually beat them. So I wrote to MTV with a really cocky letter saying how much it be their big mistake if they didn't recruit me and this and the other. So I went in for my interview and the guy said, I've got you in because you're either really good or really cocky. And I don't know which one it is. So eventually they gave me a job. So I worked in media in London and I think I was there for two years. Ian McAllister: I just got sick of the rat race and it was just the commute to London. It was an hour each way and I was fed up of it, and I was fed up with the people and I was fed up of the busyness. And I met my then wife, who is from up here, but she had a flat in Edinburgh. I just thought, "You know what, I've got no real commitments down here". I don't have any kids or pets or any of that sort of stuff. So I just chose to order and we moved to Edinburgh and I kind of flipped around in recruitment and odds and ends, moved to the north and set up a property company. So were renting properties to students. Ian McAllister: Then I went to work for a marketing company and then I ended up working where I do now, The Alnwick Garden part time doing marketing and then just kind of worked my way up from there. I couldn't remember what the question was. Was it your background? Kelly Molson: Yeah, you answered it well. Yeah. Well done. Ian McAllister: Thanks. Definitely didn't come from tourism, but I kind of came from marketing kind of sales. And I think I've always been one of these people that might be clear by now that could just talk. Kelly Molson: That's coming across. Definitely getting that on this episode. But I like that you sound like someone who makes their own opportunities in life, which I like. You just go out and get what you want and what's going to fit for you. Tell us a little bit about Alnwick Garden because we're going to talk a little bit about something attached to Alnwick Garden. But Alnwick Gardens itself is quite spectacular. Think it dates back is it 1996? It dates back to is that when. Ian McAllister: It was originally about 1890s. We can date it back to. So it was the original garden kitchen garden for the Alnwick Castle. So it was throughout the two World Wars, it was what fed all the local farmers and the local community and this, that and the other. So come the 90s is when the Duchess of Northumberland, who lives in the castle, was married to the Duke. That's when she took it on as a bit of a project. And she got in some designers from, I think Belgium called Vertz Design. So it's a Vertz design garden and she took it over as a garden and she always wanted it to be she always said it was going to be a stage for people to do whatever they want in, so we can put on events. Ian McAllister: We've had random things, like we've had mixed martial arts in the garden and then we've had Peppa Pig characters coming in. So it's a real variety of things that we do in the garden. But, yeah, so it's been open for 20 odd years now. We're a charity, so we're just about celebrating the 20th year of becoming a charity. So, yeah, the Alnwick Garden itself is a garden, as you'd expect. It's got world's largest Taihaku cherry orchard outside of Japan, got Poison Garden, it's got the world's largest treehouse, which is a restaurant. It's got all these kind of unusual things that you wouldn't necessarily put in, like an RHS garden or a queue garden type place. And it's a great big open space that we market, people come and we do weird events in. Kelly Molson: So it's quite special in its own right, isn't it? But then, about twelve years ago, Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, she had another idea, didn't she? And that's what we're going to talk about today. Do you all get a little bit worried when she says, "I've got this idea?". Because this one's been a pretty mental one, hasn't it? Spectacularly mental one. Ian McAllister: Yeah. It's kind of that first glimmer of, "Oh, God, what's it going to be now with the backup of the thing is that when she has an idea, she sees it through". And I say this, I know a lot of people chuck this phrase around loosely, and I don't mean it this at all. She's a visionary, because she has these completely off the wall ideas, but has then got the determination and the team behind her to actually see them through. So the new project being the biggie, which has been years in the making and years in the planning, and I'm sure do you want to introduce it or do you want me to say what it is? Kelly Molson: Well, what do you do it. The world's biggest children's play park. Ian McAllister: Yeah. So it's called Lilidorei, which every single thing in it is from her head. And she's got this really creative outlook on life, and she's then pulls in the right people to kind of bring them to life. So she imagined this place where kids could just be away from technology, where they could play and actually play like we used to when were little. And we'd go out making dens and kind of making up our own stories. And it's called Lilidorei,. So the concept of the place is that it's a Lilidorei, village and there's nine clans that live in this village and all of the clans worship Christmas. So you've got good clans and you've got bad clans. Ian McAllister: And it's weird talking about this in a normal way now, and I've seen construction staff talk about this, and it feels weird to be saying things like the elves and the fairies and the pixies. But it got to the point when were building where you'd see the big construction workers and the joiners fags in their mouth, talking about pixies houses and fairies and elves. But the concept is that some of the clans are really good, like the fairies and the pixies, and then some are a bit more troublesome, like the goblins and the hobgoblins and the trolls. But at Christmas time, they all come together to worship Christmas. So whilst it's Christmas themed, it's not Christmas all year, apart from the gift shop, which is fully Christmas at every time. Ian McAllister: They can buy a ball tomorrow if you want, but we've also got the world's largest play structure. So the place structure was built by a company called MONSTROM, who are based in Denmark. And it's one of these things that's got to be seen to believed, which makes marketing it quite tricky because you can't really feel it until you stood underneath it. But local landmark, the angel of the north, is always a good point of reference. So our play structure is 6 meters taller than the angel of the north. And there's a slide from the top, so it's a 26 meters high structure and there's a slide that comes from 20 meters up. Ian McAllister: But to get to this slide, you go around this really convoluted system of walkways and corridors and climbing up uncomfortable spaces and squeezing through things and climbing up nets, and that's just part of it. The rest of it is all these clan houses. So it's a really fascinating place. Kelly Molson: It's amazing, isn't it, that all of this came out of her head? So I watched the ITV, did a publication on your launch, which was it was only a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it, that it opened? The presenter of the snippet, he went up the slide and came down it and he was talking it through and he was saying, 26 meters. And I was like, "Yeah, that's quite high, isn't it?". But you can't really grasp when someone says that. To me, I couldn't really kind of grasp what the height of 26 meters actually looked like. So when you said that comparison that you've just given about the angel of the north, that's really big. Ian McAllister: But there's no point. It's all enclosed. So, like, you've got open netting and this and other but there's nowhere that kids can actually fall off, if you like. So I think kids, it tests their bravery. It's handy for us from an insurance point of view, health and safety, certainly, but kids like, test themselves. So you'll see them start the session and they'll just be on the little swings at the bottom or on the little spinny mushrooms, and then by the end of the session, you see them at the top running around like it's no one's business, just testing bravery. I think that's the big thing. Kelly Molson: Yeah. And I love the idea that it opens your imagination. You can be any part of that story. You've got that underlying story of the clans and that they worship Christmas, but then you make your own part of that story to go with it, and based on where you interact and where you go and where you climb or what houses you go into and all of those kind of things. It is pure magic, isn't it? Ian McAllister: It is. And we've got a team of people that work. They're called secret keepers. So they're sitting in their outfits and costumes, but they're really extravagantly dressed with feathers in their hats and all sorts. Their job is almost to facilitate the play. So it was almost a marketer's dream when I started off because we couldn't really talk about what it was because people didn't understand until it was built, couldn't see it. So I came up with a concept, which is the most lazy marketing you'll ever think of and the whole tagline which is carried through is, what's your story? So really what we're doing is we're encouraging people to make their own narrative and to make their own story, which saves me the job for a start, but also we don't want to dictate that. Ian McAllister: Well, that clan looks like this because you can't see the clans, you can see the houses and you can imagine how they are, but you can't actually see anything. So when you get there, it's all brought together by this immersive sound we've got. It's like a million quids worth of sound system for each clan. House has got its own immersive sound system that kind of gives you implications or ideas as to what that clan might be up to or what's happening inside the house. So you can look into their house window and you can see how it's all set up. So it kind of starts to build this picture and then the secret keepers are there to encourage that with the kids and, "What do you think they look like? And could you hear that sort of noise?". Ian McAllister: And it gives this underlying narrative for every kid that comes, is obviously going to leave with a different picture of what a particular clan or a particular circumstance is like. Kelly Molson: That's amazing. So you don't have the characters. They never see what the goblins look like, for instance. They have to make all of that upload in their own minds. Ian McAllister: Yeah, I mean, we've got this sort of narrative in the background. We've got an idea of what Duchess has imagined the Clans to look like or the Clans to do, or the Clans to kind of be like. But we never tell the kids this. It's all about provoking thought and provoking story. There was books that I used to read when I was a kid, and they would choose your own adventure books, and it was kind of you make your own adventure. So every even if one kid came to Lilidorei, five times, they might have a completely different experience each time just because of their imagination and the sort of stuff that the secret keepers have fed them, if you like. Kelly Molson: I love that. While we're talking about secret keepers, you've got ahead of Play, haven't you, Nathan? I don't know any other organisations or attractions that have got ahead of Play. How did that kind of come about? Ian McAllister: So to give me his full name, it's Nathan Bonk.Kelly Molson: Excellent name. Ian McAllister: Nathan Bonk, he's come over from America specifically to organise the play and the secret keepers and this. So that's his kind of creation, if you like, in conjunction with the Duchess. So he was meeting with the duchess virtually daily to make sure he's on the right lines, and she was happy with what he was doing, but to kind of put an extra element of weirdness into the story, which in case we haven't had enough weirdness in the podcast already in the Garden going back two or three years, I'm friends with a guy called Stewart who's the reigning Mr. Gay World, and he's only reigning because they disbanded the competition after he finished it. So he kept title. He's kept that. So he got in touch to say that he wanted somewhere to host Mr. Gay England, which is like a pride initiative. Ian McAllister: And it's not just a catwalk, it's education and it's exams, and then the winner of it ends up representing the gay community to go to Parliament and lobby Parliament and speak in schools and this and the other. So I said, well, the best place, really, if you think of the most sort of unusual place that you could think of in a really rural town where there aren't many people of any persuasion, would be Alnwick. So we put it in the middle of the garden. The cat walks right down the middle of the garden, and we've rebranded that entire day, which we're doing again this year, Gay Day. So what we do is we have Gay Day, and it's everything. We've got market traders, LBTQ+ friendly market traders and face painters, and we do trails and all sorts of things. Ian McAllister: So anyway, last year we had Mr. Gay Europe and Nathan's friends with Stewart. So Nathan came over to help with the competition. Mr. Norway had COVID, so couldn't turn up. So there were one person short. So Nathan ended up weirdly representing America in the Mr. Gay Europe competition. Kelly Molson: Wow. Ian McAllister: If you get to know Nathan, as you'd understand, he's always got an outfit of two just stashed away just in case. So he came out with like, the short camouflage shorts and the face paint and waving the USA flag. Anyway, after Gay Day, he went home and he'd fallen in love with Alnwick. And it was just it wasn't New York. He lived like a six minute walk to Central Park. So it's totally different. But he fell in love with the place. And he sent me an email, a bit of a video explaining why love Alnwick and if there's any opportunities that came up, and this, that, and the other. And the only thing that popped in them ahead as soon as I saw his video was the head of play, and I just knew that he would be the person for this role. Kelly Molson: But was it a role that you were looking for or did you create. Ian McAllister: It for the role we discussed? We always discussed that we needed someone. It was going to be it's almost like a head of operations for Lillidorei, but that sounds far too boring. So we always knew there was going to be a role for somebody. I don't think we quite realised to the extent of how influential this role would be in creating the entire story and the entire visit. So Nathan, with his ideas, he's opened theme parks before. He's been in stunt performances in various theme parks. He opened, like, the Harry Potter experiences in Orlando. So he's done all this stuff already. But I remember he Zoom called me one morning. He said, you're never going to believe it. I've got an interview with the Duchess at lunchtime. Brilliant. So I gave him a few bit of background and what were working towards. Ian McAllister: About 2 hours later, he zoomed me back. He said, you're never going to believe it. I've got the job. They sort me out a house. I'm flying over next week, and I've got a tea at the castle with the Duchess. It's like every American film you've seen where they tried to represent England in a completely fictional way. He was living it. Kelly Molson: What a life. Wow. Ian McAllister: And that was it. And he's been here since. And he loves it. He's absolutely settled. He's incredible. He's got this team of amazing people who do things like juggling with Diablos and teaching kids that go on balance boards and hula hoops. Their job is to interact with everybody that comes in and just create the atmosphere. Kelly Molson: And that's what makes the place so special, isn't it? It's that interaction from the people and the encouragement of the ideas that the children have to explore them that makes it a magical place. Ian McAllister: It is. It's incredible to sit as a construction site. All of a sudden. And now to see 600, 700 kids running around each session screaming and laughing and coming out with ruddy faces and wet trousers, it's everything we wanted it to be come to life, a Kelly Molson: It sounds magic. And I've seen those faces, I've seen the kids faces on the ITV clip, which we'll put in the show notes, actually, so you can have a look at it if you haven't had a chance to go up there yet. I want to talk a little bit about, because you've said a few times now, Alnwick want to talk a little bit about, because you've said a few times now, Alnwick, it's relatively rural, a small community, there's not a huge amount going on there other than this spectacular Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei that's just launched. You offer Free Fridays. And I saw the Duchess talk about this. It's for local children, school children, to come for free on a Friday so they can experience what's happening there. What impact do you think that Lilidorei is going to have on the local community and the children there? Ian McAllister: I think so. Two elements to that, really, then, the creation of the attraction itself. We've always estimated roughly, or looking quite accurately, based on recent figures, that it's going to bring an extra 200,000 people a year into the area. And that's going to benefit, obviously, it's going to benefit us, it's going to benefit the Alnwick Garden Trust, it's going to benefit the Alnwick Castle, which is another attraction up the road. All the local restaurants, pubs, hotels, everyone's going to benefit because what we're hoping to do is turn AlnwickAll the local restaurants, pubs, hotels, everyone's going to benefit because what we're hoping to do is turn Alnwick into a multi day destination, so people won't just come for one of the things and go back to Newcastle, back to Edinburgh. They'll do it as a day trip. So we're hoping that it will really kind of drive the local economy. Ian McAllister: So in terms of local economic benefit, I think that's kind of nailed, really. The figures are already quite obvious. In terms of the Free Fridays, then you don't have to go that far out of Alnwick, particularly if you went to South Northumberland and there's quite a lot of people that are in all sorts of various situations. There's schools in different areas, there's kids that just would not be able to afford to come otherwise because it's comparable to other attractions. But it's still not a cheap day out, it's not three quid to go to the local soft play. So there's a lot of kids that the Duchess particularly just didn't think it was fair, wouldn't be able to experience it, hence Free Fridays. Ian McAllister: So the idea of Free Friday is that every school child in Northumberland, and then eventually, when we've kind of been running for a bit, we'll widen it to Tyne and Wear into Newcastle. But at the minute, every child in Northumberland should be able to experience Lillidorei without having to pay. So we've opened up this application process where local schools can apply to come to one of the sessions and that's for any Friday throughout the year. So already the mini uptake has been phenomenal and there's schools that you see that you think, you know, I know exactly what area that school is in and without making too many judgments, you know, that they just would not be able to afford to come, so we're giving them the opportunity to come. Ian McAllister: So that's part one of Free Fridays, which is well underway at the minute, and I think we're almost booked up for the rest of the next twelve months with Fridays. Kelly Molson: That's amazing. Ian McAllister: But the next part is that the Duchess is to now do other initiatives to try and put money into a ring fenced account. So then eventually when that account builds up, we'll also be able to start to subsidise travel. So if you've got a school that's an hour's journey away, hopefully this pot of money, they can apply to it to pay for their hiring of a school coach or a minibus or whatever it's going to be to actually bring the kids up. So it's an entirely free day and there's different things like she's doing private tours, we're doing packages where you can have a nice meal at the treehouse and then come into Lilidorei afterwards. So like I say, that's all going to be ring fence specifically for transport from Free Fridays. Kelly Molson: That's incredible. What an opportunity. And like you say, for the kids that just would not have that opportunity to be able to go and experience it. It's just such a wonderful thing to be able to do. Ian McAllister: It is, it's incredible. And I think a lot of the feedback we saw before we opened, because again, as I say, it was quite hard to explain the concept of it and what you actually got for your 15 quid entry fee. So a lot of people say you've outpriced us and we can't afford it and this, that and the other. And that's why it was really good to then say, "Look, if you want to bring your kids, just tell your kids to speak to their teacher and get the teacher to speak to us and we can facilitate them for free". So it's making a difference already. It's incredible. Kelly Molson: Yeah. And I guess then it's about selling what that 15 pounds gets you the benefits of that 15 pounds. Yes, it's a relatively higher price point, but you start to break it down about the experience that they get there and the magic that can actually happen that they can't get anywhere else, and then it starts to become slightly more appealing purchase.  You can stay there for quite a long time, right? You've got that dwell time as well. So when you work it out, cost per hour, it actually seemed quite reasonable. Ian McAllister: And I think having two kids myself, I think what am I going to compare this to? So you can't compare it to going to local council run park because it's nowhere near the same, it's not just a climbing frame. And then I think, "Well, what else would I do for the kids for that time period on a Saturday if we're bored?" Probably get the cinema. So the cinema is going to be 1520 quid to get in. And then, sweetness, you got 2 hours of sitting in silence watching a film and then you come out, go home and that's done. Ian McAllister: So to compare it to that, to Lilidorei, you've got a three hour session where you can come in, whole family can interact and it's running free and it's fresh air, I mean, it's not fumbling, it's always fresh air and by fresh I mean probably freezing most of the time. But you've got this it's a completely different experience and I think where people were just looking at it as it's a climbing frame, well, I could just go up the park. So it's trying to explain to people that it is different and yeah, it doesn't work out a really cheap day if you've got two parents and three kids, for example. But what we have done, we've introduced, and we're going to look at this after some holidays, we introduced the founder Lilidorei membership. Ian McAllister: My idea with this is always it's got to be for the child focused. So it's the child that has the membership. So little Johnny could have a membership for him and an adult, or him and two adults, and that means they could bring in mum and dad or they could bring in Nanny Granddad or they could bring in whoever they want. But it's always for me been the child that dictates this whole thing. So we always say that well behaved adults can come in with a responsible child. So we've kind of flipped the narrative a little bit there. And in terms of the membership itself, I used to read the Beano when I was a kid and the only thing I ever wanted grown up was Dennis the Menace fan club membership. Ian McAllister: And with that it cut a wallet, a membership card and a badge. And so for me, Lilidorei membership, you get a wallet, a card and a badge. So all these founder lidorians walk around proudly displaying their badge because there was a limited number of to be the very first people to be these members. But it's empowering the kids. The adults are allowed to come if the kid says they can come. I almost wanted to wake up on a Saturday morning and the child go, "Right, mom, you've been good, you can come with me. Dad, you got to wash the car and do the dishes". Kelly Molson: I love that. I love that giving them the choice of who they take and to take Granny as well. Yeah, it's a really good point about the memberships, isn't it? Because it is generally tied to the adult and the children that they have. But I love that you've empowered the kids to make that choice. Yeah. So you've got to be the kid. The parents have to be good all week. Ian McAllister: Exactly. That's to end the story points.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Well, we're going back to your food eating and your little sticker chart, aren't we? That's what you need. There you go. Sell that in the shop for the adults to buy their sticker reward chart, whether they get to come back or not on the next visit. Ian McAllister: That's a great idea, talking to the shop, actually, just briefly, because you may. Kelly Molson: Segue listen, I'm on fire today, Ian. Segue into the shop. Ian McAllister: My good friend Matthew Henderson, who anyone who listens to podcast will have heard him before. He has been incredible. He's been absolutely amazing. It was him that put you and I in touch in the first place. We bought him in to get the shop ready. And to say it's shop ready is the biggest understatement of the century, because I've never seen anything like it. The people that work in retail, a retail manager, Tracy, to coin a phrase, and not sound corny, it's like all the Christmases have come at once, because she's always wanted this shop that she's proud of, that she's selling things that she believes in. It's all been sourced specifically for her. And Matt has done just what a job. It's incredible. Kelly Molson: He is such a great guy, Matt. So Matthew came on our podcast. It was only a few episodes away, actually, ago, actually, and Matt used to work at Beamish and now he's out on his own. He's a consultant now and helps lots of attractions work out their special offering, the uniqueness when it comes to products. And I have seen a photograph of the shop and, oh, my God, it looks like an attraction in itself. It looks like something you'd pay to go visit in itself, like a Santa's Grotte or say. It's just incredible. Ian McAllister: It's phenomenal. And he was also fundamental in helping us with all the food and stuff that we're doing across site, but mainly in there. You know about the ice creams? Kelly Molson: I know about the ice cream. Tell us. Ian McAllister: So there's three flavours. I mean, you've got a vanilla, but then you've got the other obvious choices. You've got Troll Snot ice cream and you've got fairy dust ice cream. So fairy dust is like a raspberry ripple with popping candy. And Troll Snot is pure bright green, but it's sour apple, which sounds vile, but it's actually really nice. But I've got pictures of him with a hair net at the ice cream facility, which I keep telling him should be his next Tinder profile. He's got so involved in it, he's been instrumental in the whole thing. I don't think we'd be anywhere near where we are now without Matthew. Kelly Molson: Oh, wow. Well, that is a massive compliment to Matthew in itself, isn't it? No, he's a great guy. And I think it's something that sometimes gets a bit overlooked when it comes to shop. And you often go to places and you see the same things. Exit through the gift shop, you see the same things, and it genuinely just feels like, and I can only say this from the photos, but it just feels like you're stepping into such a magical world as an extension of the magical world that you've just come out of. Ian McAllister: It really is. It's surreal because on Press Day, we had a launch day a couple of weeks ago, it was so hot. It was a beautiful day. I clearly have the sunglasses on all day, caught a nice tan. Apart from the work stuff, it was a really nice day. But then you do, you exit into the shop and it's like you've already sudden fast forwarded six months and you're in the middle of Christmas. There's Christmas trees and candy canes and balls, not to mention the ridiculous amount of old fashioned sweet jars with trolls fingers and different fudges. And it is surreal because then you've had this 20 minutes Christmas experience in the shop and then you're back into 24 degree heat again. It's bizarre. Kelly Molson: You opened on was it the 25th of May? Is that your opening day? Ian McAllister: Yeah. So a couple of days before half term, were supposed to have a lot more testing than we had, but because of construction issues, we ended up with two testing days. We were supposed to have at least a month or two months testing, but we had to literally do it all in two days. So we opened a VIP date and then we opened for the public on the Thursday. We would never have predicted this, the Thursday Friday, and then the full half term, every single slot was sold out to the point where after a couple of days, we made a judgment call to up capacity and then we upped it again. And it's been full, absolutely full. Kelly Molson: And have you kept that capacity as well? Ian McAllister: Because I think we didn't want the risk of opening, saying, right, we're going to get 800 kids in per session, and then all of a sudden there's 800 people trying to go down a slide. So we didn't want to ruin the visitors experience with queues and with too many people and crowds and this and the other. So we opened with 300 capacity, which was, I mean, once 300 people are on the play structure, you kind of see it. It's like you can't hear them, you can't see them, they've just vanished like ants. So we upped it to five and we're looking at up in it again to, I think, 750. We're going to maybe try and push it up to for some holidays. Kelly Molson: Gosh, that's incredible. So safe to say that it's been a successful launch, then. Ian McAllister: You know what, we couldn't have asked for more. We've had the weather, we've had the publicity. Everything has been going so well. It's been a really positive experience. It was touch and go for a bit where we're all sort of walking around a few days before launch. S***, there's a bump there. There's a thing here. And the construction team, I've never seen anyone react like it like the lighting team would pretty much work until 04:00 in the morning. So they'd work all day. But then they'd want to test their lights so they'd have to wait until it got dark. But then they'd work all night till 04:00 the next morning, go home for a few hours kip and then come back again. Ian McAllister: And we've got a big thank you party tonight at Lilidorei to thank all of the staff, volunteers and construction team for everything they've done to a few hundred people coming tonight. And it's been overwhelming how everybody's got involved, even contractors that might be there for a week doing something. It's been almost like a pride project for them. Kelly Molson: It's amazing. Well, but that shines through in what you've created, right? Everybody that's touched it has taken some kind of ownership of it. What a lovely thing to do. Just throw the party as well to say thank you. It's June now. The story behind Lilidorei obviously involves Christmas. I'm really intrigued as to what you might have planned for Christmas. Are you allowed to talk about any of that yet or is it embargoed? Ian McAllister: I can talk about it a little bit because I've seen it. So we had a sneak peek. So for the last two years, we've been followed around by MGM who have been filming the documentary for Channel Four. So Channel Four documentary goes out, I think, August. So there's a six part Saturday night documentary going out all about the Duchess. It's called The Duchess, but it's all about her leading up to this project. So their last filming day was VIP press day. Kelly Molson: Wow. Ian McAllister: About three days before that, we had a preview one night at 10:00. We would like to go onto site to get a preview of Christmas. I don't even think I can come up with the words. And I'm quite good with words. I can't even put together a sentence that explains quite how magical it is. It's just the lights, the sounds, the atmosphere. And this was a summer's night at 10:00, so I can't even think what it would be like when it is actually Christmas. And we've got three Santa's grottos. To talk, you kind of back a little bit.  Ian McAllister: You've probably seen the picture of the big Lilidorei entrance gate. So when you get to the gate, you've got sounds. You've got a troll talking to a pixie and who wants pixie, wants to let us in and the troll won't let her. So you stand there and you can hear this immersive sound and they won't open the gate. So what you have to do is kind of find a way around and go through a hidden tunnel. At Christmas, those gates will open and it's like, all of a sudden, Christmas is there. So you come in, every Christmas tree is going to be lit, and bear in mind, we've got 1400 Christmas trees. Every Christmas trees got fairy lights in. The atmosphere was just phenomenal. It sounds like a cop out, but it's got to be seen to believed. Kelly Molson: Well, I look forward to that, because that sounds right up my street. Ian McAllister: You know, you're welcome. You're more than welcome. I'll even treat you to some troll snot ice cream. Kelly Molson: How could I possibly say no to that? Ian McAllister: It's the Essex charm, isn't it? Kelly Molson: Just wins me over every time Ian, thank you for coming on. So we always ask our guests to recommend a book at the end of a podcast. What have you got for us today? Ian McAllister: And it was post, COVID I read it and someone had recommended it. So I went and bought a copy and it's got to the point now where I've probably funded about 90% of the book sales because I'll keep buying copies and saying to someone, you love this, I've given them a copy and it's The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Have you read it? Kelly Molson: Yeah. Great book. Ian McAllister: For me, I think I am where I am now and my career path, my life path, everything was based on decisions and sometimes it's easy to sit and think, that's a bad decision. If I hadn't made that decision, I'd be much happier now. And The Midnight Library, for anyone who hasn't read it, is all about going back and retrospectively looking at your decisions that you've made in life and you get a glimpse of where that decision took you. And I think for me, what it did was instead of me constantly going back, not depressed or anything, but you kind of sit and dwell sometimes instead of thinking well. Ian McAllister: So, for example, I nearly joined the RAF when I was 17 and I wanted to be military police, but because I've got terrible eyesight, they said, well, we can't give you a gun because you probably shoot the wrong person. So they offered me dentistry. So, looking at the time, I was typical Essex. Toys were out, the pram, I'm not doing this, I don't want to do it. So I went to uni and did all that stuff. But I often think back, I think, you know what? If I'd have gone in the RFN and had paid to train me as a dentist and I've done the service, I could have come out and sat me in dental practice and this, that and the other.Ian McAllister: And I often think, would I be happier had I done that and done that as a career path and been a professional, if you like, because I still don't consider myself a professional. But then this book almost made me reframe that a little bit and think, you know what, I might not have done that. I might have hated it or something else would have changed and I wouldn't have had my beautiful children, I'm a stupid dog, or wouldn't have any of that sort of stuff now if I'd have taken that career path. So in a nutshell, for me, The Midnight Library is a really good read. It's quite an easy read, I found, because I was really invested in it, but it made me reframe a little bit. Kelly Molson: Yeah, it's a great book. I've read it a couple of times now and similar to you, it's made me look back at not so much choices but events that have happened to us. Me and my partner, we've had a load of people this is quite public knowledge, we've had a load of trouble having children and we lost quite a few along the way and multiple rounds of IVF and all of that malarkey. And I think that book made me reflect on some of those things that had happened because you start to question, am I a bad person here? Or like, why are these things happening to us? We're good people, what's wrong? Kelly Molson: But some of those things that have happened regardless, despite them being really difficult and quite awful, they've led you to other things that are magic and they've given you gifts of something really tragic happened. Has been able to give us the gift of being able to talk about it openly, which has then gone on and helped other people be able to talk about it or share how they are or just given someone found them, someone that they can talk to. And I think you have to just kind of look back at those things and I don't know, it's a long winded way of saying I completely agree with you and it's a really good book. If you're feeling a bit reflective about your life, it's definitely one to go and have a read of. So yeah, good read. Ian McAllister: I think it may me kind of start to think about the ways I've handled things and how I sort of shape things moving forward so that my best friend died when were at college and my nephew died when he was eight. And all these things in your life that at the time are the worst thing that could ever possibly happen and you could either go one way or the other and it almost explained or kind of put into context a little bit. I think that these things happen not necessarily for a reason, but the way that you cope with it and deal with it and move on after it. That's almost like the learning that you take from it. But this is a different podcast altogether. This is like a griefcast, so we'll do another one. Kelly Molson: This has ended on a complete opposite spectrum than it started, Ian. Anyway, listeners, if you want to win a copy of that book, I'd highly recommend you go and do this. So go over to this podcast announcement and retweet it with the words I want Ian's book. And you will be put into the draw to win a copy of The Midnight Garden. Kelly Molson: Midnight Garden? Midnight Library. Midnight Garden is a whole different book, kids book Midnight Library.Kelly Molson: Ian, thanks for coming on today. It's been brilliant to chat to you. We will put all of the information about Lilidorei and Alnwick Gardens into the show notes so you can have a little look for yourself. But those tickets for Christmas are going to sell out quickly, people, so get yourself on the mailing list. That's all I'm going to say. Ian McAllister: Thank you, Kelly. It's been so nice to talk to you. Living this far north, it's nice to establish my roots with an Essex person again. Kelly Molson: Well, always welcome. Six months check in, right?Ian McAllister: Thanks, Kelly.  Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Today's guest on Power in Diversity is someone Dr. Omo has watched grow from strength to strength. Elaine Cunningham Walker is an award-winning educational strategist and founder of the Global Educational Consulting firm, who has also been featured in Forbes. As a mother of two highly gifted children, both of whom were endorsed by Manasa after appearing on Channel Four's Child Genius, Elaine has become a go-to consultant for parents seeking advice on how to bring out the best in their own children.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Elaine finds that many children lack the emotional intelligence and resilience to deal with the personal struggles they face on the education path. However, she lives by the code “There is Genius in every child, it just needs nurtured and developed”.  Elaine has become an advocate for building the next generation of leaders, emphasising the importance of ensuring that people who look like her and her children are represented in top positions. She believes that the reason for the underrepresentation of certain groups at the top is due to a lack of access to the right schools, friends, and networks. Networking is all about leaving a lasting impression on people's minds. It's important to be memorable for the right reasons, and unfortunately, our community often fails to achieve this. As women, we often neglect investing in ourselves. We tend to invest in others but fail to invest in ourselves by seeking out mentors, coaches, or individuals who have already achieved success and can provide positive guidance or advice on what steps we need to take to reach our goals. When we are labelled as being angry, it is because we are trying to win the argument with emotion instead of facts. If we speak from a place of facts rather than emotion, people will perceive us differently, and we will not come across as angry.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘The statistics say that if you're a black single mother, your children must end up on a particular trajectory. And I didn't want that for my children' ‘You can do everything right, but if you don't know someone who knows somebody who knows somebody, those doors cannot be open for you' ‘Pitch yourself as somebody that they need to know' ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step'   EPISODE RESOURCES    Elaine on LinkedIn Elaine Cunningham-Walker Elaine C Walker BSc, MSc (@elainecwalker) / Twitter Elaine C Walker|Mentor|Speaker|Female Founder (@elainecwalker) • Instagram photos and videos   ABOUT THE GUEST    Elaine Cunningham Walker is an award-winning educational strategist and founder of the Global Educational Consulting firm, who has been featured in Forbes. As a mother of two highly gifted children, both of whom were endorsed by Manasa after appearing on Channel Four's Child Genius series in 2015, Elaine has become a go-to consultant for parents seeking advice on how to bring out the best in their own children. Her personal experience in raising her children, and securing their admission with music and drama scholarships to top boarding schools, including St. Paul's, Eton and Harrow, has made her a specialist in bespoke educational roadmaps, tuition, and strategies to help children achieve similar success.   PODCAST DESCRIPTION   Power in Diversity Podcast is a space where professional women from diverse backgrounds, eager to grow as leaders, come to be inspired and gain wisdom from other leaders. As my guests share their journey, I hope that it will give you; an aspiring or established female leader; meaning to your journey, illuminating your path and equipping you with a greater understanding of how to carve and navigate your success pathway with greater ease.  Power in Diversity Podcast is also designed to equip not only individuals but, crucially, organisations who must learn to create diverse and inclusive organisations practically and not merely as a tick box exercise; especially now in this ever-changing world, everyone's diverse insight is vital to solving world issues. I hope that this podcast allows organisations to appreciate the real barriers female and ethnic minority groups face in stepping into leadership, barriers sadly I and many others have faced, and many continue to face.  I'm proud to be British and proud of my African Heritage, my tribe, part of the Benin Empire. I feel blessed to be a woman. This is a non-judgmental space, but a space to learn and to become aware of the gifts and Power in Diversity.   ABOUT THE HOST   Dr Omo Akoje Okonkwo is a practising Cosmetic Dental Surgeon working in Private Clinics in Surrey. Her passion for empowering her patients and team led her to Transformational coaching to bring about significant change in others.  Her many skill sets and ability to motivate people quickly opened leadership roles for her, including Director of Health care Projects and Clinical Lead and Senior Tutor at the prestigious King College Dental Hospital. Along her journey, she faced numerous setbacks despite her passion, academic background and experience.  Notwithstanding, her passion for excellence and growth led her to embark on an MBA at the Renowned Warwick Business School. Her desire to empower women steered her to conduct qualitative research exploring Gender, Leadership, and Identity. Her findings revealed what she had always sensed, the leadership labyrinth for female and ethnic minority leaders that exists. It is now Dr Omo's mission to educate and equip individuals, organisations, and countries on the necessity, mindset, and steps to create inclusion at all levels of society.   CONTACT METHOD    IG: https://www.instagram.com/dr.omo_uk/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-omo-okonkwo-65b8a542/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omo.okonkwo  This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

PROFESSOR ROBERT TEMPLE is author of a dozen challenging and provocative books, commencing with the international best-seller, The Sirius Mystery. His books have been translated into a total of 44 foreign languages. He combines solid academic scholarship with an ability to communicate with the mass public. He is Visiting Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and previously held a similar position at an American university. For many years he was a science writer for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and a science reporter for Time-Life, as well as a frequent reviewer for Nature and profile writer for The New Scientist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and has been a member of the Egypt Exploration Society since the 1970s, as well as a member of numerous other academic societies. He has produced, written and presented a documentary for Channel Four and National Geographic Channels on his archaeological discoveries in Greece and Italy, and he was at one time an arts reviewer on BBC Radio 4's ‘Kaleidoscope'. In 1993, his translation of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh was performed at the Royal National Theatre in London. With his wife, Olivia, he is co-author and translator of the first complete English version of Aesop's Fables, which attracted a great deal of international press attention at the time of its release, as the earlier translations had suppressed some of the fables because of Victorian prudery. His new book is A New Science of Heaven and it explores the blurred lines between religion and science. Dark Matter, cold star cores and Metatron are all on the agenda.

Comedian and writer David Baddiel will take part in an event hosted by Holocaust Awareness Ireland tomorrow entitled Jews Don't Count. It is the title of his book and Channel Four documentary. Further details holocaustawarenessireland.com/ourevents

Simon and Rachel speak with Fraser Nelson, who has edited the Spectator magazine since 2009. Previously a financial journalist with the Times and political editor of the Scotsman, during his tenure at the Spectator Fraser has overseen a near doubling of the magazine's sales. He is also a columnist with the Daily Telegraph, sits on the board of the Centre for Social Justice, a centre-right think tank, and has presented two Channel Four documentaries on the subject of inequality. We spoke to Fraser about the process of running a weekly magazine, his earlier career in newspapers, and adapting a print title to the digital age. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

'I knew it was a book I needed to read' - VIVIENNE WESTWOOD'His book explains complex scientific theory in a graspable way' - LILY ASHLEY'This book is an important contribution, and I hope it will open many minds. What is particularly important in it are the discussions of David Bohm, of bioplasma, biophotons, and bioelectronics.' - PROFESSOR ZBIGNIEW WOLKOWSKI, Sorbonne University, Paris"Answers so many questions, scientific and esoteric, about the true nature of our reality... A seminal work... Will revolutionise how we frame reality and the thinking of everyone on this planet. Kudos to Professor Temple for striking the first match to light the fire." - NEW DAWNThe story of the science of plasma and its revolutionary implications for the way we understand the universe and our place in it.Histories of science in the 20th century have focused on relativity and quantum mechanics. But, quietly in the background, there has been a third area of exploration which has equally important implications for our understanding of the universe. It is unknown to the general public despite the fact that many Nobel prize winners, senior academics and major research centres around the world have been devoted to it - it is the study of plasmaPlasma is the fourth state of matter and the other three - gas, liquid and solids - emerge out of plasma. This book will reveal how over 99% of the universe is made of plasma and how there are two gigantic clouds of plasma, called the Kordylewski Clouds, hovering between the Earth and the Moon, only recently discovered by astronomers in Hungary. Other revelations not previously known outside narrow academic disciplines include the evidence that in certain circumstances plasma exhibits features that suggest they may be in some sense alive: clouds of plasma have evolved double helixes, banks of cells and crystals, filaments and junctions which could control the flow of electric currents, thus generating an intelligence similar to machine intelligence. We may, in fact, have been looking for signs of extra-terrestrial life in the wrong place.Bestselling author Robert Temple has been following the study of plasma for decades and was personally acquainted with several of the senior scientists - including Nobel laureates - at its forefront, including Paul Dirac, David Bohm, Peter Mitchell and Chandra Wickramasinghe (who has co-written an academic paper with Temple).PROFESSOR ROBERT TEMPLE is the author of a dozen challenging and provocative books, commencing with the international best-seller, The Sirius Mystery. His books have been translated into a total of 44 foreign languages. He is Visiting Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and previously held a similar position at an American university.For many years he was a science writer for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and a science reporter for Time-Life, as well as a frequent reviewer for Nature and profile writer for The New Scientist.He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and has been a member of the Egypt Exploration Society since the 1970s, as well as a member of numerous other academic societies.He has produced, written and presented a documentary for Channel Four and National Geographic Channels on his archaeological discoveries in Greece and Italy, and he was at one time an arts reviewer on BBC Radio 4's 'Kaleidoscope'.With his wife, Olivia, he is co-author and translator of the first complete English version of Aesop's Fables, which attracted a great deal of international press attention at the time of its release, as the earlier translations had suppressed some of the fables because of Victorian prudery.Temple was a colleague of the late Dr. Joseph Needham of Cambridge, in association with whom he wrote The Genius of China, which has been approved as an official reference book (in Chinese) for the Chinese secondary school system, and which won five national awards in the USA. He has done archaeometric dating work and intensive exploration of closed sites in Egypt with the permission of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. His research into historical accounts of the Sphinx is the first comprehensive survey ever undertaken.

I am honoured to be joined by Anne Robinson, established television presenter and journalist known for her assertive views and her frosty presenting style on one of my all time favourite game shows, The Weakest Link. In the 1960s, Anne was the first young female trainee at the Daily Mail newspaper. She worked at The Sunday Times and The Daily Mirror and then went on to host programmes such as Watchdog to Channel Four's Countdown.However, in her mid-thirties Anne began to drum up a reputation for being a heavy drinker, which began to overshadow her work. And after a fierce custody battle with her ex-husband, she lost joint custody of her daughter, then aged just two. This was the turning point that led to her seeking help and in today's interview Anne opens up about her battle with addiction and what got her onto the road to recovery. Follow Hurt to Healing on Instagram: @hurttohealingpod--A big thank you our wonderful charity partner Shout. Shout is the UK's first 24/7 mental health text support service so if you're struggling or in need of someone to talk to, please remember to text Shout to 85258. Thank you to our corporate supporter, Brown Advisory, a global investment management firm which is passionate about raising awareness of mental health challenges in order to help people thrive in an ever-changing world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cyril Nri is a BAFTA-nominated British actor whose career spans over four decades, traversing stage, film, and television. Notable roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company include Lucius in Julius Caesar, Ariel in The Tempest, and Polonius in Hamlet. He earned his BAFTA nomination playing Lance Sullivan in Russell T. Davies' 2015 Channel Four series Cucumber. Cyril joins Erick to share about his professional journey and what motivates him to be at the top of his game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to THE DISCOURSE, a podcast about film, entertainment & culture.In this episode, Tony & Carl discuss the interview of the moment - Prince Harry on ITV promoting his book. Will this help his reputation or hinder it?Also, they touch on the saving of Channel Four from privatisation and the UK government's approach to media regulation currently, plus they look at an incendiary tweet from author Joyce Carol Oates about the talent of Alfred Hitchcock. Carl mounts a defence but does it hold water?New episodes of The Discourse drop each week every Monday and Tuesday... Host / EditorTony BlackCo-HostCarl SweeneyFollow us on Twitter:@podthediscourseCarl: @CKJSweeneyTony: @ajblackwriter / https://ajblackwriter.substack.comEmail us:contactthediscourse@gmail.comSupport the We Made This podcast network on Patreon:www.patreon.com/wemadethisWe Made this Twitter: @we_madethisWebsite: wemadethisnetwork.comTitle music: The Subtle Ones (c) John Ahlin via epidemicsound.com

“‘SKY CRASH, Throughout Time' By Philip Kinsella and Brenda Butler” Also- Rendlesham, Grey Aliens, Reptilians, High Strangeness events, Cryptids, Lights and orbs, and so much more! About The Book: Anyone remotely interested within the UFO field of investigations is aware of the famous 1980 Rendlesham event which occurred in Suffolk and known as ‘Britain's Roswell' over the Christmas period, and whereby members of the US military centred at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge had been in direct contact with objects seemingly not from this world. Little is known about the impending research which Brenda Butler, Dot Street and Jenny Randles had eventually published in ‘SKY CRASH: ACosmic Conspiracy' back in 1984 by Neville Spearman Ltd and of the many problems they'd had in getting their story out. What's even more startling is that Rendlesham was no stranger to UFO activity, and the 1980 event was not the first of its kind. Incidents witnessed by locals had been occurring before and well after the initial encounter with many of the military troops stationed at the twin bases. Brenda Butler teamed up with author and UFO investigator, Philip Kinsella, to put her story across, and of the strange experiences she'd had. What of the Reptilian man who was wanted by higher officialdom, and who'd also gained access to some of the world's top UFO investigators and senior military officials? Why did their book ‘Sky Crash: A Cosmic Conspiracy' suffer through the onslaught of bad publicity by nameless, faceless bureaucrats? And why did the initial encounter with the military propel Brenda into a strange world where fate, it would seem, was to play its hand. Learn how Philip Kinsella's experiment worked in summoning a UFO within the forest and of the subsequent research he has also amassed. ‘Sky Crash - Throughout Time' reveals these and many other mysteries surrounding England's most controversial UFO case. About Philip: Philip Kinsella is both a clairvoyant medium and UFO investigator/author. Having had many bizarre UFO/paranormal experiences throughout his life, along with his identical twin brother, Ronald, he began to research the phenomenon on a serious level of investigations after an alien abduction in 1989. This led to him writing several books: ‘Reaching for the Divine: How to Communicate effectively with your Spirit Guides and Loved Ones on the Other Side,' ‘Believe: Bridging the gap between the psychic and UFO phenomenon' and ‘SKY CRASH – Throughout Time: A Continued Investigation Into the Rendlesham UFO Mystery,' This book had been co-authored with UFO investigator Brenda Butler. These had been published by Capall Bann Publishing Ltd in England. Philip also wrote another book which he brought out through Amazon entitled: ‘A Passage Through Eternity: The Enigma of the Dead, UFOs & Aliens.' Philip won the British Mediumship Award in Portsmouth, England in 2008. Although he had no wish to become what is referred to as a ‘Medium,' he was nevertheless intrigued in the thought of the deceased being able to communicate with the living. His understanding is that the human brain serves merely as the conduit for the flow of information and alternate realities which exist all around us, and which, often, we cannot see. This all came about through his own personal struggles in searching for those he had loved and lost through death. Although dealing with both aspects of UFOs and mediumship, he has always felt there is a connection. This has been illustrated within his works. He has appeared on national television, most notably Channel Four, Central, Live and Digital and has also hosted many radio programs. He, along with his identical twin brother, have also written and illustrated children's books and had published a Science Fiction novel entitled: ‘The Ungodly Agenda' which had been endorsed by the Best-Selling author of ‘Cocoon,' David Saperstein. This was made into a smash-hit Hollywood movie. In 1996, Philip had a revolutionary theory published in the magazine ‘Alien Encounters' which dealt with a revolutionary theory regarding the ‘Greys.' This was entitled: ‘Spirits in a Material World.' He is currently working on more books surrounding the UFO field of investigations. www.kinsellatwins.om If you enjoy the content on the channel, please support us by subscribing: Thank you All A formal disclosure: The opinions and information presented or expressed by guests on The Outer Realm Radio are not necessarily those of the TOR Hosts, Sponsors, or the United Public Radio Network and its producers. We will however always be respectful and courteous to all involved. Thank you, we appreciate you all!

Tales of crime, fantasy, the strange, oh... and Christmas!With AK Benedict. A K Benedict read English at Cambridge and Creative Writing at the University of Sussex. She writes in a room filled with mannequins, clowns and teapots.Her debut novel, The Beauty of Murder (Orion), was shortlisted for an eDunnit award and is in development for an 8-part TV series. Her second novel, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts (Orion), was published in February 2016 and The Stone House, a tie-in novel for Doctor Who spin-off Class, was published by BBC Books in October. Her poems and short stories have featured in journals and anthologies including Best British Short Stories, Magma, Scaremongrel, and Great British Horror. Her first audio drama, The Victorian Age, was released as part of the Torchwood range at Big Finish in February, while Outbreak, a three-part Torchwood drama co-written with Guy Adams and Emma Reeves, will be released November 2016.Before becoming a full-time writer in 2012, A K Benedict was an indie-rock singer/songwriter, playing with her band The Black Tulips and solo as Pimpernelle. She was also a composer for film and TV, with music played on BBC 1, Channel Four, Sky, XFM, Radio 1, Radio 3 and in award-winning films. She still composes occasionally and now sings with The Slice Girls, a group of female thriller writers singing songs of sex, death and criminal activities.MURDER ON THE CHRISTMAS EXPRESS CAN YOU SOLVE THE CASE?'A perfect locked room mystery that explores lots of important topics within that highly enjoyable Christmas setting' ELLY GRIFFITHS ‘It's wonderful! A page-turning homage to the Golden Age, with a dash of Poirot and a dark, modern heart' S J BENNETT‘Magnificent! A smart, suspenseful and snow-covered mystery with plenty of heart and more than a few quiz questions. A total must read for Christmas' STEPH BROADRIBB ‘I absolutely loved it! Such a clever and pacy read with a glorious nod to classic Christie' JO JAKEMAN ‘An engrossing and heart-warming mystery. Like a glorious Christmas chocolate – beautiful on the outside with a richly dark centre. Perfect to curl up with on cold winter nights' MARION TODD 'A genuine Christmas Feast. It's traditional wrapping conceals a fiendish mystery, a heart of darkness and - in Roz - a wonderfully flawed heroine that you will absolutely fall in love with. If you like your Christmas murderous and melancholy, it's going to keep you very happy over the Festive Period' DEREK FARRELLEighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again? https://amzn.to/3UZG3sP#AKBenedict #Murderonthechristmasexpress #Christmas______________________________________Find out more: www.TheWritingCommunityChatShow.ComTHE WCCS – TOGETHER AS ONE, WE GET IT DONE!If you would like to advertise your #book on the show, to enroll in a book launch interview, or to have a WCCS social media shout out, visit here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheWCCSFOLLOW US► Our website – https://www.thewritingcommunitychatshow.com ► Universal link – https://linktr.ee/TheWCCS► Buy the show a coffee – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheWCCS► Use hashtag TheWritingCommunityChatShow or TheWCCS on social media to keep us current. This show will only succeed with your support!► Support us through Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/WCCS► For our FIVERR affiliate link click here (we will earn a little from you signing up through our link and more if you use the service. We back this service and have used it with great results! – https://fvrr.co/32SB6cs► For our PRO #WRITING AID affiliate link click here – https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=15286 Hey! We have spent 3 years using StreamYard. You can see how much we love its features, and how we can make it look great for live streaming. We are huge fans and they are constantly improving their service. Check it out with our link and we could earn from referrals! https://streamyard.com/pal/4835638006775808 Hey! We have spent 3 years using StreamYard. You can see how much we love its features, and how we can make it look great for live streaming. We are huge fans and they are constantly improving their service. Check it out with our link and we could earn from referrals! https://streamyard.com/pal/4835638006775808

Rob Rouse is a comedian and actor best known for playing Bottom, in Ben Elton's comedy series Upstart Crow, about the life of William Shakespeare, alongside David Mitchell, Harry Enfield, Mark Heap and Liza Tarbuck. Rob won Channel Four's prestigious 'So You Think You're Funny' competition at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998 and has been a regular performer at major venues across the country and on TV, ever since. He has appeared in Grownups, The Law of the Playground, Coronation Street, The Wright Stuff, Guilty Pleasures, the film Penelope, The Friday Night Project which later became the Sunday Night Project, the Channel 4 sketch show Spoons, Tunnel of Love, The Bunk Bed Boys, The Pilot Show, 8 out of 10 Cats, Bognor or Bust, he played the title role in the series The Former Ambassador Robert Thornton for Paramount and was in the ITV show Mad Mad World. Rob Rouse is guest number 235 on My Time Capsule and chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .Listen to Rob's podcastsThe Unlikely Weightlifters Podcast: https://podfollow.com/1647984434 .Rob and Helen's Date Night: https://podfollow.com/1057253691 .Follow Rob Rouse on Twitter: @robrouse .Follow My Time Capsule on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter: @fentonstevens and Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert McKee, A Fulbright Scholar, is the most sought after screenwriting lecturer around the globe. He has dedicated the last 30 years to educating and mentoring screenwriters, novelists, playwrights, poets, documentary makers, producers, and directors internationally. Those who have learned from McKee have called him "the Aristotle of our time" because of his insight into the substance, structure, style, and principles of the grand art of story.Peter Jackson (writer/director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit) has lauded him as "The Guru of Gurus." For the writers of Pixar (creators of Toy Story 1, 2, & 3, Finding Nemo), McKee's Story Seminar is a rite of passage. Emmy Award-Winner Brian Cox also portrayed McKee in the Oscar-nominated film Adaptation.McKee's former students include over 60 Academy Award Winners, 200 Academy Award Nominees, 200 Emmy Award Winners, 1000 Emmy Award Nominees, 100 WGA (Writers Guild of America) Award Winners, 250 WGA Award Nominees, and 50 DGA (Directors Guild of America) Award Winners, 100 DGA Award Nominees.A winner and nominee of BAFTA for his popular Channel Four series Reel Secrets, McKee also wrote and hosted 12 episodes of BBC's Filmworks series. He was profiled by Bob Simon of 60 Minutes for CBS news.McKee's articles on Story have also appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines around the world including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker Magazine, Swiss Business Magazine, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, CBS Morning News, BBC, Channel 4 in UK, RAI (Italy), CBN Weekly News & Morning Glory (China), MBC TV, KBS & Arirang TV, Korea Times (South Korea), Kiev Weekly, Kultura Moscow, all major TV, Radio and/or newspapers of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, France, India, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland and given seminars in all of the above countries.Since 1984, more than 100,000 students have taken McKee's courses at various cities around the world: Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Helsinki, Oslo, Munich, Tel Aviv, Auckland, Singapore, Madrid, Beijing, Shanghai, Barcelona, Lisbon, Malaga, Hamburg, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome, Stockholm, São Paulo, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Beijing, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Seoul, Istanbul, Hyderabad, Mexico City and many cities regularly.McKee continues to be a project consultant to major film and television production companies such as 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, & MTV. In addition, Pixar, ABC, BBC, Disney, Miramax, PBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount, GLOBOSAT, MNET and other international TV and Film companies regularly send their entire creative and writing staffs to his lectures.His new book is Action: The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page, and Game.ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.Topics include:Understanding the Four Core Elements of ActionCreating the Action CastHook, Hold, Pay Off: Design in ActionThe Action MacguffinAction Set PiecesThe Sixteen Action SubgenresA must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time including: Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Avengers: Endgame.Also join Robert McKee's Legendary STORY Seminar LIVE in Los Angeles, New York & LondonIn an intense 3 days, Robert McKee teaches the substance, structure, style and principles of Story. Learn how to apply classical story design – the kind that has resulted in masterpieces of all kinds – to your own cinematic, theatrical or literary premise.

Today we're sitting down with David Earl and Chris Hayward from Focus Features' upcoming title, “Brian and Charles.” The film follows Brian (David Earl), a lonely inventor in rural Wales who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work. Undeterred by his lack of success, Brian attempts his biggest project yet: an artificially intelligent robot named Charles (Chris Hayward), who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages. What follows is a humorous and entirely heartwarming story about friendship, family, finding love, and letting go.David Earl is a comedian, best known for his comedy character Brian Gittins. He has featured in several projects associated with Ricky Gervais, most notably as Kevin "Kev" Twine in the comedy-drama Derek, Extras, After Life and the film Cemetery Junction.Chris Hayward is a writer/performer with extensive experience of the UK comedy scene. He has written for shows including Cardinal Burns and Trollied, and landed development deals with Channel Four, Sky, BBC, ABC, Fox and CBS. As an actor, he has appeared in shows such as The It Crowd, King Gary, Pls Like, and Friday Night Dinner.Our mission is putting a spotlight on beautiful stories with phenomenal performances. “Brian and Charles” achieves this with such ease – at its core it's a uniquely charming story that tackles some complex themes in a way that leaves audiences filled with joy, and most importantly, hope.Brian and Charles:Directed by Jim ArcherWritten by David Earl and Chris HaywardProduced by Rupert MajendieExecutive Produced by Damian Jones, Mary Burke, Lauren Dark and Ollie MaddenStarring David Earl, Chris Hayward, Louise Brealey, James Michie and Nina SosanyaThe Smith Society Podcast: This is the Smith Society, a podcast about storytellers and storytelling. In this episode we feature the writers and stars of Focus Features' “Brian and Charles.”Thesmithsocietypod.comFind us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thesmithsocietypod/Host: Duane FernandezEmail and ask a question or share a thought: info@voksee.comThe Smith Society theme song by: Steady CadenceSteady Cadence is a brilliant father daughter duo out of North Carolina. There is an episode later this season about the theme song, their unique sound which blends together analog and digital, their inspiration, creative approach and how Cadence, who is currently in middle school, has so much soul.The Smith Society logo: Designer, Chris ScottEdited by: Marshall BakerWardrobe: Aviator Nation: www.aviatornation.comFollow your dreams, no matter where they take you.See Privacy Policy at art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info