Podcasts about Derbyshire

Welcome to the penultimate episode of S24 of The Dark Paranormal.After the death of her mother, our listener Claire returns alone to the Derbyshire home she grew up in to begin clearing out decades of belongings. In a spare-room wardrobe, she discovers a hidden box containing old letters and a face-down photograph. The letters suggest Claire's mother had once been involved in some kind of secret arrangement, and maybe something that she helped end. As the house grows darker, the atmosphere shifts, things appear to move, and that night Claire has everything she holds true challenged, leaving her with the disturbing possibility that her mother had spent years managing or containing something she never told her children about.Stay safe,Kevin.We're giving a full weeks trial of our Patreon away! Just head over on the link below and away you go!www.patreon.com/thedarkparanormalIf it's not for you? Simply cancel before your trial expires, meanwhile enjoy FULL access to our highest tier, and thank you for being the best listeners by miles.By making the choice of joining our Patreon team now, not only gives you early Ad-Free access to all our episodes, including video releases of our new Patreon only show "After Dark", you also get full access to the Patreon only podcast, "Dark Bites".Both shows release each and every week, even on the down time between seasons. There are already well over 200+ hours of unheard true paranormal experiences for you to binge at your leisure. Simply head over to:www.patreon.com/thedarkparanormalTo send us YOUR experience, please either click on the below link:The Dark Paranormal - We Need Your True Ghost StoryOr head to our website: www.thedarkparanormal.comYou can also follow us on the below Social Media links:www.twitter.com/darkparanormalxwww.facebook.com/thedarkparanormalwww.youtube.com/thedarkparanormalwww.instagram.com/thedarkparanormalOur Sponsors:* Check out Acorns and use my code acorns.com/darkparanormal for a great deal: https://www.acorns.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/darkparanormal for a great deal: https://www.quince.com* Check out Shopify and use my code shopify.com/darkparanormal for a great deal: https://www.shopify.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

GB2RS News Sunday the 7th of June 2026 The news headlines: Discover how vibe coding can help radio amateurs RSGB Board Director attends ARISS International Conference Trio of RSGB experts added to the RSGB Convention programme RSGB Board Chair, Stewart Bryant, G3YSX, delivered a technical seminar called 'Vibe  Coding for radio amateurs' at the Four Days In May Symposium. The event was organised by the QRP ARCI and held before the start of the Dayton Hamvention. You can now enjoy the presentation from the comfort of your own home by watching it online at tinyurl.com/fdim-vibecoding  Stewart's presentation demonstrated additional things AI can do to aid radio amateurs. His talk was delivered to a packed audience and was based on the workshops he ran at last year's RSGB Convention and in Blackpool this April. If you are interested in finding out more about how radio amateurs can utilise AI, the RSGB is hosting workshops on the topic at its Convention in October. Find out more at rsgb.org/convention-workshops Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, held its annual conference in London last week. The event was organised by RSGB Representative to ARISS, Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and attended by Board Director Patrick Wood, 2E0IFB. On behalf of the RSGB President, Patrick delivered a short welcome at the event opening and attended an RSGB-sponsored evening reception along with other RSGB Board Directors. ARISS International contacts are a fantastic way to demonstrate the place of amateur radio within STEM, and the RSGB continues to support this excellent outreach work. The RSGB was a founding member of the European division of ARISS in the 1990s, along with AMSAT-UK, and is pleased it continues to be such a globally recognised STEM activity. The RSGB has added a trio of experts to its Convention programme. RSGB ETCC member John McCullagh, GI4BWM will deliver a lecture on ETCC, repeaters and new technology, whilst RSGB EMCC Chair Dr John Rogers, M0JAV will be on hand to enhance your knowledge on EMF exclusion zones. You'll also be able to discover the results of the 12th of August eclipse propagation experiment with RSGB PSC Chair Steve Nichols, G0KYA. These presenters have years of experience in their field and this is your opportunity to learn directly from them. Join them at Kents Hill Conference Centre in Milton Keynes between 9-11 October by securing your ticket at rsgb.org/convention The Region 12 team is looking for a volunteer to become the District Representative for Cambridge. If you live in the area and are passionate about supporting local radio amateurs, then please get in touch with the Regional Representative Brian Woolnough, M5ADQ via rr12@rsgb.org.uk. The role of District Representative varies from attending rallies and making club visits, to supporting individual radio amateurs and responding to queries via email. View the full list of Regional Team vacancies by going to rsgb.org/volunteers After a three-year wait since the last World Radiosport Team Championship in Italy, WRTC 2026 in the UK is nearly upon us. The RSGB is proud to be an official partner of the event and will be highlighting UK participants in its ‘Photo Friday' feature on social media. Each Friday throughout June, the Society will share an image showing you a different aspect of the Championship, from the UK team to a UK volunteer, a referee, and a member of the WRTC organising committee. Head to the RSGB's Facebook, Instagram or X pages to see the latest post. You can also read more about WRTC on page 45 of the July edition of RadCom, which will be available from the 17th of June. The Blue Ham Team has been actively monitoring the 60m band over the past weeks. Due to the current propagation conditions, the team has decided to cancel the planned Exercise in June. The next Exercise is planned for October 2026, and updates will be provided closer to the time. For more information visit tinyurl.com/BlueHam26 Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk  The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events The Broadcast Engineering Museum has an open day today, Sunday the 7th of June, from 11 am. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events Also today, the 7th of June, Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Annual Radio Rally is taking place at Spalding Rugby and Football Club, Centenary Park, Drain Bank North, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 6AF. Free car parking is available, and the entrance fee is £3 per person. Traders, catering and an RSGB stall are on site. For more details, visit sdars.org.uk/spaldingrally On Sunday the 14th of June, the Junction 28 Radio Rally will be held at The Post Mill Centre, South Normanton, Derbyshire, DE55 2EJ. The doors open at 10.15 am and admission is £4. Indoor and outdoor tables are available. For more information and to book tables, visit snadarc.com or contact j28rally@snadarc.com Also on Sunday the 14th of June, the Mendips Radio Rally is taking place at Farrington Gurney Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Farrington Gurney BS39 6UA. Doors open at 7.30 am for traders and at 9.30 am for visitors. Entrance costs £3. For more information and table bookings, contact Luke on 07870 168 197 or email luke@mymixradio.co.uk Now the Special Event news The Ramsbury Amateur Radio DX Group is active as GB1DDAY until tomorrow, the 8th of June, to commemorate the D-Day landings. The station is operating from the decommissioned RAF and USAAF site in Ramsbury, Wiltshire. Activity is on the 80 to 10m bands using CW, FT8 and SSB. Amateur radio operators across the USA, Canada and Mexico are activating a series of special callsigns to celebrate the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stations are active until the 19th of July from each of the cities hosting the tournament. Look out for activity on all bands and modes. For more information, visit wc2026ses.org  To mark the 90th anniversary of Akashvani, also known as All India Radio, the state-owned public radio broadcaster in India, VU3YBH will be active as AT90VANI until the 16th of August. The station is operating using FT8 and SSB on the 20, 15, 12 and 10m bands. QSL via the bureau. QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log and Logbook of the World. Now the DX news Mike, VE2XB is active as VY0ZOO from Coral Harbour on Southampton Island, NA-007, until mid-June. He usually operates using CW and SSB on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL directly to Mike's home call. Mike, 9M2/KM9D is operating from Teluk Kelubi Beach on Rebak Island, AS-058, in West Malaysia. He operates low-power CW on various bands. QSL via Logbook of the World. Now the contest news RSGB National Field Day started at 1500 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 1500 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The UK Six Metre Group Summer Contest started at 1300 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 1300 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and member number. The ARRL International Digital Contest started at 1800 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 2359 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using digital modes on the 160 to 6m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your four-character locator. Today, the 7th of June, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0900 to 1400 UTC. Using all modes on 1.3, 2.3 and 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday, the 9th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Tuesday the 9th of June, the RSGB 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 10th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is report and four-character locator. Also, on Wednesday the 10th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. Also, on Wednesday, the 10th of June, the RSGB 80m Club Championship CW Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday, the 11th of June, the RSGB 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The IARU ATV Contest starts at 1200 UTC on Saturday, the 13th and ends at 1800 UTC on Sunday, the 14th of June. Using TV on frequencies from 432MHz and up, the exchange is picture quality, serial number, four-digit code and locator. On Sunday, the 14th of June, the RSGB 2nd 144MHz Backpackers Contest runs from 0900 to 1300UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Sunday the 14th of June, the Practical Wireless 2m QRP Contest runs from 0900 to 1600 UTC. Using AM, FM, SSB and CW on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. A maximum of 5W of power can be used in this contest. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday, the 4th of June. We are awaiting the arrival of solar material as a result of three coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that erupted off the Sun. These were sparked by three solar flares. These, coupled with a high-speed solar wind stream from an Earth-facing coronal hole, threaten to initiate a geomagnetic storm. A strong G3 geomagnetic storm has been predicted, which could push the Kp index up to 6 or 7, and push maximum usable frequencies down, perhaps lasting through the weekend and affecting RSGB National Field Day. Meanwhile, the solar flux index has crept up and stood at 147 on Thursday, the 4th of June. This has meant that the ionosphere has been playing ball, with lots of reports of DX being worked, either through F-region propagation or Sporadic E. The 10m band has been sounding like 20m at times, especially around the FT8 frequency of 28.074MHz. DX to be worked this week includes 5Z4/MM0ZBH in Kenya, 8Q7ML in the Maldives, VJ2L on Lord Howe Island, 5H1KB in Tanzania and 9X5KM operating from Rwanda. We are now heading for midsummer, which means the 20m band may be open 24 hours a day. In general, F-region maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, will be lower than in the winter or spring. However, Sporadic-E makes up for that with strong signals on the higher HF bands out to 1,500km on a single hop, with occasional multi-hop openings. Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will decline, perhaps into the 120 to 135 range. After the recent geomagnetic upset clears, conditions are predicted to stabilise, with the Kp index forecast to be around 2 for the beginning of the coming week. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are then forecast from Thursday the 11th to Sunday the 14th with the potential for the Kp index to hit between 4 and 6, with a corresponding drop in the MUF. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The unsettled weather has brought some heavy rain and a few chances of rain scatter for the GHz bands, but it does also tend to limit the chances of tropo. However, it is the UK that retains the unsettled weather, whereas the continent is still enjoying relatively higher pressure. So perhaps stations in southern Britain may be able to gain some occasional tropo advantage. There are options for meteor scatter from the Arietids, which peak early this coming week. Some predict that it will be a strong shower this year. Since it's a daytime meteor shower, it can be very useful for Sporadic-E, which makes use of the ionisation they leave behind. The Kp index has been gently disturbed at times, but not enough to generate any exciting radio aurora. However, it has possibly been disturbed enough to subdue Sporadic-E at times, as this depends on a stable and low Kp index to be most effective. Sporadic-E itself has provided some reasonable European openings and a few longer multi-hop paths for the digital modes. This unsettled weather produces strong jet streams, for summer, and should continue to be useful for providing the turbulence needed as part of the process for making Sporadic-E.  The placement of the jet streams may, however, be confined to the northwestern fringe of Europe and perhaps prompt a focus on Scandinavia and northern Europe for any resulting Sporadic-E. EME now, and after last week's low declination and apogee, this week sees Moon declination increasing again and path losses falling. The 144MHz sky temperature is low all week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Nottingham Forest made it all the way to the Europa League semi-finals as played away to Real Betis, Sturm Graz, Braga, Utrecht, FC Porto, Midtjylland, Fenerbahce (and Aston Villa). Matt Davies is joined by Greg Mitchell and Simon Bristow (Our Glorious Banners) to discuss Simon's new photo book Take Us On A Trip which captures the fan experience of games home and away as we go through some of the images he took. We rate the cities and venues as well as discuss the home games. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Message us.In this fifth episode of Season Eleven, host Andrew Martin meets Australian genealogist, tech and AI fan, and former school teacher Andrew Redfern - whom some of you may recognise from the podcast Ironclad Sisterhood which uncovers the lives of convict women in Australia.THE LIFE STORY - WILLIAM MILLWARD BESTWICKAndrew has chosen to tell the life story of his 3x Gt Grandfather William Millward Bestwick whose life has left a fascinating paper trail. William is born in 1818 in Derbyshire in England, but in the early 1830's his family migrated to the US. In the 1840s/early 1850s, William had been part of the Santa Fe Trail trade route, writes a letter who explains that he was captured during this and worked on a Man of War ship but escapes and eventually ends up in Australia. Meanwhile, his mother Amy was completely unaware that he was still alive.William did leave Australia to return to the US, but the ship was turned around and William was escorted off the ship as he was bankrupt and trying to escape his creditors.Andrew has worked hard to find the trail of documents scattered around the world, including a letter to the US President of the time. THE BRICK WALL - ROBERT REDFERNAnother globetrotting 3x Gt Grandfather is up next - this time Robert Redfern is causing Andrew a headache with his research.  Robert was born circa 1770, and he ends up in jail, then finds himself in Portugal, then the USA, then the UK and eventually Australia... but Andrew is wanting to know about his early life, which stems back to Ireland.However, Andrew can't find details about Robert's birth or baptism, and his cousins even consulted Australia's top psychic to help - who advised them to look for a slave trade connection.  DNA has also thrown some curious matches, and what seems to be a name change from O'Neill to Redfern...Can you help find Robert Redfern's birth or baptism?If you think you can help Andrew with a research idea or clue, then you can message him via the email address he gives in the episode or check out his website. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it right along.In the meantime, Andrew and Sándor offer guest Andrew some help... but things are about to get complicated...- - -Episode Credits:Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerAndrew Redfern - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiSupport the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

Some Freemasons are drawn to the fellowship. Some to the philosophy. Marcus Shufflebottom was drawn to the ritual - and Derbyshire Freemasonry is better for it.In this episode, Chris sits down with Marcus to explore a genuine passion for the working of Masonic ritual: what it demands, what it gives back, and why it matters more than many of us pause to consider. It's a conversation about passion in the truest sense - the hours of preparation, the pursuit of precision, and the quiet satisfaction of a ceremony delivered well.Marcus has been a driving force behind Derbyshire's lecture festivals in recent years, events that have brought Brothers together not simply to observe, but to engage with the deeper substance of what Freemasonry teaches. And this year, that vision extended into the Royal Arch - with the first ever Derbyshire Royal Arch Lecture Festival marking a landmark moment for the Province.They talk about how that came together, and why investing time in ritual is ultimately an investment in all the people who experience it.Thoughtful, warm, and quietly inspiring - this one is for every Mason who has ever wondered whether the words really matter.They do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To reach people in areas without a gospel presence, we need to plant new works, often starting with a very small team.In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) and Graham Beynon (FIEC Associate National Director) are joined by Mark Selby, pastor at Grace Church Hilton.Grace Church started in Mark's living room in 2013 with a small team of four adults, one child, and a dog, planted in Hilton to reach an area with no gospel presence. Mark shares the reasons why you might "parachute plant" into a new area, what the benefits are, and what the challenges are.This is the third in a series of podcast episodes to explore different ways to plant a church.Show notes:The Goal of Mission (Leaders' Conference 2025)About In:Dependence: In:Dependence is FIEC's official podcast, where you'll hear conversations on topics for church leaders.Podcast music: Drifting by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Future Infinite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.About FIEC: We are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠a fellowship of Independent churches⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with members of the family across England, Scotland and Wales. Our mission is to see those Independent churches working together with a big vision: to reach Britain for Christ.00:00 - Introduction03:20 - Reaching Hilton, Derbyshire, with the gospel11:09 - Mark's church planting journey16:01 - Starting with a small team18:31 - Early stages of growth24:13 - Grace Church 12 years on27:46 - Difficulties with parachute planting

Podcast: Nexus: A Claroty Podcast (LS 32 · TOP 5% what is this?)Episode: Ric Derbyshire on Living-Off-the-Plant OT CyberattacksPub date: 2026-05-25Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationRic Derbyshire, a Principal Security Researcher at Orange Cyberdefense and an Honorary Researcher at Imperial College London, joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss how attackers are able to gain lateral movement across operational technology (OT) assets through a tactic known as Living Off the Plant.Similar to Living-off-the-Land attacks, Living-Off-the-Plant TTPs leverage native functionality specific to OT, with a potential negative impact on physical assets and safety concerns. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Claroty, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Matt Davies is joined by Emily Williamson and Steve Battlemuch as we give out of end of season Nottingham Forest awards including player of the season, most improved player, goal and game of the season, best memory, lowest moment of the season and disappointment of the season. We also look back on everyone's pre-season predictions and see how close we got. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Ric Derbyshire, a Principal Security Researcher at Orange Cyberdefense and an Honorary Researcher at Imperial College London, joins the Nexus Podcast to discuss how attackers are able to gain lateral movement across operational technology (OT) assets through a tactic known as Living Off the Plant.Similar to Living-off-the-Land attacks, Living-Off-the-Plant TTPs leverage native functionality specific to OT, with a potential negative impact on physical assets and safety concerns. Subscribe and listen to the Nexus Podcast here. 

The first block of county red ball fixtures is complete and, with one eye on The T20 Blast, our regular panel of fans give their view on the latest matches. Dan Haggar and Oliver Hawke report on Essex v Leicestershire, Alex Gates on Derbyshire's famous win at Lord's, Harry Everett from a rain-affected Taunton, David Wright and Barrie Funnell on Surrey's heavy defeat at the hands of a full-strength Yorkshire and Craig Tranter on Worcestershire's visit to Southport.

Matt Davies is joined by Daniel Storey and Matt Davies-Adams as we answer your questions on all things Nottingham Forest. Well the questions are mostly about next season in fact when it comes to what is a realistic target for the team and who are realistic targets to sign. We discuss Elliot Anderson, Murillo, Morgan Gibbs-White and James McAtee among current players, while names on the agenda as possible signings range from Hayden Hackney to Djed Spence, Kieran Trippier and Brennan Johnson. #nffc #nottinghamforest

20-year-old Noah Jake Woolley with an address at New Road, Belper Amber Valley, Derbyshire, UK, appeared before a special sitting of Killarney District Court charged with attempted theft and deception. Jerry spoke to journalist Anne Lucey, who was in court.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode Alasdair Stewart travels on an iconic Intercity 125 Class 43 rail tour from Euston to the north Wales coast . He meets up with travel journalist Tom Bright, Tom  is the news and features editor of Steam Railway Magazine. We hear how the love of telling stories and steam landed him a pretty ideal job.We have an update from Rother Valley Railway in Kent as they open a new station building in a million pound prjoect to link the village of Robertsbridge with the Kent and East Sussex Line and the mainline to London.Sharon Gregory reports back on her Railway Rideout to Crich National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire. The Young reporters meanwhile have been busy - George Woodward – tells how 'My Dad Saved a Railway' a model one but very much a Railway and Cynan Hughes rides on the Fairbourne scouting out the best places to photograph the upcoming Gala.Links to the Railway and organisations mentioned in this epsiode.National Tramway Museum in CrichRother Valley RailwayBranch Line Society RailtoursVintage Trains Fairbourne Miniature RailtoursDo follow us Facebook for photos from our adventures! This podcast is produced by Laura Raymond and presented by Alasdair Stewart and Sharon Gregory. Our 'Making Tracks' music is with kind permission of composer and musician Richard Durrant. It is a unique piece inspired by the rhythm of the historic rolling stock on the Ffestiniog Railway on the scenic journey from Harbour Station to Tan y Blwch. You can listen and download the full 'Tan y Bwlch' Ukulele Quartet here: Thank you to voice artist David King - for the Railway Ride outs voice over. Ukulele Quartet No. 1 "Tan y Bwlch"  Ukulele Quartet No. 1 "Tan y Bwlch" Richard Durrant · Single · 2019 · 3  songs.    

Transport expert Thomas Ableman has been telling me about his vision for “joined-up” mobility in the UK – giving people the freedom to live without a car, even in a small village. “Mini Switzerland” is a project to bring Swiss-style integrated public transport to rural England – and to demonstrate that dovetailing buses with trains can boost ridership and the local economy, while increasing options for residents and visitors.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Davies is joined by Dan Cook and Sky Sports commentator Seb Hutchinson as we reflect on a chaotic season for Nottingham Forest as they ultimately stayed in the Premier League with two games to spare. We look ahead to the summer and how the team will look next season when it comes to Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Elliot Anderson, Neco Williams and manager Vitor Pereira. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Host Natalie Grueninger interviews Dr Wyn Derbyshire about the remarkable life of Bess of Hardwick — her uncertain origins, four marriages, sharp business sense, and rise to becoming the second-richest woman in England. The episode explores her building projects (Hardwick and Chatsworth), estate management, and relationships with Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. Learn more about Dr Derbyshire https://spiramus.com/wyn-derbyshire Learn more about your host: https://www.nataliegrueninger.com Support Talking Tudors on Patreon!

Nora is thirty-eight, precise, self-contained, and very good at managing her condition. She has had dissociative gaps since she was twenty-six — hours she simply cannot account for — and she has built her entire adult life around systems that compensate for them. When her mother has a stroke, Nora returns to the Derbyshire market town she left twenty years ago and tells herself six weeks is manageable. Then her neighbour mentions a conversation they had yesterday — about Deborah Hale, dead twelve years, Nora's closest friend — that Nora has no memory of. There is mud on her floor mat. A receipt in the door pocket from a village forty minutes north, timestamped during the gap. Paid in cash. The other Nora has been somewhere. And whatever she's looking for, she has been looking for a long time.Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories' with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!We now have Merch!  FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there's free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.comGet more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.comAI helps us with some of our voice acting and portrayl of characters.

Nottingham Forest take a 1-0 lead to Villa Park as they host Aston Villa in the Europa League semi-final second leg. It's a slender advantage but Forest go into the game on the back of a 10 match unbeaten run and five wins in a row. Villa are fifth in the Premier League and have lost three games in a row but can Forest make it to the final in Istanbul? Their cause would certainly be helped if Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Ibrahim Sangare and Dan Ndoye are passed fit. #nffc #nottinghamforest Matt Davies is joined by Dan Cook and Steve Battlemuch to preview the game in full.

My colleague Oliver Traldi recently published an essay called ‘Jane Austen's Virtuous Liberalism'. It's a very nice discussion of the ways in which Austen understand the challenges of character formation.Virtue, as Austen sees it, faces two tough challenges. First, people whose characters are not yet formed must see how to be virtuous rather than vicious. Then, the virtuous must somehow find a way to succeed in their struggles against the vicious without adopting vicious means.In this episode, Oliver and I discussed Austen's ideas of virtue, what that has to do with liberalism, the relationship between philosophy and literature more broadly, as well as poetry and ideas about the Great Books. We also talked about the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice. Yes, we both liked it. Here is why Oliver thinks Jane Austen is so popular among philosophers.TRALDI: And so I do think that even though she's not making arguments, she's not laying out philosophical theories, there is a level of precision in her thinking about virtue, which I do think is something that it took me a little aback.And I think it's part of why—one person who quote-tweeted my article was Daniel Kodsi, who's a friend of our colleague John Maier and his coauthor often. And he runs this magazine called The Philosophers' Magazine, which I had written before. And Daniel quote-tweeted my article with something like, “Add Oliver to the list of all the philosophers who love Austen.”OLIVER: And it's a long list.TRALDI: And I think it's a long list. And I do think this precision is part of it that she does, that it is—again, it's not like a philosophy journal article, but it is an intellectual sophistication that is often not present in novelists that we really appreciate.And here is an extract about Austen, Smith, and the wonderfully fertile period at the end of the eighteen century.TRALDI: But yes, I think it's obvious—without knowing the background, I'm sure there are scholarly questions about, how much Smith did Austen read? And they're both 250th—a lot was happening in 1775 and 1776.OLIVER: Those were great years. Those were the good old days.TRALDI: They were great years. In the great books syllabus, you get to the end of the 1700s and suddenly there's this—you have Smith, you have Kant, you have the American Revolution, you have the French Revolution, you have Burke. Rousseau is right before, Montesquieu is right before. I mean, it was a real—OLIVER: It's a great time.TRALDI: It was a great time. A lot was being done. And obviously, you know, I love the 1800s. I love the Romantics. But you could teach a whole great books course from 1750 to 1800, probably.OLIVER: You've also got all the dictionaries and all that kind of work going on as well. It's a very, very fertile—explorations.TRALDI: Yes, yes. There's all sorts of—yes, it was an amazing time.OLIVER: So did you, having read these two, Austen and Smith, close together—TRALDI: Yes, and I should say that my reading of Austen was much more careful than my reading of Smith.OLIVER: Sure, but you wrote this before you read Smith.TRALDI: Yes, absolutely.OLIVER: Or at least you fully conceived it. Do you see a lot of Smith in Austen?TRALDI: “A lot” might be—This was my favourite bit.TRALDI: Yes. But this is one of the great—I know we talked about this, but it's one of the great—you see this in Smith, you see this in Austen—commerce has its own virtues, and they are very traditional virtues. You have to be trustworthy. You have to be pleasant. You can't really be wholly self-interested in every moment because people have to be willing to deal with you given your—I mean, think about Yelp reviews or even just word of mouth. “Oh, that person screwed me over.”OLIVER: There's a discussion in one of Hayek's papers, which is—it's a very Smithian point he makes about, the nature of the knowledge problem means that it's not so much that I'm trying to get information about the thing you're trying to sell me, but I'm really trying to get information about you and whether you are someone I should be buying from. Which is exactly the project that the novelists and Smith—there's a sort of period between Smith and the early novelists, running through Austen to George Eliot, when they're all working on that problem together.TRALDI: Yes. I do think in Austen, it's often—the real puzzle is, how do you make out somebody else's character?OLIVER: Exactly.TRALDI: This is a phrase that Lizzy Bennet does use with regard to Darcy. And how do we actually figure out who the trustworthy and untrustworthy people are?OLIVER: And if you're too philosophical about that, in the sort of analytic sense, I think you can end up not paying enough attention to the particulars of that question.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: Because when you actually try and do it, it's really, really hard.TRALDI: Yes. And I think this is the sort of—reading Austen, you get a sense of—and there are very few philosophy papers on things like this. Reading Austen, you get a sense of, what sorts of details in a normal life are the ones that I can extract information from to make out somebody else's character?Oliver is an analytical, political philosopher. You can find out more about his work here. Here he is on Twitter. His Substack is orting. You can watch the episode on YouTube here.TranscriptHENRY OLIVER: Today I am talking to Oliver Traldi. Oliver is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Toledo in Ohio. He is my colleague on the Emerging Scholars Program at the Mercatus Center, and he's written a book about political beliefs as well as many other articles for magazines, online.He's got a Substack. He's maybe the most prominent political and epistemological young philosopher of his generation. [laughter] But most importantly for us, he is interested in Jane Austen and the idea of virtue. Oliver, welcome.OLIVER TRALDI: Thank you so much for having me.Reading Austen as a PhilosopherOLIVER: Let's just start—before we get to this article you've written, tell me about being a philosopher but reading Jane Austen, because she's often read and commented on by people who are not philosophers or who are only philosophers by acquaintance or whatever.TRALDI: Right.OLIVER: Is it different reading as a philosopher, do you think?TRALDI: I think yes and no. One thing as a philosopher, there are—contemporary philosophy, we have very exacting standards of rigor and clarity. And when we look for a theory, we want something that's been improved by hundreds of people and thousands of journal articles.And so, if you were to simply extract a theory of virtue from a novel and say, “Does this—is this the end-all, be-all of moral thinking?” obviously you're going to be disappointed. So I think as a philosopher, you have to look for other types of things, other types of sensitivities rather than logical sensitivity.You have to say, how sensitive is the author to the different types of situations where people's virtue can be exhibited or challenged? Or how sensitive is the author to the different types of pressures that a character's convictions can be put under, or the different sorts of compromises that they might have to make, or the different sorts of people who might not be virtuous who they might have to interact with and sort of, you know, contract with or avoid? And what are going to be the impacts of different kinds of choices in those situations?So the novelists, I think, tend—if they do it well, a novelist who's interested in morality will understand living morally probably better than a philosopher, while maybe not understanding, say, arguments about whether morality supervenes on reality or vice versa, or what grounds morality, or different theories of meta-ethics or whatever.OLIVER: I mean, there are obviously some novelists who do have a better appreciation of those things than others, we should say.TRALDI: Yes, I think that's absolutely true. And as I wrote in my article, I do think Austen in particular had an appreciation for this issue that you might call moral disarming or unilateral disarming. You know, does the moral person put themselves at a disadvantage relative to the immoral person? And then how do we actually help—how does morality survive?So that's a kind of philosophical question, but I tend to think—I taught last year—I think we've talked about this a bit. I taught in a great books program at Tulsa.OLIVER: This is the Jennifer Frey program.TRALDI: This is the ill-fated Jennifer Frey program. Jennifer—I don't know if you've met her, but she's an incredibly charismatic person. But somehow the program, despite being enormously successful, did not survive. You know, I was there for a year, and they decided that was long enough.OLIVER: [laughs] You don't think your arrival was the—TRALDI: No, no. I hope not. I most certainly hope not.OLIVER: No. General problems of higher education prevailed. Yes.TRALDI: Yes, many, many problems of higher education these days. But yes, so I think—what was I saying?OLIVER: Well, I think we're getting to this question of, you are not just a philosopher; you teach the great books.TRALDI: Right, exactly. The great books. That's where I was. Yes.Philosophy and the Great BooksOLIVER: So, one thing I'm interested in is that, you know, reading as a philosopher, you get a slightly different perspective on Austen. When you read other fiction, poetry, whatever, is there a benefit to you as a philosopher? Does it broaden you in some way?TRALDI: Yes. I think absolutely, it's broadening, but it's also focusing in a different way. You know, contemporary philosophy is often described or captured with the word epicycles. So what we mean when we say epicycles is, you have some major theory, which is supposed to answer some big question. And then your career as a philosopher—you're like three layers deep in the theory, in some sub-debate, and you're making some really fine-grained distinctions.And if you can make those distinctions successfully, you've had a really great career. But I think it's easy to forget, why are we doing—you know, what attracted us to philosophy? Why are we doing this to begin with?And the great novels, great books in general—one example I always use is the Book of Job. It doesn't really—it's not doing clear philosophy on the question of why do bad things happen to good people. But when you read it, you feel the question, why do bad things happen to good people? You get it, you know? You get why this is a question that people have worried about for thousands of years. You get why it calls out for an answer.You know, there's a lot of truth out there. I'm looking at a set of coat hangers, and I could count the coat hangers. But if you were given the decision, would I rather have an answer to how many coat hangers are across the room from me, or why do bad things happen to good people? You'd probably go with the latter one. There's somehow some kind of depth or importance to that question, right?And I think there's—a great novelist can often generate some vividity to these questions. They can show how these questions are part of a good life, asking these questions, trying to have these questions answered—or a not-so-good life.Certainly in Austen there are a lot of characters who learn to be more virtuous. Probably Emma is the clearest example. But you might also think of Marianne Dashwood. Really—OLIVER: Lizzy Bennet.TRALDI: Lizzy Bennet really learns to be a better person. I actually think her character is rather close to Emma in a lot of ways.OLIVER: Yes, I think Emma's sort of a clear rewrite of Lizzy in some—yes, yes.TRALDI: Yes, and in some ways more evocative, actually. Yes. I mean, we can talk about all these books. But yes, I think there's these things, even—obviously qua literature, they have other virtues, right? Which much philosophy doesn't have; very little philosophy has the literary virtues.But the philosophical virtue that a lot of literature does have is you see, okay, these are the—this is what a life is like. This is what making choices is like. These are the big questions when you decide how to live your life and what kinds of choices to make.And I think Austen—these questions are all through Austen, even though nobody has to murder anybody in Austen. Nobody has to make decisions about war and peace or about, you know, civilizational decline or civilizational progress or anything like that. These people making these small choices in a lot of ways. But those are the lives that most of us lead. And when you read Austen, you think, “Oh, okay, there's a virtuous and a vicious way to lead this kind of rather normal life.”The Good LifeOLIVER: The question of what is a good life, or what is a good life in a commercial society, maybe, is the sort of bedrock of what she's doing.TRALDI: Yes, I think so. And that's why I think Austen—you know, Austen wasn't on our syllabus at Tulsa, but she was certainly discussed. And the “what is a good life” question—to me, it's the big question that a great books program for college students should always come back to.If I didn't know what else to talk about, I would just say, “Well, we just read this book.” You know, we read these old biographies of Charlemagne from, like, Einhard—Notker the Stammerer and Einhard, his adopted son or whatever. I don't remember. But this is like 800s. I'm sure you know more about this stuff than I do.And I wasn't quite sure what to do with them because what do I know about Charlemagne? So I just said, “Does it seem like Charlemagne lived a good life?” And you know, you're off to the races. And I think that's important at that age, because that's the age at which—OLIVER: For the undergraduates?TRALDI: Yes. I think that's the age at which you're starting to make your own big decisions about what sort of life to lead. And I think for me, looking back to myself at that age, I think one thing I did wrong—at Tulsa I was in some ways as much a student as a teacher. I was rereading a lot of this stuff for the first time in decades. And some of it I was reading for the first time. As I told you, I was reading a lot of Austen for the first time for this essay.OLIVER: Right, right.TRALDI: And yes, it was stuff that I had thought about at a theoretical level, you know, like what are the ins and outs of this theory or this philosophical move or something like that. But you feel the question a bit differently when you're like, “Okay, I'm an adult. I have to decide whether to live in this way or that way.”The world is open to you. You could convert to Thomism [laughter] like so many have tried to have me do, or you could become a merchant after reading The Wealth of Nations. Or you could become a revolutionary after reading Marx, or you could become a Nietzschean. You know, there are all these choices open to you.OLIVER: Please don't become a Nietzchean.TRALDI: No, no. That is, I'm a—OLIVER: Keep your children out of school if that's going to be the result. [laughs]TRALDI: Yes. I'm a committed moralist, so I cannot, but he is—he made a comeback, that's for sure.Philosophy and PoetryOLIVER: Now, there's this obviously sort of long-running question in philosophy about, what is the relationship between philosophy and poetry? Are they antagonists, or are they in some way, you know, twins, and each provides one half of what is needed for a complete way of understanding the world? Do you have a position on this?TRALDI: Yes, I mean, I think they're what the kids call twinning.OLIVER: Twinning? [laughs]TRALDI: I think they're twinning. No, no, I think that means something different. I think that means when you're wearing the same outfit or something like that.OLIVER: So we're almost twinning with our stripes—yes, I see.TRALDI: We're almost. We actually—we are stripes and blue. Yes, we're closer than I would've expected.I would say closer to twins. There are a lot of claims that philosophy is at odds somehow with this or that. There's also this—certain people will say, “Well, ever since Socrates, philosophy has been at odds with politics.” And a big part of philosophy is, how do you survive? Well, I don't know. Nobody's trying to kill me. I think of myself as a decently committed philosopher.OLIVER: It seems to me this changed fundamentally in the Enlightenment and with the Romantics, and they see it all much more joined up. It's a sort of ancient-and-modern dynamic.TRALDI: Yes, there may be an ancient-and-modern distinction there. But yes, for me I don't see any kind of contradiction. Now, there are—and I think this comes out of what I said before—philosophical attempts to understand poetry. And certain kinds of literary and aesthetic devices do sometimes fall a little flat.The philosophical literature on metaphor, for instance—I think some theories of metaphor really don't get why people use metaphors. [laughter] So one of the most important theories of metaphor is that they're all just false, that it's like everybody who uses a metaphor is lying. This isn't the full theory. There are bells and whistles added.OLIVER: Sure, sure.TRALDI: But yes, so I think there's no contradiction. But at the same time, they are different modes in some ways, and people who do the one are often trying to do something different than the other.I do think that the desire for rigor and precision and clarity that philosophers have can be a little maddening to nonphilosophers, who see the pull of philosophical questions like, “What sort of life I should lead?” and then see, what do philosophers actually do?And we're doing all this modal logic and all these truth tables and all this very technical stuff that looks like math. And they say, “That can't possibly be the right way to think about how to live.” And it's true that there are these studies of—that suggest ethicists aren't actually very good people and things like that, although you have to wonder what is the background ethical theory that went into evaluating them.So yes, I don't think there's really a contradiction between philosophy and anything else. But certainly, there was a point in my life where I always come back to trying to write poetry and do poorly and then stop. But it was always something where I would say, “Okay, if I'm doing philosophy in the afternoon, I better wait till the evening to write poetry.” You have to sort of reboot and get into a different mode.OLIVER: Iris Murdoch used to write philosophy in the morning and novels in the afternoon. That kind of thing.TRALDI: Yes, I think that's very sensible.OLIVER: And she was upstairs for the one and downstairs for the other.TRALDI: Yes. That's even better, you know?Favorite PoetsOLIVER: Which poets do you like?TRALDI: Geez, I guess for an American, I like Wallace Stevens. I wasn't expecting this question. For a Brit, you know, I actually like Philip Larkin a lot.OLIVER: Oh, yes?TRALDI: I know—what is the opinion of Larkin? Is he considered—OLIVER: Very high.TRALDI: Very high? Okay.OLIVER: Some—there are some dissenters, but basically he's the guy.TRALDI: He's the guy, okay. Yes.OLIVER: Twentieth-century English poetry is like Auden, Larkin, Betjeman.TRALDI: Yes, Auden is—actually, my friend Jane Cooper just wrote something about Auden.OLIVER: Yes, Jane is excellent.TRALDI: Yes, Jane is really great.OLIVER: That was in the New Statesman if you want to look it up.TRALDI: That was in the New Statesman. Yes, yes, yes. But Auden, I don't know quite as well.I mean, poetry is—I think it's interesting the way that we receive poetry now. I think you were talking about this a few days ago, about things like poems appearing as inspirational quotes on social media or something like that, and whoever is the most quotable. And you felt like maybe Dostoevsky is very quotable.OLIVER: Dostoevsky has a sort of screenshot quality.TRALDI: Yes, yes.OLIVER: As does Martin Amis.TRALDI: Yes. So I—OLIVER: Whereas Philip Larkin in a funny way—you know, he has very short poems. You can get the whole poem on Twitter. Like, Robert Frost has that. But something like “The Whitsun Weddings,” it's quite hard to just take three lines out. The whole thing works as a—and that, so that poem gets less—TRALDI: Yes. Which is what you would expect from a good poem, really, that it would form a kind of whole.OLIVER: Exactly. If it's a three-page ode, it should have a continuous quality.TRALDI: Yes, it should have a kind of internal structure. Yes.OLIVER: There are some one-line things and—but I think it's notable that a poet like Wordsworth doesn't seem to get a lot of social media play. And I think probably that's one reason.TRALDI: So yes, I think Larkin is somebody who, I did see some shorter references to him, and I thought I'd better just go and look up a ton of poems by this guy. And Stevens was the same way.Death and Philip LarkinOLIVER: So, which Larkin do you like?TRALDI: You're really putting me on the spot here. [laughter] It has been a little while.OLIVER: I lied to you and said it would be about Jane Austen.TRALDI: Yes, now I'm completely screwed. Well, he has a bunch about death. He has one where death is a ship following you. And he has one where death is, like, a fruit that gets picked or something.OLIVER: Apple?TRALDI: Might be an apple.OLIVER: He decides not to throw the apple.TRALDI: There's one with sweetbreads in it. And now I'm really—OLIVER: The ship one, “Next, Please”—that's excellent.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: He sees the—it's like hearing the music coming, and then the ship.TRALDI: I forgot that that was the title. I forgot that that was the title.OLIVER: And then as the ship goes past, it leaves nothing in its wake. It's very sort of—very gloomy.TRALDI: It's very gloomy, yes. I think I read Larkin in a gloomy phase; it was like Larkin and Radiohead or something.OLIVER: But he's a good example of what you were saying before, that he won't think propositionally. He's logical in the sense that he's sort of orderly, and he goes from one thing to the next. But he's not being a philosopher.TRALDI: No, of course. Yes.OLIVER: But he's very preoccupied with the sorts of questions that philosophers are probing, but has a sort of very meaningful treatment of them.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: And I think in a way, the sharp response that you want from the reader in those questions, Larkin is better at provoking than someone like Bertrand Russell or some other contemporary of his.TRALDI: Yes, yes.OLIVER: Bertrand Russell's a bit earlier, but you know what I mean.TRALDI: No, I think that's exactly right. And I think that is why I'm a fan of the great books pedagogically and not—I don't know if Larkin will be called a great, you know, like, who knows? I don't really understand that designation, but tings like poetry and novels.OLIVER: The biggest dissenter was Harold Bloom, who said Philip Larkin's just a period piece. And he doesn't understand why everyone likes him.TRALDI: Oh, yes, well, I'm not on board with everything. Oh, I've also been—OLIVER: No, you're not very Bloomian.TRALDI: I'm not very Bloomian, I don't think.OLIVER: Either Allan or Harold.TRALDI: Yes. Well, I actually—this is very embarrassing, but I've actually never read The Closing of the American Mind, which I know is—OLIVER: But why should you? I'm not sure it's retained its—TRALDI: Well, it's certainly been received into my circle. But it is like a classic of anti-ideological—OLIVER: Sure. Have you read Adler, How to Read a Book, that kind of great books stuff?TRALDI: No. There's so many things that I haven't read. I mean, I'm just learning how to read. I learned how to read in Tulsa last year, [laughter] in Oklahoma, which is not where most people would go to learn how to read.Jane Austen and the Problem of MoralityOLIVER: So let's move to Jane Austen. Your thesis basically is, many moral theories face this problem that if I believe XYZ theory and you don't believe it, you can get the advantage of me. Because I'll always stick to my principles and you can just be a bad guy.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: So is morality screwed? This is what people say about liberalism. This is what you're arguing. And you think Jane Austen's got an answer to that?TRALDI: Yes, I think she has a kind of answer. And again, one decision I had to make while writing the essay was, am I going to go super—this is a completely philosophically rigorous and respectable answer? Or am I just going to kind of sketch it?OLIVER: Slum it in literary criticism? [laughter]TRALDI: Yes, I wouldn't put it quite that way, but—and I think I went for the latter, where I just wanted to kind of evoke the answer. And I think the answer has something to do with living in a large enough society where—and Austen I think is not the only person to give this answer. But you live in a large enough society where, when people see you acting well and somebody else acting poorly, the disadvantage that you have in that one interaction is outweighed by the advantages you have from the society that you gain from being seen to act well by many others.So one thing I didn't mention here, but a connection I made when I was first coming up with this idea, is that it's actually a lot like what Martin Luther King Jr. says about civil disobedience. So he says, you might think, if you're out there and the police are coming at you with bats, or the white supremacists are coming at you with bats or whatever, weapons or whatever, you might think, “I'm on the losing end of this interaction.”But actually what will happen is that this interaction will be seen by many others. And you, by keeping your calm, will be seen to be the virtuous one, and they, by being violent, will be seen to be the vicious ones. And this can only help your political cause. I'm probably abstracting some of the details of King's presentation.OLIVER: In a vulgar sense, this is the sort of “be the change you want to see” approach.TRALDI: Yes, but also, be the change you want other people to see. You know? Because that's how it gets saved from—and again, one of the ways in which this is not quite philosophically rigorous is because the philosopher can say, “Well, what about an example where nobody's going to see it? Or what about an example where the situation is set up that in doing the right thing, you're perceived to have done the wrong thing?” And you get back into tough problems. And that's why we have philosophy. You know, there's always going to be these puzzles.OLIVER: But we don't get the—I think this is what the novelists are helpful for. We don't get to set the conditions in our lives. You know, when you're doing a philosophical problem, you can just say, “Well, these are the conditions. What happens then?” And what Jane Austen is so good at is saying, “I'm going to take her and drop her in this house, and that's life. And she's just going to—she won't even know what the conditions are for a long time.” That's the novelist's preoccupation.TRALDI: Yes. Yes. It's interesting what you said about not even knowing what the conditions are. It's one thing I love, which is there in, I think, a lot of Austen—and it's done by a lot of my favorite novelists. I think Kazuo Ishiguro is really good at this. It's just novels where you see the characters' growing awareness of their circumstances and—OLIVER: Like in Klara and the Sun or something.TRALDI: Yes, or I think certainly in Never Let Me Go and in Remains of the Day, a lot of the action is in a situation where you understand what's going on better than the characters do.Clues and GamesTRALDI: And I think we talked about this the other day. In Austen, Emma, for example, is this sort of, like, halfway detective where she sees a lot of clues that could help her understand the nature of the life she's leading and the circumstances she's in, but she always misinterprets the clues. But on the other hand, it's not like she misses them entirely. She's kind of on the right track, and at least she's trying.OLIVER: And what I think Austen does so well in that book—I think it's her most important book—is that by putting us, without quite realizing it, with Emma's blinkers on, as it were, and only allowing our perspective to be her perspective, she makes us the detective.But whereas in a detective novel, you know, there's a funny little man and he is a detective, and he says, “Oh, there's a clue in this novel,” the read of—on the first read very often goes straight past what they must later realize to be a clue. And that is such a normal condition of life, that, “Oh, actually, that was one of the conditions, but you couldn't have known it. Sorry.” And you can only work it out in retrospect.TRALDI: Yes. In modern love, these are sometimes called red flags. [laughter] I think it's not quite a precise analogy, but yes, I think it's right. And I certainly—I had read Emma years ago and didn't really notice. As you say, on my first read, I didn't really notice, even having watched—I think it was the, what is it, the Kate Beckinsale version maybe, from ITV in like 1996 or something.It was really in reading it for this essay that I noticed that this feature that, starting on page 30 or 40 or so, there's a—and they're often in games. The clues are often in games. So very early on, Elton is playing some sort of poem game with Emma.OLIVER: The riddles, yes.TRALDI: The riddle game. And you know, Emma already misinterprets his riddles as being about Harriet rather than about her. But then there's also—the riddles also have some relation to things that happen much later.OLIVER: Then there's the anagram game at the end.TRALDI: There's the anagram game at the end. Yes, it's the—and I don't think there are many games like that in any of the other Austen.OLIVER: People play games, but we're not taken into them and have them narrated in that way.TRALDI: And they're not word games in general. There's card games and things like that. And you know, in Pride and Prejudice, Wickham has all these gambling debts and things like that.OLIVER: Yes.TRALDI: You know, in—I don't know if you know Whit Stillman, but for the same magazine a couple years ago I wrote about Whit Stillman, who's a sort of conservative filmmaker who's a huge Austen fan and brings in Austenian themes to a lot of his movies, but writes them about characters in the 1960s and '70s. And one of them was called The Last Days of Disco, for example, about—and some of the broader social themes he talks about are also there in Austen.So one thing that was just on the edges of my consciousness as I read through the novels for this essay was the question of the noble man versus the working man, which I think is very present in Austen and has something to do with her conception of virtue: that the virtuous person will be engaging in commerce in some way.OLIVER: Those moments of the noble and the virtuous man or whatever often take place in a shop, like the drapier in Emma or the jewelry shop in Sense and Sensibility.TRALDI: That's interesting. That's interesting.OLIVER: She's very careful to take us into a commercial situation and contrast.TRALDI: See, that is the sort of detail that I think a philosopher—I think we—the mere—the vibe of, “You're in a shop, and this means something.” I think this is something philosophers are—we can watch for the action; we can judge the characters' actions. But then there are these questions of atmosphere and milieu. And certain things happen in a shop; certain things happen at the seaside. In Persuasion there's an injury by the seaside.OLIVER: Yes. That's one of the most exciting scenes in Austen. Very dramatic.TRALDI: Yes, yes. I think actually Persuasion in some ways is quite different than her other books. It has a sort of—you know, in some ways it feels a little more like Frankenstein or Wuthering Heights at points. There's a little bit of a windblown, dark quality to it at times. It's a little bit bleaker. It's a little hard to explain why, but that's just a feeling that I had reading it that maybe had changed with some of the other literary tastes of the time.Artlessness in Austen's HeroinesOLIVER: Now, the quality that you focus on in the heroines, in this question of virtue defending itself against bad actors who break the rules, is artlessness.TRALDI: Yes. So this is a term Austen uses quite a bit, and almost always, she very much picks and chooses the characters who are going to receive this term. And I thought that this is like—it's not only her artless characters who face this question about how can morality survive, or how can virtue prevail, but I think they're the limit point.Like, if you really are unwilling to use—and I mentioned in the essay, when Darcy describes—I forget what; maybe it's him describing how he found Lydia and Wickham, or it's something to do with Wickham—he said, “I had to resort to arts.” So it must be, the “arts” back then means—one of the meanings of the term is dishonesty or subterfuge or something.OLIVER: Yes, if someone was artful, it could have—TRALDI: Yes, like the Artful Dodger.OLIVER: Exactly. Could have negative connotations for sure.TRALDI: Yes. And so the artless one, you know, they're missing something.So it's the question of, if you view—morality in a way means you're missing something, right? You've taken arts out of your arsenal. You've taken tools that could deal with certain situations, and you've just decided not to use them. So the question is, how can it be an advantage to have less tools?You know, we're here at Mercatus; the economists would tell you it's never advantageous to have fewer choices, right? There's no paradox of choice. It's never advantageous to have fewer choices. And so I think this is the—if morality is a kind of unilateral disarmament, artlessness is the clearest case of that.OLIVER: And you're seeing that in Fanny Price, Elinor—TRALDI: You see that in Fanny Price. You see that in Elinor. Harriet Smith is described as artless over and over again. And then there are these other characters who are described as artful, or other things that are mentioned as arts.I think Harriet, in a lot of ways, is the one who's most often described this way. And it's interesting because you think of Emma changing a lot in Emma, but Knightley actually shifts in his evaluation of Harriet, who he thought of as sort of an unserious person. And Knightley himself comes to recognize her artlessness as a kind of seriousness which makes her a good match, not ultimately for him, but for his dude, Robert.OLIVER: The farmer.TRALDI: The farmer, yes.OLIVER: He doesn't change his view of her social position, though.TRALDI: No, certainly not. But he does change his view of her character, basically. You know, her artlessness is not silliness. It has a sort of depth to it.And yes, certainly Fanny. In the Whit Stillman movie Metropolitan that's part of what set me on this, there's this whole discussion of the book Mansfield Park and this old Lionel Trilling essay about it where he says, how is it—there's this question about how modern people can even like Mansfield Park because we've sort of lost the notion of virtue being exciting or something.One of the most provocative lines to me in Austen was in Sense and Sensibility where it says that Elinor glories in Edward's integrity, which is an odd thing to glory in. You don't glory—nobody is on Instagram showing off their integrity, you know?OLIVER: It's like that René Gerard quote people like to pass around: “Everyone is on diet pills and nobody wants to be a saint.”TRALDI: I like that. That is very Instagrammable.OLIVER: Exactly. Exactly.TRALDI: That's very good, actually. I like that. Yes, so there's something provocative about the notion that virtue can be exciting, and in particular can be romantically exciting.The Importance of IntegrityOLIVER: Or even less than that. One thing I think is difficult for people interpreting Austen today is that virtue, whether it's exciting or romantically exciting, or the notion of integrity is of interest for its own sake.There's a lot of—you know, we have integrity as an organization. It's very important for me to have integrity as a professional. But there's not as much a sense of, just having integrity is the good life. We don't need to be complicated about this. That's just—you should just do that. And Austen's very firm on that all the way through.And criticism wants to pull her towards sometimes feminism, sometimes discussions of slavery, sometimes various other things. And she's just constantly sort of resisting that by saying, “I like integrity. I like good people. I don't think it's that hard.” It's a good line you've picked up on, I think.TRALDI: There's a character in The Wire who says, “A man's gotta have a code.” I think he's Omar, who murders the drug dealers and steals from them.OLIVER: I haven't seen it.TRALDI: So he says, “A man's gotta have a code.” And I think there is a—even in a character who in some ways is bad, we admire the integrity of having a code and sticking to it.There is this debate, I guess in moral philosophy, or at least on the outskirts of moral philosophy, about, “Well, if your code is wrong, maybe it's better not to stick to it.” I don't share that perspective. I think part of the good life is holding yourself to certain standards. And if those standards turn out to be wrong, the holding yourself is still of moral value, right? Not allowing yourself—OLIVER: It doesn't mean they're not adjustable.TRALDI: Yes, no, of course. If you decide the standards are wrong, and in Austen—OLIVER: It's sort of implicit in the idea of having standards that you will be honest and therefore accept when your standards need to be improved or whatever. Right?TRALDI: Yes, I think that's absolutely right. And in Austen we certainly see people shifting their standards. And I think one thing that I—of course, modern readers and watchers of Austen do not quite understand some of these things. But I think in Pride and Prejudice in particular, we're supposed to feel that Lizzy Bennet is quite hard on people and has to learn to improve herself in that way.OLIVER: We're delighted with her when she does that because we think it's sassy.TRALDI: Yes, exactly. If you go on YouTube, you can see all these, like, “Lizzy Bennet owning people's lives for 50 minutes,” these compilations of clips from the various movies or whatever. And she's obviously very, very clever.But she realizes—after coming to understand who Wickham is and feeling that she might not have another chance with Darcy, she comes to realize that she has had certain prejudices, which have made her blind to the realities of the world and blind to what might be her best options.So yes, I was saying I believe in integrity; that's all I was saying. And integrity obviously is adjustable, but I tend to think that it's better—even if the rule is wrong, it's better for the person who has it to hold themselves to it, rather than to adjust to try to get an advantage.And in philosophy, we have all sorts of terminology for these sorts of questions: “Are you an internalist or an externalist about reasons or about rules or whatever?” I think the more literary way to say it would just be that integrity is a virtue. And people should stick to their codes unless they see a good reason to change them.Austen and Adam SmithOLIVER: Now, you have recently been reading Adam Smith.TRALDI: Yes, I did read a lot of Adam Smith for this debate we had last week. Although I did a poor job because I had forgotten that the debate was about whether Smith was a philosopher or an economist. [laughter] I thought it was simply, is he a philosopher or not? So I put myself in the odd position of arguing that Adam Smith is not an economist.But yes, I think it's obvious—without knowing the background, I'm sure there are scholarly questions about, how much Smith did Austen read? And they're both 250th—a lot was happening in 1775 and 1776.OLIVER: Those were great years. Those were the good old days.TRALDI: They were great years. In the great books syllabus, you get to the end of the 1700s and suddenly there's this—you have Smith, you have Kant, you have the American Revolution, you have the French Revolution, you have Burke. Rousseau is right before, Montesquieu is right before. I mean, it was a real—OLIVER: It's a great time.TRALDI: It was a great time. A lot was being done. And obviously, you know, I love the 1800s. I love the Romantics. But you could teach a whole great books course from 1750 to 1800, probably.OLIVER: You've also got all the dictionaries and all that kind of work going on as well. It's a very, very fertile—explorations.TRALDI: Yes, yes. There's all sorts of—yes, it was an amazing time.OLIVER: So did you, having read these two, Austen and Smith, close together—TRALDI: Yes, and I should say that my reading of Austen was much more careful than my reading of Smith.OLIVER: Sure, but you wrote this before you read Smith.TRALDI: Yes, absolutely.OLIVER: Or at least you fully conceived it. Do you see a lot of Smith in Austen?TRALDI: “A lot” might be—OLIVER: Primarily from Theory of Moral Sentiments.TRALDI: So I would say that the notion of sympathy as being fundamentally part of how you recognize a good person seems to me to be there in Austen. The characters are—OLIVER: And this is the thing about awareness of other people and learning from that awareness.TRALDI: Awareness of other people and learning from other people and feeling other people's emotions. One thing that is related to sympathy in an odd way—and I think actually Austen and Smith conceive of it a bit differently, but that is there for both of them, in particular in Sense and Sensibility—is this notion of self-control or self-command.OLIVER: Self command. Yes. Yes.The Importance of Self-CommandTRALDI: Now, Smith gives a really odd argument about self command, which is that if you don't have control over your emotions, you will end up feeling or expressing something that other people can't sympathize with. And this is bad because sympathy is good, or something like that. I actually think it's a rather confused argument.OLIVER: I think what he's saying is that if you display a lack of self-command, then no matter what you are feeling, people find it difficult to deal with that sort of uncontrolled behavior. It's not the particular expression of feeling; it's the fact that you are a little unstable or—TRALDI: Yes, I think that's right.OLIVER: —a bit extra.TRALDI: I think what Smith doesn't do is explain quite how that's bad. But what I think is that actually, in Sense and Sensibility, it's a little bit the reverse, where actually Elinor and their mother, they do sympathize with Marianne. They do feel what she's feeling after—who's the other, the w guy in Sense and Sensibility? They're all w's.OLIVER: Oh, Willoughby.TRALDI: Willoughby, right, right. Not Wickham, Willoughby. When Willoughby—OLIVER: You can just say “the cad.”TRALDI: The cad. There's always a cad. So when the cad leaves, Marianne has all these emotions, and you really feel them. And Marianne also has a lack of self-command when Willoughby is there. There's this whole episode, which I didn't quite make the most of but felt very important, where they go to the house of this woman. They just sort of barge into this house, Willoughby and Marianne.And this is really supposed to show something about the relationship. If you and your partner barge into somebody's house, it can't be a good relationship somehow because it's leading you into bad actions. That's my sense of what that episode is supposed to show from the highest possible remove.OLIVER: I think, yes, and I think there are several other instances of that: when they ride in the carriage together, unaccompanied.TRALDI: Right, right.OLIVER: And there's a sort of general consternation about this. And Marianne sort of says, “Oh, well, how can it be a problem?” And they—part of the consternation is, you're breaking the rules in a very flagrant way, but also that you are assuming that it's okay because you'll get married. And this assumption is a very big one.TRALDI: Yes. And obviously there is this assumption that—she doesn't recognize quite how—she thinks her position is much more secure than it actually is, which is how it turns out in the book. But I think we're supposed to think that even if she were right about Willoughby's affection, which in a sense, she—Willoughby—OLIVER: No. Even if they do get married, she's broken the rules in a way that—TRALDI: She's broken certain rules in a way that is—but I think what's different from Smith is, there is sympathy from her family even though she lacks self-command. But that is precisely—so it's sort of a different theory of why self-command is good. It's precisely because her emotional state is actually draining for her family.And then Elinor says—when she learns that Elinor has actually been going through something—OLIVER: The same.TRALDI: —very similar, and maybe even rougher, in this whole thing with Lucy Steele telling her about this, you know, blah, blah, blah.OLIVER: Which is a beautiful name—to steal. I mean, it's great.TRALDI: It's an amazing—honestly, in some ways Sense and Sensibility may have been my favorite. I think it's just lovely.OLIVER: If I just wanted to just read one for fun, that's what I go to. I do, yes.TRALDI: Yes. And there's a lot—none of these things are quite perfectly in there. But I think honestly, everything that's in the other novels has a little part to play in Sense and Sensibility. You know, I think if I were to recommend just one, if somebody was like, “I have time for just one,” I might recommend Sense and Sensibility.But in the end, Marianne says—again, it's one of these amazingly evocative lines. Elinor says, “You didn't act that badly. Do you compare your conduct with Willoughby's?” And she says, “No, I compare it with—Elinor, I compare it with your conduct. You have this self-command.”And it's precisely the fact—it's not—and I think this is why philosophers do like Austen, because it's not—it's still literary, but there is a precision to her moral evaluations. It's precisely the fact that Elinor knew that her family loved her and didn't want to burden—it's all quite conscious. She didn't want to burden her family with her emotions. But you actually see that Elinor has this family trait of having very strong sentiment, which Marianne does, and simply also has this virtue of self-command.And that is—there are film adaptations and TV adaptations that demonstrate self-command, but it's a very hard thing to film. It's something you feel inside. It's a very hard—the actors have to be very good for you to see—you see pieces of it in some of the adaptations of Persuasion and some of the adaptations of Sense and Sensibility, but self-command is very hard to find.Austen AdaptationsOLIVER: Which adaptations do you like the best?TRALDI: I'm forgetting—I often like the long ones that I think were for the British ITV. So I like the—I think Kate Beckinsale was in the Emma one. Although I think there was one of Persuasion, which was also quite good. I like the one of Northanger Abbey. I don't think it's that good, but it's kind of cute, which I think it's probably the cutest of her long novels.Whit Stillman did a very loose adaptation of Lady Susan, which is hilariously funny at times, and also has Kate Beckinsale and some other great actors in it.OLIVER: Did you see the new Persuasion on Netflix a couple of years ago?TRALDI: No. No.OLIVER: It has that—is it Dakota Johnson, the actress, who's famous for other non-Austenian—Fifty Shades of Grey or whatever.TRALDI: Yes, and isn't she one of the Avengers or something like that?OLIVER: Something like that. But everyone was very upset that it was this terrible adaptation.TRALDI: Oh, yes.OLIVER: Didn't—it sort of killed all of Austen's words. She looks at the camera; she drinks from the bottle. I actually thought it was quite fun. On the basis that all adaptations are bad—TRALDI: I think if you allow some looseness, it can be quite fun. So for example, the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, I think if you're just sort of like, “Well, this is just somebody who was inspired by Pride and Prejudice,” you can have a lot of fun with the movie.OLIVER: I think as an interpretation of the book, that film is quite bad.TRALDI: Oh, yes. I think it's absolutely missing the mark.OLIVER: But in terms of like, the countryside and the house and the geese and the food, it's fantastic.TRALDI: Oh, yes. It's lovely to look at.OLIVER: The dresses, right? The clothes are amazing.TRALDI: And a lot of the—and the cast is honestly like—OLIVER: Yes, it's great.TRALDI: The cast is really, really great. And the parts as they are—OLIVER: Rosamund Pike is maybe the best Jane on TV.TRALDI: She's terrific. And who's the one who plays Kitty?OLIVER: Yes.TRALDI: Who is in—and the father is the guy from The Hunger Games. I forget his name, but I think the father is excellent in that. But of course, it's not exactly the father from Austen.OLIVER: No, no, no.TRALDI: But as a movie itself—but yes, I like a lot of these longer TV versions.One odd thing—they make these choices. So there is some scholarly apparatus brought to bear on some of them. So I think maybe it's Persuasion that there were multiple versions of, and some of the adaptations use pieces from the unpublished version, which are interesting. And as I was reading it, I had to Google around a bit and figure out these things.Austen's Moral PrecisionTRALDI: I was going to say about Austen's moral precision, the other place where I think this comes in—and I wrote a bit about this in the essay—is near the end of Mansfield Park, when—the names are what I'm worst at—when Edmund, right, is finally disillusioned with—OLIVER: Mary.TRALDI: With Mary Crawford?OLIVER: Mm-hmm.TRALDI: It's because there was this affair. There's always a sibling or a cousin who makes some horrible mistake, you know? So there was this affair, and Mary Crawford can only criticize it by saying that they weren't very prudent, you know, in prudential terms. They took a big risk. They made a bad decision. You know, they really screwed themselves over.OLIVER: They could have made it work. Yes.TRALDI: Yes. And Edmund realizes that she lacks moral fervor because he thinks the appropriate criticism should be a moral one. And as a psychological matter, it shouldn't even enter your head, I think is the idea. I'm extrapolating a bit, but if you see somebody acting this badly, to then say, “Well, geez, you're doing something that isn't in your interest”—for that to be your first thought indicates that your priorities are highly misplaced in a way that, to him, is quite unattractive.And this also struck me as a moment of—this is something we philosophers talk about. What is the distinction between prudence and morality? They both tell you what you should do, in some sense, but there's different—the shoulds have different forces, right? So Edmund has a certain moral precision and sensitivity which, actually, Fanny is basically the only person he knows—not that everybody in the house is a bad person; his father is a decent guy, and one of the aunts is okay, I think.But yes, there's a real sophistication to this evaluation. And it's funny to me that she actually used this as the—I mean, I suspect that even at the time there were readers who were just like, “Wait, I really don't get what the nature of Edmund's problem is here,” because it's not like Mary—Mary's not like, “Oh, yes, I support infidelity.” You know? She's not like— it's if you blinked, you might miss it, the mistake that Mary has made.And so I do think that even though she's not making arguments, she's not laying out philosophical theories, there is a level of precision in her thinking about virtue, which I do think is something that it took me a little aback.And I think it's part of why—one person who quote-tweeted my article was Daniel Kodsi, who's a friend of our colleague John Maier and his coauthor often. And he runs this magazine called The Philosophers' Magazine, which I had written before. And Daniel quote-tweeted my article with something like, “Add Oliver to the list of all the philosophers who love Austen.”OLIVER: And it's a long list.TRALDI: And I think it's a long list. And I do think this precision is part of it that she does, that it is—again, it's not like a philosophy journal article, but it is an intellectual sophistication that is often not present in novelists that we really appreciate.Every Word MattersOLIVER: I mean, one way people talk about the great books is to say that every word matters. And a lot of novelists will say that about their own. Well, you know, Elizabeth Bowen used to say, “What you're doing is to make everything count.” Austen is one of the examples where it's actually true. Every word is being used carefully.TRALDI: Yes. It's funny, this bears on another Twitter argument I had recently about this phrase logographic necessity. Basically, every word in a great book is there for a reason. I think that's right. Although you have to be careful about—if you were to say, “Well, every word in Plato is there for a reason, so you can't really say he's wrong about every—” you would be kind of abandoning the philosophical mission.OLIVER: I mean it in the sense of what you might call the artistic or structural integrity of the book. Not everything has to tell in the meaning sense. But it all holds as a unit for some—TRALDI: Yes. I think everything is there—there is what we could call an internal reason for everything to be there. Everything is there to hold together—OLIVER: Like the making of a piece of furniture or something.TRALDI: And I think you hear—I think this is one thing that—and not all classical music, but I think it's one thing that distinguishes classical music even from very good contemporary pop music or jazz or rock music, is that you have this sense of, “Yes, every note I hear basically is holding up a larger structure of some sort.”OLIVER: Yes. And Jane Austen is very Mozart in that way.TRALDI: Yes, I think that's right. Yes.Austen's Place in Great Books ProgramsOLIVER: So should Jane Austen have a bigger place on great books programs, based on all these things you've said about her?TRALDI: Yes, this is—so, there was actually a debate—I did not write the piece in response to this debate, but this is—OLIVER: Tanner Greer.TRALDI: Yes, there was—Tanner Greer weighed in on this, and my friend Circe. I think—OLIVER: I think they're just desperately wrong.TRALDI: You think they don't—that she—OLIVER: I think Emma is obviously a book that should be on one of these syllabuses. Maybe Sense and Sensibility.TRALDI: Yes. I think the ones I would consider are Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park. I do think they're actually longer than I realized, which is always—I mean, there are these very practical concerns with putting together a syllabus.OLIVER: Sure, sure. Although I want to ask you about that, because my response to a lot of these debates, which is maybe just because of where I studied, but just make them read more. And if they don't do the reading, that's their, you know—TRALDI: That's true. Well, I don't want to get into this too much. We already make them read a lot compared to—so for example, a year ago, I had my students read two novels in a week, which is more than most courses make college students read.OLIVER: But that's by no means unreasonable.TRALDI: No, no, of course, of course.OLIVER: You know.TRALDI: Well, exigencies of the teenage mind aside—OLIVER: Because I often think this, when people debate how things should be taught and why it's so important to keep these programs, and they'll talk about the importance of writing essays. And then it turns out the students maybe write one essay a semester. And I sort of think, well, who cares? All this rhetoric for one essay.TRALDI: Yes. I don't know if I'm really ever going to assign essays again. It just is—the age of AI is upon us.OLIVER: Sure. But you see what I mean.TRALDI: No, yes, I know exactly what you mean. And I do think reading a lot is the main part of—and certainly, you know, when I read all seven of these in two weeks, that's much more reading than I normally do, as well, to write this essay.OLIVER: But you didn't have to lie on the sofa afterwards with a cold compress. You were fine.TRALDI: In a way it was a really good two weeks. If you get to read—I mean, this is why we have good lives, right? If you get to read Jane Austen and you call that work, it's a nice life.OLIVER: So yes, will you be putting Emma on your program?TRALDI: I would definitely consider Emma. I would definitely consider Sense and Sensibility. I would consider Mansfield Park. I think these are the ones that have—the moral element is very prominent. But it's obviously there in all of her books.OLIVER: You can have a really good moral discussion about Mansfield Park, which is a bigger, broader thing than Pride and Prejudice, for example.TRALDI: Yes, I think so. I would definitely consider—in the 1800s there were—obviously the British novel of the 1800s was a big deal, and there's—OLIVER: [laughs] We did quite well, yes.TRALDI: You all did quite well. So the ones we did at Tulsa—we had Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights and The Picture of Dorian Gray. And then we had one Irish, The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. And I don't think anybody—if you replaced one of those with Emma or Mansfield Park, I don't think anybody would say, “Oh, you made a horrible call.”OLIVER: I think Tanner's point was that you simply don't have that many slots for an English novel that deals with these sorts of ideas, and that it should obviously be Middlemarch because that is the bigger novel. It's about bigger questions of society. It's about the whole—it's got more greatness in it, whereas Austen is sort of more about the individual.TRALDI: So I do think that this question of greatness—I think there are some people who read Austen and they think, “Well, this is—obviously it has all these sorts of themes, but it's not great. It has this littleness to it. It has this smallness to it.”OLIVER: It's domestic.TRALDI: That is not my reading of it. I think if that's the question, I don't feel that way. I think it pulls out these great themes about the nature of virtue and the nature of moral learning, becoming a better person, the nature of love. We read Sappho. We read the Symposium.To me, you read Wuthering Heights and you say, “Oh, this is a really big book because it's about society and how trauma gets passed down, and it has these horror elements, and it's very dark.” But actually, it's quite hard to figure out, how do we turn Wuthering Heights in a discussion about how to live? With Austen, it's just completely straightforward.OLIVER: [laughs] How not to live, maybe.TRALDI: Yes. In Austen, it's just completely straightforward. This is the discussion. This is what she had in mind as well, this question of how to live. So to me, Austen is completely—in terms of her successes as an artist, she belongs. In terms of her themes, she belongs. So I would not rule her out. I think she is absolutely a great, and who knows what that means, but I think she would be completely appropriate on any of these syllabi.Reading PlansOLIVER: Very good. And what will you read next?TRALDI: What will I read next? I mean, our—from the beginning, I'm thinking I should read some more poetry. It's been a while. Actually, speaking of—this is funny. Well, I want to get into William Empson. He had an odd life, which I think somebody should do like a movie about him or something.OLIVER: Yes, he'd make a great movie.TRALDI: I think Empson would be a good movie. So that might be—OLIVER: Are you going to read the poems or the criticism?TRALDI: Probably a little of both, but that's for a while from now. I think, you know, at the moment I'm back to reading philosophy. So what novel will I read next? That's a good question. What should I read next?OLIVER: If you like Jane Austen?TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: Maybe read one of the people that she admired, like Samuel Richardson or Fanny Burney, someone like that.TRALDI: You know, I do think—you saying Samuel Richardson reminded me, I've read very little Samuel Johnson. I think reading some of the great critics, I think, writing this piece—OLIVER: Oh, Johnson, yes. You would like Johnson.TRALDI: I think I would like Johnson. I think I would like Empson. The history of literary criticism is something I have very, very little idea of.OLIVER: Oh, well, then, Johnson. I mean, he's the best.TRALDI: Yes, I think I should, I should definitely read Johnson.OLIVER: English literary criticism begins and ends with Samuel Johnson.TRALDI: You know what, this is a little different, but—I might have talked about this with you a little bit—I want to read The Fable of the Bees, Mandeville, because reading about Smith—a lot of the ideas that we think of as Smithian are actually Mandevillian, and he kind of moderated them.OLIVER: Well, he hated Mandeville.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: Very hard on him.TRALDI: Yes. So a lot—like the invisible hand, it's only a small part of Smith's thinking, but it was like the entirety of Mandeville's thinking, this sort of dynamic.OLIVER: Well, I think it means different things for them. I think Mandeville, in a funny way, is more philosophical in the sense you were saying, and trying to make these propositions. And Smith was saying, “Well, what about feelings? What about all these funny things that we can't account for? Like, look around. It's too messy.”TRALDI: No, that makes sense to me. Yes, I think between Mandeville and Smith, Mandeville is somebody who thought virtue was sort of like a con.OLIVER: A fool's game.TRALDI: Exactly. You're sort of a sucker if you try to be virtuous.OLIVER: I think he also just assumed that if you were commercial, you were obviously on the get.TRALDI: Yes. But this is one of the great—I know we talked about this, but it's one of the great—you see this in Smith, you see this in Austen—commerce has its own virtues, and they are very traditional virtues. You have to be trustworthy. You have to be pleasant. You can't really be wholly self-interested in every moment because people have to be willing to deal with you given your—I mean, think about Yelp reviews or even just word of mouth. “Oh, that person screwed me over.”OLIVER: There's a discussion in one of Hayek's papers, which is—it's a very Smithian point he makes about, the nature of the knowledge problem means that it's not so much that I'm trying to get information about the thing you're trying to sell me, but I'm really trying to get information about you and whether you are someone I should be buying from. Which is exactly the project that the novelists and Smith—there's a sort of period between Smith and the early novelists, running through Austen to George Eliot, when they're all working on that problem together.TRALDI: Yes. I do think in Austen, it's often—the real puzzle is, how do you make out somebody else's character?OLIVER: Exactly.TRALDI: This is a phrase that Lizzy Bennet does use with regard to Darcy. And how do we actually figure out who the trustworthy and untrustworthy people are?OLIVER: And if you're too philosophical about that, in the sort of analytic sense, I think you can end up not paying enough attention to the particulars of that question.TRALDI: Yes.OLIVER: Because when you actually try and do it, it's really, really hard.TRALDI: Yes. And I think this is the sort of—reading Austen, you get a sense of—and there are very few philosophy papers on things like this. Reading Austen, you get a sense of, what sorts of details in a normal life are the ones that I can extract information from to make out somebody else's character?In philosophy, we do ask, what is a good character and what is the good action in this sort of situation? What is the bad action in this sort of situation? But it's not for the philosopher to say, “Okay, in the sorts of situations you're likely to be in, what do you pay—where do you direct your attention to try to figure out these things about?”And it's not—I don't think Austen—it's not super subtle either. In Persuasion—I mentioned in the essay—in Persuasion, it starts out by saying Anne really cared about paying off the family's debts, and the rest of her family didn't give a s**t, you know? And it's sort of like, okay, so we just immediately are like, Anne's the sort of person who you might want to have a business transaction with because if she has a debt to you, she might actually pay it. And I forget if that's the exact detail, but it's something like that, you know?OLIVER: And there's also the novelist—Jane Austen is very good at what you don't see, which aga

In today's podcast I am joined by Rachel Snowball Dip FC a multi award winning funeral celebrant and founder of Sunshine and Shade a friendship and bereavement group based in Derbyshire.  Rachel chats about the challenges she faced setting the group up in lockdown and where it is now.  If you live in Derbyshire and want to know more about the support she offers you can get in contact with her here.hello@sunshineandshade.org.uk  

We are delighted to welcome Glenda Youde and Steve Kenyon who join us to share the details of a new Blue Plaque being unveiled in Matlock, Derbyshire. Celebrating the long stay of Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal in Lime Tree View, Glenda and Steve tell us about their time in Matlock and the fascinating history of the property. Please join them for the grand reveal on the 9th May 2026. For tickets, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dante-gabriel-rossetti-and-elizabeth-siddal-in-matlock-tickets-1984180310722 

Nottingham Forest beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals at the City Ground thanks to Chris Wood's emphatic penalty. It was a huge occasion for both clubs and we'll discuss the game in full at 10.05pm as Lucas Digne's handball proved pivotal while Villa fans felt Elliot Anderson should have been sent off for a first half foul on Ollie Watkins. Matt Davies is joined by Chris Aylmer and Adam Walker, who was a recent guest discussing his swimming career but is back for his ain podcast debut. #nffc #nottinghamforest

This week's pick comes from Patreon supporter Graeme—clearly a man who woke up and chose absolute emotional devastation. Directed by Shane Meadows, Dead Man's Shoes (2004) is a raw, low-budget British drama that has steadily grown into a cult favourite. Shot primarily in and around Matlock, the film was made on a modest budget estimated at around £723,000. Meadows co-wrote the screenplay with Paddy Considine, who also stars in the lead role. The production leaned heavily on improvisation, giving the performances an unsettling realism that sets it apart from more polished revenge thrillers.Upon release, the film was praised for its intensity, authenticity, and grounded portrayal of working-class life in the Midlands. Toby Kebbell also received acclaim for his emotionally charged supporting performance. Though not a major box office hit, Dead Man's Shoes built its reputation through word of mouth, critical appreciation, and home media circulation—firmly cementing its place as one of the most respected British films of the 2000s.TRAILER GUY PLOT SYNOPSISHe's been away… but now he's back.In a quiet Derbyshire town, a lone figure returns with unfinished business—and a stare that makes hardened men nervous. The locals don't recognise him… not yet. But they will. Oh, they will.Because this isn't just a homecoming. It's a reckoning. And as the tension tightens like a noose, one thing becomes clear: you can run, you can hide… but you can't escape what's coming.FUN FACTSThe film was shot in just three weeks, adding to its raw, documentary-like feelMuch of the dialogue was improvised rather than strictly scriptedShane Meadows has cited the film as one of his most personal worksPaddy Considine reportedly stayed in character for long stretches during filmingThe film's title is a reference to the idea of facing consequences for past actionsIt was filmed using handheld cameras to enhance realism and immersionThe movie is frequently ranked among the best British films of the 21st centuryToby Kebbell landed the role after an open casting callThe soundtrack features moody, atmospheric tracks that heighten the tensionThe film has developed a strong cult following through DVD and streaming platformsSupport the Show If you enjoy the show and would like to support us, we have a Patreon ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leaving us a 5-star review (and a short comment) really helps more people discover the show. It's quick, free, and makes a huge difference. Referral links also help out the show if you were going to sign up:⁠⁠⁠NordVPN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NordPass⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thevhsstrikesback@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/vhsstrikesback⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Family-focused Florida gator hunting with Gator Glades Hunts—adventure, conservation, and budget-friendly experiences. Join radio hosts Rebecca Wanner aka ‘BEC' and Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt (Tigger & BEC) with the latest in Outdoors & Western Lifestyle News! A Family Budget-Friendly Gator Adventure with Matt Tarr  Guided Gator Hunts: Public Land Hunting, Conservation, and Family Traditions in Florida A Bucket List Hunt for Matt Tarr & family Feature Guest: Matt Tarr, PRCA Barrelman / Rodeo Clown and Guide/Outfitter Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.tarr.52 Exciting bucket list hunt was done by PRCA Barrelman / Rodeo Clown, Matt Tarr, and his 14 year old son Bransen in Florida 2026. Matt Tarr harvested a 10.8 foot alligator, bringing home 75lbs of meat! The monster is at the taxidermist for a full mount. Bransen Tarr excitedly took a 8.3 foot alligator. With the help of his dad, Matt Tarr, the men turned Bransen's prize gator head into an European mount! Gator Glades Hunts Gator Glades Hunts is the ultimate outfitter for Florida Gator, Hog, and Turkey Hunts!! Public land hunting is educational for the family and shows the importance of conservation for nuisance reptiles. Learn more or to book a hunt here: Outfitter: Gator Glades Hunts - Moore Haven, Florida Guide: Justin Guerry Phone: (863) 673-0161 Address: 3288 Wayman Road, Moore Haven, FL 33471 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063586179823 UK Farmer Tries to Make Highland Cows Less “Instagram-Friendly” In the United Kingdom, one farmer is taking an unusual step to protect his livestock from social media attention—by trying to make them less cute. Alex Birch, a farmer in Derbyshire, says he plans to crossbreed his Highland cattle to reduce their famously photogenic appearance. The goal: discourage influencers and visitors from approaching them for selfies and videos. Birch says the problem has grown over several years, with tourists regularly entering fields, touching the animals, and filming content—sometimes even staging yoga sessions nearby. The cows, which graze in the scenic Baslow Edge, have become a viral attraction online. Local authorities, including the Peak District National Park Authority, have repeatedly warned visitors not to approach or touch the animals, citing real risks of trampling or injury—especially when calves are present. Despite those warnings, Birch says crowds continue to gather. In one instance, he found dozens of people surrounding his herd with cameras. He worries that if someone gets hurt, he could be held legally responsible. Crossbreeding the cattle with other hill breeds, he says, may tone down their shaggy coats and distinctive look—features that have fueled their online popularity. It's not a decision he's happy about. The cows have been in his family since the 1970s. But for Birch, it's become a choice between preserving tradition and protecting both animals and people from a growing social media trend. Officials say the message remains simple: admire from a distance. Reference: Farmer to crossbreed his Highland cows to make them 'less photogenic' Federal Officials Seek Public Input on Colorado's Wolf Program Federal wildlife officials are asking the public to weigh in on how Colorado is managing its wolf reintroduction effort—especially when it comes to conflicts with livestock. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it wants to hear directly from ranchers, landowners, and others about their experiences with wolf attacks, prevention efforts, and compensation. Public comments are open through June 5. Colorado voters approved the return of gray wolves in 2020, and the state began releasing animals in late 2023. Under a special federal designation, Colorado has some flexibility to manage the wolves—including, in limited cases, killing them—even though the species remains protected under the Endangered Species Act. Since reintroduction began, state officials have confirmed just over 50 wolf attacks on livestock and guardian animals. Compensation to ranchers has already exceeded initial state funding levels, with more than $700,000 paid out this year alone—and total payouts expected to surpass $1 million. Federal officials are now asking whether those compensation programs are working, how effective nonlethal deterrents have been, and how well agencies and communities are coordinating. The request for input comes amid rising political tension. Some conservation groups argue the review could undermine wolf recovery efforts, while others—including some lawmakers—are pushing to remove federal protections for wolves altogether. For now, federal officials say the goal is to gather feedback and improve how the program works—for both wildlife and the people living alongside it. Reference: Feds ask for input on how Colorado is handling wolf program, conflict with livestock OUTDOORS FIELD REPORTS & COMMENTS We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or stories to share about bighorn sheep, outdoor adventures, or wildlife conservation, don't hesitate to reach out. Call or text us at 305-900-BEND (305-900-2363), or send an email to BendRadioShow@gmail.com. Stay connected by following us on social media at Facebook/Instagram @thebendshow or by subscribing to The Bend Show on YouTube. Visit our website at TheBendShow.com for more exciting content and updates! https://thebendshow.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thebendshow WESTERN LIFESTYLE & THE OUTDOORS Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt & Rebecca ‘BEC' Wanner are passionate news broadcasters who represent the working ranch world, rodeo, and the Western way of life. They are also staunch advocates for the outdoors and wildlife conservation. As outdoorsmen themselves, Tigger and BEC provide valuable insight and education to hunters, adventurers, ranchers, and anyone interested in agriculture and conservation. With a shared love for the outdoors, Tigger & BEC are committed to bringing high-quality beef and wild game from the field to your table. They understand the importance of sharing meals with family, cooking the fruits of your labor, and making memories in the great outdoors. Through their work, they aim to educate and inspire those who appreciate God's Country and life on the land. United by a common mission, Tigger & BEC offer a glimpse into the life beyond the beaten path and down dirt roads. They're here to share knowledge, answer your questions, and join you in your own success story. Adventure awaits around the bend. With The Outdoors, the Western Heritage, Rural America, and Wildlife Conservation at the forefront, Tigger and BEC live this lifestyle every day. To learn more about Tigger & BEC's journey and their passion for the outdoors, visit TiggerandBEC.com. https://tiggerandbec.com/

Matt Davies is joined by Greg Mitchell and Mark Sutherns to preview Nottingham Forest's Premier League game at Sunderland. A win for Forest takes them eight points clear of the relegation zone but defeat to a team who have excelled after promotion would be a real blow in the survival race ahead of Tottenham playing Wolves and West Ham hosting Everton. #nffc #nottinghamforest

The Peak District was selected as the first area to receive this status because of its landscape and its proximity to large populations covering approximately 555 square miles across parts of Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and ...

Matt Davies is joined by Mikey Clarke and Steve Battlemuch for our latest listener Q&A on all things Nottingham Forest. We tackle questions on transfers, Europe, Vitor Pereira and the City Ground redevelopment. We'll all discuss Leeds United's win over Manchester United and if that heightens relegations worries for the Reds. #nffc #nottinghamforest

My guest on The British Food History Podcast today is Mark Dawson, a food historian specialising in the food and social history of the early modern period, but also on the regional food of the Midlands. Today we are talking about the traditional food and drink of his home county of Derbyshire.You may remember he was on last season talking about Derbyshire Oatcakes, well, since then he has written a fantastic book called Lumpy Tums: Derbyshire's Food & Drink published by Amberley and out in the wild from the 15th April 2026.We talk about oat-based foods like thar cakes, which were traditionally eaten on All Souls Day, thin pudding and savoury pudding, the origins of the Bakewell pudding and Derbyshire's very high proportion of drinking establishments per head, amongst many other things.Those listening to the secret podcast get more than a quarter of an hour of bonus material where we talk about Derbyshire cheeses, the return of small-scale breweries to the county, wakes cakes and Ashbourne gingerbread.Lumpy Tums: Derbyshire's Food & Drink by Mark Dawson and published by AmberleyMark's websiteMark's Speakernet profileFollow Mark on Instagram @lumpytumsSeason 10 of the podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry, who make high-quality kitchen and outdoor cookware. Netherton Foundry ships to several countries outside of the UK, including the USA and Canada. Visit www.netherton-foundry.co.uk to find out more about their wonderful products – approved not just by me but by folk such as Tom Parker-Bowles, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson.If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.Things mentioned in today's episodeCounty Recipes of Old England by Helen Edden (2008)Good Things in England by Florence White (1932)Tindall's of Tideswell – purveyors of Thar CakesThe English Alehouse by Peter Clarke (1983)Bakewell Pudding ShopKnead to Know: A History of Baking by Neil Buttery (2024)The Rutland ArmsIvan Day's blog post about the Bakewell puddingVegetable Cookery by Martha Brotherton (1833): the page with the potato Bakewell pudding!Anne Lister of Shibden HallBetty's Vintage Tea RoomsPrevious pertinent blog postsTo Make a Bakewell PuddingTo Make a Bakewell TartYorkshire ParkinDock Pudding#321 Sweetmeat CakePrevious pertinent podcast episodesDerbyshire Oatcakes with Mark DawsonTraditional Food of Lincolnshire with Rachel GreenGingerbread with Sam BiltonOrmskirk Gingerbread with Anouska LewisNeil's blogs and YouTube channel:‘British Food: a History'The British Food History Channel‘Neil Cooks Grigson'Neil's books:Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England's Most Influential HousekeeperA Dark History of SugarKnead to Know: a History of BakingThe Philosophy of PuddingsDon't forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today's episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.You can also join the British Food: a History Facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistoryMentioned in this episode:A is for Apple Season C has begun!Join Neil Buttery, Sam Bilton and Alessandra Pino for their journey through the letter C on 'A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink'. Available wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

It's time for another one of our not massively popular Nottingham Forest quizzes as fans wait for the Reds to return to action after the international break and FA Cup weekend. Pete Blackburn and Dan Cook pose the questions as Matt Davies and Steve Battlemuch take on Paul Morley and Elliott Talbot. #nffc #nottinghamforest

We welcome Nottingham Forest fan and comedian Matt Forde as we discuss the final stretch of this season when it comes to the Europa League and the Premier League. We also discuss Vitor Pereira and the reaction to his last appearance on the podcast when he backed Sean Dyche to be manager next season. We also talk about comedy, curries and answer question Matt Davies was asked by primary school last week on a visit to talk about the podcast. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Matt Davies is joined by football finance expert Kieran Maguire to discuss how much it would cost Nottingham Forest if they are relegated from the Premier League. We also talk about who would be hit hardest out of Forest, West Ham, Spurs and Leeds United, Chelsea's lenient punishment for long-term rule breaking and if Evangelos Marinkais would easily find a buyer if he ever wanted to sell Forest. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Nottingham Forest head to Denmark to play Midtjylland in the Europa League last 16 second leg on Thursday night. Forest trail 1-0 after defeat at the City Ground and with a Premier League six pointer against Tottenham on the horizon, manager Vitor Pereira has already promised changes to his team. Matt Davies is joined by Dan Cook and Paul Morley to preview the game in full. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Nottingham Forest take on FC Midtjylland in the first round of their last 16 of the Europa League at the City Ground on Thursday night. Matt Davies is joined by Chris Aylmer and Steve Battlemuch to preview the game in full as we discuss team selection, the threat posed by the Danish side and Forest's decision to cut ticket prices twice on the eve of the game. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Jonny and Richard are in Matlock Bath in Derbyshire enjoying its two most abundant things. Also in this episode, monkey puzzle trees, pangolin dust, Great British Car Journey, letting a falcon out for a plop, various Zoes, Burton Coggles and Walton Goggins, pre-war jaw, a Star Wars Celica, dry slaps and wet storage, sitting on a Gold Wing, and coupe wars in Small Prophets. For early, ad-free episodes and extra content go to patreon.com/smithandsniffTo buy merch and tickets to live podcast recordings go to smithandsniff.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A young doctor, recovering from illness, is sent to the Derbyshire hills for his health. He takes lodgings at a remote farm, where he notices the family's reluctance to discuss the valley below. There's a Roman mine nearby that no one acknowledges, and a particular opening in the earth that unsettles him. His diary records what starts as mild interest in local folklore. But as he explores the mine workings beneath the Blue John caverns, his entries shift. The question becomes less about what might exist in the old tunnels, and more about what happens to a man who goes looking for it. First published in The Strand Magazine in August 1910, “The Terror of Blue John Gap” was later collected in The Last Galley: Impressions and Tales in 1911. It draws on the real Blue John Cavern near Castleton, with its distinctive banded fluorite. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician and author, best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Beyond detective fiction, he wrote historical novels, science‑fiction romances, and a rich vein of ghostly and weird tales. Get the last copies of the first edition of Once in a Haunted House, our print magazine. Not many left! Here: https://payhip.com/b/fE1Gz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nottingham Forest put in a great performance to ease their relegation fears with a 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday night thanks to great goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson. Matt Davies is joined by Mark Sutherns and Simon Fotheringham to discuss the game in full. #nffc #nottinghamforest

After a marathon run of torrential rain, floods, and grey skies to start 2026 , the drought warnings from last Autumn seem a world away. Back in October, the Environment Agency said that at least 100% of the average rainfall would be needed every month until the end of March for England to recover fully from the 2025 drought. Steve Turner from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology tells Charlotte that rivers and groundwater have returned to normal, or above normal, levels in most of the country.We meet a grower search for an elusive and almost forgotten Derbyshire apple: Mrs Wilmot's Pippin. Land is seen as the answer to some of the big questions faced by Society: cutting greenhouse gas emissions by generating renewable energy, building new homes to ease the housing crisis, making space for nature to halt the collapse of wildlife numbers...and farming to feed the nation. As land is a finite resource, the debate over which land should be used for what purpose is becoming increasingly charged. The Government is hoping to take some of the heat out of the discussion, and provide much needed clarity. It's already consulted on a Land Use Framework for England, and the final version is due to be published soon. Ahead of that, this week we're looking at those competing pressures on land. Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

In January 2024, co-founder of Thornbridge Brewery, Simon Webster received an email from Garrett Oliver. He'd heard a rumour that Carlsberg Britvic, the now owners of Marston's Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, were “laying the union to rest.” The Brooklyn brewmaster continued to ask Simon if he'd be interested in taking a set, in turn saving it from being permanently erased from British brewing history. Six months later, after Simon and Thornbridge's brewing director Rob Lovatt had visited Burton to assess the situation, a single Union set was delivered to their brewery in Bakewell, Derbyshire. In the months since, it has become a focal point for their brewery, and something that has stirred plenty of excitement in the process. This has no doubt been assisted by the fact it's been used to produce some exciting collaborations, including with the likes of The Kernel and Odell Brewing. They've even produced a Strong Dark Mild with Garrett himself, a beer that would go on to become award-winning. In October 2025, host Matthew Curtis was invited to spend two days at Thornbridge and document a collaboration on the union system with Theakston Brewery of Masham, North Yorkshire. As the brewers set about making a version of the Yorkshire brewery's famous Masham Ale, Matthew set about filming, interviewing and documenting as much as he possibly could. The idea was to get to the heart of why the arrival of the Burton union at Thornbridge felt so significant. In this documentary-style episode of the Pellicle Podcast, you'll hear from several people at Thornbridge, including Simon Webster, Rob Lovatt, brewing manager Dominic Driscoll, and several others, plus Theakston's head brewer, Mark Slater. With plenty of analysis throughout, plus an original soundtrack composed by the host himself, this is the story of how Thornbridge saved the Burton Union. We're able to produce The Pellicle Podcast thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsor Get ‘Er Brewed. If you're enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

Matt Davies is joined by Matt Davies-Adams and Daniel Storey for our latest Nottingham Forest Q&A with Forest Focus listeners. Topics on the agenda include the number of points needed to stay in the Premier League, what would a combined Forest, West Ham and Tottenham XI look like and how to get Forest scoring more goals. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Matt Davies is joined by Chris Aylmer, Dan Cook and Greg Mitchell as we preview Vitor Pereira's first game in charge of Nottingham Forest as they face Fenerbahce in Istanbul in the Europa League. We discuss renewed optimism for the game, a hostile atmosphere and team selection before shifting focus to the Premier League relegation battle. #nffc #nottinghamforest

Exposed moorland trees create a strong natural source of undulating white noise when shouldering the brunt of a winter gale. The sounds they produce are uniquely enchanting  and an absolute delight to experience. For us it's the beating heart of what it is to be immersed in the great outdoors, and one of the reasons we set Radio Lento up in the first place. To capture and share the aural essences of the great outdoors for anyone (including ourselves) who want to experience but can't always get out to feel time passing in a real natural place.  The sound-scene in this recording is entirely produced by trees in wind although at the very start there are a couple of tawny owls. Using headphones you will perceive the scene in its full panoramic width and depth. From far right of scene a line of trees (mixed fir and bare branched deciduous) grow along a ridge that descends into a meadow whose upper boundary aligns with the centre of the scene. From the centre the open meadow then slopes away and down the moor mid-left of scene. Far left of scene another ridge with higher elevation is visible to the ears, more thickly wooded, and despite being much further away generates deep brown turbulences as the wind grows in strength. As time passes the interaction of the ever-changing banks of wind blowing through the arrangements of trees builds and builds, creating a kind of vision of the place all-be-it entirely perceived through spatial hearing. It was well after eleven at night at the very end of December when we headed out to find a place to leave the Lento box to record. The weather conditions were fresh and extremely dry. Not a hint of moisture or damp anywhere. The whole landscape was in the grip of a powerful winter gale. A Derbyshire gale, a thousand feet above sea level. Every twig and every fallen leaf was audible, sifting and shifting in the brisk turbulent air. As we descended below the treelined ridge we felt the depth of the sound being produced by the trees. Not quite a roar, more like a soft low rumble, sensed less through the ears than through the body. We found a tall fence post, and then left the box to record the gale as it blew through the whole night.  * We made this recording in High Peak Derbyshire, December 2023 a couple of days before the year turned. This passage of time is from around 5am, just before the cockerel starts crowing in the nearby farm! The weather conditions were incredibly fresh and dry which is why the trees sound so clear and defined.

Nottingham Forest failed to win a must win game against at the bottom of the Premier League as it finished 0-0 despite more than 30 shots on goal. A win would have taken Forest five points clear of West Ham, but the draw puts Sean Dyche under massive pressure as Forest were booed off. Matt Davies is joined by Chris Aylmer and Sam Collins #nffc #nottinghamforest

Nottingham Forest head to Leeds United on Friday night in the first game of the weekend in the Premier League. With West Ham playing Burnley the following day it's a chance for the Reds to put pressure on the Hammers with a win, or increase their relegation anxiety if they lose. Matt Davies is joined by Pete Blackburn and Simon Bristow to preview the game in full as we discuss the league table, upcoming fixtures, the Elland Road crowd, playing under pressure and team selection. #nffc #nottinghamforest

It's Thursday, January 29th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Evangelical college fired teacher for calling homosexual behavior sin A Christian teacher in England went to court last week to defend his religious freedom. Dr. Aaron Edwards worked at Cliff College in Derbyshire. Three years ago, the Evangelical college fired him after he called homosexuality a sin in a social media post. Edwards is now appealing a tribunal decision that upheld his dismissal with the help of the Christian Legal Centre. Andrea Williams, chief executive of the organization, said, "This case raises serious questions about freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and the lawful limits of institutional authority.” Referencing Acts 4:20, Edwards said he does not regret speaking the truth, saying, “As the apostles said before their accusers, ‘We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.'” Euthanasia bill failed in French Senate A bill to legalize euthanasia failed in France's Senate last week.  Political deadlock among lawmakers effectively killed the bill. Gregor Puppinck is the Director General of the European Centre for Law and Justice. He said, “This text was terrible. It allowed euthanasia and suicide by decision of a single doctor, at the oral request of a patient, in three days, without the relatives being informed and able to take legal action.” Canada euthanized elderly woman against her will Meanwhile, in Canada, an elderly woman was tragically euthanized against her will through the country's Medical Assistance in Dying program.  This according to a report by the Office of the Chief Coroner. The report identified the 80-year-old woman as “Mrs. B.” She initially expressed interest in the program. But later, she wanted to withdraw her request, “citing personal and religious values and beliefs.” However, assessors with the euthanasia program approved the killing after her husband reported experiencing “caregiver burnout.” Proverbs 12:10 says, “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” Canada backs off deal with China after Trump tariff threat Canada reached a preliminary agreement with China earlier this month to lower tariffs on certain goods. However, U.S. President Trump criticized the deal. He wrote on Truth Social, “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.” In response, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney backed off the agreement with China. Federal Reserve didn't change interest rate In the United States, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged yesterday. The central bank decided to keep its key lending rate between 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent.  The Fed noted, “Available indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Job gains have remained low, and the unemployment rate has shown some signs of stabilization. Inflation remains somewhat elevated.” Fewer U.S. pastors leaving ministry A new survey from the Barna Group found fewer pastors are considering walking away from the ministry. Twenty-four percent of U.S. senior Protestant pastors say they have seriously considered leaving full-time ministry within the past year. That's down from 42 percent in 2022. Pastoral burnout heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic but has been stabilizing since then. The report noted, “Fewer pastors appear to be in immediate vocational crisis, even as many continue to carry fatigue, grief, and uncertainty about the future of ministry.” Today is birthday of Martin Luther's wife And finally, today marks the birthday of Katharina Von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther. She was born on January 29, 1499. Her mother died in childhood and she was sent to a Catholic boarding school before becoming a nun. At the convent, Katharina discovered the writings of Martin Luther. Along with other nuns, she learned about salvation by grace through faith in Christ. This led Katharina and the nuns to ask Luther for help to escape the convent.  Luther was able to help the nuns find husbands and jobs, except for Katharina. The two were eventually married. Together, they had six children.  Author Michelle DeRusha described Katharina as “a woman who risked marrying one of the most controversial men of the time – a man who could have very likely been burned as a heretic at any given moment. She was a woman who raised six children; ran a boardinghouse; oversaw a farm complete with fruit orchards, livestock, and a fishpond; and advised and cared for her husband.” Consider an excellent, full-color, beautifully illustrated children's book about her entitled Katharine von Bora: The Morning Star of Wittenberg. It is co-authored by Shanna and Jenna Strackbein, twin sisters who were homeschooled in Aransas Pass, Texas, by their beloved mother Jenny. Joel Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan said, "Boys and girls (and adults too) will love this beautiful book about a godly woman who helped to change the world." Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, January 29th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Nottingham Forest have made a £35m bid for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta as they look to secure what would be a shock transfer from their Premier League rivals. We'll discuss the pro and cons of any move for the 28-year-old France international. We'll also round up the other transfer talk as Douglas Luiz could return to Aston Villa as Forest are linked with a moves for Napoli's Mathias Olivera and for Brighton defender Lewis Dunk. We'll also preview the Europa League game as Matt Davies is joined by Paul Morley and Steve Battlemuch. #nffc #nottinghamforest

A priest walking home alone heard an army approaching and hid behind the trees. When he looked out, he saw women bouncing on saddles of red-hot nails and dead knights riding in black fire.IN THIS EPISODE: On January 1st, 1091, an army of the dead came to Normandy. For one priest, it would be a night that he would never forget. (The Medieval Walking Dead) *** Despite what we are led to believe from movies and television, cemeteries, graveyards, and churchyards, are actually quite peaceful places with no reason to be haunted anymore than any other plot of land. They are, in fact, meant to be resting places – not restless places. Repton Village chuchyard in Derbyshire apparently never received that memo. (The Ghosts of Repton) *** Office romances are nothing new. Sadly, neither is sexual harassment in the work place. And apparently in the 1800s, a forty-something boss could try to seduce a 15-year-old worker. And if you guessed that didn't turn out well for anyone, you'd be right. (A Weight of Grief) *** Men, admired and emulated Camille Flammarion, and many a woman swooned over him. Which is kind of an odd thing if you think about it – seeing as the man was consumed by thoughts of death. (The Mystery of Death) *** What is it like after we die? Is there life after death? And can science ever get onboard with the idea despite testable evidence? (Life in the Afterlife)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:02:01.011 = Medieval Walking Dead00:15:17.452 = Ghosts of Repton00:21:32.787 = A Weight of Grief00:29:25.118 = Mystery of Death00:50:12.633 = Life In The Afterlife01:07:51.336 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakSOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE…“The Medieval Walking Dead” posted at Medievalists.net: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/tz2pbt2y“The Ghosts of Repton” by MJ Wayland: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3z8eje23“A Weight of Grief” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3a9n386k“The Mystery of Death” by Robert Schoch for New Dawn Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/367frnf9“Life in the Afterlife” by Gary Lachman for New Dawn Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yfxbkwbj=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: June 19, 2021EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/CorpseArmyABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness #MedievalGhosts #ArmyOfTheDead #WildHunt #TrueScaryStories #ParanormalStories #GhostStories #DarkHistory #CreepyHistory #Supernatural

J.John speaks with Stephen Derbyshire, a former Pastor whose story of transformation is a clear testimony to God's redemptive power that can change each of our lives. Today's conversation includes conversation around drug and substance abuse.-- Subscribe to J.John's YouTube channel today to receive weekly interviews, sermons and inspiration. Click to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZyga-psugjtgeFnYhK1Xzw?sub_confirmation=1 Connect with J.John:Sign Up: https://www.jjohn.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jjohnglobalInstagram: https://instagram.com/jjohnglobal

Matt Davies is joined by Nottingham Forest fan and comedian Matt Forde to discuss his frustration over Forest's season, how it can still be a success and why he wants Sean Dyche to be manager next season after the Ange Postecoglou disaster.#nffc #nottinghamforest

Sheila Dillon goes foraging for wild mushrooms in the Peak District in Derbyshire to find out what common fungi are easy to find - and delicious to eat. She hears from expert foragers, mushroom buyers and fungi fanatics about how the supply chain for this wild food works, from the forest floors of Eastern Europe to China's vast mushroom drying warehouses, as well as the lucrative, and sometimes dubious, trade of some of the most valuable mushrooms. Produced by Nina Pullman.