Podcasts about granny weatherwax

Fiction Fans: We Read Books and Other Words Too

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2024 79:59

In this very special Hogswatch-adjacent episode of Pratchat, Liz and Ben don't discuss a Terry Pratchett book! Instead, they interview Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent, authors of Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch. Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch is a new lavishly illustrated guidebook to witchcraft, compiled by the famous young witch of the Chalk - with a little help from her friends, of course. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, Mrs Letice Earwig and more have all annotated the manuscript - as have Tiffany's fairy allies and protectors, the Nac Mac Feegle. We'll return to the book for a regular discussion in a future episode, but for now, please enjoy our chat with Rhianna and Gabrielle - though note that as Tiffany Aching's Guide is set after The Shepherd's Crown, you might catch a couple of brief spoilers for the final Discworld novel in this interview. The same is true for their previous appearances on our spiritual sibling podcasts, The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret and The Compleat Discography, which you will probably also enjoy. You can send us comments and questions about this episode using the hashtag #Pratchat74. And as usual you can find errata and other notes for this episode on our website. Guest Rhianna Pratchett is a writer best known for her work in videogames, most famously the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider, and most recently Lost Words: Beyond the Page with Sketchbook Games. Rhianna also works in film and television production, and since 2012 has co-run Narrativia, the company which manages Terry Pratchett's intellectual property. Rhianna recently made her first podcast series, Mythical Creatures, for BBC Radio 4; find it via your favourite podcast app, or on the BBC Sounds website. You can also follow Rhianna on social media at @rhipratchett on Twitter and Mastodon, and as @rhi.bsky.social on Bluesky. Guest Gabrielle Kent is now best known as a children's author, but worked in videogames as an artist and lecturer for many years. Her books include the Knights and Bikes series based on the videogame of the same name; the Alfie Bloom series about a boy who inherits a magical castle; and most recently Rani Reports, a series about a young aspiring journalist, co-written with her husband Satish Shewhorak. You can find out more about Gabrielle via her website, gabriellekent.com. Gabrielle is also on social media as @gabriellekent on Twitter and Bluesky. Next month we get our game one again as we play and discuss the second published Discworld board game, Guards! Guards!, designed by Leonard Boyd and David Brashaw of BackSpindle Games. Get your questions in via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat75, or send us an email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2023 59:10

Your hosts journey into the Discworld once more with "Carpe Jugulum" by Terry Pratchett. They discuss the allure of vampires, try to define Trash Villains and talk about Granny Weatherwax's approach to hard decisions. They also bring up the nostalgia value of books and question if you need to be challenged by everything you read.Find us on discord: https://discord.gg/dpNHTWVu6b or support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictionfanspodThanks to the following musicians for the use of their songs:- Amarià for the use of “Sérénade à Notre Dame de Paris”- Josh Woodward for the use of “Electric Sunrise”Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

notre dame terry pratchett carpe discworld granny weatherwax

Episode 108 - Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett

Dragon Babies

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2023 81:41

It's back to Discworld with Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett! We join the titular trio of Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, and Magrat Garlick as they meddle their way across space and time (within reasonably witchy limits, of course). Review your Shakespeare, work up your best lil ghosty sounds and make sure you're in good standing with the Fool's Guild - then join us.MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

shakespeare fool kevin macleod guild terry pratchett hunchback discworld wyrd sisters granny weatherwax thatched villagers

Hagitude: Wise, fierce, glorious and magical hags: Paving the way to elderhood with Sharon Blackie

Accidental Gods

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2022 77:06

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, social and environmental problems we face today. As well as writing five books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in several international media outlets, among them the Guardian, the Irish Times, and the Scotsman. Her books have been translated into several languages, and she has been interviewed by the BBC, US public radio and other broadcasters on her areas of expertise.In today's episode, we explore the writing of Sharon's latest book, HAGITUDE: what it is, how it came about, how the powerful old women of the European folk tales provide a model for what it is to live in the second half of life: we explore alchemy, the magic of the land, the Cailleach, death, dying...and Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax as the ultimate role model for older age!HAGITUDE website: https://hagitude.orgSharon Blackie personal website: https://sharonblackie.netSharon's podcasts dedicated to Hagitude: https://hagitude.org/podcast/Accidental Gods Episode 90: https://accidentalgods.life/thresholds-of-being/Sunday Times Review of Hagitude: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hagitude-by-sharon-blackie-review-busting-the-menopause-myth-dl0n6bbjx

A Hat Full of Sky

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2022 117:04

Join Patrick Rothfuss and Worldbuilders Charity for their Geeks Doing Good Fundraiser running July 14th through the 21st! Get rad geek stuff, support cool charitable works, and watch new fun streaming content at www.twitch.tv/PatrickRothfuss. Head to www.worldbuilders.org for more info.The Tiffany Aching novels are so special to us. A Hat Full of Sky brings us tween drama, a TON of witch lore, Granny Weatherwax actually explaining some things, and a thoroughly terrifying antagonist.(note: Justen had severe technical issues that caused them to have to leave halfway through)***Check us out on twitter at @atuin_podHelp us keep the lights on via our Patreon!Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, and @JustenwritesWe can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.pageOur art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.Take a Chance by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4457-take-a-chanceFuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-paradeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

head kevin macleod attribution discworld patrick rothfuss incompetech justen tiffany aching granny weatherwax paradelicense

Chris Sissons, Telling Stories: Making Business

Ladey Adey Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2022 18:52

In this episode, Ladey Adey talks with Chris Sissons.Chris is a Book Academy member, Ladey and Chris talk about their shared love for books.Chris is a marketer and lover of storytelling, he shares an insight into how he supports people to use storytelling techniques within business. Chris invites people to "Try me out with Telling Stories: Making Business"His bio says: "Chris uses a developmental approach to marketing using stories, drawing on over thirty years' experience in economic regeneration, community planning, strategic management andparticipatory methods. These days local marketing can be supported online to even greater effect using websites, social media, mobile phones, emails and others.Chris guides you through the pitfalls and help you build your own strategies based on your business narrative, using approaches like referral marketing, networking, productdevelopment and launches.He helps you work out your strategy, the resources you need and how to get them. Local businesses and organisations need the most economic approaches and so I am mindful ofthe constraints on your resources." Chris' Tips on writing books: Write about becoming aware of reality – the world does not revolve around you but it does have a perspective different from yours. You're welcome to argue or embrace … or both.Chris' Favourite Quote: "Sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is." Granny Weatherwax via Terry PratchetBooks mentioned in this podcastAudiobooks by Michael HeizerA Spotter's Guide to Countryside Mysteries: From Piddocks and Lynchets to Witch's BroomBy John Wrighthttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788168267/Terry Pratchett Discworld novelshttps://www.amazon.co.uk/discworld-novel-collection-fantastic-sourcery/dp/9123631120/Useful linksGuest: Chris SissonsWebsite: https://storiesinbusiness.org.uk/Programme link: https://markettogether.co.uk/telling-stories-making-business/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/communitywebconsultantLadey Adey: https://www.ladeyadey.com/ Book Academy: https://www.ladeyadey.com/the-book-academy/ Vicky Galbraith - Podcast VA: www.podcastva.co.uk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/ladeyadeyshow.

guide books tips local write witches audiobooks programme broom telling stories spotter terry pratchet granny weatherwax michael heizer

Eeek Club 2022

club glorious stoic cath cynic discworld epicurean eeek pratchett ankh morpork granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2022 101:58

It's a second instalment of the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we release a bonus episode discussing topics selected by our "Eeek" tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: What was good, fun and enjoyable about The Watch?Is Vimes a Cynic, a Stoic, or an Epicurean?What was Granny Weatherwax and Ridcully's relationship like, and why didn't it continue?What pop culture would you have liked to have seen referenced in a Discworld novel?What moments from the series hit you personally because of a personal experience?If democracy came to Ankh-Morpork, what political parties would we see? A big thank you to all our subscribers for making Pratchat possible, but especially to our Eeek Club contributors: Graham, Frank, Cath (and Eddy), Steph, Jess and Ellie, Karl and Soren! You'll find detailed notes and errata for this episode on our website. Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book - or even choose a topic for next year's Eeek Club? You can support Pratchat by subscribing for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus stuff, including the exclusive supporter podcast Ook Club! Click here to find out more.

Sharon Blackie - Connection, Consequences, and Crones

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2021 63:00

Dr. Sharon Blackie is probably best known as the best-selling author of If Women Rose Rooted, which weaves together Celtic mythology, stories of modern day ecological heroines, and her personal story of escape from the Wasteland of so-called civilisation into the wild and wonderful edges of Ireland and Scotland. Her work explores the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, social and environmental problems we face today. She now lives in Wales, in an old house which began life in the 1700s as a tiny nonconformist chapel, on a small farm in the Cambrian mountains. She and her husband live there with their hens, a flock of pedigree sheep, four border collies and Maeve, a tabby kitten also known as The Kitten of the Apocalypse. Sadly, we didn't get around to discussing the Kitten of the Apocalypse – although the kitten did come up in conversation before we started recording, as she had just irreparably destroyed Sharon's headset – but we do talk about Celtic mythology, connection with land, talking to crows, the hero's and heroine's journeys, the Soul of the World, community, social media, the patriarchy, and Sharon's forthcoming book on the joys and role of the older woman, Hagitude. Sharon tells me her favourite fictional character is Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax, a not-to-be-messed-with old mountain witch in whose image she plans to model her old age. When in doubt, she asks myself, ‘What would Granny do?' Granny seems to be doing a great job so far of being a guiding star for Sharon, having recently helped her navigate a major international relocation, a global pandemic, a bout of rheumatoid arthritis, and lymphoma. I know you will enjoy this conversation. I really appreciate how Sharon emphasises the importance of our own place – not trying to save the planet as an abstract idea, but really cherishing the land beneath our feet, the birds and animals we encounter in our everyday lives, the very real reality of right here – and also this idea of touching the natural world, and allowing it to touch us, feel the rain on our face, the wind in our hair. And trust me – if you can grow to love and appreciate the weather in the north of Scotland, or the west of Ireland, you can love it anywhere. Please subscribe to my Youtube, Twitter, and join my community for special access on Patreon.

world soul ireland scotland consequences apocalypse wales celtic granny wasteland kitten terry pratchett cambrian crones sharon blackie if women rose rooted granny weatherwax

The Mended Drum Season 11: episode 1 Caution: Unresolved Metaphors

friends tales fantasy witches discord drum caution metaphors unresolved discworld stream of consciousness mended pratchett ankh morpork vimes granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2021 40:44

Welcome to an old podcast with a new name. Witches and Wizards Portal, et al. are now officially subsumed in Tales from the Drum. That's our new name. Season 11 begins with a brief fanfare, a medium ramble, an extended metaphor, and some serious compare-and-contrast. All that in 43 minutes or so. No grass is growing under our feet! Facebook page: Tales from the DrumWebsite: https://www.podpage.com/Tales-From-the-Drum/YouTube channel: Tales from the Drum email: medievalgnome@gmail.Discord server: Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions Patreon page: Medieval Gnome Productions Medieval Gnome Productions is-- CEF: Holly Goze; Engineer: Ivy “Munchkin” McDoodles; host: The Medieval Gnome; and, our new consultant Artimas the Chill.

Pratchips 46-- Carpe Jugulum: Mightily Oats

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2021 3:00

Mightily Oats gets some lessons in faith and belief from Granny Weatherwax, and is instrumental in getting Granny to Don'tgonearthe Castle so she can defeat the Magpyr clan. Not bad for a guy who is of two minds about everything.Check out our new webpage at www.podpage.com/witches-and-wizards-portal.The previous week's Pratchips, and last week's regular episode, are available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2HGerNeQ9kkv3WvZnyzVQAvec videos of our hard-working staff.All Pratchips episodes for the coming week are now available to all Patreon supporters (at whatever level) on our Patreon page, and to all members of our Discord community, Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions in the Pratchips channel.Our Patreon page may be found at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=trueYou can join our Discord community by searching for it on the Discord home page, or by clicking here: https://discord.gg/kdr5SWnUPPEmail us at www.medievalgnome@gmail.com. You never know what might happen!! Thanks for listening.

Season 10 episode 9– Witches and Wizards-- in love?!?

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2021 22:38

An expansion of the pairs theme from last week, you might say. Sort of. We consider witches and wizards as couples (Mustrum and Esme), and that leads to a discussion of witches in cities, and wizards in the countryside. With exceptions, fish out of water in both cases. Granny does just fine in Ankh-Morpork, and Ridcully loves the out of doors—shooting at it, at least. Coincidence? You decide. We have a new email address: medievalgnome@gmail.com. I'm working on transitioning all our MGP (Medieval Gnome Productions) related email there. Send us an email at the new addy—you never know what might happen! And, PLEASE send me some new questions for Granny! You can ask her anything.Some places to visit includeOur YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2HGerNeQ9kkv3WvZnyzVQOur new website: https://www.podpage.com/witches-and-wizards-portal. Our Discord community, “Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions.” https://discord.gg/kdr5SWnUPP. Btw, it costs nothing to join the server, and there's a lot of exclusive content on there.Our Patreon page if you're in the mood to underwrite the efforts of Medieval Gnome Productions (or just want to see some more exclusive content). There's also patron-only content there. Here's the URL. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=trueGNU Terry Pratchett The Turtle MovesMind How You Go

Genuinely Genua (PCv2n11)

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2021 2:57

Far Genua, all the way across the continent from Anhk-Morpork, yet ancient enemies the two. Hmmmm…Anyway, Granny Weatherwax visits there once. And nobody will ever forget that.Email us at our new address: www.medievalgnome@gmail.com. You never know what might happen!! Thanks for listening. GNU Terry Pratchett Mind how y'all go.

Developing an augmented reality experience for The National Memorial Arboretum. With Mark Ellis

Skip the Queue

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2021 48:43

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcastIf you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends August 27th 2021. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references:www.thenma.org.ukwww.twitter.com/mj_elliswww.linkedin.com/in/markjellishttps://thenma.org.uk/about-us/news/arboretum-app-launchhttps://thenma.org.uk/visit-us/what's-here/the-memorials/memorial-woodland Mark Ellis is the Head of Visitor Experience at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, the UK's year-round centre of remembrance. He is responsible for the overall visitor experience, including commercial operations and overseeing the 150-acre site's diverse events programme; frequently over 250 Remembrance Events each year. In the five years since he joined the Arboretum team, he has helped deliver a wide range of new events, activities and commercial opportunities including an immersive World War 1 Trench installation, Summer Proms, an Illuminated Arboretum light trail, and a range of activities to help visitors learn more about the stories behind the memorials.In 2018, the Arboretum opened Aspects, a state-of-the-art events and conference facility. Mark was the client lead from initial concept through to completion and was proud to be part of the team that delivered the project on time and to budget. Aspects complements the award-winning Remembrance Centre at the entrance to the site and has provided a fitting venue for high-profile remembrance events as well as creating a new income stream through corporate hire.Mark has operated across the charity, public and private sectors in several senior roles, consistently demonstrating his ability to deliver great visitor experiences and commercial success in a way that supports the core objectives of an organisation.Outside of work Mark is an experienced Scout leader and enjoys the opportunities that this provides to take part in a range of outdoor activities and adventures. He has worked on international scout camps in the UK and overseas and believes that no food is finer than that cooked on a stick over the embers of a real fire. Transcription:Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. These chats are fun, informative, and, hopefully, always interesting.In todays episode I speak with Mark Ellis, Head of Visitor Experience at The National Memorial Arboretum.We discuss their brand new augmented reality experience, tips for other attractions thinking about investing in new technology, and the Memorial Woodland being created in partnership with The National Forest to commemorate all the lives lost during the pandemic.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels, by searching Skip the Queue. Kelly Molson: Good morning, Mark. It is absolutely lovely to speak to you for the first time today. I feel like we've chatted a lot on Twitter, but this is our first...Mark Ellis: I know, Kelly, it feels like your voice is very familiar, and likewise feels like we've chatted a lot. It's a delight to be here, thanks for asking.Kelly Molson: You are very welcome. Before we start, I would like to say a very public thank you to you, Mark, because I think that you are one of our most engaged listeners, and that really means a lot to us. I think every episode that we've put out you always go to a lot of effort to tweet about it and say what you liked about it. And, you tag people in on our Twitter account who you think that might be really interested in listening to it, and I'm really, really grateful to that. So, thank you.Mark Ellis: Thanks, Kelly. Maybe I'm just a frustrated marketeer at heart. Kelly Molson: Maybe. But, I'm going to take it that you're a Skip the Queue podcast supporter.Mark Ellis: I am. It's a fabulous podcast. It's helped and inspired us a lot because it's over the last 12 months. I only retweet and tag because it's so brilliant, so thank you.Kelly Molson: That is lovely to hear, thank you. But, that doesn't mean that you don't get away with answering some of my...Mark Ellis: [crosstalk 00:01:53].Kelly Molson: ... quite mean icebreaker questions, unfortunately. Let's go in. When you hit the dance floor, what is your signature move?Mark Ellis: I'm the worlds best dad dancer. I move my hips left and right, left foot forward, right foot forward, a bit of funny stuff going on with your arms. And then, if you get some electro-funk going on, the arms are pumping up in the air as well. Kelly Molson: Electro-funk, I'm going to remember that.Mark Ellis: Yeah, late night at a festival in a field with a few pints of cider, no one dances better.Kelly Molson: I feel like we're going to need a demo of this when we're all allowed to meet properly in real life. We need to see this, Mark. Mark Ellis: We'll do it. Kelly Molson: Okay, if you were in a zombie apocalypse, which...Kelly Molson:... Considering what's been thrown at us the last year and a half, that could happen, who would you want on your team?Mark Ellis: I'd have The Doctor. Obviously. No problem too bad, no villain he can't defeat with a bit of wit, and panache, and charm. He, or her, whichever incarnation of The Doctor it happens to be. I started with Tom Baker, love David Tennant, love Matt Smith, Jodie Whittaker's taken it to new and brilliant places. So, I'd have The Doctor, every time.Kelly Molson: It's a really good choice. Good. What is the strangest gift that you have ever received?Mark Ellis: Bootlaces. Kelly Molson: Someone bought you bootlaces?Mark Ellis: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Was that a birthday present?Mark Ellis: That was a Christmas present. That was the year when I bought my lovely, fantastic, gorgeous wife some diamond earrings, and she bought me some bootlaces. Kelly Molson: Wow.Mark Ellis: This was probably 15 or 20 years ago. She did tell me that she was busy making me something, I have no idea what, and I'm still waiting. So, the bootlaces are a classic.Kelly Molson: Okay. So, she bought you something to unwrap with the premise that there was something else coming.Mark Ellis: To be very fair, just before Christmas I broke a pair of bootlaces and my boots were held on with a knotted bit of string. So, it was practical and thoughtful, and considerate, and practical so it was a very good gift.Kelly Molson: This is what us women do, always thinking ahead, we knew that was going to happen. Mark, what is your unpopular opinion?Mark Ellis: Before that, Kelly, I've got an icebreaker for you, because I like to turn the tables. Your podcast is brilliant, and you have that uncanny knack of making it feel like it's just a chat between you, your guest, and a listener, and that pulls everybody in. So, if you could have coffee and a chat with one broadcaster, dead or alive, who would it be?Kelly Molson: Oh my gosh, I was not expecting to be tested this morning. Nobody's done this to me yet. Mark Ellis: I'm so sorry.Kelly Molson: Who would be the broadcaster I would sit down and speak to? There's quite a few that I can think of, but I'm going to go current, because I really love this person. I'm going to say Greg James, from the BBC Breakfast show. I know that I have stolen his unpopular opinion segment, which hopefully he won't find out about at any point. Or, maybe he will and he'll appreciate that I'm inspired by him. I just think he's great. I just think he's really fun. What he's done with that Breakfast show, he's completely transformed it. He's also a local lad. He's from Bishop's Stortford originally. I'm from Waltham Abbey, which is not too far, but we live in Saffron Walden now, and the office is in Sawbridgeworth. I feel like we would be friends because we're from the same kind of area, do you know what I mean?Mark Ellis: Excellent.Kelly Molson: We could sit down, have a pint, we should definitely be buddies, Greg, if you're listening.Mark Ellis: Brilliant, great choice. Well done, and sorry about that. I'll behave myself as a guest now.Kelly Molson: Too right as well, Mark. So you should. Mark Ellis: So, unpopular opinion. I thought long and hard about this, and didn't know whether to go with the incredibly trite, or something a bit more meaningful. And actually, somebody said something to me over the weekend that just sparked me going with this one. Which is, when people go with the customer service advice of, "Treat other people like you like to be treated yourself." Which, really winds me up. Because, do you know what? Why don't we treat other people like they want to be treated? So, if I treat everybody like I treat myself, then I'm going to disappoint an awful lot of people. My case in point would be, if I was running a restaurant, which I do as part of my job, I don't eat fish, I don't like fish, I've never liked fish. So, if I treat everyone like I want to treat myself, there'd be no fish on the menu, our incredibly popular Fish Friday would be a bit of a disappointment. So, don't treat people like you want to be treated yourself. Find out how they want to be treated and go with that.Kelly Molson: I love that. I've actually never thought of it that way, but you're absolutely right. Let's see what our listeners think. If you don't think that's an unpopular opinion, Tweet us.Mark Ellis: We'll have a Tweet war about it.Kelly Molson: Yeah, let's have a Tweet war about it. Thank you for sharing those, Mark, that's great.Mark Ellis: No problem. Kelly Molson: I'm going to ask a little bit about your background because it's quite interesting. You've been at Twycross Zoo, and English Heritage, and now you're at the National Memorial Arboretum. Can you tell us how you got to there, how you ended up there?Mark Ellis: There are two versions of this story. One, it was a bunch of random factors that ended up with where I am. Or, I can post-justify and describe a thought out plan all the way through. The truth is, when I was a little boy I wanted to drive one of those cranes with a ball and chain on that demolishes buildings. Never got that chance. So, ended up on a retail career path in high street retail, which was great. Worked for a company called Rohan for many years doing travel and outdoor clothing, absolutely loved it, really high service standards, really quality product, that was great, and really learnt some great customer service skills on that journey. Mark Ellis: Moved on from that. Tales of redundancy and all the rest of it that many people's careers involve. And, ended up moving to Twycross Zoo, as you say. Initially as Head of Retail, taking those [inaudible 00:08:07] high street retail experiences into the visitor attraction area. Twycross Zoo's not far from where I grew up, I've known it for many, many years. It's a place that's special in my heart. So, really, really enjoyed joining the team there. And, pretty quickly, realized that maybe the Guest Services Team could do with the benefit of some additional thinking. So, ended up running the Visitor Service department as well. That's really where I made the hop over from pure retail into visitor attractions. Had a great time there. Zoos are just fantastic places to work. You've got thousands of animals doing the hard job of keeping visitors happy, you're just making sure there's a great experience wrapped around that. Mark Ellis: Ended up moving on from there. Again, the financial crash of 2008, and restructuring, and all the rest of it. So, a bit of a hard hit on that one. And then, worked for PDSA, the pet vet charity, for a while. Which, really enabled me to put completer-finisher on my CV. Which, had been possibly missing up to that point. I'm sure some of my colleagues will smile at the thought that I needed to prove I was a completer-finisher, as I do tend to get slightly distracted by new and shiny things. Kelly Molson: Were you an ideas person?Mark Ellis: Yeah, very much so. A broad overview is the way I like to think of it. Managed a couple of projects for PDSA, and EPOS roll-outs, and reporting things. So, it's really detailed and good work with some brilliant people there.Mark Ellis: Then, got the chance... English Heritage had been through a period of not recruiting, they'd restructured what they were doing. And, I was in the first tranche of people they went out and recruited a new group in. Some really brilliant people at English Heritage, made some lifelong friends while I was working there. Met some of your previous guests, Paul Griffiths, for instance. We shared about three months together at English Heritage. I started just as he was going. And, really did enjoy that. Looked after an area from Peveril Castle, Castleton up in the Peak District, all the way across Norfolk, Suffolk, the East Midlands. So, a huge area, with everything from 5000-year-old flint mines, Grime's Graves in Thetford Forest, through to late-19th century windmills. So, really was the full breadth of English history. Thoroughly enjoyed that, and was settled to keep developing career there.Mark Ellis: And then, the opportunity at National Memorial Arboretum came up, they were looking for a Head of Commercial Operations at the time. I have to say, it took me about half a second to decide whether it was a jump I wanted to make. Again, Arboretum, 20 years anniversary this year of our official opening, so a relatively young site. And so, going from needle flint mines to an arboretum that's only 20 years old was quite a change. But, joined the team here, and working with, again, brilliant people, hopefully making a real impact on the way people remember and enjoy outdoor spaces, and think about the past.Kelly Molson: Great journey. I love that. I find it quite fascinating, listening to how people get to where they are, because it's always kind of a bit squiggly, and I quite like that. There's always a little bit of a twist and turn, it's never a straight line. Mark Ellis: I'm always slightly jealous, the people that say they thought about what they wanted to do when they were at school and they followed a progression and done it, in some ways, I think, "Well done you." But, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up, other than drive that crane with a ball and chain on it. We'll see what the future brings.Kelly Molson: I wanted to be a dancer. Mark Ellis: Well, there you go.Kelly Molson: I wanted to be a dancer on the West End stage. When I was younger I was really into tap dancing, and modern, and acrobatics and stuff like that. And, I thought, "That's what I'll do. I'll be on the West End stage and I'll be a tap dancer." But then, you start to get a bit older and you're like, "I'm a bit of an average tap dancer, and I'm 5'2, it's probably never going to happen." Mark Ellis: When we get together to do this big group dance, you're really going to show me up with my dad dancing, aren't you?Kelly Molson: Oh gosh. Do you know what? The last time I put on a pair of tap shoes I was about 21. I decided to go back and do it as a fitness thing and it was really fun. I could make a lot of noise with the Blakey's on the bottoms of my shoes right now, but I don't know if I could pull off any tap moves. Let's see when it happens. Kelly Molson: If our listeners have never been to the NMA, tell us a little bit about what it is and what we can expect to find there?Mark Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. It's something that never comes over that well in the telling. It's a site that people have to come and really experience to appreciate. So, that's a very open invitation to all your listeners from around the globe to head over to Staffordshire and come and find us. Entry is free, so we're here ready to welcome you. What you'd find is 150 acres of relatively young woodland. 150 acres, to put it into context, if you're doing your Couch to 5K, then the 5K is about around the perimeter of the site. So, it's a nice, large site. Young Arboretum, an arboretum being a scientific collection of trees. So, we've got around 25,000 trees on-site, every indigenous species in the UK is here. And, we've got examples of trees from around the world as well.Mark Ellis: Dotted throughout the trees you'll find, it's now around 400 memorials to people that have served, and sacrificed, and have been lost on behalf of those of us that are still here. About 75% of the memorials are Armed Forces related, and around 25% are civilian organisations, that includes police, fire, ambulance. We've got things like the WI, Salvation Army, Scouting. So, we cover a very broad spectrum. The military ones cover specific campaigns, cover specific regiments and associations. And, we're also very proud to be the home of the Armed Forces Memorial, which is the national memorial to all of our Armed Forces who have served and sacrificed. And, that has carved onto the walls the names of the 16,000 members of Armed Forces that have lost their lives in active service or through acts of terrorism since the end of the Second World War. So, a very, very special place, and very poignant.Mark Ellis: It's easy for that to sound like it's a slightly sombre place, and certainly, it is a place where people do come and reflect and remember because the final part of remembrance is generally happy memories. We think about those that we've lost, and always brings a smile to the face to remember the good times. And, that's very much what the arboretum is. It's a living memorial. It's a growing memorial. It's ever-developing. It's ever-changing. And, when people leave the site, they often use words like uplifting, and life-affirming, and joyous. Mark Ellis: We have around 250 volunteers, and they really do bring the arboretum to life, all about storytelling. Without the stories, it's just memorials in woodland, and it's the stories behind those memorials that really do tug at the heart, and make people smile, and make people laugh, and make people cry, and other things that are so important. Our volunteers do a great job of telling those stories, and it's always done with a smile and a twinkle in the eye, and remembering some great times in amongst some amazing stories of heroism, and service, and sacrifice. Mark Ellis: So, it's a very special place. We try to operate in the best possible way. We've got a couple of award-winning buildings on-site, our Remembrance Center, our Visitor Center with a large restaurant, a shop, our dedicated classrooms is very special. We've got our Chapel of Peace and Reconciliation, which was the first building on-site where we're the only place in the country that holds the Act of Remembrance on a daily basis. The building I'm talking to you from at the moment is our Events and Conference building, which opened in Autumn 2018. Which, is a state of the art, bespoke conference and events facility as well. Where we can host events for those that are carrying out remembrance activities, but also opens up corporate hire activities, and those important come streams as well.Kelly Molson: I have to say, if we do a live Skip the Queue conference, that is where it will be held, Mark, isn't it? We've already had that mini discussion.Mark Ellis: Brilliant, absolutely, the offer's there. And, the coffee's great.Kelly Molson: I have to say, it comes across what you were talking about in terms of it being a place of remembrance, but also a place of celebration, that comes across really well on your website. I haven't actually had the opportunity to visit the centre yet. It is something that we've had this conversation about, about doing a little bit of a group visit, haven't we? With some of the other Skip the Queue podcast guests, which I'm sure we'll arrange for later on in the year. But, it really does come across. It's a beautiful, beautiful venue. And, it does come across as somewhere really, really special. And, I think that that's important to get that message across, that it is very much about remembrance, but also very much about celebration as well. For me, it doesn't have a sombre feel to it, the way that you present it and the way that you talk about it. And, I think that helps to draw more people to come to it, right?Mark Ellis: Yeah. I think you're absolutely right, Kelly, and thanks for the feedback from an expert on the website. In the words of our Founder, back in the mid-90s, we were always designed to be a place that commemorates lives lost and celebrates lives lived. It's getting that balance right. And, of course, a lot of that is very personal and depends on each individual on where they are in their particular journey. The feedback we get suggests that we generally get that balance pretty much right, and we're really pleased to be able to provide that for people.Kelly Molson: Let's go back to what you were talking about, about stories, because I think that ties in really well with something that I'd like to talk to you about today. You've recently launched a brand new app experience, and I love the name of this, very clever. It's called The ARboretum. Hello? Good use of pun there. It's an augmented reality experience, and it takes families on a journey to learn about everyday heroes. This sounds fabulous. Going back to our first season of the podcast, we had Alex Book on, from Arcade, who is an augmented reality, virtual reality specialist organisation. And, they talked a lot about how your guests... No, you don't call them guests, call them players, because you're getting them to interact with the building and the environment that they come to. It's such an interesting concept. I just love what you've done with this because it is a really fun interactive way of sharing those stories about the heroes that are part of that place that you're at. How did this come about? Where did the idea for this start?Mark Ellis: "Need is the mother of invention", is the phrase I'm just trying to get my head around. We've always done Easter activities on-site, put some budget aside and do something to attract people in. Those are often built around a trail. A lot of our memorials have animals on them, so we'll do an opportunity for children to go around, find the animals, put together an anagram, and come back and grab their little chocolate treat from the welcome desk, always very popular. What works really well with that, is getting families to interact with the memorials as part of the activity. And, that's very much what drives a lot of what we do, is trying to make sure there's authenticity in there, and it gives people an opportunity to learn more about the site.Mark Ellis: So, at the start of this year, of course, in January we'd just gone into that extra lockdown, and it was a pretty bleak time, wasn't it?Kelly Molson: Mm-hmm (affirmative).Mark Ellis: And, we were talking about what we were going to do at Easter, when we had no idea what sort of numbers we'd be able to attract on-site. But, we still wanted something that would enable people to engage. And, our Head of Participation and Learning, a chap called Chris Ansell, who is a genius, came up with a brilliant idea of actually taking that budget, and instead of spending it on a physical manifestation on-site, which perhaps we wouldn't be able to get people on-site to involve, said, "Let's go digital." And, went away and came up with the idea of augmented reality. I can't remember who first came up with the ARboretum idea.Kelly Molson: Very clever.Mark Ellis: As you say, it was an inspired piece of naming. And, it does very much the same thing. There are three characters in the app, Blu, Kit, and Sam. They are 13 to 15 probably, so they're pitched for slightly younger kids. It's that aspirational age of the 9, 10, 11-year-olds really want to be the 13, 14, 15-year-olds. We've given them a little bit of a backstory. So, Blu is probably connected to somebody that served in the Armed Forces, doesn't necessarily articulate that, but she's really interested in memorialization and the site from that aspect. We've got Kit, they are a very eco-centred person, they like to be out in the woods. They're probably more interested in the bugs, and the birds, and all the rest of it. And, you have to work quite hard to get their loyalty and their friendship. But, once you've got that they're going to be incredibly loyal and friendly towards you. And then, we've got Sam, and he's the get in there and do it, action-first, think later. He happens to have a prosthetic leg, but that doesn't stop him getting stuck in and doing things. Probably, if there's something going a bit wrong and a bit right, it's probably Sam that's in the middle of that.Mark Ellis: So, we created these characters. And then, we've created eight locations around the site where there's a visual thing that you scan with your phone. And, one, or two, or three of the characters pop up and they get you to do an activity. Some of those are centred around the woodland. There's one where there's wellbeing, it encourages you to do some forest bathing and listening to the sounds around you. There's some that's very much based on reflections at memorials. So, in our poppy glade, you're read out a poem about loss and memorialisation. And, you think about and talk to the rest of your group about what that means to you. And then, some are very physical. On The Beat, which is an area dedicated to the police. You do a beep test, so you do shuttle runs, you've got a minute, in times, and you can see how many shuttles runs you can do. There's hide and seek, there's some puzzle solving. So, there's a real mixture, something for everybody. And, of course, something that ties into the things that each of the three characters likes. You can take photos through the app, and then tag those and upload them onto social media as well. So, it really is a good way of getting people to move around the site, take them to some areas where perhaps people don't normally find things and interact. You can come back and do them again.Mark Ellis: And, the really good thing is, we launched this at Easter, so normally that budget that we spend on Easter Activities... We'll do peak activity of the Easter Weekend, and then a little bit more of the two weeks in school holidays. And, we have the added complication, we're right on the border of four counties here, and they all have different school holidays. So, the Easter holiday actually spans three weeks of time. I'm sure we're not the only people with that complication. With this, we took that money and we've run the app from Easter, and we'll finish it at the end of June, just after Armed Forces Day, which is a big weekend for us. So, it's covered a three month period. And, it's in the bag, we can always bring it back out and run it again in the future. And also, we have the three characters who, you never know, might feature in activities and on-site interpretation in the future. My aspiration is we'll have models of them that appear in the shop at some time.Kelly Molson: I love that. I love that there's that longevity to this thing that you've created. I had no idea about how difficult that would be to plan your activities around all those different Easter holidays as well. But also, it feels like it's something that could just run, and run, and run. You've put a window on it that it's going to end in... Did you say June it's going to come to an end?Mark Ellis: Yeah, end of June. Kelly Molson: But, that's something that, potentially, people would engage with all year round, depending on when they come to the site. It's lovely that you've been able to invest so well in something that you can bring back, and you can bring back year on year and maybe tweak and stuff.Mark Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. One of the really nice things as well, I think the characters are very authentic. As I said, they've all got that backstory, they've got very different personalities, I think they're all relatable in different ways. And, we actually got a young person to design them. We wrote a design brief, and a young person got hold of that and she produced some characters which we had a look at, and thought, "Do you know what? She's pretty much nailed that." So then, worked with the app developer and designers, and they came back to her on several occasions and used her designs going forward. That's a bit of a Skip the Queue exclusive.Kelly Molson: Ooh.Mark Ellis: I'm really proud because I know that young person particularly well. It was my daughter that actually did those initial designs. It's really great. And, something that really excites me, is each of the characters has some form of a particular characteristic within their story. And, it's such a non-issue for... My daughter's 13, 14 next week, and it's such a non-issue. You want people of a different ethnic background, or you want somebody that's got a disability, or you want someone that's non-binary, "Yeah, fine, this is what they're going to look like." And, that's the real hope for the future, isn't it? It is that, hopefully, as we pass onto future generations... And, part of what we do here is passing on the baton of remembrance to future generations, so we're very engaged with working with young people. Is hopefully, that acceptance of things that older generations have had to work hard to understand.Kelly Molson: Yeah, absolutely. I think what's really interesting is that you've actually engaged with someone of that age to say, "What would you want to see? How would you want these characters to be?" Because that's something that I think potentially a lot of organisations don't necessarily do. We're all guilty of it. We design a website and we're testing it, but we're not potentially the user who should be testing it. So, you need to think broadly about who your audience is and how you engage with them from the start of a project like this.Mark Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. I'm a proud dad, and it was purely chance. Working at home, I just said to her, "Look at this brief, what do you think?" But, it was the next stages that really were the eyeopener for me. When the initial designs came back we showed them to her, and it was just the little things. Particularly it was Blu, the girl character that was designed first, and Harriet, my daughter, was, "The eyes are just a little bit too big, and the lips are just a bit too full." And effectively, it wasn't childlike enough. It was a slightly more Disneyfied aspirational image that perhaps isn't healthiest for us to be pursuing. It was subtle. It was a great design, we just signed it off and it would have been fine. But, getting a younger person just to shape that final design, I think really has given it that added layer of authenticity, and we're very proud of what we've ended up with.Kelly Molson: You should be. I think it's fantastic. Mark Ellis: But, the real see was Chris' idea to come up with it in the first place, and to make the app work so well, and tie it into the authenticity of the memorial. That's what makes it a really special thing. Kelly Molson: Completely. I've got a list of questions here that I wanted to ask you, why an app? Why augmented reality? But, you've answered them so perfectly, in the sense that you had these challenges, and actually, this digital application that you've developed solved those challenges. It solved the issue of the various different Easter holidays that you've got. You've now got something that's got longevity to it. You've got something that people are really engaging with. Kelly Molson: To ask you about what the objectives were to start with, my assumption is that it was about engaging people with the different aspects of what the arboretum means to people, those stories behind it. And, like you say, getting them to explore areas that they might not necessarily always go to. If they're coming back time after time they might have their favourite places. What do you think that the impact or the results of that have been so far? Is it a bit too early to tell? Or can you see?Mark Ellis: We've had some really positive feedback. We've had some really good download numbers, so it's reached a large number of people. Not enough, because like everybody else, we've not got enough people on our sites at the moment, with static constraints in place. And it's strange, is judging things not necessarily on the straight metrics that you use in the old world, of actually, "What does good look like now?" We've had some really good feedback. We've seen people looking at some memorials in a bit more detail. We've had people. Dwell time is up on-site. People just saying, "It's been great, the kids have loved it. It's given us something to do." We don't charge for it, it's a free app and a free to enter the site. It's got that educational twist to it as well as being fun. I think it's ticked a lot of boxes. But, actually just seeing kids run up and down seeing how many shuttles runs they can do in a minute is great to see.Kelly Molson: I'm definitely going to test that out when I come. Because it might be a little bit later on in the year, can we just reactivate it for that day when we come because I want to do the shuttle runs?Mark Ellis: Yeah, of course, we can, for you, Kelly, absolutely. There is a rather sad picture kicking around somewhere that Chris took of me doing the shuttle runs in the rain when we were testing it. Dedication to the cause.Kelly Molson: I think we need to see that on Twitter. We need to see that on Twitter, Mark. Mark Ellis: I'll see if I can drag it out.Kelly Molson: If there's no photos then it didn't happen.Mark Ellis: Fair point. Kelly Molson: What tips could you offer, if there is any organisations that are thinking about investing in this technology, for whatever challenges they have that they want to overcome? What would be a few tips that you could give them about how you would approach that process?Mark Ellis: I think it's knowing what you want to get out of it first. We started with an idea that we could do, augmented reality, but then the next thing was sitting down and saying, "Who's it for? What are the characters? What are the backstories? What's authenticity? Which memorials?" So actually, we knew what we wanted to do with it before we went and engaged with something to deliver it. And, that meant that it was a very specific project scope when we went out to tender with it, we knew exactly what we wanted to get out of it. Which, probably stopped mission creep and somebody saying, "You could do this that and the other." And, it meant that when it came back the quality of the digital experience is really, really good, but we weren't chasing Pixar quality output from it. We knew it was delivering what we wanted. Mark Ellis: Probably not as expensive as perhaps people think. So, with that tight scope, it didn't cost much more than we'd normally spend on our Easter activities, with that added benefit of a bit of longevity in there. So yes, it does cost money, but it certainly wasn't a bank breaker. And, having a limited budget, when you go out to tender, gives people the opportunity to scope what they're going to give you against that. Mark Ellis: So, I think authentic, know what you want, and explore the financial possibilities. It might be more within reach than perhaps people think it is.Kelly Molson: That's really interesting. Mark Ellis: All this technology is becoming more accessible all the time, isn't it? So, there are opportunities out there. Kelly Molson: Yeah, it absolutely is. I think you're right, it's about scoping what you want and giving people the opportunity to say, "We can do this much of it for that budget", or, "We can do this much for that budget." It's kind of like a starting point, isn't it?Mark Ellis: Yeah.Kelly Molson: It's good that you said about don't be scared by new technology, because I think that there is still an element of overwhelm about. People don't understand how much digital costs, and there's still a lot of education that we could do around that, definitely from a web perspective. AR isn't anything that we do ourselves, but I think that it sounds quite frightening, doesn't it? It sounds like it's going to be a very big, expensive project. Where actually, what you've just described, seems quite manageable. Mark Ellis: This is where I shamelessly introduce other products into the conversation. It supports what we move onto, which we've just launched this week which will now run to the Autumn, which is our escape challenge. And again, this is Chris' idea, he really is a genius. Kelly Molson: You want to hold onto this Chris, he sounds great.Mark Ellis: Absolutely. He should come on and be a guest for you some time, Kelly. He's much better than me. But, Escape challenge. And again, this was necessity being the mother of invention, I said it right that time. Last year we wanted something to bring people onto site, experiences, escape rooms, massive growth. So, actually taking the escape room concept and delivering it as an outdoor environment. So again, a series of memorials that you walk around with your puzzle book, there are clues at memorials, there are clues in your puzzle book. This is a paid-for one, so we charge people to do this. Two levels, one pretty tricky, but a family will probably work their way through it. The other one, pretty challenging. It's probably people that enjoy the odd cryptic crossword clue and those types of things. Takes two to three hours, eight clues. This year's based around everyday heroes and people that have worked in the emergency service, so it's based around the work the police do. We're dedicating the new UK Police Memorial on-site this year, which is a spectacular memorial worth coming to see. So, it's based around that. There's a gang planning a bank heist, and you're going to try and head them off at the pass, and solve the clues, and solve the crime. Mark Ellis: So, again, a real opportunity to learn more about memorials. You're looking for some really fine details of the memorials there, and some of the symbolism, and some of the stories. Perhaps, again, you've walked past it a dozen times and never noticed that, so it just gets people to look. And, that covers the RNLI, the Police, Fire Service, the Ambulance Service. So, a lot of the civilian organisations come through on this year's escape challenge. Kelly Molson: I love that.Mark Ellis: Available live now. It will be here when you come up, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Oh good. I'll do the easy one, obviously. I won't be doing that difficult one. Mark Ellis: We put a package together for corporate groups that want to come and do team building events here. There's a corporate package built around that escape challenge as well, which is a great way to get execs to come and scratch their heads as well.Kelly Molson: That's a really lovely idea as well actually, because you've mentioned quite a few times that the arboretum is free to visit, and actually a lot of these things that you're offering, they're free to do as well. So, the challenge for you is you need to drive revenue. You can't be based solely on donations. Charitable donations, difficult at the best of times to get from people. So, I think it's lovely that you're now starting to look at this, what you can offer people, and bringing different groups of people in to build that revenue base. It's really great.Mark Ellis: Yeah. generally works very well. Summer Proms is a good one as well in August. Tickets go on sale this week, so look out for that.Kelly Molson: He's getting all the plugs in. There's something else that I want to talk to you about as well. Thank you for sharing all of that.Mark Ellis: You're welcome.Kelly Molson: I think that will be really useful for any organisation that is thinking about going through that process. Kelly Molson: You've just announced something which I think is super, super wonderful, and I'd love to hear a bit more about it. It's just been announced that in partnership with The National Forest, you're going to be creating a memorial woodland. Which, is a new woodland to commemorate all of the lives that have been lost during the pandemic. How amazing. Mark Ellis: It's a privilege to be involved in a project like this. The last 12 months or so, of course, have been tough on absolutely everybody, and it's a tragedy that's still unfolding. It is difficult. And, there is a time when people want to come together and remember and reflect. The memorial woodland is very much designed for everyone that's lost their lives as a result of COVID. That includes the people that have missed diagnosis, haven't had treatment, have had their mental health irreparably damaged by it. So, it's not just the people that tragically lost their lives because of Coronavirus. The number of civilians that lost their lives through Coronavirus is now twice the number of civilians that lost their lives in the UK in World War 2. It's massive.Mark Ellis: We're very fortunate. We're in The National Forest, which is across this part of the midlands, a project that's been running for 30 or so years to reforest this area. In this area, we had a lot of clay pits, mining, those kinds of things. They're all being turned into country parks now. It's a lovely part of the midlands. We've got a long-lasting relationship with The National Forest Company. They'd been asked about what they might want to do for memorialisation. And, right back at the very start of Coronavirus, people were contacting us and saying, "What can you do? What will you do? What can be done?" Mark Ellis: Fortunately, at around the time, Tarmac, who are our neighbours, they're quarrying the land around us. And, the land we're on used to be their quarry and we had it off them in the mid-1990s on a 999-year lease on a peppercorn rent. There are 25 acres that sit right next to our site that they finished working with, it's been inert for a decade or so, it's scrubland, and silk washing lakes. So, they've now very kindly gifted that over to us as well, likewise, on a 980-year lease on a peppercorn rent, which has been fabulous of them. So, that's given us 25 acres where we can create the memorial woodland. And, our aspiration is very much to make it a living memorial, something that becomes very special. Mark Ellis: There will be memorial woodlands all over the country, and absolutely there should be. And, what we want to do is to create something here that is memorable, is special, is living, is developing. There are so many stories that have come out of the last 12 months, the experience of all the key workers, the experience of the NHS people, the experience of those in care homes, the experience of children who've missed going round to friend's houses and play and have missed the rites of passage of end of year school plays. So, so many different stories, and try and bring those together in a living memorial. Somewhere too, I've said it before, I'll say it again, commemorate lives lost and celebrate lives lived. And, create something that really works in a very special way. Mark Ellis: We want it to include reflection areas, multi-faith or people of no faith can come and reflect as well. And actually, Westminster Abbey are supporting us as well. We will be holding service there in the Autumn to dedicate trees that represent all the different faiths from around the commonwealth. So, there will be a service there that will dedicate those, and those will be some of the very first trees that will be planted in the new woodland. So, it's a wonderful opportunity. We're working very hard to make sure that it's suitable and fitting for everybody.Kelly Molson: I think that you could not have picked a more perfect location for it as well. It's really interesting, the things that we've talked about today sum up exactly what the arboretum stands for. We've talked about these really fun engaging ways to look at the stories that you have there and celebrate the land and the people. And then, we have this wonderful memorial wood that's going to be developed to really commemorate everything that's happened in the past 15, 16 months. It's fabulous.Mark Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. That woodland will be very poignant and very special, but we also want it to be a place of joy and hope as well. And, hope, and looking forward, and rebirth, and regrowth. President Biden said in his inaugural speech about healing and remembrance going together, and that's what we want to do. I'm very hopeful that in the future will be a woodland where, as well as the opportunity to reflect and remember, there'll be the opportunity to enjoy and have fun, and play, and celebrate as well.Kelly Molson: Sounds perfect. When does the work start? What're the timeframes?Mark Ellis: The work started a wee while ago. Kelly Molson: It's in progress already, great.Mark Ellis: Absolutely. We signed the lease on the land within the last couple of weeks, so we're surveying the land at the moment, and seeing what's there and what we need to do. We're hoping to, with The National Forest Company, start a public engagement piece this Autumn to really get to understand what people want from it and what people's hopes and aspirations would be for space. And then, probably start the work at the backend of 2022, with a view to having visitor's feet on the ground sometime in 2023. So, in arboreal terms, quite a short timescale. Hopefully from this Autumn, we'll be able to talk about people. And, there is an area on our website dedicated to it, so if people want to know more or want the opportunity to get involved, pop to the National Memorial Arboretum website. There's a Contact Us form, specifically for the memorial woodland on there as well. We'll be absolutely delighted to have conversations with people. And, even just going out and public talking about it, that's already opened up some really great conversations with lots of different groups that perhaps we normally wouldn't get a chance to speak to. So, it's already beginning to develop its own opportunities and create interesting conversations for us.Kelly Molson: I love that. Mark, you've done my work for me, because what I was going to say is what we do is put all of the links to all of these things that we've talked about today into the show notes. So, we'll have links to that specific page where you can get involved and find out a little bit more about what's happening there.Mark Ellis: Fabulous. Kelly Molson: And, we'll put links to Mark himself, so you can find him on Twitter, and you find him on LinkedIn. And, everything, again, that we've talked about today, you'll be able to find in the show notes.Kelly Molson: Mark, we always end the podcast by asking our guest to share a book. It can be a book that's helped shape your career in some way, or a book that you just love. So, what have you got for us today?Mark Ellis: I know, Kelly, it upsets you when people go with more than one book, doesn't it? Because, it breaks your marketing budget. So, I've got 43 recommendations for you. The first 41 of which, are books that I love, it's the Terry Pratchett Discworld series. Kelly Molson: Okay, that's fine.Mark Ellis: Don't put those on your list, that really would break the bank. But, I love the Discworld books. I love the slanted way he looks at the world. There are not many management meetings where I probably don't quote Granny Weatherwax, or Sam Vimes, or somebody at some point, so love those. The other 42 and 43, one is Tom Peters, The Brand You 50, which is a small book that Tom Peters has done. It's been out for quite a while now, might have been the late 90s. But effectively, it's saying think about yourself as a brand. It's got 50 tips in there for how you build your own personal brand. And, I found that very useful, having switched jobs a few times, of actually saying, "These are my core values. This is what I hold dear to me. That's what you get from Mark Ellis." It helps when you're looking at new opportunities of saying, "Is the cultural fit going to be right? I know what I want out of a role." And, making sure the interview is a two-way process, and it's going to tick the boxes for me. So, that's one.Mark Ellis: The other one, which perhaps will be the one that you might want to put on your, "I want Mark's book". It's a book called Why We Buy, by Paco Underhill. Paco Underhill is an American. He's done a whole bunch of research on customer's behaviour, particularly in retail. I first came across this book in my retail years, but it absolutely carries through into visitor attractions. He talks an awful lot about signage placement and product placement. And, if a gondola in a shop is just six inches too far out, then when you bend over to pick things off the bottom people are going to brush past your backside as you're shopping. So, actually observing that and moving it six inches might increase sales of that gondola massively. He talks about signage and being shown a sign for an airport somewhere in a boardroom and saying, "That's no good", and taking it out and standing in the middle of busy concourse, and leaning it up against a wall and saying, "Now can we see if that sign works?" So, it's a great book for that. Mark Ellis: I have to say, the prose style irritates me greatly. So, Paco, if you're listening, sorry about that. It's done in a very narrative way, and it's probably slightly condescending in places, and it's a really quick read. I first read it probably 25 years ago, and I refer back to it on a pretty regular basis, in terms of those core messages. So, Why We Buy, by Paco Underhill would be my recommendation.Kelly Molson: Let's give that one away then, Mark, because that sounds really relevant. So, as ever, if you head over to our Twitter account and you retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want Mark's book", then you'll be in with a chance of winning it. Good choice with the Discworld as well, I have to say, good choice. My great-auntie Doris, who my extremely naughty Dachshund is named after, she was a huge Terry Pratchett fan. I grew up with those books and reading them with her, and they bring back some really lovely, lovely memories when you talk about them. So, thank you for putting that in my head today. Mark Ellis: No worries.Kelly Molson: Also weirdly, my dad got... I don't know why I'm sharing this with you today, but my dad was mistaken for Terry Pratchett one night. We took him and my mum out for drinks, and the barmaid came over and said, "You're him, aren't you? You're Terry Pratchett." And, dad was like, "I think he's dead." Mark Ellis: That's awesomely cool though. Kelly Molson: "It's not me." He does look a little bit like him, I have to say. Mark Ellis: You see, that could be a plot from one of the stories, couldn't it?Kelly Molson: Could be, yeah. My dad reincarnated as Terry Pratchett, that's quite odd. It's because he's a hat wearer and he's got a beard. Mark Ellis: There you go, that's all it takes.Kelly Molson: Anyway, don't know why that came out, but thank you for putting that in my head as well. Mark, it's been so lovely to chat with you today, I've really enjoyed it. I think there are some wonderful things that are happening at your attraction, and I cannot wait to come and see it and meet you in real life. Mark Ellis: Thanks for having me, Kelly. As I've said before, you're welcome up here any time at all, look forward to seeing you.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five-star review, it really helps others find us. And, remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions, that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode, and more, over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

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The Show Must Go On

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2021 34:22

We begin season 10 of the Portal with a little background info on Medieval Gnome Productions. Then, the one and only Granny Weatherwax has a conversation with Ponder Stibbons, which he passed along to us, which includes some sage advice about dog-walking and some commentary on those perennial Discworld Favorites, The Joye of Snackes (a.k.a. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook) and Where's My Cow. Then we ponder the travels of Nanny and Granny, in both Witches Abroad and (since the show must go on) Maskerade. This exposition includes the truth about Nanny's special chocolate sauce (at least from Granny's perspective.) Come join our Discord community, Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions! Just go to the main Discord page and enter “Friends of Medieval Gnome Productions.” Alternatively, you can use this link: https://discord.gg/45JxBKUYuA. Btw, it costs nothing to join the server, and there's a lot of exclusive content on there.You can also pop onto our Patreon page if you're in the mood to underwrite the efforts of Medieval Gnome Productions (or just want to see some more exclusive content). There's also patron-only content there. Here's the URL. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true A thousand thank you's to Susan Alexander for providing the voice of Granny Weatherwax. A true random act of kindness. You're a peach, Susan.The Turtle MovesMind How You GoGNU Terry Pratchett Copyright 2021 Medieval Gnome Productions

Maskerade

Unseen Academicals: A Discworld and Pratchett Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2021 93:21

Maskerade! Every face a different shade... after reading Nanny Ogg's new cookbook, that is. Seeking unpaid royalties (and a young witch to replace newly married Magrat), Nanny and Granny head to Ankh-Morpork. They experience Culture, commit shenanigans, and consider questions of morality. Meanwhile, when Sir Terry isn't making her the butt of every single fat joke he can think of, Agnes Nitt has a journey of self-exploration, feeling the twin pull of the life she wants as Perdita X Nitt, famous opera singer, and the life she knows as Agnes the witch-in-potentia.Because this is vaguely Phantom of the Opera (actually a little less than we thought woops), we invited our good friend Coast to join us (noted Phantom expert and Locked Tomb fanatic). Coast is a person who gets excited about things on the internet. Sometimes fan-artist/writer/long-winded babbler. Can be found @coasterchild on Twitter.Check us out on twitter at @atuin_podHelp us keep the lights on via our Patreon!Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, and @JustenwritesWe can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.pageOur art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.Take a Chance by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4457-take-a-chanceFuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-paradeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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4A – Witches Abroad - Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2021 108:55 Transcription Available

Episode 4A of Unseen Academicals, discussing the third book in the Witches Series, Witches Abroad (1991), and using it to explore the characterisation of Magrat and her tension with Granny Weatherwax, crises of identity, homoerotic familiars, fairy godmothers, how fairytales shape culture, way too much about Sleeping Beuaty and The Wizard of Oz, a bit of Shrek, and, uh... dildos. Lot's of dildos. Nanny Ogg would be proud (we hope!).The sound on this one is actually pretty good! There's an intermittent thumping sound that shows up now and then, I've done my best to minimise it and I've found speeding up the podcast to 1.2x or 1.5x speed smooths it out a lot. Referenced transcripts: independentresearcher.academia.edu/JoshuaBulleid/Podcasts Contact: unseenacademicalspod@gmail.com Alice's other podcast, Of the Devil's Party: https://ofthedevilsparty.sounder.fm/ Support: patreon.com/doctorprometheuspod

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Eeek Club 2021

Who Watches the Watch: A Discworld Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2021 99:27

Welcome to a new tradition: the Pratchat Eeek Club! Each year, on the Glorious 25th of May, we will release a bonus episode discussing topics selected by our Eeek tier subscribers. This year, the topics are: How would Ankh-Morpork deal with COVID-19?What would happen if Granny Weatherwax was head of Unseen University - or if Angua commanded the Watch?Are golems alive? (For that matter, is fire alive?)How has Pratchett and/or the Discworld informed our personal philosophies?If Pratchett had kept writing the Discworld series, would it have evolved into science fiction?

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Episode 21: Witchery Science Theater 3000

The Disc-Course

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2021 99:10

This week our hosts start Wyrd Sisters; we're reintroduced to Granny Weatherwax, this time joined by Nanny Ogg who fucks and Magrat who doesn't know what fucking is. The witches have a baby foisted upon them, the son of a murdered king; and things are downright Shakespearean.This week in The Disc-Course: ugly babies, the Timothee Chalamet of thunderstorms, Assigned Nu-Metal at Birth, cringe grimoire, Julie will remember this, grand theft baby, just found out about death, exposition ghost, the witch zone, two and a half kings, Felmet power couple, the Fools guild, local sex-haver and also witch, ugly ugly crowns, local theatre, Macbeth turned up to 11, impulse buying, gunpla granny, three person memes, and Greebo.For those playing along at home: Read up to page 119 in Wyrd Sisters (depending on your edition of the book), ending on the line: "But a witch would certainly come looking for her cat--wouldn't she?"-----You can email us at thedisccoursepod@gmail.com, follow the show @thedisccourse on twitter, or find us in the phonebook under Zlorf!Our theme music is by Maxie Satan; find her on bandcamp at Pastel Hand Grenade. She rules. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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#1 – Amanita Phalloides Nutz (Lords and Ladies Pt. 1)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2021 118:03

Episode Notes ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides) We're reading books again! You like it! Let's talk about Granny Weatherwax! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whowatchesthewatch Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/rZzbbQp Other Shows: https://goodepisodeproductions.carrd.co/#shows Support Who Watches the Watch: A Discworld Podcast by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/who-watches-the-watch This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

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Mistress Weatherwax

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2021 18:57

We're fortunate to be able to bring you, through the medium of the CNN (the Clacks News Network) and with the assistance of Ponder Stibbons and Lao Tze, the inimitable Mistress Esmerelda “Granny” Weatherwax.What more need we say? This week's question for the Season 8 contest is: “Who was Galder Weatherwax, what was his relationship to Granny Weatherwax, and how did he meet his end?” Remember to support the work of Medieval Gnome Productions, which produces The GEM Show in addition to the Portal, by sending a one-time PayPal donation to randy@mindkindle.net, or by visiting our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true. randy@mindkindle.net is also the place to send your answers to the quiz questions. We are deeply grateful to Susan Alexander for providing the voice of Granny for this episode. A thousand thank you's, Susan! GNU Terry PratchettThe Turtle Moves

Lords & Ladies

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2021 102:43

It's a warm midsummer as the three Lancre witches return home, but things are going to turn chilly on many fronts. Marital strife, coven conflicts, and the actual Fae combine in the best Witch book yet in the series. Also the first one where pTerry specifically recommends reading earlier books before diving in.It should be noted that Justen now knows enough Discworld to point out that the wizards didn't summon Death to solve their problems in this wizard-containing story. And the Luggage has been supplanted by the Librarian as their favorite. Which, honestly, is valid.The intro voice is provided by @AaronCatanoSaez and you should hire him for voice work.Check us out on twitter at @atuin_podFollow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, and @JustenwritesWe can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.pageOur art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.Take a Chance by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4457-take-a-chanceFuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-paradeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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I Can See Middle Earth From Here

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2021 19:04

A gnomic look at Middle Earth through the lens of the Discworld, featuring a gastronomic metaphor. We're also pleased to announce that we will have Granny Weatherwax with us via the Dearheart/Cheik Clacks News Network, as it is formally known. In addition, we have contracted with The Ankh Morpork Times to re-broadcast shows they produce for the Disc's CNN. This week's question for the Season 8 contest is: “Who retrieved the One Ring from the Great River (Anduin)?” Remember to support the work of Medieval Gnome Productions, which produces The GEM Show in addition to the Portal, by sending a one-time PayPal donation to randy@mindkindle.net, or by visiting our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true.GNU Terry PratchettThe Turtle Moves

#Pratchat39 – All the Fun of the…Fish?

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2021 92:19

We're kicking off the Year of the Beleaguered Badger with something a little different: an international guest, and a short story! Unofficial Pratchett biographer Marc Burrows joins us from the UK to discuss the third Discworld short story: 1998's The Sea and Little Fishes! Without much else but the carefully applied annoyances of Nanny Ogg to occupy her time, Granny Weatherwax is ready to win the annual Witch Trial - just as she does every year. But Lettice Earwig, self-appointed leader of a sort of witch committee, has decided this is discouraging new witches, and asks Granny not to participate. She also tells Granny to try being "nice" - and the worst part is, Granny appears to be taking her advice... Very long for a short story, The Sea and Little Fishes delves into the relationship between two of Pratchett's most beloved characters, and introduces people and concepts he'd later expand upon in the Tiffany Aching novels. In a sense it's a story in which almost nothing happens, but then that's largely the point - someone like Granny Weatherwax hardly has to do anything at all to move mountains. Where did you read it? What do you think of the title? And how long can a story be while still being considered "short"??? Let us know! Use the hashtag #Pratchat39 on social media to join the conversation. Guest Marc Burrows is a writer, musician and comic. His articles and reviews about music and culture have appeared in The Guardian and a variety of other publications, but he's currently best known as the author of the first, unofficial Terry Pratchett biography, The Magic of Terry Pratchett, which you can learn all about at askmeaboutterrypratchett.com. He is also a member of the band The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, and has two upcoming non-fiction books about music. The best place to find Marc online is as @20thcenturymarc on Twitter and Instagram, and you can sign up to his newsletter "The Glom of Nit" via tinyletter.com. You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site. We plan to cover short stories once or twice a year to help us all keep up with the schedule, in part because our original plan - to cover them as live shows - hasn't worked out this last year. But next month it's back to the Discworld novels, and the Watch, with The Fifth Elephant - and we're welcoming back one of our earliest guests, Richard McKenzie! Send us your questions via email, or social media using the hashtag #Pratchat40. Want to make sure we get through every Pratchett book - and maybe make a few more live episodes like this? You can support Pratchat for as little as $2 a month and get subscriber bonuses, like the exclusive bonus podcast Ook Club!

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Tis the Season

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2020 29:35

A special holiday episode of the Portal. Some reflections on holiday cheer, seasonal music, and the spirit of giving. You can give to the Portal at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=trueor by sending us a PayPal donation (to randy@mindkindle.net).A big thank you to Susan Alexander (https://www.facebook.com/Susan.Woodcarver) for providing the voice of Granny Weatherwax. The Turtle Moves

Episode 12: The Gender Fluid

The Disc-Course

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2020 101:32

Today we say goodbye to Equal Rites; in the thrilling conclusion, Granny and Archchancellor Cutangle must brave the grody river Ankh to recover Esk's staff; meanwhile, Esk and Simon face off against the creatures from the dungeon dimensions and learn that with magic, as with gender, the only winning move is not to play.Today in the Disc-Course: Fuck Julie, a real kid move, sorcer-lore, a magic duel, two kind of people, snake world, the icy lot, Holly's first word, a stern talking to, The Trans Experience, Mr. Treatle said, basketball wizard, just don't use the nukes, As Told By Gemger, Gmod physics, and Cringe House.Check out the Extra Life here!For those playing along at home: Read up to page 77 in Mort (depending on your edition of the book), ending on the line: "Granny Weatherwax's Ramrub Invigoratore and Passion's Philter, Onne Spoonful Onlie before bed and that Smalle."-----You can email us at thedisccoursepod@gmail.com, follow the show @thedisccourse on twitter, or find us in the phonebook under Zlorf!Our theme music is by Maxie Satan; find her on bandcamp at Pastel Hand Grenade. She rules. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Witches Abroad

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2020 108:23

Magrat inherits the duties of a fairy godmother, and obviously Granny and Nanny come along to make sure the wedding is adequately broken up. There is a wonderful "British tourists on the Continent" storyline, some extremely funny murder-cat moments, the Disc's second-greatest lover, the first appearance of Dwarf Bread... and then Sir Terry decides to incorporate Voodoo as a major plotline, which is unfortunate to put it mildly. We discuss this as well as four people outside the religious and cultural practice of Voodoo can, but if this topic is upsetting, please take that into account.An image of Patch(Wolverine) who may be an inspiration for HumanGreebo?Check us out on twitter at @atuin_podFollow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenwritesWe can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.pageOur art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.Take a Chance by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4457-take-a-chanceFuzzball Parade by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5044-fuzzball-paradeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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#Pratchat36 – Home Alone, But Vampires

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2020 144:50

Star of the stage Gillian Cosgriff joins Liz and Ben to cower in fear before that most horrifying of beasts: the magpie! Yes, it's time for the twenty-third Discworld novel, 1998's Carpe Jugulum. The new princess of Lancre has been officially named! But all has not gone well: new priest Mightily Oats took Queen Magrat's notes on the naming a little too literally. King Verence has been a little too liberal with which nobility he invited. And most worryingly of all, Granny Weatherwax - supposed to be the baby's godmother - is nowhere to be found. As the forward-looking Count de Magpyr and his family effortlessly dominate the wills of all about them (with the notable exception of two-minded Agnes Nitt), can the fractured witches pull together a full coven and save the day? And what on the Disc is going on in the mews? The fifth and last of the books to star the original coven of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and now-Queen Magrat Garlick shakes things up even more than its predecessors. Young witch Agnes Nitt's inner voice is now a fully independent personality, while Nanny and Granny clash over their roles and responsibilities, and Magrat brings her child along to coven meetings. Pratchett also takes aim at every vampire tradition and cliche from curtain-twitching to shying away from holy symbols, pitting the modern vampire against his more monstrous predecessors. And on top of that, he introduces two enduring fan favourites: the first of many Discworld Igors, and the tiny "pictsies" of the Nac mac Feegle! What did you you think? Does Carpe Jugulum make beautiful music? Is Pratchett's ongoing need to make fat jokes too distracting? When he came up with the idea of vampires who turn into and control magpies instead of bats, do you think he realised how horrifying that would seem to Australians? Use the hashtag #Pratchat36 on social media to join the conversation! Guest Gillian Cosgriff is an actor, singer and cabaret star most recently seen as part of the Australian cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Gill's career has included musical comedy, musical theatre and - as mentioned briefly in our Maskerade episode - opera! Find out more about her talents at gilliancosgriff.com, or you can look up some of her music on Youtube or buy her albums on Bandcamp. (Do so on a Bandcamp Friday if you want to make sure all your money goes to supporting the artist!) You can also follow Gill on Twitter at @gilliancosgriff. Next time, we finish off Pratchett's other children's trilogy as Johnny and his gang go out with a bang in Johnny and the Bomb. Joining us is returning guest, author Will Kostakis! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat37, or send us an email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com. You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

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181 - Small Gods

Page One

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2020 16:31

Taking a few minutes away from recording Page One In Review episodes, Charles Adrian talks about a particular kind of convalescent literature. More information and a transcript of this episode is at http://www.pageonepodcast.com/. “Unlike wizards, who like nothing better than a complicated hierarchy, witches don’t go in much for the structured approach to career progression. It’s up to each individual witch to take on a girl to hand the area over to when she dies. Witches are not by nature gregarious, at least with other witches, and they certainly don’t have leaders./Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn’t have.” from Weird Sisters by Terry Pratchett. You can read about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld The first Page One In Review episode, which is Page One 157, was recorded on the 18th of March, 2020. Ripley’s Game by Patricia Highsmith is discussed in Page One 76 and Page One 175, Germany by Neil MacGregor is discussed in Page One 177, The Cloudspotter’s Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney is discussed in Page One 27 and Page One 163, and Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary by M. R. James is discussed in Page One 36 and Page One 165. Also mentioned in this episode is London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd. Another book by Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor, is discussed in Page One 121. And there are mentions of books by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and P. D. James, The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks and the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia E. Butler (of which Imago is the third book). Other books by Terry Pratchett mentioned in this episode are The Colour Of Magic, Equal Rites, Mort, Reaper Man and Weird Sisters. Episode image is a detail from the cover of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, published in 1993 by Corgi Books; cover illustration by Josh Kirby. Episode recorded: 9th September, 2020. Book listing: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

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Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching Novels

2ser Book Club

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2020 4:15

When you're young a series can really capture your imagination. The books draw you in and give you a hero who's just like you to identify and grow with.For my mind if you want some fantasy in your life you needn’t go further than Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Within the forty plus books Pratchett penned in the Discworld is a series for younger readers centring on a young girl from a rural area of the Disc called the Chalk.Tiffany is nine-years old when we first meet her lying by a river. She promptly dispatches a river monster with a frying pan and befriends a group of small blue men. Only the first of many signs that Tiffany is not your ordinary girl.It soon becomes apparent that Tiffany is a witch and while witches aren’t supposed to grow on Chalk that doesn’t mean she won’t have to figure out her power to stop all manner of beasties coming for her.Fortunately Tiffany will have help. The tiny blue men are Nac Mac Feegle, pictsies who can fight their way out of anything (except a pub). The Nac Mac Feegle used to work for the fairy queen, but were booted out of fairy land for fighting (so they say). They believe they are in heaven (because of the things on earth to drink or fight) and when they die they return to the real world.Terry Pratchett penned five Tiffany Aching novels between 2003 and 2015. Despite not being a younger reader I read Tiffany’s adventures contemporaneously to their release and was absolutely devastated when I finished The Shepard’s Crown. It was Pratchett’s last novel, published after his death, and while a fitting farewell it made me immensely sad to say goodbye.The magic of the Tiffany Aching books is that despite their central theme of witchcraft and fairy folk they are distinctly grounded. As Tiffany learns how to be a witch she is guided by the best in the land. Granny Weatherwax is a highlight of the Discworld and perhaps the character most closely associated with Pratchett himself. Strong and practical, she guides Tiffany to use her head and worry more about people than magic.Tiffany is an avid learner. She looks at everyone fairy, human or small blue brawler alike and tries to understand the person. So it is that Tiffany develops his second sight (and then her third sight) distinctive ways of looking at a problem from a range of perspectives. The magic of Tiffany’s world is most closely associated with what Granny Weatherwax calls headology; a way of taking each person on their merits and their circumstances and treating them with respect if not also a little caution.I’m re-reading these books at the moment (the first two books are The Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky) and I’m marvelling at how Pratchett writes for everyone with such panache. It’s not that he’s crafted a book for children that adults will also get the special ‘adult’ jokes. Pratchett gets that we are all living in the same world and just because you are a smaller size of human doesn’t mean you should be condescended to.Tiffany Aching is an incredible character for all readers but if I had a small person that I wanted to inspire I’d definitely introduce them to this young witch from the Chalk.

With a Little Help from Her Friends

friends discord shoot congratulations portal gnome little help pratchett tiffany aching granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2020 20:42

This time we consider the individuals and groups that mentor, safeguard, and assist Tiffany Aching. From the Nac Mac Feegle to Granny Weatherwax. Tiffany finds a lot of help along the way—although of course she always ends up having to do the hardest part all by herself. She is a witch, and that's what a witch does. This does it for season six. We'll be back on the first Friday in September with a new season. Thank you all for listening to this one!I will be doing the bonus episodes for our Patron subscribers as usual.The Portal's Patreon page may be found at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true.There will be new stuff on on our Discord server, “Friends of the Discworld Portal,” where you could also find a fellow Pratchett fan for some conversation. The server should be accessible via https://discord.gg/36c7Sk2.We're on Facebook at The Discworld Portal, https://www.facebook.com/TheMedievalGnome/.Shoot me an email at randy@mindkindle.net if you have any trouble getting in.If all that won't satisfy a Portal fix, I guess there's always listening to old episodes again.Congratulations to Luke on winning the second contest (his third win as a listener!) and a shout out to Susan, Jo and Kylie for also giving the contest a go, and a second shout out to Susan and Jo for the wonderful, erudite emails you send me. Thus endeth season six. No turtles or other lifeforms in the production of this season's episodes. Thanks again for listening,Holly (executive producer)Ivy (co-producer and engineer)The Gnome (co-producer and host)n.b. if you have been attentive you will recognize that the above is a change in staff roles. Holly decided mere producing was beneath her, so I made her executive producer, where all she has to do is look fabulous, which she so effortlessly does. Ivy was already carrying the engineering duties anyway. I don't know whether Holly bribed or threatened her into it. I suspect both. GNU Terry Pratchett The Turtle Moves!

Growing Up Crafty

friends discord growing up paypal portal passages crafty discworld tiffany aching granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2020 19:55

Over the course of the Tiffany Aching books, we see her grow up as a person and a woman, as well as a witch. It's never easy, but then she is “a witch down to her boots.” Thus spake Granny Weatherwax, and that's high praise! The Portal's Patreon page may be found at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true.The 10/10 challenge is still on for one more week. I hope to get 10 new Patreon supporters, and 10 one-time PayPal donations, in honor of the 10 shows I did in June: four regular episodes, three episodes of the Passages, and three bonus episodes for Patreon subscribers. You can make a one-time PayPal donation to the show (at randy@mindkindle.net). To sweeten the pot a little, I will send out bonus episode(s) to one-time PayPal donors at the same rate as Patreon subscribers, that is, one for every $5 donated.We're on the Discord server as Friends of the Discworld Portal (just search for that name in the “find or start a conversation” box on the Discord home page.)We're on Facebook at The Discworld Portal, https://www.facebook.com/TheMedievalGnome/.Remember, next week is the final episode of season six. The Portal will then be on hiatus until the first Friday in September, although I will produce the regular bonus episodes for Patreon patrons.Finally, this is not Discworld-related, but it is well worth 10 minutes of your time. And ladies, we'd like our rib back! https://youtu.be/l_UegL1R3X8The Turtle MovesGNU Terry Pratchett

Wyrd Sisters

death shakespeare attribution discworld incompetech wyrd sisters granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2020 117:41

Wyrd Sisters is a great entry point book for Discworld. It's stacked to the rafters with solid female characters, it's the point at which Terry's exploration of witch magic gets really good, and it's a really fun read to boot. Plus there's a major cameo that killed us dead.Check us out on twitter at @atuin_podFollow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenHunterWe can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.pageOur art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.

Pants On or Off: Ellen Mint

Pants on or off?

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2019 9:13

Ellen Mint adores the adorkable heroes who charm with their shy smiles and heroines that pack a punch. She has a needy black lab named after Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Sadly, her dog is more of a Magrat. Her first two books, Undercover Siren and Fever are available in both ebook and paperback. Gettin’ Lucky and Reefcake are two of her newest paranormals in the Wild Ménage series. Her next book Pride & Pancakes is to be released by Totally Bound. Look for it Christmas 2019. Find more at her website: https://ellenmint.blog/

christmas pants fever mint discworld granny weatherwax magrat

The Ego of Wizards and the Pride of Witches

friends pride witches discord portal wizards gnome granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2019 19:49

The Discworld Portal will return on Friday, December 6thUntil then, there's the Discord server, the Patreon Page, and the Portal's home on the web. Links for all are at the bottom of these show notes.Although wizards may not have balls (there is a popular song about it) they do have egos, and this week we consider the nature of that phenomenon, and consider its relationship to the ego of witches, which they famously do not have. Instead they have pride, at least if their name happens to be Granny Weatherwax. But in comparing the egos of wizards with the pride of witches, we discover—well you'll just have to listen and find out.This is the final show of season 3, and the 34 episode since the Portal began opening on April 19th of this year. Therefore we take some time to talk about where things might be headed, as well as where some things currently are. Again you'll have to listen to learn the details.The Portal will be on hiatus for a couple of weeks. The next show, the first of season 4, will be published on Friday December 6th. To tide you over there is the Discord server, which now has 14 members and is being used more and more, including for the posting of some very nifty quizzes (which will be placed on the Discworld Resources page of the website (mindkindle.net)). You may join the server using this link: https://discord.gg/YBD2rzK but if you have problems you can always search Discord for “Friends of the Discworld Portal” which of course you are. There is the possibility that the Gnome might show up for live chats on the Saturdays of the interregnum, and if so a very good chance that a chat topic might be posted there to get things rolling.Remember you can visit the Portal's Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045) to become a subscriber or just to see what's happening there. You can also find the official Portal blog, Gnomic Musings, here: https://mindkindle.net/gnomic-musings-the-discworld-portal-blog/With luck the above will be enough to keep you busy until December 6th. And whether it is or not, you can always reach me at randy@mindkindle.net. I'd love to hear from you, and I promise to write you back. Ask anyone who has. Only wait, you can't. So I guess you'll have to take my word for it. But then, have I ever lied to you? Do NOT slack on the random acts of kindness between now and the start of season 4. As always no turtles were harmed in the production of this podcast.

#Pratchat25 – Eskist Attitudes

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2019 127:31

In episode 25, Elizabeth, Ben and Noongar writer and poet Claire G. Coleman go back to the early days of the Discworld to Granny Weatherwax's debut in 1986's Equal Rites. Drum Billet, wizard, travels to the village of Bad Ass high in the Ramtop mountains, where at the moment of his death he hands over his wizard's staff to the newborn eighth son of an eighth son. But Eskarina Smith isn't the eighth son of anyone, and it falls to the witch Granny Weatherwax to watch over her. As Esk comes into her powers, Granny realises she needs training in the ways of wizardry lest she pose a danger to everyone around her. So the pair set off to distant Ankh-Morpork on a quest to enrol Esk as the first ever female student of Unseen University... Equal Rites is a book of contradictions: it doesn't feel quite like the Discworld, but it's vital and beautifully written. It's not full of jokes or footnotes, but is consistently funny. And even after more than thirty years, it feels entirely relevant. Do you recognise Esk's struggle? Did Granny feel like Granny yet? And why do think it took so long for Pratchett to revisit some of these characters? Use the hashtag #Pratchat25 on social media to join the conversation and tell us your thoughts! Guest Claire G. Coleman's novels are the multi-award winning Terra Nullius, and her new work The Old Lie. She also writes short fiction, poetry and non-fiction and has been published in numerous publications. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram as @clairegcoleman, or visit her web site, clairegcoleman.com, for more info. Next month we're joined by the Director of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, Michael Williams, as we celebrate Hogswatch by discussing - what else? - Hogfather! We’re recording on November 13, so get your questions in by then via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat26. You'll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site. And if you enjoy Ben’s work here on Pratchat, please consider the Kickstarter campaign for Night Terrace season three - as endorsed by Neil Gaiman!

director books writing ideas kickstarter badass attitudes neil gaiman granny michael williams discworld pratchett esk noongar wheeler centre hogfather terra nullius ankh morpork claire g coleman granny weatherwax hogswatch unseen university night terrace

A Little Touch of Granny in the Night

touch disc granny foremost weatherwax granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2019 19:59

Weatherwax, that is. The doyenne of the Disc's witches, that is. Foremost among the leaders the witches do not have, she is. Whatever the score between the witches and the wizards, Granny Weatherwax is always ahead of the game. This week we begin to understand why that is, as well as getting a very useful perspective on why witches and/or wizards do not rule the world. We also consider the notion that the trajectories or arcs of development over the books for witches and wizards are mirror images of one another. This may of course be just so much Klatchian mist. As always you can reach me at randy@mindkindle.net. You can also check out our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045

#Pratchat23 – The Music of the Nitt

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2019 138:45

For episode 23, Elizabeth and Ben are joined by teacher, opera singer and Dungeon Master Myf Coghill on a trip to Ankh-Morpork's opera house in 1994's Discworld novel of witches, phantoms and experimental cookery: Maskerade! Nanny Ogg finds herself in a coven with Granny Weatherwax and...no-one. She decides young Agnes Nitt - last seen dabbling in the craft while wearing black lace and calling herself "Perdita" - is just the person to fill the position - but Agnes has run off to Ankh-Morpork to join the opera, where all is not well. A mysterious "Opera Ghost" watches over every performance, and while he used to be seen as a good luck charm, he's become demanding, dangerous and possibly deranged. "Perdita" has gotten herself mixed up in it all, thanks to her friendship with the ingenue Christine. Can she find out the identity of the Opera Ghost before the bodies start stacking up - and before Granny and Nanny stick their noses in and do it for her? Pratchett delves into a world hitherto unknown to him and takes Granny and Nanny to the big city for their penultimate book, heavily influenced by The Phantom of the Opera, and about much more earthly matters than their previous adventures. We learn a lot about opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the world of publishing, and delve into Pratchett's treatment of Agnes, a beloved character whose unflattering portrayal was the subject of many questions and comments. Did Maskerade bring out the opera fan in you? Do you think Agnes deserved better? And despite being a bit of a downer, is this one of the best Discworld books we've discussed so far? Use the hashtag #Pratchat23 on social media to join the conversation and let us know what you think! We're staying in Ankh-Morpork for Feet of Clay in October before heading back in time to explore the origins of Granny Weatherwax in November with Equal Rites. Plus our subscriber-only bonus podcast, Ook Club, has launched! You can subscribe for as little as $2 a month to check it out. You'll find all the details on our Support Us page. Show Notes and Errata: You can find Myfanwy Coghill on Twitter at @_merlenoir_.The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is a series of ten fantasy novels written by American author Stephen R. Donaldson between 1977 and 2013. Covenant is an author from our world who loses two fingers before being diagnosed with leprosy, shortly before his wife divorces him. When he is knocked unconscious he is transported to "the Land", a fantasy world where he is a hero of prophecy in the conflict against the evil Lord Foul, though Thomas thinks that the Land is a delusion. The series has had a mixed critical response. If you're going to look into them, please note our content warning: the first book contains an act of rape and this is referred to many times throughout the first trilogy. The English sit-com Keeping Up Appearances was a farce created by Roy Clarke (of Open All Hours and Last of the Summer Wine fame) which ran on BBC One from 1990 to 1995. It starred Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket, a woman who aspires to move among the upper class, and is desperately ashamed of her lower class family. A running gag is that she tries to have everyone pronounce her family name "bouquet", despite the fact that her middle class husband Richard - played by Clive Swift - has always pronounced it "bucket".Avengers: Endgame (2019) was the final film in the Avengers series, part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It brought together characters from the previous twenty-one Marvel films in a massive crossover, and became the highest-grossing film of all time.Deadpool and its sequel Deadpool 2 are films from 20th Century Fox about the titular superhero character, a mutant mercenary with rapid healing powers. While technically part of the X-Men film franchise, the films are made on a lower budget and Deadpool - who often breaks the fourth wall in the comics and is aware he is in a movie - comments on the lack of cameos from mo...

music american english land marvel chronicles feet covenant avengers xmen deadpool opera avengers endgame phantom marvel cinematic universe granny century fox donaldson andrew lloyd webber bbc one discworld perdita pratchett keeping up appearances maskerade summer wine ankh morpork open all hours granny weatherwax thomas covenant hyacinth bucket roy clarke stephen r donaldson clive swift

"It only encourages 'em."

stone belief disc tolkien encourages discworld scone granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2019 20:00

Belief on the Discworld is a funny thing. Since the Disc is way out there on the probability curve, reality is thinner, and belief has a much greater potential to shape reality. This happens in all kinds of ways over the course of the books, and not surprisingly some of the results are pretty amusing. This week we look primarily at belief as it applies to the Discworld's elves-- which are about as diametrically opposite of Tolkien's elves as they could be-- and to Dwarfish traditions and royal politics. Stone of Scone, anyone? This week also marks the debut of the Discworld Portal trivia contest. The first three correct answers received this week will go into a pool from which the season 2 winner will be selected at random. Our first question is as follows: The very first time we meet Granny Weatherwax in the Discworld novels, what is she doing? And the hint is that it's something we would be much more likely to associate with Nanny Ogg. Send your answers to me at randy@mindkindle.net.

The Thickness of a Dream

death granny moist discworld thickness rincewind sir terry granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2019 21:03

Wherein we learn of the breadth of Sir Terry's genius and of one way of approaching the reading of Discworld novels. We also hear a bit about Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, the novels featuring the Ankh Morkpork city watch, as well as those featuring Death, his adopted granddaughter, a consummate conman, and Rincewind, failed wizard and champion survivor. Although not all at once, of course. That is, not all those entities are featured in all the books-- and of course they're not all featured at once in this, the sixth episode of The Discworld Portal. Remember you can contact your host and guide at randy@mindkindle.net, and make a paypal donation to the same address if you would like to support the show, or at least pay the producer's salary. Oh, and we learn that it is never advisable to address Granny Weatherwax as Granny (she prefers Mistress Weatherwax) unless you know her very well, and probably not even then. We also find out about headology. Oh and Death's adopted granddaughter is not an accomplished conman. Moist von Lipwig is. A conman that is, and not death's adopted granddaughter. Don't worry, it will all come right in the end.

Bleating and Baaing

Sermons from Ankeny UCC

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2019 15:48

The core of the social gospel reminds us that it's not our job to judge others, but to do what we can to ease suffering. A fitting 250th sermon posted to the website.

jesus christ prison ice discipleship hunger sheep poverty goats discomfort good people terry pratchett bad people social gospel granny weatherwax

#Pratchat17 – Midsummer (Elf) Murders

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2019 124:15

In our seventeenth episode we join everyone's favourite dysfunctional coven - and guest, writer Nadia Bailey - as we return to Lancre for the 1992 Discworld novel, Lords and Ladies! The Lancre coven have returned from their trip abroad, but despite the impending royal wedding of Magrat and King Verence, all is not well in the Ramtops: it's circle time, when the walls between worlds are thin, and in the witches' absence someone has been toying with powers beyond their understanding. As usual Granny Weatherwax thinks she can sort everything out herself: facing down a young witch wannabe and keeping the Gentry at bay. But Granny is off her game. Is it the arrival of an old flame? Or is her time as a witch of Lancre nearly up? She'll need Nanny and Magrat's help to see off the threat of the Lords and Ladies... Bringing us back to the witches after only one book away, Lords and Ladies is a particularly Pratchett take on the ancient Celtic stories that inspired modern ideas of fairies and elves. One of the few novels to cross the streams between the witches and wizards, it also gives us more of a glimpse into Esme Weatherwax's past, hints at the future of witchcraft (and royalty) in Lancre, and introduces the infamous "Trousers of Time". Is this your favourite witches novel? What do you think of the parallel universes, other dimensions and alternate timelines it describes? And is this the best take on elves since Tolkien? We'd love to hear from you! Use the hashtag #Pratchat17 on social media to join the conversation. Don't forget that you can see Liz and Ben at both Speculate 2019 on March 15 and 16, and at Nullus Anxietas 7, the Australian Discworld Convention, on April 13 and 14! Plus Ben's new show, You Chose Poorly, plays at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from April 1-7. Next month, to tie in with our appearance at Speculate, we'll be leaving the Discworld and blasting off into outer space as we discuss one of Pratchett's early sci-fi novels, The Dark Side of the Sun, with writer Will Kostakis! We'll likely be recording around the time of Speculate 2019, so get your questions in via social media before March 15th using the hashtag #Pratchat18. Show Notes and Errata: Nadia Bailey is an author, journalist and critic whose work has appeared in The Australian, The Age, The Lifted Brow and many others. The Book of Barb, an unofficial celebration of the surprisingly popular supporting character from the first season of Netflix "kids on bikes" drama Stranger Things, was her first book; it was followed by The Stranger Things Field Guide in December 2018. In between Nadia wrote The World's Best BFFs, a book of profiles of celebrity best friends. All three are published by Smith Street Books. You can find Nadia online at nadiabailey.com, and she tweets at @animalorchestra.There are two examples of Steven Moffat writing women who marry men who follow them around in Doctor Who - first in his most famous episode, Blink, and then in the Christmas special The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. There are similar behaviours in his other work, going all the way back to Press Gang. We previously mentioned The Craft in our Witches Abroad episode, but it's worth mentioning here that one of its stars, Fairuza Balk, made her major screen debut in another film referenced this episode: Return to Oz (see below).The Last Unicorn (1982) is an adaptation of the 1968 fantasy novel by American writer Peter S. Beagle, and has a pretty star-studded voice cast including René Auberjonois, Alan Arkin (who plays the incompetent magician Schmendrick), Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow (who plays the titular unicorn), Angela Lansbury and Death himself, Christopher Lee! It has music written by Jimmy Webb, including songs performed by the band America.Narnia is a fantasy world invented by English writer C S Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia books. The White Queen first appears in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950),

03 - Equal Rites

The Death of Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2019

Granny Weatherwax takes young Esk to Unseen University to do the unthinkable: become a wizard!

equal rites esk granny weatherwax unseen university

The Unbroken Circle Episode 001 - Discworld Witches, feat. Annie Craton

The Math of You

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2018 67:17

Cohost of Jemjammer and I Will Fight You Annie Craton returns to discuss the Witches of Discworld, focusing on Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching. Along the course of this conversation, we discuss being there for the beginning and ends of things, the importance of old mens' toenails, and how good does not have to be nice.Signature Cocktail: La Vielle HacheOn with the motley. Terry'll appreciate it. And I hear it's good for stomach ailments too.1oz rye whiskey1oz Calvados3/4oz sweet vermouth1 dash Angostura bitters1 dash Peychaud's bittersGreen Chartreuse rinsecherry for garnishCombine rye, calvados, vermouth and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir to combine. Pour enough Chartreuse into a rocks glass to coat the inside, then pour out (into your mouth). Stain from the mixing glass into the prepared rocks glass, and garnish was a cherry.Follow Annie on Twitter at @anniezard, follow the show at @TheMathOfYou, and my wacky adventures at @lokified. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, send an email to themathofyou@gmail.com.If you like the music on the show, go to bit.ly/TheMathOfYou See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

witches circle unbroken stain discworld chartreuse angostura peychaud tiffany aching granny weatherwax annie craton

#Pratchat12 – Brooms, Boats and Pumpkinmobiles

women halloween spoilers boobs terry pratchett broomsticks discworld pratchett monstrous regiment granny weatherwax

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2018 126:25

For our twelfth episode we're joined by editor and bookseller Jackie Tang of Neighbourhood Books in Northcote as we discuss Witches Abroad! The twelfth Discworld novel, published in 1991, Witches Abroad is the second to star the Lancre witches, who return only two books later for Lords and Ladies. Witch Desiderata Hollow has died and passed on her fairy godmother wand to Magrat Garlick, the youngest of the Lancre witches, along with a note telling her to go to the distant kingdom of Genua to stop a servant girl from marrying a prince - without Granny Weatherwax. Which of course means Granny - and Nanny Ogg - are definitely coming. As they make their way across the Disc by broomstick and riverboat, experiencing all that travel has to offer, they find themselves increasingly drawn into warped stories - and Granny may not be letting on all that she knows about what they'll face when they arrive... As well as providing an extended parody of the English travelling abroad, Witches Abroad is mostly about stories - where they come from, how they influence us, and what they really mean when you stop to think about them. As well as traditional fairytales, Pratchett lampoons everything from The Wizard of Oz to Disney princesses and even Middle Earth. So what did you think of Witches Abroad? Use the hashtag #Pratchat12 on social media to join the conversation. In our next episode we'll be going back amongst the Nomes for book two of the Bromeliad - Diggers! As usual we'd love to get your questions for the podcast; send them in via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat13. Show Notes and Errata: "Voodoo" is a popular culture distillation of several religions, but especially Haitian and Louisiana Vodun, themselves derived from West African Vodun and influenced by many other traditions, including Christianity. Some rituals involve summoning spirits known as lwa or loa, intermediaries between the physical world and the creator deity (Bondye, Mawu or others depending on the tradition). Famous loa include Baron Samedi, a loa of the dead, and Papa Legba, who exists at the crossroads between the material and spiritual worlds. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a 19th century Russian writer. His works are social commentary, mostly in the form of farce and satire. The Government Inspector is his best known novel, but he is mostly remembered for his many short stories including Diary of a Madman, The Nose, The Overcoat and The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich. (His name is pronounced GO-gl, which is more or less the only way we don't try to say Mrs Gogol's name during the podcast.)Of the Discworld books we've covered so far, Wyrd Sisters, Sourcery and Moving Pictures all begin with a death. Pyramids, Men at Arms and Reaper Man all have deaths close to the beginning that are vital (if you'll excuse the term) to their plots.The prose poem Desiderata was written by American writer Max Ehrman in 1927, though it didn't become widely known until the early 1970s. You've almost certainly read or heard at least one of the verses. The poem's copyright status has been a matter of contention over the years, in part because it was printed unattributed in a church leaflet accompanied by the church's founding date, leading some to believe it was much older and therefore in the public domain. As a result the Annotated Pratchett File has a copyright notice asserting Erhman's authorship rather than any quotes, but by contrast you can read the whole thing on Wikipedia. The word "Desiderata" is Latin, the plural form of "desideratum": a thing wished for, or - you guessed it - desirable. It is indeed the source of the English word "desire".We ruined our browser history so you wouldn't have to: Echidna penises are indeed unusual. They are very long for their body size, and with not three but four prongs, more like those seen in reptiles than other mammals. They only use two of the prongs at a time, though.

Pratchett’s Women: The Boobs, the Bad & the Broomsticks

Sheep Might Fly

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2018 19:31

Greetings all! An interlude this week, as we gear up for the next big serial. Listen to Tansy reading from her popular Discworld essay. Spoilers for the first 10 Discworld books & (very slight) for We Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy this episode, check out Pratchett’s Women, a collection of Tansy’s critical essays on the portrayal of women in the Discworld, from Granny Weatherwax to Monstrous Regiment. Next week: Halloween is not a verb! Sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards, early ebooks and exclusive stories for a small monthly pledge. See you next week!

Carpe Jugulum - Three's a Coven, Four's a Crowd

Radio Morpork

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2018 130:27

Radio Morpork is a podcast that discusses Terry Pratchett's Discworld one book at a time. Supernatural foes are trying to take over the kingdom and Granny Weatherwax is starting to doubt herself! Sound familiar? Colm and Steve take in the last hurrah of the Lancre Witches, discussing its similarities and differences to the mighty Lords and Ladies, and how it follows on from Small Gods with the decidedly, deliberately un-mighty Mightily Oats.

sound ladies supernatural crowd lords coven colm carpe small gods granny weatherwax terry pratchett's discworld

#Pratchat4 – Enter Three Wytches