Podcast appearances and mentions of Ian Stewart

In the animated movie Toy Story, a child’s toys come to life whenever he leaves the room or falls asleep. One character, a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear, shouts his signature catchphrase while demonstrating his ability to fly about the bedroom. “To infinity and beyond!” It’s a phrase that has confused many. Isn’t infinity as far as you can go? How can there be anything “beyond” infinity? Drawing on wisdom from ancient Greek philosophers, mathematician Ian Stewart suggests that what is beyond infinity are yet bigger infinities. On and on and on. Jesus seems to employ such exponential effort in the realm of forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus goes on to tell a parable comparing a merciful and unmerciful servant, making the point that when someone truly regrets their error, there is no limit to the number of times we are to forgive. We are to forgive others the way God forgives us (v. 33). Over and over, on and on. That may seem impossible to us. That’s why we constantly need to ask God for His help. Only in His strength can we do this. Forgiven people forgive people. To infinity and beyond!

Ian Stewart joins us on the pod to talk about his trash picking project. This guy went from zero experience to being "passionate about picking up trash." He has accomplished some amazing projects and is definitely shaking things up in Kalamazoo's waste world.

The professional journey of musician Thomas Dolby, the synth and MTV pioneer who hit it big with “She Blinded me with Science.” The British polymath has been a tech innovator, producer, author and professor at Johns Hopkins, among a thousand other things. Ian Stewart guest hosts ... with a fanboy chime-in by Roben Farzad.

A backyard-chicken enthusiast on churning out eggs -- suddenly the most valuable food in the world. And the brave new world of raising fresh produce through micro-farming. Ian Stewart guest hosts.

During the age of the European Renaissance, a new people was discovered. Not the Aztecs, or the Maya, or the Inca, but a mysterious people with an intriguing language who had once dominated Europe itself. These were the Celts. And their discoverers were not conquistadores or maritime adventurers, but dusty scholars, learning their eighth or fourteenth language, rummaging through dusty manuscripts. Yet somehow, as my guest Ian Stewart describes in his new book The Celts: A Modern History, these dusty scholars birthed a craze for Celticness which has lasted into our own day. It also became linked to some of the most powerful forces in the modern world, nationalism and racialism. How this happened is the argument of Ian Stewart's book and the topic of our conversation today. Ian Stewart is a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. The Celts is his first book.

In this interview, we talk to Ian Stewart about modern ideas surrounding the Celts and how these relate to historical-comparative linguistics. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube References for Episode 44 Crump, Margaret, James Cowles Prichard of the…Read more ›

Sticky Fingers is considered by many to be the greatest studio album the Rolling Stones ever created.  This ninth studio album represented a return to a more basic sound for the Stones after several albums with less conventional instrumentation.  It was also known for its cover artwork from Andy Warhol which featured a man in jeans with a working zipper.  The album won a Grammy for “Best Album Cover” for this innovative design.This was the first album that was released on their own label, Rolling Stones Records.  It was also the first album the group produced without Brian Jones, who had died two years earlier.  The members of the band were Charlie Watts on drums, Bill Wyman on bass, Mick Taylor on guitar, Keith Richards on guitar and backing vocals, and Mick Jagger on lead vocals and some guitar and percussion.  There were a number of session musicians and frequent collaborators involved in the album, including Bobby Keys on sax, and Billy Preston and Ian Stewart on keyboards.Sticky Fingers was the band's first album to reach number 1 on album charts in both the US and the UK.  It has since reached triple platinum status, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.    The album was also the first album to utilize the now-iconic “mouth”  for which the group would be known.Friend of the show Mike Fernandez joins us in Bruce's absence, while Rob brings us this amazing album from one of the giants of the rock world in this week's podcast. Wild HorsesThis softer song with a country bent was first released in 1970 by the Flying Burrito Brothers, and subsequently recorded by the Stones after originally thinking the demo wasn't worth recording.  It was originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama in 1969.  The lyrics are about being on the road, and not being where you really want to be.Brown SugarThe opening track to the album was also the lead single, and reached the top of the charts in the US and Canada, while reaching number 2 on the UK singles chart.  The song sounds like a strong rocking one, but the lyrics discuss slavery and rape, a much more serious topic than most realized the lyrics covered.BitchThis track which leads off side two of the album was the B-side to the single “Brown Sugar.”  It has a strong brass section — the song originated in a jam, and features Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Price on trumpet.  The lyrics are describing love as a bitch but the title probably didn't help the band in its problems with women's groups.  Can't You Hear Me KnockingThis is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over seven minutes.  The central part of the song lasts for 2:43, with an extended jam following.  The entire track was captured in one take, and the band continued with the jam, thinking that the recording was complete.   ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:One Tin Soldier (from the motion picture “Billy Jack”)This counterculture song was a prominent part of the soundtrack to the action drama "Billy Jack" a part Navajo Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran defending his Freedom School students from angry townspeople. STAFF PICKS:Get It On by ChaseWayne starts out the staff picks with a high energy song from an artist known for his jazz trumpet.  Bill Chase brought together a band including three other trumpet players, a rock rhythm section, and front man Terry Richards on lead vocals.  This jazz fusion rock piece peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.Let's Get It On by Marvin GayeLynch brings us a track that has taken on a life of its own as the ultimate romance song.  Backed by the Funk Brothers, it is the most successful song Gaye produced on Motown Records.  It reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the US Hot Soul Singles chart.Love Her Madly by the DoorsMike features the first single from the album “L.A. Woman,” the sixth studio album from the Doors, and the final album with Jim Morrison before his untimely death.  Guitarist Robby Krieger wrote this song while experimenting with a 12-string guitar.  It Don't Come Easy by Ringo Starr Rob finishes the staff picks with a non-album single from the drummer of the recently-disbanded Beatles.  Fellow Beatle George Harrison produced the single and helped Starr write the song which peaked at number 4 on the US and UK singles charts. INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:Main Theme from the motion picture “The Summer of 42”We exit this week's podcast with the signature song from this Academy Award nominee and coming-of-age movie in the theaters in April 1971. Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?” NOTE: To adjust the loudness of the music or voices, you may adjust the balance on your device. VOICES are stronger in the LEFT channel, and MUSIC is stronger on the RIGHT channel.Please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/whattheriffpodcast/, and message or email us with what you'd like to hear, what you think of the show, and any rock-worthy memes we can share.Of course we'd love for you to rate the show in your podcast platform!**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.

Desmond Vincent Tuddenham Desmond Vincent Tuddenham (born 29 January 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Tuddenham was born and raised in Ross Creek, Victoria, a country town near Ballarat. He and his twin brother, Basil, were two of a large family consisting of nine children (seven boys and two girls) to parents William and Anne Tuddenham.] Tuddenham's upbringing was typical of country footballers who came from farming families. Before and after school and during weekends, he had to help with various farm chores. Sport, usually football or cricket, was played on Saturday, and the family attended church on Sundays.] The daily grind of farm work helped to strengthen Tuddenham's shoulders and arms, and a fanatical attitude to fitness hardened his body. Tuddenham played cricket with five of his brothers for Ross Creek, and football for the Young Christian Worker's club in Ballarat. In the space of three seasons, he went from the under-14s to the under-19s side, and won the league's best and fairest trophy at 16. This attracted the attention of several VFL clubs. Football career Tuddenham made his VFL debut in 1962 against North Melbourne at Arden Street Oval. His brand of football was fearless and tough, with a habit of grasping the football to his chest with his elbows sticking out dangerously. In recognition of his toughness and skills, Tuddenham was appointed Collingwood captain in 1966. In the semi-final against St Kilda, he kicked seven goals on Daryl Griffiths in a tense 10-point win to advance to the grand final. But St Kilda reversed the result two weeks later to take out the 1966 VFL grand final by one point, winning their first and only premiership so far. Collingwood were eliminated from the 1967 finals by eventual runner-up Geelong in the first semi-final. The Magpies trailed by one point at three-quarter time, but the Cats kicked six goals to one in the final quarter to win by 30 points. Tuddenham was reported for striking Geelong defender Geoff Ainsworth on the head with his forearm in the last quarter by field umpire Jeff Crouch. He was found guilty and suspended for four matches. In February 1970, Tuddenham and his deputy Len Thompson were involved in a pay dispute after they learned that Collingwood had recruited its first interstate player, Peter Eakins, from Western Australian club Subiaco for a sign-on fee of A$5,000 and A$5,000 a season for three years. That was A$2,000 more than Tuddenham was receiving as captain.] Tuddenham asked for A$8,000 over three seasons, and Thompson A$30,000 over five seasons, threatening to walk out if their demands were not met. Three weeks later, during which time there had been no negotiations, both players returned. Although their demands had not been met they did obtain a slightly improved salary; under the clubs terms, Tuddenham would receive A$125 per match plus VFL provident fund payments, and Thompson would earn A$105 per match. Although Tuddenham was confident the little episode would not affect his chances of retaining the captaincy, the Magpies committee announced Terry Waters as captain for the 1970 VFL season and Tuddenham accepted the decision. Collingwood finished on top of the ladder with 18 wins and defeated arch-rivals Carlton in a semi-final by 10 points to advance to the grand final. However, as had happened four years earlier against St Kilda, Carlton would reverse the result in the 1970 VFL grand final, coming from 44 points down at half-time to overrun Collingwood in the second half. Tuddenham was regarded among Collingwood's best players on the day. During the game he accidentally floored teammate Peter McKenna in the second quarter with a hip-and-shoulder bump meant for a Carlton player. McKenna had kicked five goals up to that stage of the game and would only add one more for the rest of the match. In an interview 40 years later, Tuddenham cited a lack of fitness, as well as inaccurate kicking for goal, as the main reason Collingwood lost: "I suggested to (coach) Bob Rose after we lost the 1966 Grand Final to St Kilda by a point that he do the coaching and I look after the fitness along with my friend John Toleman. The idea was that I would be an assistant coach, and I'll tell you what, I would have got the buggers fit." In 1971, Tuddenham became the first player to be named captain of the VFL representative team whilst not captain of his own club. When asked about this, state coach Tom Hafey replied bluntly: "We are not here to talk about Collingwood's mistakes." Tuddenham stayed with the club for a further season before moving to Essendon as captain-coach. He played four seasons for the Bombers before returning to Collingwood for his final two seasons. In 1978, Tuddenham was appointed senior coach of South Melbourne for a season, replaced by Ian Stewart when he failed to take the club to the finals. He coached VFA second division club Werribee to the finals in 1988, but left after he and the club concluded a playing coach would be better suited to the club's needs. Post-football career Tuddenham ran a plastics manufacturing business, which he sold in 1979. He later worked as a scrap-metal dealer. Controversy Since retirement, Tuddenham has been in trouble with the law on several occasions. In December 1980, he was found guilty by a County Court jury of having received stolen tyres valued at $30,000 and was remanded in custody. In June 1989, he pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to defraud the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce of $13,000. He told the magistrate that he was "guilty on the grounds I was helping out a friend in trouble". In July 2004, it was reported that he had received a two-month sentence suspended for two years for his third drink driving offence. He was ordered to pay a A$500 fine and had his driving license cancelled for 30 months. In December 2017, he pleaded guilty and was convicted of drink driving, having been found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.055 after drinking "three beers" at a football function. Personal life Tuddenham has four children. One of them, Paul, played 40 games for Collingwood from 1987 to 1991. Legacy Tuddenham was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2009, The Australian nominated Tuddenham as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow Medal.

It's "innovate or die" in craft beer -- the recently booming industry that survived the pandemic only to face lagging sales, drinkers' shifting preferences (seltzer everywhere) and even tariffs on the horizon. Andrew Coplon of Craft Beer Professionals and a pair of brewers talk to guest host Ian Stewart.

On Part 2 of our track x track review of Physical Graffiti as it turns 50, we review the 2nd LP/CD. While there is little in the world of rock music that can stand up to the first LP/CD, the second is more eclectic and shows the real breadth of all Led Zeppelin could do vs. more one dimensional bands at the time. In The Light is an epic that builds to joyous uplift. Sick Again shows Jimmy's slide skills were among the best of his generation while Bron-Yr-Aur shows the quieter acoustic side of Jimmy and great change of pace which leads to a bittersweet Down By The Seaside. Lyrically the boys get a little political with Night Flight, remember relationships from their youth Ten Years Gone and illuminate the LA groupie scene on Sick Again. Because they needed at least 25 minutes of material after their 1974 recording session at Headley Grange (where they recorded part Led Zeppelin IV), they dusted off and cleaned up some songs from previous recording sessions. Some were acoustic numbers that Jimmy electrified like Down By The Seaside and Ten Years Gone. All the songs give all four members of the band a chance to shine and they even enjoy a roadhouse jam with Ian Stewart on Boogie With Stu. The second disc on Physical Graffiti may not be the best. Many of the tracks would never make it on a single album. But double albums have deep tracks and the ones where the boys get away from their heavy riffs and blues based badassery are cool outliers in the Zeppelin catalog. And the heavy riffs from Jimmy Page are amazing. We love it! HAPPY 50TH PHYSICAL GRAFFITI! #physicalgraffiti50 Check out our new website: Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Visit our sponsor RareVinyl.com and use the code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Part 2 of our track x track review of Physical Graffiti as it turns 50, we review the 2nd LP/CD. While there is little in the world of rock music that can stand up to the first LP/CD, the second is more eclectic and shows the real breadth of all Led Zeppelin could do vs. more one dimensional bands at the time. In The Light is an epic that builds to joyous uplift. Sick Again shows Jimmy's slide skills were among the best of his generation while Bron-Yr-Aur shows the quieter acoustic side of Jimmy and great change of pace which leads to a bittersweet Down By The Seaside. Lyrically the boys get a little political with Night Flight, remember relationships from their youth Ten Years Gone and illuminate the LA groupie scene on Sick Again. Because they needed at least 25 minutes of material after their 1974 recording session at Headley Grange (where they recorded part Led Zeppelin IV), they dusted off and cleaned up some songs from previous recording sessions. Some were acoustic numbers that Jimmy electrified like Down By The Seaside and Ten Years Gone. All the songs give all four members of the band a chance to shine and they even enjoy a roadhouse jam with Ian Stewart on Boogie With Stu. The second disc on Physical Graffiti may not be the best. Many of the tracks would never make it on a single album. But double albums have deep tracks and the ones where the boys get away from their heavy riffs and blues based badassery are cool outliers in the Zeppelin catalog. And the heavy riffs from Jimmy Page are amazing. We love it! HAPPY 50TH PHYSICAL GRAFFITI! #physicalgraffiti50 Check out our new website: Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Visit our sponsor RareVinyl.com and use the code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

rWotD Episode 2833: Discworld Diary Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Tuesday, 4 February 2025 is Discworld Diary.The Discworld Diaries are a series of themed diaries based on the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. Each one (except the 2008 diary) is based on an Ankh-Morpork institution, and has an opening section containing information about that institution written by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs.The diaries feature a great deal of background information, far more than could reasonably be put into the novels. However, some of this occasionally finds its way into the series proper - the concept of female assassins, the introduction of Black Widow House, and the characters of Miss Alice Band and Mme les Deux-Épées were notable ideas that first appeared in the Assassins' Guild Yearbook, and later in the Discworld short story "Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts" in A Blink of the Screen, to then becoming characters and a playable Assassins' Guild House in Discworld MUD.The early diaries are illustrated by Paul Kidby.Those for 2015 and 2016 were by Pratchett aided and abetted by the Discworld Emporium, with additional illustrations by Peter DennisThe diaries are:Discworld's Unseen University Diary 1998 (1997); the cover art features the character Death, possibly the character who appeared in the greatest number of Discworld novels.Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999 (1998); the cover art features the character Commander Samuel Vimes of the Watch, His Grace the Duke of Ankh, in his beloved street uniform, in other words, battered Watchman armor.Discworld Assassins' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000 (1999); the cover art features the character Lord Downey, the Assassins' Guild leader, with his specialty peppermint (rumored poisoned).Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001 (2000); the cover art features Dr Whiteface, the Fools' Guild leader, bursting through a paper hoop.Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002 (2001); the cover art features a "photofit" of Mr Boggis, the Thieves' Guild leader.Discworld (Reformed) Vampyre's Diary 2003 (2002); the cover art features Mr John Not-A-Vampire-At-All Smith, head of the Ankh-Morpork Mission of the Black Ribboners with a cup of steaming brown liquid, likely coffee or hot cocoa.Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook Diary 2007 (2006); the cover art features Moist von Lipwig, the Postmaster of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, wearing his token golden suit and wingèd hat, with Lipwigzers on either side of him.Lu Tze's Yearbook of Enlightenment 2008 (2007); the cover art features Lu-Tze in the lotus position, with his broom in front of him, against a square with the phrase "It won't get better if you pick it" (from the Way of Mrs Cosmopolite).2015 Discworld Diary. First & Last Aid. We R Igors (2014); cover art features Igor.2016 Discworld Diary: A Practical Manual for the Modern Witch (2015); the cover art depicts Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax drawn by Peter DennisThe Terry Pratchett Diary. Terry Pratchett & Friends (2016), aided & abetted by the Discworld Emporium. Illustrations by Peter Dennis. Introduction by Rhianna Pratchett and contributions by Neil Gaiman, Dr Pat Harkin, A. S. Byatt, Professor David Lloyd, Roger Peyton, Colin Smythe, Bernard Pearson, Paul Kidby, Stephen Baxter, Sandra Kidby, Amy Anderson, Jennifer Brehl, Philippa Dickinson, Maddy Prior, Ian Stewart, Malcolm Edwards, Stephen Briggs and Rob Wilkins. Only the dates are given, not the days of the week, so it is suitable for use in any year.The Ankh-Morpork Archives Vol. 1 (2019) and Vol. 2 (2020); anthologies of material written for the Discworld Diaries.There were no diaries published for the years 2004-2006, and 2009-2015; The Discworld Almanak by Pratchett and Bernard Pearson was published in 2004.Due to their limited edition nature, Discworld Diaries become increasingly valuable as they grow older. As of 2016, the 1998 Discworld's Unseen University Diary was available for around £90.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:27 UTC on Tuesday, 4 February 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Discworld Diary on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Ian Stewart, a seasoned WordPress enthusiast and lead at WordPress.com. They discuss Ian's journey with WordPress since 2006 and his role at Automattic. The focus shifts to "Studio," a local development environment for WordPress. Ian highlights Studio's features, including ephemeral sites and an AI assistant, which simplify development and enhance learning. They also discuss the educational potential of Studio and its future developments. The episode underscores the importance of community feedback and continuous improvement in the WordPress ecosystem.Top TakeawaysFocus on Data Liberation: Ian emphasizes the importance of making it easy for users to export data and move away from WordPress.com if they choose. This includes offering flexibility in database options and ensuring there are clear workflows for migrating data from Studio.Encouragement for Open-Source Contributions: Ian highlights that Studio is open-source and encourages users to contribute by reporting issues, suggesting features, or even forking the repository to experiment with new ideas.WordPress.com's Growing Feature Set: Ian addresses the misconception that WordPress.com doesn't support plugins or themes. He encourages users to explore the pro-level tools available on WordPress.com, such as Studio, which help users manage and customize their sites more effectively.Mentioned In The ShowBloggerDrupalThemeShaper.comCorey Miller AutomatticWordPress.comJamie MarslandStudio Steve JobsWP EnvironmentDockerComposer GitHubSQLite Suno AITaco VerdoProgress Planner

Our guest today is Ian Stewart - a mastering engineer, author, and audio educator from the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. He has worked with artists, including KRS-One and Mr. Lif, and he codeveloped the Baselane Pro plugin, released by Tone Projects, in 2022. He is currently an assistant professor at Berkeley College of Music and operates out of his home studio, Flotown Mastering which he founded in 2011. We talk with Ian about teaching mastering at Berkeley, getting out of the studio to balance our mental health, and what life has been like since Baselane Pro was released. This episode's music is brought to you by Broken Robots from Chicago, IL. For more information on Broken Robots, point your web electrons to: https://www.brokenrobotsmusic.com For more information about Ian: Check out https://www.flotownmastering.com And you can find him on Instagram: @Ianstewartmusic --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/speaksvolumes/support

Award-winning musicians Susan Greenbaum and Scott Lane on making a living out of Richmond, Virginia in the post-Covid streaming age. Ian Stewart guest hosts.

Ever wondered what is mid-side EQ or how does mid-side EQ work? Is mid-side EQ essential for a professional-sounding mix? Tune in to EP 165 of the Inside The Mix podcast, where I sit down with distinguished mastering engineer and educator Ian Stewart to explore the ins and outs of mid-side EQ. Together, we unravel the techniques that can add width and clarity to your mix and transform your audio production skills.We dive deep into the profound effects of manipulating mid and side channels to give your mix a wider stereo image and greater clarity. Ian takes us on a journey through the origins of mid-side EQ, sharing insights into how to control mid-channel loudness and boost side channels for professional stereo width. Learn how these principles can also be applied to EQ and compression for a polished, high-quality sound.In this episode, we break down the art of mid-side recording, using directional and figure-eight microphones to craft a spacious stereo image. Ian also clears up common misconceptions around polarity and phase, helping you avoid typical pitfalls when setting up a mid-side stereo field.Ian also provides a masterclass on how mid-side EQ impacts stereo balance and phase response, essential knowledge for mastering engineers and producers alike. We dig into linear and minimum phase EQ effects on stereo imaging and discuss advanced compression techniques that can elevate your production game.In this episode, we cover:What is mid-side EQ and why you should use itHow manipulating mid and side channels affects your mix's width and clarityThe history of mid-side EQ and its origins as a micing technique by Alan BlumlineUnderstanding polarity, phase, and common mistakes in mid-side setupsUsing linear and minimum phase EQ for optimal stereo imagingAdvanced compression tips using mid-side processing for a polished soundFollow Ian Stewart for more insights: https://flotownmastering.com/Send me a Message Support the show► ► ► WAYS TO CONNECT ► ► ► Join my FREE Logic Pro Mixing Course TODAY!✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸Are you READY to accelerate your mixing, in Logic Pro, in less than six hours? Join my FREE Logic Pro Mixing Course at Synth Music Mastering: https://www.synthmusicmastering.com/freeSend a DM via IG @insidethemicpodcastEmail me at marc@synthmusicmastering.com

Cyclist Kristen Faulkner, reigning USA Road Race champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, on how her venture capital career has informed her competitive outlook and business model. Plus, pro-cycling presenter Jez Cox on making a living commentating on the international sport. Ian Stewart guest hosts.

Automakers may soon be required to start designing trucks and SUVs with lower front ends to help reduce the number of fatal head-on collisions with pedestrians. Ian Stewart reports. 

We chat to Tim Rideout and Ian Stewart about the Scottish Currency Group Conference coming up on 21st and 22nd of September and the exciting line up of guest speakers.    Online and In Person tickets are available from Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scottish-currency-group-conference-tickets-965256055847?aff=ebdssbdestsearch Hope to see you there!   The Scottish Independence Podcasts team produce a NEW podcast episode every Friday search for Scottish Independence Podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.  Remember to like and subscribe! Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/scottishindependencepodcasts You can also nominate us as your good cause on www.Easyfundraising.org.uk Contact Us: indypodcasters@gmail.com  Visit our website https://scottishindypod.scot for blogposts, newsletter signup and more episodes Subscribe to our Youtube channel @scottishindypodExtra for more of our video footage and clips Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod  

David Zipper, senior fellow at MIT's Mobility Initiative, on vehicle bloat, the elusive "15-minute city," EVs and much more. Ian Stewart guest hosts.

Jim & Pat's Glasgow West End Chat - Episode 103 Today I am chatting with Tim Rideout and Ian Stewart of the Scottish Currency Group. And, if you're thinking, ‘Currency? Well, that doesn't sound very interesting', then stay tuned because Tim and Ian will have you convinced otherwise. In fact after this podcast you'll be telling your pals that currency is the most important subject to learn about if they want to live in a successful Scotland. And that would be true. Tim and Ian chat about all things related to the upcoming Scottish Currency Group Conference. The conference will take place on the 21st of September, 2024, at the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline. If I were to reduce the aim of the conference to a single phrase, that phrase would be: ‘why an independent Scotland has to have its own currency.' That's not their description, that's one I made up  - because that's the impression I got from reading the conference program.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with Tim Rideout and Ian Stewart of the Scottish Currency Group. Links Tim Rideout on Twitter Ian Stewart - Bylines Scotland Tim Rideout videos Ian Stewart on Facebook Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End Podcast music by Jim Byrne

The College Football Experience (@TCEonSGPN) on the Sports Gambling Podcast Network continues its 134 college football team preview series with the Temple Owls 2024 Season Preview. Pick Dundee aka (@TheColbyD) & CJ Sullivan (@CJSullivan_) break down the upcoming Temple Owls offense, defense and special teams and key in on every game the Owls play on the 2024 college football schedule. Can Stan Drayton deliver a big season that can keep him in Philadelphia for years to come? Why do the Temple Owls play at Lincoln Financial Field?Will the Temple Owls really feel the loss of EJ Warner to the Rice Owls in the transfer portal? Did the Temple Owls bounce back well by bringing in Evan Simon from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights? Should we expect Joquez Smith and Antwain Littleton to have big years in the backfield? Is Dante Wright a name to watch at the tight end spot this season? Will the wideouts Ian Stewart and Zae Baines have decent seasons in 2024 despite the loss of EJ Warner? Does retuning just 2 of 5 on the offensive line mean the Owls may struggle upfront?What should we expect from a Temple Owls defense that returns 5 starters on the defensive side of the ball? Is Tra Thomas, Latrell Jean and Allan Haye the best defensive line Temple has had in the Stan Drayton era? Who will step up at the linebacker spot in 2024? Can the secondary take a step forward with the return of Torey Richardson and Andreas Keaton? What would be a great season for the Temple Owls in 2024? We talk it all and more on this Florida State Seminoles edition of The College Football Experience. JOIN the SGPN community #DegensOnlyExclusive Merch, Contests and Bonus Episodes ONLY on Patreon - https://sg.pn/patreonDiscuss with fellow degens on Discord - https://sg.pn/discordDownload The Free SGPN App - https://sgpn.appCheck out the Sports Gambling Podcast on YouTube - https://sg.pn/YouTubeCheck out our website - http://sportsgamblingpodcast.comSUPPORT us by supporting our partnersCirca Sports - 16 MILLION in guaranteed prizes w/ Circa Survivor & Circa Millions - https://www.circasports.com/circa-sports-millionFootball Contest Proxy - Use promo code SGP to save $50 at - https://www.footballcontestproxy.com/Rithmm - Player Props and Picks - Free 7 day trial! http://sportsgamblingpodcast.com/rithmmUnderdog Fantasy code SGPN - Up to $250 in BONUS CASH - https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-sgpnGametime code SGPN - Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code SGPN for $20 off your first purchase - https://gametime.co/ADVERTISE with SGPNInterested in advertising? Contact sales@sgpn.io Follow The College Experience & SGPN On Social MediaTwitter - https://twitter.com/TCEonSGPNInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/TCEonSGPNTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@TCEonSGPNYoutube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheCollegeExperienceFollow The Hosts On Social MediaColby Dant - http://www.twitter.com/thecolbydPatty C - https://twitter.com/PattyC831NC Nick - https://twitter.com/NC__NicK

Economic growth has slowed in China, cutting into US crude exports and softening spot price differentials for US Gulf Mars crude. The expected supply surplus stemming from reduced Chinese buying has also helped to cushion the bullish impacts of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, keeping oil futures in a well-worn range.    Jeff Mower speaks with US crude reporter Laura Huchzermeyer, crude analyst Ian Stewart and oil futures editor Chris van Moessner about the current arbitrage economics for US crude to Asia and Europe, as well as the timeline and indicators for Chinese demand recovery.

The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret is a podcast in which your hosts, Joanna Hagan and Francine Carrel, read and recap every book from Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series in chronological order. This week, we're releasing a very special episode – a conversation with Ian Stewart, recorded live at the Discworld Convention 2024! We talk about Tiffany Aching books, the Science of Discworld, and involve the audience in a Very Scientific Poll on the best Witches book. Magic! Science! LIVE!Find us on the internet:Twitter: @MakeYeFretPodInstagram: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretFacebook: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretEmail: thetruthshallmakeyefretpod@gmail.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/thetruthshallmakeyefretDiscord: https://discord.gg/29wMyuDHGP Want to follow your hosts and their internet doings? Follow Joanna on twitter @joannahagan and follow Francine @francibambi Things we blathered on about:Photos from DWCON 2024 - TTSMYF Professor Ian Stewart FRS - Royal Society Sir Terry Pratchett - The Science of Discworld - YouTubeScience of Discworld Series - PenguinJack Cohen obituary | Science | The Guardian Terry Pratchett Receives Honorary Degree from University of Warwick [and awards honorary UU degrees to Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen]Music: Chris Collins, indiemusicbox.com

John Doe of the seminal LA punk band X on the early days of the movement; staying in business through the decades and X's ninth --and final -- studio album, "Smoke and Fiction." Guest host: Ian Stewart.

While work on the 43-mile, multi-use path known as the Fall Line Trail continues in the Richmond region, another trail in Charlottesville is also in the works.   It's one of many car-free trails that could eventually connect to others around Virginia.  Ian Stewart reports. 

Karina Benavides on her critically acclaimed restaurant Abuelita's, whose guisos, grilled cactus and red mole ranchero pay homage to her native Jalisco, Mexico. Guest hosted by Ian Stewart.

Welcome to another engaging episode of the Breaking Math Podcast! Today's episode, titled "What is the Use?," features a fascinating conversation with the renowned mathematician and author, Professor Ian Stewart. As Professor Stewart discusses his latest book "What's the Use? How Mathematics Shapes Everyday Life," we dive deep into the real-world applications of mathematics that often go unnoticed in our daily technologies, like smartphones, and their unpredictable implications in various fields.We'll explore the history of quaternions, invented by William Rowan Hamilton, which now play a critical role in computer graphics, gaming, and particle physics. Professor Stewart will also shed light on the non-commutative nature of quaternions, mirroring the complexities of spatial rotations, and how these mathematical principles find their correspondence in the natural world.Furthermore, our discussion will encompass the interconnectivity within mathematics, touching upon how algebra, geometry, and trigonometry converge to paint a broader picture of this unified field. We also discuss the intriguing concept of "Fearful Symmetry" and how symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns govern everything from tiger stripes to sand dunes.With references to his other works, including "Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities" and "The Science of Discworld," Professor Stewart brings an element of surprise and entertainment to the profound impact of mathematics on our understanding of the world.So stay tuned as we unlock the mysteries and the omnipresent nature of math in this thought-provoking episode with Professor Ian Stewart!

Have you ever wondered if AI can mix and master music? Maybe you're seeking answers to topics: what the term mastering refers to, what is normalisation, what does Spotify normalisation do, the best AI mastering, is there AI for music production, is there an AI bot for music, can AI make music, or maybe even can AI make my song sound better? Then check out EP 139 of the Inside The Mix podcast.Prepare to be enthralled as the exceptionally skilled Ian Stewart and I lift the veil on the future of music production with the advent of AI-assisted mastering. We venture into the world where artificial intelligence shapes the sounds that move us, touching on the nuances of genre recognition and the potential shifts in the music industry's landscape. As we converse, Ian's expertise shines, offering an intriguing perspective on the complex relationship between AI advancements and human creativity, while also sharing indispensable tips for mastering with the aid of AI, ensuring audio engineers and enthusiasts alike can harness the full potential of these cutting-edge tools.The ethical conundrum of AI-generated music on streaming platforms takes centre stage as we confront the implications for artist royalties and the inherent human desire to create. We navigate the delicate balance between technology's role in automating routine tasks and the potential for AI to introduce innovative forms of ambience and engagement—imagine your very own personalised concentration playlist, crafted by an intelligent algorithm. This thought-provoking discussion not only dissects the ethical implications but also delves into how AI might support the undercurrent of artists fighting for visibility in the streaming era.In our final act, we unravel the intricacies of mastering for optimal sound quality, where my revelation about the impact of subtle gain adjustments sets the stage for a broader conversation on the art of mastering. We challenge the current paradigms of loudness normalisation and debate the merits of album versus track normalisation, all in service of preserving the artist's vision. Ian and I also demystify the technicalities behind using reference tracks and navigating loudness measurements, ultimately guiding you towards making your music resonate powerfully in the tangible world. Join us for this illuminating journey through the harmonious blend of technology and artistry in audio mastering.CLICK HERE to follow Ian Stewart: https://www.flotownmastering.com DISCOV Roots Music RamblerHear great conversations with the artists behind the music you love, new music and more!Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show► ► ► WAYS TO CONNECT ► ► ► Grab your FREE Production Potential Discovery Call!✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸Are you READY to take their music to the next level? Book your FREE Production Potential Discovery Call: https://www.synthmusicmastering.com/contactBuy me a COFFEE✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸If you like what I do, buy me a coffee so I can create more amazing content for you: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marcjmatthewsSend a DM through IG @insidethemicpodcastEmail me at marc@synthmusicmastering.comThanks for listening & happy producing!

In this week's Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark chats with Landward's Cammy Wilson about his sheep-farming career. We hear an excerpt where Cammy is telling Mark the story of Fiona, the 'world's loneliest sheep'.Killiechassie Burial Ground near Aberfeldy holds just six graves, five of which are covered over with recumbent flat slabs. For years, it was allowed to become neglected but in the 1990s, the Breadalbane Heritage Society started to take an interest and discovered that it not only dates back hundreds of years but also has connections to King Robert the Bruce and the Wolf of Badenoch. Ian Stewart shows Rachel around.On last week's programme, a listener got in touch to ask how they could stop badgers from leaving droppings in their garden. Mark meets with Eddie Palmer, the chairman of Scottish Badgers, to learn about the ways that we can stop badgers from causing problems in our gardens.A Scotland-wide test of the nation's rivers for microplastics, pharmaceuticals and various other chemicals is underway. The study has started in the north east with sampling being carried out on the rivers Dee and Ugie, which takes in both rural and urban areas. Rachel met with Dr Jessica Gomez-Banderas on the riverbank near Peterhead to find out about how they take the samples and what they're actually looking for.In March, Queen Margaret University opened a new state of the art outdoor learning hub. The facility aims to improve understanding of outdoor learning amongst the teaching profession, whilst also enabling the community to connect to the natural world in new ways. Mark meets with Patrick Boxall, lecturer in Education, to find out more.Over the last wee while, thousands of new trees have been planted on the nature reserve at Loch Ardinning near Glasgow as part of a project by the Scottish Wildlife Trust to create a new oak woodland at the site. To stop the grassland chocking out the saplings, staff have been laying mulch mats and recently they roped in some helpers who were on a corporate volunteering day. Rachel chats to Chris Thomson from the Scottish Wildlife Trust and his corporate volunteers from SPL Powerlines Lee, Cassandra and Lewis.The Natural Trust for Scotland have built a new oak tree nursery as part of the long-term sustainability of the Old Wood of Drum. The wood dates back to Robert the Bruce, and the team there have been really busy planting and growing from acorns harvested from the wood. Mark meets NTS Woodland Ranger Bronwen Thomas to find out more.

Will Virginia outlaw child marriage? VPM News reporter Jahd Khalil has followed legislation that would raise the legal marriage age to 18, if approved by Gov. Glenn Youngkin; Curious Commonwealth presents: Three Chopt Road. VPM News' transportation reporter Ian Stewart went exploring to find out why the road crisscrosses the highway.

The latest episode of Talking Tigers highlights how Richmond's current on-field situation can generate excitement among Yellow and Black barrackers. One member of the TT panel is particularly excited by the imminent AFL debut of a talented Tiger teenager, predicting he will develop into a star of the competition. In the “Spirit of ‘74” segment, reliving Richmond's triumphant 1974 year, the focus is on Ian Stewart's shock retirement announcement on the eve of the season, before a quick backflip by the champion centreman due to a strange reason. And the new “Going Up The Country” segment looks at a Victorian town that produced a Richmond high-flyer who subsequently became a Brownlow Medallist at another club. For all things Yellow and Black, tune in to Talking Tigers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Best Friend Therapy and this season's opportunity for Emma to therapise our beloved guinea pig, Elizabeth Day, whilst offering some psycho-education for us all about the Transactional Analysis concept of the “Drama Triangle” - why and how we end up repeating conflict in relationships (be they personal or professional) and what we can do to change it.The Drama Triangle was developed by Stephen Karpman in the 1960's and tells us about three unhealthy roles we take on in drama - the Rescuer, the Persecutor, the Victim.Elizabeth talks about a time she adopted the role of Rescuer as a way of defending her Victim and she recognises the futile task of trying to solve someone's problems when they are not yet ready to change. She also tells us about the guilt she feels when she fails the other person and we uncover the unconscious motivations that are keeping her stuck. Listen along with an example of your own and ask yourself:If you're the Rescuer, what are your feelings and needs? If you're the Persecutor, what can't you tolerate really? If you're the Victim, what are your options to take back control? Emma explains and gives examples of how to channel more productive, constructive Adult communication using Acey Choy's “Winners Triangle”, to remove the conflict and get closer to the results you want.---The original reference for the Drama Triangle is: Karpman MD, Stephen (1968). "Fairy tales and script drama analysis". Transactional Analysis Bulletin. 26 (7): 39–43. https://www.karpmandramatriangle.com/pdf/DramaTriangle.pdf Choy, Acey (1990). The Winner's Triangle Transactional Analysis Journal 20(1):40 https://www.scribd.com/document/577707612/Winner-s-Triangle And this brilliant book by Ian Stewart and Vann Joines is a great introduction to all things TA, including Eric Berne's work on Games: https://amzn.eu/d/eZEkUmD ---Best Friend Therapy is hosted by Elizabeth Day and Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp. --- Social Media: Elizabeth Day @elizabday Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell Best Friend Therapy @best.friend.therapy Email: contact@bestfriendtherapy.co.uk

Every five years, we put a cross on a piece of paper – and put it in a ballot box. It's a democratic right. A civic duty. An opportunity to have a say on what matters to us in our communities. 2024 is a big year for elections. Because more of us than ever before will be going to the polls around the globe. In the US. The UK. India. Taiwan. Mexico. South Africa. And many more. And there's a lot at stake – from the rise of the far right and soaring inflation to ongoing geopolitical conflicts and the climate emergency. But voting is one thing. Making change happen, is another altogether. For this episode, we're joined by Rt Hon Caroline Flint, former MP and Government Minister for the Labour party, and Ian Stewart, Chief Economist at Deloitte, as we ask: Do elections change anything?  Tune in to find out:  What we can learn from past elections to make future elections count How governments can balance short-term issues and long-term challenges Which issues matter most to voters right now How elections impact business – and how businesses can be prepared   Enjoyed this episode? Check our website for our recommendations to learn more about this topic: deloitte.co.uk/greenroompodcasts You can also watch our episodes on Youtube: youtube.com/@DeloitteUK  Check out Change Please here:  changeplease.org Guests: Rt Hon Caroline Flint, former MP for the Labour party and Advisory Board Member for think tank Reform, and Ian Stewart, Chief Economist at Deloitte Hosts: Ethan Worth and Annie Wong Original music: Ali Barrett  

Mathematician Prof. Ian Stewart shares his strategies for explaining abstract mathematical concepts to the public, the role imagination can play in education, and how science fiction can assist in solving the world's most complex mysteries. Professor Ian Stewart is a British mathematician who majored in mathematics at the University of Cambridge and is an emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick. With more than 200 papers and 20 books on mathematics under his name, Professor Stewart has done much to popularise mathematics, talking about the principles and depth of mathematics within various academic fields such as literature, history, and astronomy. For these accomplishments, he received the Michael Faraday Medal from the Royal Society of London in 1995 and became the first recipient of the Christopher Zeeman Medal in 2008. He also received the 2017 Euler Book Prize, given for an outstanding book in mathematics, and serves as a Fellow of the Royal Society of England. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TpJr-myCFEA  ABOUT THE HOST Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments. He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine. CREDITS Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

"Uni Dome Bliss: Jerry's Guitar Magic Illuminating Iowa Nights"Larry Mishkin discusses a Grateful Dead concert from February 5, 1978, held at the Uni Dome at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He emphasizes the exceptional performance, particularly focusing on the Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain combo, which he compares favorably to the renowned Barton Hall show from May 1977. Larry praises the guitar work of Jerry Garcia and highlights the unique qualities of this less-discussed but outstanding 1978 show. Additionally, he briefly touches on recent music news, including the Dead and Company's residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas and the upcoming Days Between event at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, featuring Government Mule and other legendary musicians. February 5, 1978 (46 years ago)Uni-DomeUniversity of Northern IowaCedar Falls, IowaGrateful Dead Live at Uni Dome, U of Northern Iowa on 1978-02-05 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive Show Title:  The Dead Warm Up A Cold Iowa Night in 1978.  Dead & Co scheduled to play the Shere.  Alcohol v. Cannabis v. Tobacco – You already know the answer to this one!  INTRO:              Bertha                           Track #1                           3:24 – 5:13                             Great Jerry solo SHOW No. 1:     Samson & Delilah                           Track # 12                           1:30 – 3:10                            Bobby's mic not working so they have to improvise and keep jamming                            Played 365 times, often on Sunday – “It being Sunday . . . “                           First played June 3, 1976 Paramount Theater in Portland, OR                           Last played July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago SHOW No. 2:    Scarlet Begonias                           Track #14                           3:20 – 5:10                            One of the best ever, great jamming SHOW No. 3:    Fire On The Mountain                           Track # 15                           7:15 – 9:02                            Again, one of the best ever (and one of Rob's favorites!).  No lyrics here, just Jerry jamming away SHOW No. 4:   The Other One                           Track # 18                           6:10 – 7:40                            Loud, solid, Phil!!! OUTRO:            Around & Around                           Track #20                           3:58 – 5:35                                                     Not always everyone's favorite, but this is a ripping version, they change the tempo on a dime and rock it out to end the second set.                           "Around and Around" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry. It originally appeared under the name "Around & Around" as the B-side to the single "Johnny B. Goode".                        Covered by:                                   Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones covered the song on their EP, Five by Five and second U.S. album 12 X 5 in 1964. Besides the band members it featured Ian Stewart on piano. In October 1964, they performed the song as part of their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. They played it on a regular basis on their tours in 1964 and 1965. In 1964 the Stones opened their famed TAMI Show with the song. After more than a decade they performed the song again at the Knebworth Fair on August 21, 1976. It was also included on the 1977 live album Love You Live, from the El Mocambo club gig in Toronto. After that, it has only been performed occasionally, most recently during the band's 2012 U.S. tour at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on December 15                         David Bowie - English musician David Bowie recorded the song in 1971, produced by Ken Scott, under the title "Round and Round". Originally slated for inclusion on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was ousted by "Starman" at the last minute.[4] Regarding the song, Bowie stated in 1972: "It would have been the kind of number that Ziggy would have done onstage...He jammed it for old times' sake in the studio, and our enthusiasm for it probably waned after we heard it a few times. We replaced it with a thing called 'Starman'. I don't think it's any great loss, really.                         The Animals                        Eric Burden                        Pearl Jam                        Meat Loaf                        .38 Special                        Maureen Tucker (Velvet Underground)                        The Germs (American punk rock band                        Guided By Voices                        And more . . . . . . .                         Dead played it 418 times, very high up in the overall song rankings.                        First played:  Nov. 8, 1970, Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY                        Last played:  July 6, 1995, Riverport Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

Ian Stewart - Chief Marketing Officer at Wedge Brands LLC, XCEL Wetsuits Ian Stewart is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wedge Brands, owners of Xcel Wetsuits. Marketing experience at Converse, UGG, MTV, The Coca-Cola Company. A brand marketer with 25 years of regional and global experience around the world, Ian was at Converse as their head of marketing. He has also held marketing roles at MTV, Coca-Cola, and Ogilvy. A lifelong surfer from Whale Beach in Australia, Ian is never far from the ocean, so its protection is always on his mind. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dylanconroy/support

Connie decides to create a hit Christmas single with the help of the adventurers and special guest Ian from Blueprint Studios!“There's nothing like a festive song to lift your Christmas spirits! ”

This summer, the advocacy group R-V-A Rapid Transit released a report outlining the state of public transit in Richmond and several recommendations for improving the service. The report noted that only 26 percent of bus stops in the city have a bench or shelter. The Greater Richmond Transit Company, GRTC, says it plans to at least double that number over the next few years. As part of the VPM News Healthy City series, Transportation reporter Ian Stewart caught up with some riders who talked about their experiences.

Civil engineer Veronica O. Davis recently released a book called Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities.” Those divisions are largely through Black and brown communities, which were carved up when the federal government built the interstate highway system in the 1950s; the same way I-95 carved up Richmond's Jackson Ward. Davis recently spoke with VPM News transportation reporter Ian Stewart about her connection to transportation as part of VPM News Healthy City.

Liz and Ben are blessed by two returning guests, the Rev Dr Avril Hannah-Jones and Dr Charlotte Pezaro, as they go on one last visit to Roundworld - this time as clerics, wizards and librarians clash over who should take ownership. It's Terry Pratchett's fourth and final collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, 2013's The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day. Ponder Stibbons has just activated Unseen University's latest “Great Big Thing”, the culmination of six years' research (and spending) into the frontiers of magical knowledge. It summons a side effect: improbably-named librarian Marjorie Daw, from the even less probable universe in a bottle, Roundworld. Marjorie decides to stick around when she discovers her entire universe is under threat: the Church of the Latter-Day Omnians, who believe the Disc is round, think Roundworld should be theirs. After surviving elves and Auditors, will it be lawyers and priests who decide Roundworld's fate? This time in the (really short!) fiction chapters, the wizards barely visit Roundworld at all; Ridcully spends most of his time talking to Marjorie, before the last few chapters detail the trial - sorry, hearing - of the century. In the non-fiction chapters, Jack and Ian do talk about science...but mostly about religion. Their big idea this time revolves around Gregory Benford's ideas of human- and universe-centred thinking. As the fiction pits priests against wizards, you can probably see where this is going. We certainly could, and we'll be blunt: we didn't like it. Is this really a book about science? How do the authors' ideas of “religion” gel with yours - or even Pratchett's previous books and writing on the subject? What did you think of Marjorie Daw? Do you want us to do a special episode with Avril about Scott Morrison's book? And were we too harsh on this book? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat71 on social media. Guest Rev Dr Avril Hannh-Jones (she/her) is a Minister in the Uniting Church. While she should be known for her tireless activism for marginalised communities, most people know her for the Church of the Latter Day Geek: an occasional service where science fiction and fantasy stories serve as parables, and cosplay is allowed in the pews. Avril previously appeared on Pratchat back in 2019 to discuss Small Gods in #Pratchat16. Avril posts weekly Reflections on her blog, Rev Doc Geek, tweets as @DocAvvers, and would love to see you at a Sunday service at North Balwyn Uniting Church. Guest Dr Charlotte Pezaro (she/her) is an educator with a PhD in pedagogy and years of experience communicating science and technology, and shaping how it is taught in Australian schools. She last joined us in 2021 for #Pratchat41 to discuss Nation, which is both Charlotte's and Pratchett's favourite Pratchett book. You can find out more about Charlotte at charlottepezaro.com, or her education work at dialogic.com.au. As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our website. Next episode it's time for another short story: this time a young adult one Pratchett wrote for Diana Wynn Jones in 1989, “Turntables of the Night”. It was originally published in the anthology Hidden Turnings, but you'll most easily find it in Pratchett's short fiction collection A Blink of the Screen. We'll be discussing this tale of record collectors and DJs with superstar DJ and comedian, Andrew McClelland! Have a read and send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat72, or via email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

The Carlton Football Club recruited Nicholls from the Maryborough Football Club in 1957 after recruiting his elder brother, Don, the previous year their father ensured that both brothers would play together at one club. Don played 77 senior games as a centreman for Carlton from 1956, when he was Carlton's best first-year player, to 1961. Nicholls enjoyed an outstanding season in 1966, winning his second consecutive Robert Reynolds Trophy, and finishing second in the Brownlow Medal count, four votes behind St Kilda champion Ian Stewart. Success as captain-coach In his first year as captain-coach, Nicholls led the Blues to the minor premiership with 18 wins and a draw, followed by Richmond with 18 wins. 1972 was the first season in which the McIntyre "Final Five" system was used, and so because Carlton finished on top of the ladder, this meant that they had a week's break before facing Richmond in the Second Semi-final. The match was drawn, which in those days meant that a replay was required the following week, thus shifting every other match back another week. Richmond won the replay by 41 points, but in the post-match interviews Nicholls refused to panic: Carlton has not hit a form slump. We just had a dismal day – our worst for the season. There'll be no panic just because we went down by 41 points. There won't be more than one or two changes.  We will be sticking to the same players because it was, they who put us where we finished at the end of the home-and-away games. I know the players will redeem themselves next week. We just won't beat St. Kilda – we will win well. And if we team together as I know we can I know we are good enough to take the premiership. Robert Walls who was serving as vice-captain, recalled that the day after the semi-final defeat, the players arrived at training feeling flat, but Nicholls revealed to them the outline of his plan to win the premiership with all-out attacking football. But first, Carlton had to defeat St Kilda in the Preliminary Final. The Saints had played in the previous year's Grand Final and still boasted a strong team. Nicholls chose not to implement his plan, trusting that his players would get the job done. The Blues prevailed by 16 points and earned the right to redeem themselves against their arch-rival. Richmond went into the Grand Final as clear favourites, but this would be the day when Nicholls established once and for all his reputation as one of the greats of the game. The element of surprise in Nicholls' plan lay in his team selection; he handed the rucking responsibilities to "Percy" Jones, whilst stationing himself in the forward pocket with the intent of kicking goals. He also deployed Barry Armstrong in the centre while Vin Waite was given the task of minding Barry Richardson. Finally, in the lead-up to the match, Nicholls had given his players three simple instructions: get to the ball first, kick long into attack and contest for 100 minutes. The plan succeeded in the most spectacular fashion possible. In an enthralling spectacle of attacking football from both teams, Carlton piled on the goals to lead at half time with an incredible score of 18.6 (114) to 10.9 (69). The shell-shocked Tigers tried to claw their way back into the game, but every goal they scored was met with a Carlton reply. When the final siren sounded, Carlton had registered a record score of 28.9 (177) while Richmond's score of 22.18 (150), enough to win most games, remains the highest losing score in a Grand Final. While every Carlton player contributed, Nicholls himself had a field day, kicking six goals on Ray Boyanich. He said afterwards that had he not kicked six, he felt he would have failed in the position. Walls, who also kicked six goals, was nominated best on ground. Stung by their defeat, Richmond didn't have to wait long to avenge their humiliation as the two rivals squared off again in the following season's Grand Final.  On a hot and blustery day, Richmond prevailed in a match that would be remembered for two major incidents. The first occurred at the three-minute mark of the first quarter, when Nicholls was sensationally felled by Richmond back pocket Laurie Fowler while juggling a mark. Both players had their eyes on the ball and didn't see each other until it was too late. Fowler, who was airborne, hit Nicholls with his shoulder and emerged from the collision unscathed, but Nicholls went to ground and had to be helped to his feet by the club trainers. The sight of their fallen leader stunned the Carlton players; Robert Walls recalled that "[t]here was a bit of disbelief when Nicholls went down because we'd never seen the big bloke hurt like that before." Nicholls was awarded a 15-metre penalty, and goaled from the free kick, but suffered double vision from the collision, and had little further impact on the game. The second incident came in the second quarter, when Ian Stewart kicked the ball deep into Richmond's attacking zone to a contest involving Carlton full-back Geoff Southby and Richmond forward Neil Balme. What happened next would sour Carlton's already bitter relations with Richmond for many years. Going for the ball after it spilled off a pack contest, Southby was floored by a round-arm punch from Balme. The hit broke Southby's jaw, and he would not return to the field after half time. Just moments later, Balme would lash out again, this time at Vin Waite. Reflecting on the incident many years later, Nicholls angrily labelled Balme a "cheat": I didn't respect him as a player because I reckon he was a cheat. He used to dwell on players and with his big, strong frame, he should have been doing more courageous things. People over the years say Balmey knocked a couple out, but he basically king-hit people.

The Rolling Stones were on the run in 1973. Still tax exiles from England, the Stones went from Europe to the Caribbean to the United States to record and mix the album. Mick Jagger & Keith RIchards were still peeved over Allen Klein taking half their royalties but were now on Rolling Stone records (thanks to Ahmet Ertegun) and had a primo publishing deal. However, not all was right in Rolling Stones land as Mick Taylor was growing dissatisfied with his roll (and income) with the band, producer Jimmy Miller was slowly becoming deeply entrenched in his addiction and Keith was as well while Mick Jagger was trying to live up to his reputation as a lothario and jetset rock superstar. Though Goats Head Soup did contain worldwide hit Angie and Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), there were some more experimental songs on the album like Winter, odd jams like Can You Hear The Music and the non-radio friendly tale of groupies, Star Star. Bill Wyman doesn't play much bass on the record as Keith and Mick Taylor take turns, Mick Jagger plays some guitar as well as piano as do Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and Ian Stewart. It's tough to follow Exile on Main Street and this one is a little different but to help walk us through it is Marc of the Performance Anxiety Podcast. Our Pantheon Podcasts brother helps us go track x track and tackle the unreleased tracks from the Deluxe Edition, including Scarlett featuring the one and only Jimmy Page. Listen to Performance Anxiety Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Ugly American Werewolf in London Store - Get your Wolf merch! Visit RareVinyl.com and use the NEW code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rolling Stones were on the run in 1973. Still tax exiles from England, the Stones went from Europe to the Caribbean to the United States to record and mix the album. Mick Jagger & Keith RIchards were still peeved over Allen Klein taking half their royalties but were now on Rolling Stone records (thanks to Ahmet Ertegun) and had a primo publishing deal. However, not all was right in Rolling Stones land as Mick Taylor was growing dissatisfied with his roll (and income) with the band, producer Jimmy Miller was slowly becoming deeply entrenched in his addiction and Keith was as well while Mick Jagger was trying to live up to his reputation as a lothario and jetset rock superstar. Though Goats Head Soup did contain worldwide hit Angie and Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), there were some more experimental songs on the album like Winter, odd jams like Can You Hear The Music and the non-radio friendly tale of groupies, Star Star. Bill Wyman doesn't play much bass on the record as Keith and Mick Taylor take turns, Mick Jagger plays some guitar as well as piano as do Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and Ian Stewart. It's tough to follow Exile on Main Street and this one is a little different but to help walk us through it is Marc of the Performance Anxiety Podcast. Our Pantheon Podcasts brother helps us go track x track and tackle the unreleased tracks from the Deluxe Edition, including Scarlett featuring the one and only Jimmy Page. Listen to Performance Anxiety Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Ugly American Werewolf in London Store - Get your Wolf merch! Visit RareVinyl.com and use the NEW code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a great professional recording of boogie woogie band Rocket 88 playing live on June 5, 1984 in Nottingham as a benefit for the recently late Alexis Korner (father of British blues and member of Rocket 88). This show features Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart, Jack Bruce, Jimmy Page, Paul Jones, Ruby Turner and many more. Super fun show with greatly improved sound.

TW; discussions around suicide.This week we are talking about gaslighting, where the term originates from and how it has helped us name a particular type of coercive control.We also talk about how it has been more recently adopted in casual conversation and how therapy talk doesn't always serve us when it's overused or taken out of context.As always, our insights are informed by popular culture - namely the Archers, Jury Duty and Married at First Sight Australia (we're talking to you, Harrison).We cover gaslighting as it appears in romantic relationships, but also how it can show up in friendships, family dynamics and broader society.Emma takes us through a Transactional Analysis theory known as Escape Hatches and Elizabeth shares her experience of being on the receiving end of gaslighting, to help us understand what to look out for and how to own our truth.---For anyone interested in escape hatch theory, here is a clip from two legends of TA, Ian Stewart and Adrienne Lee, discussing how to decide on life: https://youtu.be/FaKxr5Lfkv4---Best Friend Therapy is hosted by Elizabeth Day and Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Chris Sharp.---Social Media:Elizabeth Day @elizabdayEmma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellBest Friend Therapy @best.friend.therapy

Today's unfiltered truth comes from my guest, Ian Stewart, the CMO of Wedge Brands. Wedge Brands is a Private Equity firm run by surfers, who manages a portfolio of outdoor brands that includes Xcel Wetsuits. Wedge Brands has a unique model, focusing on providing back-office support to share across the brand portfolio, so owners can focus on growth, not logistics. This episode is a masterclass in brand building through e-commerce, from Ian who has done it his entire career. He's stood behind the most iconic brands of our culture such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Converse, TOMS Shoes and MTV. Don't miss this conversation where we discuss how to fix your abandon cart rates and convert more customers in the sales funnel. We also digress and touch upon what makes surfing a “Zen” activity. Some highlights of what we cover: How Wedge Brands helps build businesses for the long-term How Ian applies his iconic expertise to the brand portfolio The importance of being a patient and consistent marketer Successful blocking and tackling tactics of an e-commerce business   About Ian Stewart: Ian Stewart is the CMO of Wedge Brands, a private equity firm managing a portfolio of surf and snow brands that includes Xcel Wetsuits. Prior to Wedge, Ian was the CMO of TOMS Shoes, VP Marketing UGG, and VP Marketing Converse. Ian has also worked in marketing roles at MTV and Coca-Cola.   Connect with Ian on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iansb77/ Check out Xcel Wetsuits here: https://xcelwetsuits.com/  Check out here: https://wedgebrands.com/   If you're a brand looking for market differentiation but don't know where to begin, this is what the host specializes in. Contact Jacqueline Lieberman at her marketing consultancy www.brandcrudo.com or jacqueline@brandcrudo.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 166 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Crossroads", Cream, the myth of Robert Johnson, and whether white men can sing the blues. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-eight-minute bonus episode available, on “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips" by Tiny Tim. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata I talk about an interview with Clapton from 1967, I meant 1968. I mention a Graham Bond live recording from 1953, and of course meant 1963. I say Paul Jones was on vocals in the Powerhouse sessions. Steve Winwood was on vocals, and Jones was on harmonica. Resources As I say at the end, the main resource you need to get if you enjoyed this episode is Brother Robert by Annye Anderson, Robert Johnson's stepsister. There are three Mixcloud mixes this time. As there are so many songs by Cream, Robert Johnson, John Mayall, and Graham Bond excerpted, and Mixcloud won't allow more than four songs by the same artist in any mix, I've had to post the songs not in quite the same order in which they appear in the podcast. But the mixes are here -- one, two, three. This article on Mack McCormick gives a fuller explanation of the problems with his research and behaviour. The other books I used for the Robert Johnson sections were McCormick's Biography of a Phantom; Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow; Searching for Robert Johnson by Peter Guralnick; and Escaping the Delta by Elijah Wald. I can recommend all of these subject to the caveats at the end of the episode. The information on the history and prehistory of the Delta blues mostly comes from Before Elvis by Larry Birnbaum, with some coming from Charley Patton by John Fahey. The information on Cream comes mostly from Cream: How Eric Clapton Took the World by Storm by Dave Thompson. I also used Ginger Baker: Hellraiser by Ginger Baker and Ginette Baker, Mr Showbiz by Stephen Dando-Collins, Motherless Child by Paul Scott, and  Alexis Korner: The Biography by Harry Shapiro. The best collection of Cream's work is the four-CD set Those Were the Days, which contains every track the group ever released while they were together (though only the stereo mixes of the albums, and a couple of tracks are in slightly different edits from the originals). You can get Johnson's music on many budget compilation records, as it's in the public domain in the EU, but the double CD collection produced by Steve LaVere for Sony in 2011 is, despite the problems that come from it being associated with LaVere, far and away the best option -- the remasters have a clarity that's worlds ahead of even the 1990s CD version it replaced. And for a good single-CD introduction to the Delta blues musicians and songsters who were Johnson's peers and inspirations, Back to the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson, compiled by Elijah Wald as a companion to his book on Johnson, can't be beaten, and contains many of the tracks excerpted in this episode. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before we start, a quick note that this episode contains discussion of racism, drug addiction, and early death. There's also a brief mention of death in childbirth and infant mortality. It's been a while since we looked at the British blues movement, and at the blues in general, so some of you may find some of what follows familiar, as we're going to look at some things we've talked about previously, but from a different angle. In 1968, the Bonzo Dog Band, a comedy musical band that have been described as the missing link between the Beatles and the Monty Python team, released a track called "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?": [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Band, "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"] That track was mocking a discussion that was very prominent in Britain's music magazines around that time. 1968 saw the rise of a *lot* of British bands who started out as blues bands, though many of them went on to different styles of music -- Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Chicken Shack and others were all becoming popular among the kind of people who read the music magazines, and so the question was being asked -- can white men sing the blues? Of course, the answer to that question was obvious. After all, white men *invented* the blues. Before we get any further at all, I have to make clear that I do *not* mean that white people created blues music. But "the blues" as a category, and particularly the idea of it as a music made largely by solo male performers playing guitar... that was created and shaped by the actions of white male record executives. There is no consensus as to when or how the blues as a genre started -- as we often say in this podcast "there is no first anything", but like every genre it seems to have come from multiple sources. In the case of the blues, there's probably some influence from African music by way of field chants sung by enslaved people, possibly some influence from Arabic music as well, definitely some influence from the Irish and British folk songs that by the late nineteenth century were developing into what we now call country music, a lot from ragtime, and a lot of influence from vaudeville and minstrel songs -- which in turn themselves were all very influenced by all those other things. Probably the first published composition to show any real influence of the blues is from 1904, a ragtime piano piece by James Chapman and Leroy Smith, "One O' Them Things": [Excerpt: "One O' Them Things"] That's not very recognisable as a blues piece yet, but it is more-or-less a twelve-bar blues. But the blues developed, and it developed as a result of a series of commercial waves. The first of these came in 1914, with the success of W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues", which when it was recorded by the Victor Military Band for a phonograph cylinder became what is generally considered the first blues record proper: [Excerpt: The Victor Military Band, "Memphis Blues"] The famous dancers Vernon and Irene Castle came up with a dance, the foxtrot -- which Vernon Castle later admitted was largely inspired by Black dancers -- to be danced to the "Memphis Blues", and the foxtrot soon overtook the tango, which the Castles had introduced to the US the previous year, to become the most popular dance in America for the best part of three decades. And with that came an explosion in blues in the Handy style, cranked out by every music publisher. While the blues was a style largely created by Black performers and writers, the segregated nature of the American music industry at the time meant that most vocal performances of these early blues that were captured on record were by white performers, Black vocalists at this time only rarely getting the chance to record. The first blues record with a Black vocalist is also technically the first British blues record. A group of Black musicians, apparently mostly American but led by a Jamaican pianist, played at Ciro's Club in London, and recorded many tracks in Britain, under a name which I'm not going to say in full -- it started with Ciro's Club, and continued alliteratively with another word starting with C, a slur for Black people. In 1917 they recorded a vocal version of "St. Louis Blues", another W.C. Handy composition: [Excerpt: Ciro's Club C**n Orchestra, "St. Louis Blues"] The first American Black blues vocal didn't come until two years later, when Bert Williams, a Black minstrel-show performer who like many Black performers of his era performed in blackface even though he was Black, recorded “I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,” [Excerpt: Bert Williams, "I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,”] But it wasn't until 1920 that the second, bigger, wave of popularity started for the blues, and this time it started with the first record of a Black *woman* singing the blues -- Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues": [Excerpt: Mamie Smith, "Crazy Blues"] You can hear the difference between that and anything we've heard up to that point -- that's the first record that anyone from our perspective, a hundred and three years later, would listen to and say that it bore any resemblance to what we think of as the blues -- so much so that many places still credit it as the first ever blues record. And there's a reason for that. "Crazy Blues" was one of those records that separates the music industry into before and after, like "Rock Around the Clock", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Sgt Pepper, or "Rapper's Delight". It sold seventy-five thousand copies in its first month -- a massive number by the standards of 1920 -- and purportedly went on to sell over a million copies. Sales figures and market analysis weren't really a thing in the same way in 1920, but even so it became very obvious that "Crazy Blues" was a big hit, and that unlike pretty much any other previous records, it was a big hit among Black listeners, which meant that there was a market for music aimed at Black people that was going untapped. Soon all the major record labels were setting up subsidiaries devoted to what they called "race music", music made by and for Black people. And this sees the birth of what is now known as "classic blues", but at the time (and for decades after) was just what people thought of when they thought of "the blues" as a genre. This was music primarily sung by female vaudeville artists backed by jazz bands, people like Ma Rainey (whose earliest recordings featured Louis Armstrong in her backing band): [Excerpt: Ma Rainey, "See See Rider Blues"] And Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues", who had a massive career in the 1920s before the Great Depression caused many of these "race record" labels to fold, but who carried on performing well into the 1930s -- her last recording was in 1933, produced by John Hammond, with a backing band including Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden: [Excerpt: Bessie Smith, "Give Me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer"] It wouldn't be until several years after the boom started by Mamie Smith that any record companies turned to recording Black men singing the blues accompanied by guitar or banjo. The first record of this type is probably "Norfolk Blues" by Reese DuPree from 1924: [Excerpt: Reese DuPree, "Norfolk Blues"] And there were occasional other records of this type, like "Airy Man Blues" by Papa Charlie Jackson, who was advertised as the “only man living who sings, self-accompanied, for Blues records.” [Excerpt: Papa Charlie Jackson, "Airy Man Blues"] But contrary to the way these are seen today, at the time they weren't seen as being in some way "authentic", or "folk music". Indeed, there are many quotes from folk-music collectors of the time (sadly all of them using so many slurs that it's impossible for me to accurately quote them) saying that when people sang the blues, that wasn't authentic Black folk music at all but an adulteration from commercial music -- they'd clearly, according to these folk-music scholars, learned the blues style from records and sheet music rather than as part of an oral tradition. Most of these performers were people who recorded blues as part of a wider range of material, like Blind Blake, who recorded some blues music but whose best work was his ragtime guitar instrumentals: [Excerpt: Blind Blake, "Southern Rag"] But it was when Blind Lemon Jefferson started recording for Paramount records in 1926 that the image of the blues as we now think of it took shape. His first record, "Got the Blues", was a massive success: [Excerpt: Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Got the Blues"] And this resulted in many labels, especially Paramount, signing up pretty much every Black man with a guitar they could find in the hopes of finding another Blind Lemon Jefferson. But the thing is, this generation of people making blues records, and the generation that followed them, didn't think of themselves as "blues singers" or "bluesmen". They were songsters. Songsters were entertainers, and their job was to sing and play whatever the audiences would want to hear. That included the blues, of course, but it also included... well, every song anyone would want to hear.  They'd perform old folk songs, vaudeville songs, songs that they'd heard on the radio or the jukebox -- whatever the audience wanted. Robert Johnson, for example, was known to particularly love playing polka music, and also adored the records of Jimmie Rodgers, the first country music superstar. In 1941, when Alan Lomax first recorded Muddy Waters, he asked Waters what kind of songs he normally played in performances, and he was given a list that included "Home on the Range", Gene Autry's "I've Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle", and Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". We have few recordings of these people performing this kind of song though. One of the few we have is Big Bill Broonzy, who was just about the only artist of this type not to get pigeonholed as just a blues singer, even though blues is what made him famous, and who later in his career managed to record songs like the Tin Pan Alley standard "The Glory of Love": [Excerpt: Big Bill Broonzy, "The Glory of Love"] But for the most part, the image we have of the blues comes down to one man, Arthur Laibley, a sales manager for the Wisconsin Chair Company. The Wisconsin Chair Company was, as the name would suggest, a company that started out making wooden chairs, but it had branched out into other forms of wooden furniture -- including, for a brief time, large wooden phonographs. And, like several other manufacturers, like the Radio Corporation of America -- RCA -- and the Gramophone Company, which became EMI, they realised that if they were going to sell the hardware it made sense to sell the software as well, and had started up Paramount Records, which bought up a small label, Black Swan, and soon became the biggest manufacturer of records for the Black market, putting out roughly a quarter of all "race records" released between 1922 and 1932. At first, most of these were produced by a Black talent scout, J. Mayo Williams, who had been the first person to record Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, but in 1927 Williams left Paramount, and the job of supervising sessions went to Arthur Laibley, though according to some sources a lot of the actual production work was done by Aletha Dickerson, Williams' former assistant, who was almost certainly the first Black woman to be what we would now think of as a record producer. Williams had been interested in recording all kinds of music by Black performers, but when Laibley got a solo Black man into the studio, what he wanted more than anything was for him to record the blues, ideally in a style as close as possible to that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Laibley didn't have a very hands-on approach to recording -- indeed Paramount had very little concern about the quality of their product anyway, and Paramount's records are notorious for having been put out on poor-quality shellac and recorded badly -- and he only occasionally made actual suggestions as to what kind of songs his performers should write -- for example he asked Son House to write something that sounded like Blind Lemon Jefferson, which led to House writing and recording "Mississippi County Farm Blues", which steals the tune of Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean": [Excerpt: Son House, "Mississippi County Farm Blues"] When Skip James wanted to record a cover of James Wiggins' "Forty-Four Blues", Laibley suggested that instead he should do a song about a different gun, and so James recorded "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues"] And Laibley also suggested that James write a song about the Depression, which led to one of the greatest blues records ever, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"] These musicians knew that they were getting paid only for issued sides, and that Laibley wanted only blues from them, and so that's what they gave him. Even when it was a performer like Charlie Patton. (Incidentally, for those reading this as a transcript rather than listening to it, Patton's name is more usually spelled ending in ey, but as far as I can tell ie was his preferred spelling and that's what I'm using). Charlie Patton was best known as an entertainer, first and foremost -- someone who would do song-and-dance routines, joke around, play guitar behind his head. He was a clown on stage, so much so that when Son House finally heard some of Patton's records, in the mid-sixties, decades after the fact, he was astonished that Patton could actually play well. Even though House had been in the room when some of the records were made, his memory of Patton was of someone who acted the fool on stage. That's definitely not the impression you get from the Charlie Patton on record: [Excerpt: Charlie Patton, "Poor Me"] Patton is, as far as can be discerned, the person who was most influential in creating the music that became called the "Delta blues". Not a lot is known about Patton's life, but he was almost certainly the half-brother of the Chatmon brothers, who made hundreds of records, most notably as members of the Mississippi Sheiks: [Excerpt: The Mississippi Sheiks, "Sitting on Top of the World"] In the 1890s, Patton's family moved to Sunflower County, Mississippi, and he lived in and around that county until his death in 1934. Patton learned to play guitar from a musician called Henry Sloan, and then Patton became a mentor figure to a *lot* of other musicians in and around the plantation on which his family lived. Some of the musicians who grew up in the immediate area around Patton included Tommy Johnson: [Excerpt: Tommy Johnson, "Big Road Blues"] Pops Staples: [Excerpt: The Staple Singers, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"] Robert Johnson: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Crossroads"] Willie Brown, a musician who didn't record much, but who played a lot with Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson and who we just heard Johnson sing about: [Excerpt: Willie Brown, "M&O Blues"] And Chester Burnett, who went on to become known as Howlin' Wolf, and whose vocal style was equally inspired by Patton and by the country star Jimmie Rodgers: [Excerpt: Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightnin'"] Once Patton started his own recording career for Paramount, he also started working as a talent scout for them, and it was him who brought Son House to Paramount. Soon after the Depression hit, Paramount stopped recording, and so from 1930 through 1934 Patton didn't make any records. He was tracked down by an A&R man in January 1934 and recorded one final session: [Excerpt, Charlie Patton, "34 Blues"] But he died of heart failure two months later. But his influence spread through his proteges, and they themselves influenced other musicians from the area who came along a little after, like Robert Lockwood and Muddy Waters. This music -- or that portion of it that was considered worth recording by white record producers, only a tiny, unrepresentative, portion of their vast performing repertoires -- became known as the Delta Blues, and when some of these musicians moved to Chicago and started performing with electric instruments, it became Chicago Blues. And as far as people like John Mayall in Britain were concerned, Delta and Chicago Blues *were* the blues: [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "It Ain't Right"] John Mayall was one of the first of the British blues obsessives, and for a long time thought of himself as the only one. While we've looked before at the growth of the London blues scene, Mayall wasn't from London -- he was born in Macclesfield and grew up in Cheadle Hulme, both relatively well-off suburbs of Manchester, and after being conscripted and doing two years in the Army, he had become an art student at Manchester College of Art, what is now Manchester Metropolitan University. Mayall had been a blues fan from the late 1940s, writing off to the US to order records that hadn't been released in the UK, and by most accounts by the late fifties he'd put together the biggest blues collection in Britain by quite some way. Not only that, but he had one of the earliest home tape recorders, and every night he would record radio stations from Continental Europe which were broadcasting for American service personnel, so he'd amassed mountains of recordings, often unlabelled, of obscure blues records that nobody else in the UK knew about. He was also an accomplished pianist and guitar player, and in 1956 he and his drummer friend Peter Ward had put together a band called the Powerhouse Four (the other two members rotated on a regular basis) mostly to play lunchtime jazz sessions at the art college. Mayall also started putting on jam sessions at a youth club in Wythenshawe, where he met another drummer named Hughie Flint. Over the late fifties and into the early sixties, Mayall more or less by himself built up a small blues scene in Manchester. The Manchester blues scene was so enthusiastic, in fact, that when the American Folk Blues Festival, an annual European tour which initially featured Willie Dixon, Memhis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and John Lee Hooker, first toured Europe, the only UK date it played was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, and people like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Jimmy Page had to travel up from London to see it. But still, the number of blues fans in Manchester, while proportionally large, was objectively small enough that Mayall was captivated by an article in Melody Maker which talked about Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies' new band Blues Incorporated and how it was playing electric blues, the same music he was making in Manchester. He later talked about how the article had made him think that maybe now people would know what he was talking about. He started travelling down to London to play gigs for the London blues scene, and inviting Korner up to Manchester to play shows there. Soon Mayall had moved down to London. Korner introduced Mayall to Davey Graham, the great folk guitarist, with whom Korner had recently recorded as a duo: [Excerpt: Alexis Korner and Davey Graham, "3/4 AD"] Mayall and Graham performed together as a duo for a while, but Graham was a natural solo artist if ever there was one. Slowly Mayall put a band together in London. On drums was his old friend Peter Ward, who'd moved down from Manchester with him. On bass was John McVie, who at the time knew nothing about blues -- he'd been playing in a Shadows-style instrumental group -- but Mayall gave him a stack of blues records to listen to to get the feeling. And on guitar was Bernie Watson, who had previously played with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages. In late 1963, Mike Vernon, a blues fan who had previously published a Yardbirds fanzine, got a job working for Decca records, and immediately started signing his favourite acts from the London blues circuit. The first act he signed was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and they recorded a single, "Crawling up a Hill": [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "Crawling up a Hill (45 version)"] Mayall later called that a "clumsy, half-witted attempt at autobiographical comment", and it sold only five hundred copies. It would be the only record the Bluesbreakers would make with Watson, who soon left the band to be replaced by Roger Dean (not the same Roger Dean who later went on to design prog rock album covers). The second group to be signed by Mike Vernon to Decca was the Graham Bond Organisation. We've talked about the Graham Bond Organisation in passing several times, but not for a while and not in any great detail, so it's worth pulling everything we've said about them so far together and going through it in a little more detail. The Graham Bond Organisation, like the Rolling Stones, grew out of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. As we heard in the episode on "I Wanna Be Your Man" a couple of years ago, Blues Incorporated had been started by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and at the time we're joining them in 1962 featured a drummer called Charlie Watts, a pianist called Dave Stevens, and saxophone player Dick Heckstall-Smith, as well as frequent guest performers like a singer who called himself Mike Jagger, and another one, Roderick Stewart. That group finally found themselves the perfect bass player when Dick Heckstall-Smith put together a one-off group of jazz players to play an event at Cambridge University. At the gig, a little Scottish man came up to the group and told them he played bass and asked if he could sit in. They told him to bring along his instrument to their second set, that night, and he did actually bring along a double bass. Their bluff having been called, they decided to play the most complicated, difficult, piece they knew in order to throw the kid off -- the drummer, a trad jazz player named Ginger Baker, didn't like performing with random sit-in guests -- but astonishingly he turned out to be really good. Heckstall-Smith took down the bass player's name and phone number and invited him to a jam session with Blues Incorporated. After that jam session, Jack Bruce quickly became the group's full-time bass player. Bruce had started out as a classical cellist, but had switched to the double bass inspired by Bach, who he referred to as "the guv'nor of all bass players". His playing up to this point had mostly been in trad jazz bands, and he knew nothing of the blues, but he quickly got the hang of the genre. Bruce's first show with Blues Incorporated was a BBC recording: [Excerpt: Blues Incorporated, "Hoochie Coochie Man (BBC session)"] According to at least one source it was not being asked to take part in that session that made young Mike Jagger decide there was no future for him with Blues Incorporated and to spend more time with his other group, the Rollin' Stones. Soon after, Charlie Watts would join him, for almost the opposite reason -- Watts didn't want to be in a band that was getting as big as Blues Incorporated were. They were starting to do more BBC sessions and get more gigs, and having to join the Musicians' Union. That seemed like a lot of work. Far better to join a band like the Rollin' Stones that wasn't going anywhere. Because of Watts' decision to give up on potential stardom to become a Rollin' Stone, they needed a new drummer, and luckily the best drummer on the scene was available. But then the best drummer on the scene was *always* available. Ginger Baker had first played with Dick Heckstall-Smith several years earlier, in a trad group called the Storyville Jazzmen. There Baker had become obsessed with the New Orleans jazz drummer Baby Dodds, who had played with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s. Sadly because of 1920s recording technology, he hadn't been able to play a full kit on the recordings with Armstrong, being limited to percussion on just a woodblock, but you can hear his drumming style much better in this version of "At the Jazz Band Ball" from 1947, with Mugsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden, Cyrus St. Clair and Hank Duncan: [Excerpt: "At the Jazz Band Ball"] Baker had taken Dobbs' style and run with it, and had quickly become known as the single best player, bar none, on the London jazz scene -- he'd become an accomplished player in multiple styles, and was also fluent in reading music and arranging. He'd also, though, become known as the single person on the entire scene who was most difficult to get along with. He resigned from his first band onstage, shouting "You can stick your band up your arse", after the band's leader had had enough of him incorporating bebop influences into their trad style. Another time, when touring with Diz Disley's band, he was dumped in Germany with no money and no way to get home, because the band were so sick of him. Sometimes this was because of his temper and his unwillingness to suffer fools -- and he saw everyone else he ever met as a fool -- and sometimes it was because of his own rigorous musical ideas. He wanted to play music *his* way, and wouldn't listen to anyone who told him different. Both of these things got worse after he fell under the influence of a man named Phil Seaman, one of the only drummers that Baker respected at all. Seaman introduced Baker to African drumming, and Baker started incorporating complex polyrhythms into his playing as a result. Seaman also though introduced Baker to heroin, and while being a heroin addict in the UK in the 1960s was not as difficult as it later became -- both heroin and cocaine were available on prescription to registered addicts, and Baker got both, which meant that many of the problems that come from criminalisation of these drugs didn't affect addicts in the same way -- but it still did not, by all accounts, make him an easier person to get along with. But he *was* a fantastic drummer. As Dick Heckstall-Smith said "With the advent of Ginger, the classic Blues Incorporated line-up, one which I think could not be bettered, was set" But Alexis Korner decided that the group could be bettered, and he had some backers within the band. One of the other bands on the scene was the Don Rendell Quintet, a group that played soul jazz -- that style of jazz that bridged modern jazz and R&B, the kind of music that Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock played: [Excerpt: The Don Rendell Quintet, "Manumission"] The Don Rendell Quintet included a fantastic multi-instrumentalist, Graham Bond, who doubled on keyboards and saxophone, and Bond had been playing occasional experimental gigs with the Johnny Burch Octet -- a group led by another member of the Rendell Quartet featuring Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, Baker, and a few other musicians, doing wholly-improvised music. Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, and Baker all enjoyed playing with Bond, and when Korner decided to bring him into the band, they were all very keen. But Cyril Davies, the co-leader of the band with Korner, was furious at the idea. Davies wanted to play strict Chicago and Delta blues, and had no truck with other forms of music like R&B and jazz. To his mind it was bad enough that they had a sax player. But the idea that they would bring in Bond, who played sax and... *Hammond* organ? Well, that was practically blasphemy. Davies quit the group at the mere suggestion. Bond was soon in the band, and he, Bruce, and Baker were playing together a *lot*. As well as performing with Blues Incorporated, they continued playing in the Johnny Burch Octet, and they also started performing as the Graham Bond Trio. Sometimes the Graham Bond Trio would be Blues Incorporated's opening act, and on more than one occasion the Graham Bond Trio, Blues Incorporated, and the Johnny Burch Octet all had gigs in different parts of London on the same night and they'd have to frantically get from one to the other. The Graham Bond Trio also had fans in Manchester, thanks to the local blues scene there and their connection with Blues Incorporated, and one night in February 1963 the trio played a gig there. They realised afterwards that by playing as a trio they'd made £70, when they were lucky to make £20 from a gig with Blues Incorporated or the Octet, because there were so many members in those bands. Bond wanted to make real money, and at the next rehearsal of Blues Incorporated he announced to Korner that he, Bruce, and Baker were quitting the band -- which was news to Bruce and Baker, who he hadn't bothered consulting. Baker, indeed, was in the toilet when the announcement was made and came out to find it a done deal. He was going to kick up a fuss and say he hadn't been consulted, but Korner's reaction sealed the deal. As Baker later said "‘he said “it's really good you're doing this thing with Graham, and I wish you the best of luck” and all that. And it was a bit difficult to turn round and say, “Well, I don't really want to leave the band, you know.”'" The Graham Bond Trio struggled at first to get the gigs they were expecting, but that started to change when in April 1963 they became the Graham Bond Quartet, with the addition of virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin. The Quartet soon became one of the hottest bands on the London R&B scene, and when Duffy Power, a Larry Parnes teen idol who wanted to move into R&B, asked his record label to get him a good R&B band to back him on a Beatles cover, it was the Graham Bond Quartet who obliged: [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "I Saw Her Standing There"] The Quartet also backed Power on a package tour with other Parnes acts, but they were also still performing their own blend of hard jazz and blues, as can be heard in this recording of the group live in June 1953: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Quartet, "Ho Ho Country Kicking Blues (Live at Klooks Kleek)"] But that lineup of the group didn't last very long. According to the way Baker told the story, he fired McLaughlin from the group, after being irritated by McLaughlin complaining about something on a day when Baker was out of cocaine and in no mood to hear anyone else's complaints. As Baker said "We lost a great guitar player and I lost a good friend." But the Trio soon became a Quartet again, as Dick Heckstall-Smith, who Baker had wanted in the band from the start, joined on saxophone to replace McLaughlin's guitar. But they were no longer called the Graham Bond Quartet. Partly because Heckstall-Smith joining allowed Bond to concentrate just on his keyboard playing, but one suspects partly to protect against any future lineup changes, the group were now The Graham Bond ORGANisation -- emphasis on the organ. The new lineup of the group got signed to Decca by Vernon, and were soon recording their first single, "Long Tall Shorty": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Long Tall Shorty"] They recorded a few other songs which made their way onto an EP and an R&B compilation, and toured intensively in early 1964, as well as backing up Power on his follow-up to "I Saw Her Standing There", his version of "Parchman Farm": [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "Parchman Farm"] They also appeared in a film, just like the Beatles, though it was possibly not quite as artistically successful as "A Hard Day's Night": [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat trailer] Gonks Go Beat is one of the most bizarre films of the sixties. It's a far-future remake of Romeo and Juliet. where the two star-crossed lovers are from opposing countries -- Beatland and Ballad Isle -- who only communicate once a year in an annual song contest which acts as their version of a war, and is overseen by "Mr. A&R", played by Frank Thornton, who would later star in Are You Being Served? Carry On star Kenneth Connor is sent by aliens to try to bring peace to the two warring countries, on pain of exile to Planet Gonk, a planet inhabited solely by Gonks (a kind of novelty toy for which there was a short-lived craze then). Along the way Connor encounters such luminaries of British light entertainment as Terry Scott and Arthur Mullard, as well as musical performances by Lulu, the Nashville Teens, and of course the Graham Bond Organisation, whose performance gets them a telling-off from a teacher: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat!] The group as a group only performed one song in this cinematic masterpiece, but Baker also made an appearance in a "drum battle" sequence where eight drummers played together: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat drum battle] The other drummers in that scene included, as well as some lesser-known players, Andy White who had played on the single version of "Love Me Do", Bobby Graham, who played on hits by the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five, and Ronnie Verrell, who did the drumming for Animal in the Muppet Show. Also in summer 1964, the group performed at the Fourth National Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond -- the festival co-founded by Chris Barber that would evolve into the Reading Festival. The Yardbirds were on the bill, and at the end of their set they invited Bond, Baker, Bruce, Georgie Fame, and Mike Vernon onto the stage with them, making that the first time that Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce were all on stage together. Soon after that, the Graham Bond Organisation got a new manager, Robert Stigwood. Things hadn't been working out for them at Decca, and Stigwood soon got the group signed to EMI, and became their producer as well. Their first single under Stigwood's management was a cover version of the theme tune to the Debbie Reynolds film "Tammy". While that film had given Tamla records its name, the song was hardly an R&B classic: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Tammy"] That record didn't chart, but Stigwood put the group out on the road as part of the disastrous Chuck Berry tour we heard about in the episode on "All You Need is Love", which led to the bankruptcy of  Robert Stigwood Associates. The Organisation moved over to Stigwood's new company, the Robert Stigwood Organisation, and Stigwood continued to be the credited producer of their records, though after the "Tammy" disaster they decided they were going to take charge themselves of the actual music. Their first album, The Sound of 65, was recorded in a single three-hour session, and they mostly ran through their standard set -- a mixture of the same songs everyone else on the circuit was playing, like "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Got My Mojo Working", and "Wade in the Water", and originals like Bruce's "Train Time": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Train Time"] Through 1965 they kept working. They released a non-album single, "Lease on Love", which is generally considered to be the first pop record to feature a Mellotron: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Lease on Love"] and Bond and Baker also backed another Stigwood act, Winston G, on his debut single: [Excerpt: Winston G, "Please Don't Say"] But the group were developing severe tensions. Bruce and Baker had started out friendly, but by this time they hated each other. Bruce said he couldn't hear his own playing over Baker's loud drumming, Baker thought that Bruce was far too fussy a player and should try to play simpler lines. They'd both try to throw each other during performances, altering arrangements on the fly and playing things that would trip the other player up. And *neither* of them were particularly keen on Bond's new love of the Mellotron, which was all over their second album, giving it a distinctly proto-prog feel at times: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Baby Can it Be True?"] Eventually at a gig in Golders Green, Baker started throwing drumsticks at Bruce's head while Bruce was trying to play a bass solo. Bruce retaliated by throwing his bass at Baker, and then jumping on him and starting a fistfight which had to be broken up by the venue security. Baker fired Bruce from the band, but Bruce kept turning up to gigs anyway, arguing that Baker had no right to sack him as it was a democracy. Baker always claimed that in fact Bond had wanted to sack Bruce but hadn't wanted to get his hands dirty, and insisted that Baker do it, but neither Bond nor Heckstall-Smith objected when Bruce turned up for the next couple of gigs. So Baker took matters into his own hands, He pulled out a knife and told Bruce "If you show up at one more gig, this is going in you." Within days, Bruce was playing with John Mayall, whose Bluesbreakers had gone through some lineup changes by this point. Roger Dean had only played with the Bluesbreakers for a short time before Mayall had replaced him. Mayall had not been impressed with Eric Clapton's playing with the Yardbirds at first -- even though graffiti saying "Clapton is God" was already starting to appear around London -- but he had been *very* impressed with Clapton's playing on "Got to Hurry", the B-side to "For Your Love": [Excerpt: The Yardbirds, "Got to Hurry"] When he discovered that Clapton had quit the band, he sprang into action and quickly recruited him to replace Dean. Clapton knew he had made the right choice when a month after he'd joined, the group got the word that Bob Dylan had been so impressed with Mayall's single "Crawling up a Hill" -- the one that nobody liked, not even Mayall himself -- that he wanted to jam with Mayall and his band in the studio. Clapton of course went along: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan and the Bluesbreakers, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] That was, of course, the session we've talked about in the Velvet Underground episode and elsewhere of which little other than that survives, and which Nico attended. At this point, Mayall didn't have a record contract, his experience recording with Mike Vernon having been no more successful than the Bond group's had been. But soon he got a one-off deal -- as a solo artist, not with the Bluesbreakers -- with Immediate Records. Clapton was the only member of the group to play on the single, which was produced by Immediate's house producer Jimmy Page: [Excerpt: John Mayall, "I'm Your Witchdoctor"] Page was impressed enough with Clapton's playing that he invited him round to Page's house to jam together. But what Clapton didn't know was that Page was taping their jam sessions, and that he handed those tapes over to Immediate Records -- whether he was forced to by his contract with the label or whether that had been his plan all along depends on whose story you believe, but Clapton never truly forgave him. Page and Clapton's guitar-only jams had overdubs by Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, and drummer Chris Winter, and have been endlessly repackaged on blues compilations ever since: [Excerpt: Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, "Draggin' My Tail"] But Mayall was having problems with John McVie, who had started to drink too much, and as soon as he found out that Jack Bruce was sacked by the Graham Bond Organisation, Mayall got in touch with Bruce and got him to join the band in McVie's place. Everyone was agreed that this lineup of the band -- Mayall, Clapton, Bruce, and Hughie Flint -- was going places: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Jack Bruce, "Hoochie Coochie Man"] Unfortunately, it wasn't going to last long. Clapton, while he thought that Bruce was the greatest bass player he'd ever worked with, had other plans. He was going to leave the country and travel the world as a peripatetic busker. He was off on his travels, never to return. Luckily, Mayall had someone even better waiting in the wings. A young man had, according to Mayall, "kept coming down to all the gigs and saying, “Hey, what are you doing with him?” – referring to whichever guitarist was onstage that night – “I'm much better than he is. Why don't you let me play guitar for you?” He got really quite nasty about it, so finally, I let him sit in. And he was brilliant." Peter Green was probably the best blues guitarist in London at that time, but this lineup of the Bluesbreakers only lasted a handful of gigs -- Clapton discovered that busking in Greece wasn't as much fun as being called God in London, and came back very soon after he'd left. Mayall had told him that he could have his old job back when he got back, and so Green was out and Clapton was back in. And soon the Bluesbreakers' revolving door revolved again. Manfred Mann had just had a big hit with "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", the same song we heard Dylan playing earlier: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] But their guitarist, Mike Vickers, had quit. Tom McGuinness, their bass player, had taken the opportunity to switch back to guitar -- the instrument he'd played in his first band with his friend Eric Clapton -- but that left them short a bass player. Manfred Mann were essentially the same kind of band as the Graham Bond Organisation -- a Hammond-led group of virtuoso multi-instrumentalists who played everything from hardcore Delta blues to complex modern jazz -- but unlike the Bond group they also had a string of massive pop hits, and so made a lot more money. The combination was irresistible to Bruce, and he joined the band just before they recorded an EP of jazz instrumental versions of recent hits: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] Bruce had also been encouraged by Robert Stigwood to do a solo project, and so at the same time as he joined Manfred Mann, he also put out a solo single, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'" [Excerpt: Jack Bruce, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'"] But of course, the reason Bruce had joined Manfred Mann was that they were having pop hits as well as playing jazz, and soon they did just that, with Bruce playing on their number one hit "Pretty Flamingo": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "Pretty Flamingo"] So John McVie was back in the Bluesbreakers, promising to keep his drinking under control. Mike Vernon still thought that Mayall had potential, but the people at Decca didn't agree, so Vernon got Mayall and Clapton -- but not the other band members -- to record a single for a small indie label he ran as a side project: [Excerpt: John Mayall and Eric Clapton, "Bernard Jenkins"] That label normally only released records in print runs of ninety-nine copies, because once you hit a hundred copies you had to pay tax on them, but there was so much demand for that single that they ended up pressing up five hundred copies, making it the label's biggest seller ever. Vernon eventually convinced the heads at Decca that the Bluesbreakers could be truly big, and so he got the OK to record the album that would generally be considered the greatest British blues album of all time -- Blues Breakers, also known as the Beano album because of Clapton reading a copy of the British kids' comic The Beano in the group photo on the front. [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Ramblin' On My Mind"] The album was a mixture of originals by Mayall and the standard repertoire of every blues or R&B band on the circuit -- songs like "Parchman Farm" and "What'd I Say" -- but what made the album unique was Clapton's guitar tone. Much to the chagrin of Vernon, and of engineer Gus Dudgeon, Clapton insisted on playing at the same volume that he would on stage. Vernon later said of Dudgeon "I can remember seeing his face the very first time Clapton plugged into the Marshall stack and turned it up and started playing at the sort of volume he was going to play. You could almost see Gus's eyes meet over the middle of his nose, and it was almost like he was just going to fall over from the sheer power of it all. But after an enormous amount of fiddling around and moving amps around, we got a sound that worked." [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Hideaway"] But by the time the album cane out. Clapton was no longer with the Bluesbreakers. The Graham Bond Organisation had struggled on for a while after Bruce's departure. They brought in a trumpet player, Mike Falana, and even had a hit record -- or at least, the B-side of a hit record. The Who had just put out a hit single, "Substitute", on Robert Stigwood's record label, Reaction: [Excerpt: The Who, "Substitute"] But, as you'll hear in episode 183, they had moved to Reaction Records after a falling out with their previous label, and with Shel Talmy their previous producer. The problem was, when "Substitute" was released, it had as its B-side a song called "Circles" (also known as "Instant Party -- it's been released under both names). They'd recorded an earlier version of the song for Talmy, and just as "Substitute" was starting to chart, Talmy got an injunction against the record and it had to be pulled. Reaction couldn't afford to lose the big hit record they'd spent money promoting, so they needed to put it out with a new B-side. But the Who hadn't got any unreleased recordings. But the Graham Bond Organisation had, and indeed they had an unreleased *instrumental*. So "Waltz For a Pig" became the B-side to a top-five single, credited to The Who Orchestra: [Excerpt: The Who Orchestra, "Waltz For a Pig"] That record provided the catalyst for the formation of Cream, because Ginger Baker had written the song, and got £1,350 for it, which he used to buy a new car. Baker had, for some time, been wanting to get out of the Graham Bond Organisation. He was trying to get off heroin -- though he would make many efforts to get clean over the decades, with little success -- while Bond was starting to use it far more heavily, and was also using acid and getting heavily into mysticism, which Baker despised. Baker may have had the idea for what he did next from an article in one of the music papers. John Entwistle of the Who would often tell a story about an article in Melody Maker -- though I've not been able to track down the article itself to get the full details -- in which musicians were asked to name which of their peers they'd put into a "super-group". He didn't remember the full details, but he did remember that the consensus choice had had Eric Clapton on lead guitar, himself on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. As he said later "I don't remember who else was voted in, but a few months later, the Cream came along, and I did wonder if somebody was maybe believing too much of their own press". Incidentally, like The Buffalo Springfield and The Pink Floyd, Cream, the band we are about to meet, had releases both with and without the definite article, and Eric Clapton at least seems always to talk about them as "the Cream" even decades later, but they're primarily known as just Cream these days. Baker, having had enough of the Bond group, decided to drive up to Oxford to see Clapton playing with the Bluesbreakers. Clapton invited him to sit in for a couple of songs, and by all accounts the band sounded far better than they had previously. Clapton and Baker could obviously play well together, and Baker offered Clapton a lift back to London in his new car, and on the drive back asked Clapton if he wanted to form a new band. Clapton was as impressed by Baker's financial skills as he was by his musicianship. He said later "Musicians didn't have cars. You all got in a van." Clearly a musician who was *actually driving a new car he owned* was going places. He agreed to Baker's plan. But of course they needed a bass player, and Clapton thought he had the perfect solution -- "What about Jack?" Clapton knew that Bruce had been a member of the Graham Bond Organisation, but didn't know why he'd left the band -- he wasn't particularly clued in to what the wider music scene was doing, and all he knew was that Bruce had played with both him and Baker, and that he was the best bass player he'd ever played with. And Bruce *was* arguably the best bass player in London at that point, and he was starting to pick up session work as well as his work with Manfred Mann. For example it's him playing on the theme tune to "After The Fox" with Peter Sellers, the Hollies, and the song's composer Burt Bacharach: [Excerpt: The Hollies with Peter Sellers, "After the Fox"] Clapton was insistent. Baker's idea was that the band should be the best musicians around. That meant they needed the *best* musicians around, not the second best. If Jack Bruce wasn't joining, Eric Clapton wasn't joining either. Baker very reluctantly agreed, and went round to see Bruce the next day -- according to Baker it was in a spirit of generosity and giving Bruce one more chance, while according to Bruce he came round to eat humble pie and beg for forgiveness. Either way, Bruce agreed to join the band. The three met up for a rehearsal at Baker's home, and immediately Bruce and Baker started fighting, but also immediately they realised that they were great at playing together -- so great that they named themselves the Cream, as they were the cream of musicians on the scene. They knew they had something, but they didn't know what. At first they considered making their performances into Dada projects, inspired by the early-twentieth-century art movement. They liked a band that had just started to make waves, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band -- who had originally been called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band -- and they bought some props with the vague idea of using them on stage in the same way the Bonzos did. But as they played together they realised that they needed to do something different from that. At first, they thought they needed a fourth member -- a keyboard player. Graham Bond's name was brought up, but Clapton vetoed him. Clapton wanted Steve Winwood, the keyboard player and vocalist with the Spencer Davis Group. Indeed, Winwood was present at what was originally intended to be the first recording session the trio would play. Joe Boyd had asked Eric Clapton to round up a bunch of players to record some filler tracks for an Elektra blues compilation, and Clapton had asked Bruce and Baker to join him, Paul Jones on vocals, Winwood on Hammond and Clapton's friend Ben Palmer on piano for the session. Indeed, given that none of the original trio were keen on singing, that Paul Jones was just about to leave Manfred Mann, and that we know Clapton wanted Winwood in the band, one has to wonder if Clapton at least half-intended for this to be the eventual lineup of the band. If he did, that plan was foiled by Baker's refusal to take part in the session. Instead, this one-off band, named The Powerhouse, featured Pete York, the drummer from the Spencer Davis Group, on the session, which produced the first recording of Clapton playing on the Robert Johnson song originally titled "Cross Road Blues" but now generally better known just as "Crossroads": [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] We talked about Robert Johnson a little back in episode ninety-seven, but other than Bob Dylan, who was inspired by his lyrics, we had seen very little influence from Johnson up to this point, but he's going to be a major influence on rock guitar for the next few years, so we should talk about him a little here. It's often said that nobody knew anything about Robert Johnson, that he was almost a phantom other than his records which existed outside of any context as artefacts of their own. That's... not really the case. Johnson had died a little less than thirty years earlier, at only twenty-seven years old. Most of his half-siblings and step-siblings were alive, as were his son, his stepson, and dozens of musicians he'd played with over the years, women he'd had affairs with, and other assorted friends and relatives. What people mean is that information about Johnson's life was not yet known by people they consider important -- which is to say white blues scholars and musicians. Indeed, almost everything people like that -- people like *me* -- know of the facts of Johnson's life has only become known to us in the last four years. If, as some people had expected, I'd started this series with an episode on Johnson, I'd have had to redo the whole thing because of the information that's made its way to the public since then. But here's what was known -- or thought -- by white blues scholars in 1966. Johnson was, according to them, a field hand from somewhere in Mississippi, who played the guitar in between working on the cotton fields. He had done two recording sessions, in 1936 and 1937. One song from his first session, "Terraplane Blues", had been a very minor hit by blues standards: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Terraplane Blues"] That had sold well -- nobody knows how well, but maybe as many as ten thousand copies, and it was certainly a record people knew in 1937 if they liked the Delta blues, but ten thousand copies total is nowhere near the sales of really successful records, and none of the follow-ups had sold anything like that much -- many of them had sold in the hundreds rather than the thousands. As Elijah Wald, one of Johnson's biographers put it "knowing about Johnson and Muddy Waters but not about Leroy Carr or Dinah Washington was like knowing about, say, the Sir Douglas Quintet but not knowing about the Beatles" -- though *I* would add that the Sir Douglas Quintet were much bigger during the sixties than Johnson was during his lifetime. One of the few white people who had noticed Johnson's existence at all was John Hammond, and he'd written a brief review of Johnson's first two singles under a pseudonym in a Communist newspaper. I'm going to quote it here, but the word he used to talk about Black people was considered correct then but isn't now, so I'll substitute Black for that word: "Before closing we cannot help but call your attention to the greatest [Black] blues singer who has cropped up in recent years, Robert Johnson. Recording them in deepest Mississippi, Vocalion has certainly done right by us and by the tunes "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Terraplane Blues", to name only two of the four sides already released, sung to his own guitar accompaniment. Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur" Hammond had tried to get Johnson to perform at the Spirituals to Swing concerts we talked about in the very first episodes of the podcast, but he'd discovered that he'd died shortly before. He got Big Bill Broonzy instead, and played a couple of Johnson's records from a record player on the stage. Hammond introduced those recordings with a speech: "It is tragic that an American audience could not have been found seven or eight years ago for a concert of this kind. Bessie Smith was still at the height of her career and Joe Smith, probably the greatest trumpet player America ever knew, would still have been around to play obbligatos for her...dozens of other artists could have been there in the flesh. But that audience as well as this one would not have been able to hear Robert Johnson sing and play the blues on his guitar, for at that time Johnson was just an unknown hand on a Robinsonville, Mississippi plantation. Robert Johnson was going to be the big surprise of the evening for this audience at Carnegie Hall. I know him only from his Vocalion blues records and from the tall, exciting tales the recording engineers and supervisors used to bring about him from the improvised studios in Dallas and San Antonio. I don't believe Johnson had ever worked as a professional musician anywhere, and it still knocks me over when I think of how lucky it is that a talent like his ever found its way onto phonograph records. We will have to be content with playing two of his records, the old "Walkin' Blues" and the new, unreleased, "Preachin' Blues", because Robert Johnson died last week at the precise moment when Vocalion scouts finally reached him and told him that he was booked to appear at Carnegie Hall on December 23. He was in his middle twenties and nobody seems to know what caused his death." And that was, for the most part, the end of Robert Johnson's impact on the culture for a generation. The Lomaxes went down to Clarksdale, Mississippi a couple of years later -- reports vary as to whether this was to see if they could find Johnson, who they were unaware was dead, or to find information out about him, and they did end up recording a young singer named Muddy Waters for the Library of Congress, including Waters' rendition of "32-20 Blues", Johnson's reworking of Skip James' "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Muddy Waters, "32-20 Blues"] But Johnson's records remained unavailable after their initial release until 1959, when the blues scholar Samuel Charters published the book The Country Blues, which was the first book-length treatment ever of Delta blues. Sixteen years later Charters said "I shouldn't have written The Country Blues when I did; since I really didn't know enough, but I felt I couldn't afford to wait. So The Country Blues was two things. It was a romanticization of certain aspects of black life in an effort to force the white society to reconsider some of its racial attitudes, and on the other hand it was a cry for help. I wanted hundreds of people to go out and interview the surviving blues artists. I wanted people to record them and document their lives, their environment, and their music, not only so that their story would be preserved but also so they'd get a little money and a little recognition in their last years." Charters talked about Johnson in the book, as one of the performers who played "minor roles in the story of the blues", and said that almost nothing was known about his life. He talked about how he had been poisoned by his common-law wife, about how his records were recorded in a pool hall, and said "The finest of Robert Johnson's blues have a brooding sense of torment and despair. The blues has become a personified figure of despondency." Along with Charters' book came a compilation album of the same name, and that included the first ever reissue of one of Johnson's tracks, "Preaching Blues": [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Preaching Blues"] Two years later, John Hammond, who had remained an ardent fan of Johnson, had Columbia put out the King of the Delta Blues Singers album. At the time no white blues scholars knew what Johnson looked like and they had no photos of him, so a generic painting of a poor-looking Black man with a guitar was used for the cover. The liner note to King of the Delta Blues Singers talked about how Johnson was seventeen or eighteen when he made his recordings, how he was "dead before he reached his twenty-first birthday, poisoned by a jealous girlfriend", how he had "seldom, if ever, been away from the plantation in Robinsville, Mississippi, where he was born and raised", and how he had had such stage fright that when he was asked to play in front of other musicians, he'd turned to face a wall so he couldn't see them. And that would be all that any of the members of the Powerhouse would know about Johnson. Maybe they'd also heard the rumours that were starting to spread that Johnson had got his guitar-playing skills by selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads at midnight, but that would have been all they knew when they recorded their filler track for Elektra: [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] Either way, the Powerhouse lineup only lasted for that one session -- the group eventually decided that a simple trio would be best for the music they wanted to play. Clapton had seen Buddy Guy touring with just a bass player and drummer a year earlier, and had liked the idea of the freedom that gave him as a guitarist. The group soon took on Robert Stigwood as a manager, which caused more arguments between Bruce and Baker. Bruce was convinced that if they were doing an all-for-one one-for-all thing they should also manage themselves, but Baker pointed out that that was a daft idea when they could get one of the biggest managers in the country to look after them. A bigger argument, which almost killed the group before it started, happened when Baker told journalist Chris Welch of the Melody Maker about their plans. In an echo of the way that he and Bruce had been resigned from Blues Incorporated without being consulted, now with no discussion Manfred Mann and John Mayall were reading in the papers that their band members were quitting before those members had bothered to mention it. Mayall was furious, especially since the album Clapton had played on hadn't yet come out. Clapton was supposed to work a month's notice while Mayall found another guitarist, but Mayall spent two weeks begging Peter Green to rejoin the band. Green was less than eager -- after all, he'd been fired pretty much straight away earlier -- but Mayall eventually persuaded him. The second he did, Mayall turned round to Clapton and told him he didn't have to work the rest of his notice -- he'd found another guitar player and Clapton was fired: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, "Dust My Blues"] Manfred Mann meanwhile took on the Beatles' friend Klaus Voorman to replace Bruce. Voorman would remain with the band until the end, and like Green was for Mayall, Voorman was in some ways a better fit for Manfred Mann than Bruce was. In particular he could double on flute, as he did for example on their hit version of Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann "The Mighty Quinn"] The new group, The Cream, were of course signed in the UK to Stigwood's Reaction label. Other than the Who, who only stuck around for one album, Reaction was not a very successful label. Its biggest signing was a former keyboard player for Screaming Lord Sutch, who recorded for them under the names Paul Dean and Oscar, but who later became known as Paul Nicholas and had a successful career in musical theatre and sitcom. Nicholas never had any hits for Reaction, but he did release one interesting record, in 1967: [Excerpt: Oscar, "Over the Wall We Go"] That was one of the earliest songwriting attempts by a young man who had recently named himself David Bowie. Now the group were public, they started inviting journalists to their rehearsals, which were mostly spent trying to combine their disparate musical influences --

Dr. Kwane Stewart is a veterinarian whose work started in hospitals and shelters but later took to the streets. For over a decade, Kwane has been helping the dogs of the unhoused – going up to people on the street and offering his medical help. Now, he and his brother Ian Stewart run the Project Street Vet nonprofit with the mission of providing medical care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness. His new book, What It Takes to Save a Life: A Veterinarian's Quest for Healing and Hope, gives first-hand insights into the special dynamics of the relationship that he's observed over his years in the field – and why the bond of the unhoused and their dogs can be stronger than anyone else.For more information about the episode, guest, and featured social media or links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/dr-kwane-stewart - If you liked this episode, then please support our Independent podcast production, go to www.buymeacoffee.com/dogpeople to buy us a (virtual) coffee as a one-time donation or recurring monthly membership.

The new historical novel “The House is on Fire” by local writer Rachel Beanland, is about a tragedy in Richmond in 1811 that destroyed a theater and killed more than 70 people. The event and its aftermath unfold through the eyes of four real-life characters, who through their actions tell a bigger story about life in early America. Beanland will be speaking about her book Thursday at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Ian Stewart from VPM News recently sat down with the author.