Podcasts about ladybird books

Joel Morris is a multi-award winning comedy writer, and a contributor to the widely beloved Paddington films. One of the best regarded comedic talents in Britain, during the past two decades he has written for everyone from David Mitchell to Miranda Hart to Ronnie Corbett. A long-time collaborator with Charlie Brooker, he was a key part of the BAFTA-winning Wipe shows, and co-creator of the comedy character Philomena Cunk, whose dim-witted documentaries are beloved around the world. A busy author, he wrote The Framley Examiner, a spoof on local British newspapers, as well as the multi-million selling series of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups. In 2024 he published, ‘Be Funny or Die: How Comedy Works and Why It Matters,' analysing everything from stand-up to slapstick. He has also worked as a writer for video games, collaborating on projects for Microsoft and Ubisoft. Whatever he turns his hand to, comedy remains at the core. As Richard Curtis, the writer of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral' once put it, my guest “gets to the heart of comedy.”  Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello there!!  Welcome to Alberts bookshelf.  We hope you enjoy listening to The Princess and the Pea one of Alberts favourite books.Thanks for Listening.

In this episode, Chloe welcomes two special guests, Millie Poppins and Louise Grosart. Millie Poppins, a seasoned mentor in motherhood and an expert in baby care, joins us to dispel common misconceptions about the 'shoulds' of baby care. Millie shares her wealth of knowledge on various aspects, from understanding your baby's ideal amount of sleep to creating a nurturing nighttime routine. She emphasises that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, acknowledging the uniqueness of every child and family.We then shift our focus to a conversation with Louise Grosart, a representative from Penguin Books, delving into the enchanting world of bedtime stories and their significance in a child's nightly routine. Louise underscores the transformative power of books in supporting families and initiating important conversations with children about the world they inhabit. Whether it's reading to your baby from day one or incorporating engaging activities like lift-the-flap and tummy time books, Louise provides expert guidance on launching your child's reading journey.Millie Poppins: Instagram: @millie.poppinsWebsite: https://milliepoppins.com/ Louise Grosart (Ladybird): Instagram: @ladybirdbooksWebsite: https://www.penguin.co.uk/ladybird Mentions: Instagram: @playing_with_joTikTok: @playing_with_jo  Our socials: Instagram: @cheeky_rascals/ @thecheekyrascalspodcastTikTok: cheeky_rascalsWebsite: https://www.cheekyrascals.co.uk/Sources: QA Education- https://qaeducation.co.uk/feature/parents-reading-child/Ladybird Books- https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/childrens-article/ladybird-survey-top-benefits-of-readingNHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/helping-your-baby-to-sleep/

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2022 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the first digital benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends on 20th December 2023. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.Show references: https://vacevents.com/THURSDAY 5TH OCTOBER – QEII CONFERENCE CENTRE, WESTMINSTERhttps://vacevents.com/committee/ Bernard Donoghue OBECEO & Director, ALVA, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, Mayor of London's Culture Ambassador. Co-Chair, London Tourism Recovery Board.https://www.alva.org.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernard-donoghue-obe-0aa9b97/ Bernard has been the Director of ALVA, the UK's Association for Leading Visitor Attractions, since 2011 following a career in advocacy, communications, and lobbying, latterly at a senior level in the tourism and heritage sector. In  2017, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appointed Bernard to be the Mayor's Ambassador for Cultural Tourism and a member of the Mayor's Cultural Leadership Board. Bernard is Co-Chair of the London Tourism Recovery Board. He is also Chairman of LIFT, London International Festival of Theatre; Chairman of the Bristol Old Vic, the oldest continually operating theatre in the English-speaking world, and also of the People's History Museum, the Museum of Democracy.  He has been a member of the UK Government's Tourism Industry Council since 2016.  Bernard was named by Blooloop in 2020 as one of the world's 50 most influential people in museums, and in July 2021 won the public vote for the COVID Special Recognition Award from the UK Museums and Heritage Awards for his service to, and leadership of the museums and heritage sector in the UK during the pandemic. Ken Robinson CBE FTS - Founder of VAChttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-robinson-cbe-fts-bb811312/Ken is an independent adviser who speaks and writes on tourism topics.  As a "tourism enthusiast" he aims to be a pragmatic pioneer of new initiatives, strategies and solutions to optimise the economic, cultural and social benefits of tourism.   Ken's Consultancy companies completed over 1500 assignments, mostly in the UK but also several hundred international projects, beginning over 50 years ago, before the days of mass tourism.  He was a founding member of the Tourism Society and supported the formation of the Tourism Alliance, both of which organisations he has served as a board member and Chair, as he has on several other Tourism bodies. Specialising initially in visitor attractions, Ken initiated and subsequently chaired the National Visitor Attractions Conference, VAC, and has been on its Committee ever since.  In addition to many clients in the public, private and third sectors, he has advised the UN's International Trade Centre, on national and regional Tourism strategy development.  His current focus is to move the industry's thinking from marketing to the critical need to manage future tourism for the benefit of host communities, and to optimise tourist's experiences.  Ken was appointed CBE for services to Tourism in 1997, and an Honorary Doctorate in 2014. Paul KellyChief Executive, BALPPA, Chair of VAC https://www.balppa.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kelly-2714a922/Having been with BALPPA for 11 years and working with VAC for that amount of time as well, Paul started his career in the attractions sector at Thorpe Park in the 80's and then moved on to the London Eye for its opening around the millennium.  He has  always been involved with visitor attractions.  Several more years working within Merlin followed both in the UK and abroad, mainly on business development.  Being a BALPPA member for 30 years means, being Chair of the organising committee at VAC keeps Paul in touch with all aspects of the attractions industry. Liz Terry MBEManaging Director, Leisure Media Grouphttps://www.linkedin.com/in/elizterry/ Janet Uttley Head of Business Transformation for VisitEnglandhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/janetuttley/  Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip The Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Season 5 kicks off today with not one, not two, but three excellent guests.On today's episode, I have the pleasure of speaking to Bernard Donoghue, Paul Kelly and Ken Robinson, founders of the Visitor Attractions Conference. You also know Bernard as, Director of ALVA and Paul as CEO of BALPPA.VAC celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and I'm finding out where the idea for the event spanned from, how it's changed and developed over the years. And we take a look ahead to what 2024 has in store for the attraction sector.Unfortunately, fellow Founder; Liz Terry, the Managing Director of Leisure Media Group, and also Janet Uttley, Head of Business Transformation for VisitEngland, were unable to join us on this episode. But stay tuned for lots of insight and to find out how you can get your ticket for the VAC conference this year.Kelly Molson: If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Bernard, Ken, Paul, it is a treat to have you all on the podcast today. Thank you for joining me. I think this is the first time I've had three guests as well, so this could be interesting. Bernard Donoghue: And three men as well. I mean, it's like a really bad testosterone banana rama, isn't it? Really. Kelly Molson: I'm just a little flower in the middle of you thorns today. Yes, it's a real shame. So, unfortunately, Janet Uttley and Liz Terry couldn't make it along to join us today, which is a shame. But I'm sure that they will get lots of mentions as we talk through some of the things that we're going to chat about today. But first, as ever, I want to start with a little icebreaker. I'm going to ask you all the same thing because I'm intrigued as to whether you ended up doing what you thought you might. So, Ken, I'm going to start with you first. When you were at school, what did you think that you'd grow up and be when you were older? Ken Robinson: I didn't know. Kelly Molson: Had no clue at all? Ken Robinson: No, I didn't have a clue. I was lucky to have a good education. I didn't work at school. And then I got into a job, which was I was very successful at it and it was very boring. So I left. And when I discovered tourism and visitor attractions, it took me over. I didn't decide to do it. It told me that was it. Kelly Molson: Oh, I love it. It's like a calling. Ken Robinson: At the time it was, I was actually sitting in a turret room which had been vacated by Lord Montague. His desk used to face in and I liked that because I didn't have to look at the faces of the visitors going past who might complain, because in those days, buli was very expensive. And then one day I thought to myself, these people are investing their hard earned money and leisure time in making a decision to come here and it's our job to make sure they have a good time. And I turned my desk round and I looked at them all day long and the moment I turned my desk round, everything changed. Kelly Molson: I love that, because you could see the whites of their eyes and how they were engaging with the venue as they turned up. Ken Robinson: Well, it's just such a failure, isn't it? If you've got somebody who makes a choice and spends their time and money, a family decision for many people, and it should be a highlight. And if it isn't, whose fault is it? It's probably the fault of the visitor attraction, given that the person has chosen to go there in not communicating well enough with them about what they've got and what they would find interesting. Kelly Molson: This is such a brilliant story and that wasn't where I was expecting this to go either, Ken. I love it. Paul, what about you, Paul?Paul Kelly: Yeah, I mean, when I was at school, I was interested in sports and that was it, really, and luckily, that dragged me through the various places I went to. But what I was going to end up doing sports. I think once you get into sports quite seriously, you realise fairly quickly that actually you're not going to make it, so you have to find something else. So, laterally, I decided that business was a good idea. So I started doing business studies up in North Wales and for some reason were doing a sandwich course in those days, I think it was called that. One of those, I got placed at Thorpe Park. I don't know why particularly, so there's a group of six of us went down to Thorpe Park to work there and I actually started working on the rides.Paul Kelly: I'm not sure what it had to do with business at the time, but I'm glad somebody thought it did. And I couldn't believe that was a job that you could do, you could be paid for, because I came from the north at that point and there wasn't an awful lot going on in the 80s and actually be paid. Everyone enjoyed themselves, fantastic atmosphere, parties every night. I'm sure it's still like that. And it was just amazing. And from that moment on, regardless of what happened after that, including other colleges, other bits and pieces, effectively, I never left. Kelly Molson: It's always going to be in that sector. Paul Kelly: Yes. Kelly Molson: Excellent. Great. Bernard, same to you. Bernard Donoghue: Well, this may come as a surprise, but my grandfather was in the Irish Guards, my father was in the Grenadier Guards, my brother was in the Royal Marines, and I had a very large collection of action men. I genuinely thought I would probably end up in the army. And actually, I got an offer after university to go into the Household Cavalry. I don't think I've ever told anyone this before. Anyway, it just clearly I didn't pursue the application. It wasn't for me at all. Got really into politics. So I started working in the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and then I've just been in sort of lobbying, campaigning, political world ever since. But I still miss the uniforms. Can't deny it. Kelly Molson: I think we'd like to see you in that uniform, Bernard, if I'm not going to lie. So from the lobbying aspect, which is obviously a really big part of the role that you currently have, how did the attractions bit kind of slot into those? Where did the two join up? Bernard Donoghue: It's a really odd coincidence. I was trustee of a charity that Diana, Princess of Wales, was a patron of, and I was working full time for a charity that she was a patron of. So when she divorced Prince of Wales, now the King, she reduced her patronages down from 187 to six. And I happened to be involved with six of them. I went to work for her as a deputy private secretary, press secretary. But of course, the moment she died, which was August 31st, I had no job. Suddenly I was unemployed. And I got contacted by a woman who Ken will certainly know, probably Paul will, too, by Sue Garland, who used to be Deputy Chief Executive of VisitBritain, who'd heard me speak at something and said, "Well, we're just about to create this post of government affairs liaison. Would you be interested to working on the role while working on what you do next?”Bernard Donoghue: And that was in August 1997. And here I am still. Ken Robinson: But also, can I add something to that? Because I was lucky enough to be sitting in the room on many occasions when Bernard would give his briefing at meetings that were held by VisitBritain. And it was always a highlight of the day because Bernard, in those days, never pulled his punches. I'm not saying he does now, but he would just explain to everybody in the room what was going on with all of the political parties, which we never understood, and explain what we ought to be doing in order to best put our case. So it was really no shock when he turned up at ALVA, because I would say this if he wasn't here, he was the star of the show there, and that expertise that he showed has blossomed in the job that he's doing now. Kelly Molson: This is lovely, isn't it? Aren't you all nice? Bernard Donoghue: This is love in.. Kelly Molson: Probably why you all work together, right? You will get on so well. Right, back to you, Ken. Unpopular opinion, please. Ken Robinson: Most visitor attractions do not deliver full value for money to most of their visitors. Kelly Molson: Okay, Paul and Bernard, do you agree with this? Will our listeners agree with this? Is this an unpopular opinion?Paul Kelly: Did you use the word most, Ken? Ken Robinson: I did. Paul Kelly: I'll go for some, not most. Bernard Donoghue: Yeah, I'll go for some as well. One of my favourite programmes is Yes, Minister. And whenever you'd hear something off the wall, bonkers, they would say, that's a very brave opinion, Minister. That's a very brave opinion, Ken.Ken Robinson: Now's not the time to justify it. I'll do that on another occasion. Kelly Molson: Yeah, we will invite you back and we can do that one on one, Ken. Paul, what about you? Unpopular opinion? Paul Kelly: Well, I'm guessing that anybody that's worked in a theme park will probably have the same opinion I have. So I worked at Thorpe Park, which was 450 acres, two thirds of which was water. And at the end of the day, when you were walking out, and in those days, that could be 9, 10 o'clock at night, it was beautiful. On a late summer's evening, calm waters, walking through a park which had just been cleaned and tidied and ready for the next day. It was fantastic. And we all had the same opinion once were down the pub discussing the day. It's just a shame we have to let people into theme parks because it's the absolutely beautiful place without them there. So sometimes people let the parks down. Kelly Molson: That's a good one. That is a good one. Yeah. And you don't want to let them in to see the beautiful bit either, do you? Because then there'd be people there. It wouldn't be serene. Paul Kelly: No, I mean, those evenings, if there was still time, we'd go windsurfing on the lakes, cable water ski around the back. And it was just a shame that all these people came in every day and messed it all up. Kelly Molson: Yeah. Well, I'm pretty sure that most people who've worked in theme parks aren't going to disagree with you on that one, Paul. Good one. Bernard, what about yours? Bernard Donoghue: Even though I chair a theatre and I know how important the revenue is, I'm not a fan of selling drinks and food to people in theatres because they just make a noise. I can't bear it. I mean, it depends. I mean, it depends if it's a panto or something like that. Completely fine. Ken Robinson: Oh, no, it's not. Bernard Donoghue: It kind of allies to what Paul was saying as well, which was I don't know whether it's an unpopular opinion. I think it's probably a popular opinion. But visitor behaviour, whether it's in a theatre, a museum, an art gallery or wherever, has completely deteriorated post lockdown. Some people's behaviour is getting worse and it's very difficult to know what to do about it. Kelly Molson: Yes, agree. I don't think that's going to be very unpopular at all, actually, considering some of the things that we've seen recently. Thank you all for sharing. Okay, let's get back to the serious bit. The Visitor Attractions Conference. It's 20 years old this year. If you are listening and you're not familiar with it, one, why the hell not? And two, you need to grab a ticket today. It's the leading networking and learning event for visitor attractions across the UK. And I first visited in October 2019 and it was the first sector specific conference that I had been to. We'd been working in the sector for probably about three or four years, had never really at that point kind of gone all out on our like, "This is what we're going to niche and this is what we're going to specialise in."Kelly Molson: So I was kind of doing a bit of a fact finding mission really, and I came along and it absolutely blew me away. I think it was one of the friendliest conferences I've ever been to. I think you'd created an environment where everybody was really welcome, no stupid questions. Everyone from speakers to guests where kind of felt like they were all on the same level, really happy to answer questions that you had, really happy to talk to you. And I think that was for me. I came away from that event, I went back to my team and said, "This is where we should be. This is the event for us, this is where we should be attending, these are the people that we should be speaking to." And I've absolutely loved every minute of that. Kelly Molson: I mean, the next one I went to was a virtual one. So it was very different to the 2019 event, but still excellently organised. So firstly, thank you for making that happen. But where did the idea for the VAC come from in the first place? How did this come about? Ken Robinson: So we have to remember that the world was very different over 20 years ago. Really, really very different. Not just a question of internet or pre COVID and all those things and pre Olympics, but just very different. And attractions in those days thought and acted and communicated in their sectoral associations. Historic houses talked to historic houses, curators of museums talked to curators, bishops talked to priests, zoologists talked to botanists, but they didn't talk across the sectors. There were two exceptions to that. One was that in Visit England or English Tourist Board, there'd always been a committee there which was across the sectors, but the other one was ALVA. Now, when ALVA was formed, it was a 1 million visitors plus club for attractions, with 1 million plus visitors a year. Ken Robinson: Subsequently, groups of attractions, particularly English Heritage, National Trust, were involved originally associates, but it was a 1 million plus club and that's only 1% of the attractions in the United Kingdom had over 1 million. And it was very London centric. And ALVA had a five objectives, four of which were about government. And the interesting thing was that I was very good friends all through this time with Lord Lee, who know a very big part of the early success, pre Bernard of ALVA. I said to John Lee, “Look John, could you not change your name to ALVA and be involved with all the visitor attractions because they badly need something which glues everybody together and we need to get across this away from this sectoral stuff.” Ken Robinson: And everybody was talking about historic houses, talk about the house museums, talking about the continents of the museum but they weren't talking about visitors. They weren't talking about how you communicated with the visitors or what they were motivated by or how you could better manage things for visitors, give them better they weren't doing that. So John agreed with this and I've got the original papers here. I looked them out that I was asked first of all by ALVA in December of 2001 to write a paper on the future of ALVA which is headed: ALVA in the Future Representing All Visitor Attractions. Then after that the conversation went on and we realised that if were going to have some kind of overall event we couldn't do it without the National Tourist Board, we couldn't do it without Visit Britain, Visit England. We needed their input.Ken Robinson: We needed them to talk to DCMS and make sure it would happen. And also we wanted to do this not on a commercial basis but being by the industry, for the industry, run by the industry, not for profit. And that was a problem because we wanted to do it in the QE II Centre because we wanted to be in the centre of everything and that was going to cost an extraordinary sum of money and there wasn't that much money that could in that first year come originally from VisitEngland. So the partners in this, the partners being ALVA, BALPPA, Paul's organisation, Leisure Media the wonderful Liz Terry and her magazine which has forever been behind this event for no recompense whatever and myself put up 5000 pounds each security in order that the thing would happen. Ken Robinson: You said, "We'll stand the risk, let's do it.". So in 2004 I wrote the briefing of the first conference and I found from a 2003 the government asked for a list of topics that would be discussed in order they could work out whether or not they might like it and it's still here. What I like about it is it would do quite well for this year's conference. All those topics are still relevant. So that's where it came from. That's where it came from. We wanted it to have at the time the lowest possible attendance fee to get the highest number of people there. We wanted to involve everybody. Ken Robinson: And the cast list for that 2004 event, my goodness me, absolutely fantastic cast list in terms of the people we had for an initial event and you can imagine when it was announced and everybody was behind it ALVA was behind it. BALPPA, I should have mentioned that Colin Dawson, Paul's predecessor was an absolute stalwart of the conference in the early years he stood by know, when times were tough and that's where it came from. Kelly Molson: That is phenomenal. It was really putting your money where your mouth is, isn't it? By all of you actually personally investing in this thing to bring it to life. You don't hear many things happening in that way anymore, do you? It's all about getting investment and asking other people to make the commitment to it and take the risk. Ken Robinson: Well, we have a company now, I should say. We have a company called VAC Events, and we are all equal. The four of us are equal shareholders, that's to say, Bernard and ALVA, BALPPA and Paul, Liz and myself, for no benefit. Martin does it for us, but we are the people that carry the can, if you like, and I don't think we've ever had anything out of it apart from a nice lunch at Christmas, but apart from that, it's a great feeling of doing something. When you say everybody is very friendly and talks to one another. That's why they're all in the same business. Bishop, curator, zoologist person running a heritage railway, they're all in the same business. Kelly Molson: Obviously, the first event was a success. You've been on and you've done many, what, 20, 20 events since that first one. How have you seen it kind of change and develop over the years? So what did that first conference look like compared to what this year's will look like? And how have you kind of evolved it over that time to keep it relevant to your audience? Paul Kelly: Well, I think so. My involvement directly has been the last ten years, so I'm halfway through chairing for this one, but I was actually there at the early ones because I worked at that time. I was working at the London Eye, just across the river, and I was good friends with Colin Dawson at the time. I'd worked with him at Thorpe Park and he for some people, may well remember Colin as entertaining Princess Diana on a log flume in 92, 3 and 4. Paul Kelly: And I was there. It's hard to tell, but I was actually there. I'm not in any of the photos in Paris Match and all of those places. I have a couple of myself here. I didn't get anything signed by Princess Diana and sent over to you know, bitterness takes a while to and I've joked with Colin over this many years. Colin was there, but if you look closely behind the scenes, you'll find I was there too, but so I was great friends with Colin over many years and still am. He was obviously contacting everyone he knew about this conference. He was working for BALPPA at the time. I was working for the Two Swords Group, had the operational contract for the London Eye. Paul Kelly: So I went to the first one and I suppose my impressions of the first one was for somebody who hasn't been there before, the QE II is extremely impressive as a conference center. I don't go to many that look like that around the UK. Most of them normally the ones I go to are in attractions, they're slightly different so it was hugely impressive both on its location and what was across the road and how things went and I was a little bit starstruck I suppose, for the first one. Now I get the opportunity to sit on the stage and look out at everybody and have a slightly different view on it all, but still think it's an extremely impressive environment to do that. Paul Kelly: And I think the biggest change for me, and I think we may cover a little bit later, is how we've broken up the afternoons into separate segments and sections where people can go along to a smaller, informal group discussing a topic that they particularly want. And I think the thing I also like about that is the amount of people who want to go to more than one of them that are on at the same time and are almost complaining there's too many things to go to, which I think is hilarious, which means it's really good. And hopefully that means that next time they'll really think about which one do I want to go to, obviously I want to go to more than one, but I'm going to pick my best one. Paul Kelly: So I think for me, that's probably the biggest change over time. But what doesn't change for me is the team that we have putting these things together, which we're actually relatively slick at. Everyone gets the chance to put their opinions and I'm glad we don't record those meetings and it works out really well. And I think as a team, it's amazing how long we've stuck at it and stuck together. Kelly Molson: I'd love to be on a little fly on the wall for those meetings. Have you ever had a fallout about something? Bernard Donoghue: Yes, we're frequently violent. It's a visitor experience in its own right, I think. Kelly Molson: I'll pay for it. Bernard Donoghue: We reflect the madness that some of our visitors demonstrate on site so in that case I think we're rooted in the industry. The first one that I went to was in 2011, so I just joined ALVA at that point. And the first one I spoke, it was in 2012 and I've been doing the same kind of slot ever since. I do a kind of State of the Nation in the morning because ALVA obviously gets loads of data and information and we publish all of our visitor figures and all the rest of it, and actually we collect and commission much more data now than we ever used to. So I share all of that in the kind of Donoghue half hour copyright. Bernard Donoghue: What's lovely I mean, Paul's absolutely right is that over the last twelve years I think we've seen a real move from people desperately wanting to speak about their successes to being really open about what hasn't worked, which of course is far more interesting and useful. So there's been a really lovely shift from people saying, "No, I don't have to do the propaganda stuff.” Actually, I'm going to tell you what it was like, why it was a disaster and what we learned from it. And that's so useful. So you do get this real honesty coming from the speakers who know that's what they find useful too. So why not share it? I think the other one is I do a presentation about, is there core behaviours of successful visitor attractions regardless of type?Bernard Donoghue: And there are there's about ten of them, but one of them is the ability to foster creative partnerships with unusual suspects. So the presentations that are most fascinating for me is where a visitor attraction, it doesn't matter whether it's a cathedral or whether it's a museum or gallery or theme park, have teamed up with someone that you wouldn't expect them to team up with to tell the story of their people and places and collections in a new, innovating, exciting way. And those are fascinating, absolutely fascinating. So I love those. There's much more of that. Kelly Molson: Fantastic. Well, on that note, I want to know from each of you who has been the most inspiring speaker that you've had at the conference over the past 20 years. Ken, let us start with you. Who do you think would be on your list for that? Ken Robinson: I had a look through the programs going back to 2004 and came up with the following names which surprised me, actually. I think originally our first most inspiring speaker was Simon Jenkins, the columnist of the Times, who had very strong views, which didn't necessarily agree with what government and others were doing. He did give a very inspiring presentation and then there are some people who perhaps we would expect less. The most single most surprising speaker was somebody called Tristram Mayhew, who titles himself as the Chief Gorilla of Go Ape and in a room full of suits and quite smart dresses and trouser suits, Go Ape shambled onto the stage in a car key shirt and proceeded to explain how he'd done things differently. And frankly, it was riveting. We had a chap called Tony Berry from the National Trust who gave presentations. Ken Robinson: His first one was just stunnning, you know, in the days when HR was less popular, Tony Berry would tell you why you should be interested and he was absolutely amazing. And Sue Wilkinson, incidentally, of the National Trust, who was the person responsible really for dragging the Trust from its sort of old form to its new marketing orientated thinking about its supporters future success? She was terrific. And the other person I would mention another Tony, I don't know whether or Tony's there's Tony Butler from the Museum of East Anglian Life, who again, when Bernard was talking about people talking about doing things differently and it inspires you. Some of those examples are very interesting, but not easy to copy. Ken Robinson: In other attractions, we always look for things that do go across the piece, so anybody can learn from the lessons within the example that we're talking about. And incidentally, we do have arguments in meetings, it's about whether particular speakers and particular topics are the way of doing things. And generally speaking, when we all have a good go at it comes out better than it did when anybody said, “Well, I know what the right answer is. No, you don't. Let's all talk about it. So that works.” So you get these people that actually inspire and they light up the room, not because of clever graphics and not because of a forceful way, but they light up the room because of the originality of their ideas. Now, I'll come to my number one. Ken Robinson: I'm sorry about this, because he's sitting on my screen down there, and that's young Bernard, who since he joined our there you go. That's the top half that works. You should see the bottom half doesn't work. He's just had pins put in it. Kelly Molson: Just for our listeners here, Bernard is given a little muscle strong arm salute on screen here. Ken Robinson: Bernard combines the latest immediate knowledge of talking to people across the industry with an absolutely amazing gift of the gab, with a power of communication. And he's unstoppable. And we wouldn't have stood him for all these years if he wasn't. So of all the years and all the speakers, the consistent best is Bernard. But we have had other people, often surprising, who take know, you don't expect it, you think you're going to listen to ordinary session, all of a sudden it takes fire. Kelly Molson: Bernard, what have you got to say to that? Bernard Donoghue: What I say to Ken is there are packets of cash going from London to the south coast with immediate effect. Delighted. Thank you very much. It's really lovely, actually. I've tried to change things every year to do partly political, but also partly about good practice and who's doing what and who's interesting. I'll tell you what, one of my favourite speakers, and it was in a conversation, one of the things that we've introduced is a sort of conversation with slot, which works really well, actually, because a bit like this, you're off script, you respond to people. Liz chaired a conversation last year, so were in Birmingham last year and it was all about HR issues and of course, it know, coming out of COVID and cost of living crisis and recruitment challenges and all of those kind of stuff. Bernard Donoghue: And Tina Lewis is the director of people at the National Trust. National Trust, getting great repertoire here. She came out with an idea that they're doing at the National Trust and I've implemented it in the three organisations that I chair and it's made the biggest difference. So the National Trust, they will pay the rent deposit for your flat if you need them to. So if you're going through a cost of living crisis and you can't get up the cash to put down a rent deposit on your flat, they'll do it for you. You can't get up the cash to put down a rent deposit on your flat, they'll do it for you. That was such a transformational thing to hear. You could almost hear the gasp in the room of people going, "Oh, my God. Yeah, if we can, let's do that." Bernard Donoghue: And I've now introduced it. As I say in the organisations that I chair, not many people have taken it up, but the fact that we've said it has made such a difference to people. I mean, as it is at the Trust, actually, there's been a relatively small number of people at the Trust who've taken it up, but the very policy decision, the very communication of it, just spoke volumes about an organisation that cares about its staff, and particularly those staff who are on really limited budgets. So there's been loads and loads of speakers over the course of the last few years, but that for me was a nugget which has changed people's lives and has been implementable. Kelly Molson: I think that's the key to that part, isn't it, is that it's an incredible thing that they've done, but the fact that it can be implemented someone has listened to that talk. They can take that away, take it to their board, take it to whoever needs to okay that, and they can put that into action like that straight away. That's the power of a really good initiative and a good speaker to be able to deliver that as well. Paul, what about you? Please don't say Bernard. I think he's had enough praise today. Bernard Donoghue: No, keep going. Kelly Molson: No. Paul Kelly: You're OK, Bernard? We'll leave that one where it is, shall we? If we can squeeze Bernard into the room next. Right, so one special mention I wanted to give, actually, which is one of the years not too long ago, we invited Simon Calder to speak, the travel journalist, and I have to say I wasn't convinced, because clearly he's not working in one of our attractions and doesn't necessarily know the industry pretty well. But I have to say, he was hugely entertaining, had done his homework, was hugely knowledgeable, and so he was absolutely excellent. But I think the most important thing for me is that he left us and he said to me, “Enjoyed it so much, I'll come back later.” And I said, “Yes, of course you will.”Paul Kelly: So he went away and he came back at the end of the day to talk to all the people that he'd seen early in the day, because he loved the atmosphere and he wasn't required to do that. And he came along. And for that I have to put a special mention in one for myself to actually listen to the others when they say, “This will be good”, and secondly for him, for actually doing a bit and actually coming back later. And he was a fabulous addition and outside of our industry. So my inside the industry one is somebody I ended up working with because I was with the Two Swords group and then they were bought by Merlin with Nick Varney and his Merry Men. Paul Kelly: So Nick and his team had obviously been in the industry a very long time at this point, dipped in and out of theme parks and attractions. But Nick didn't actually do many talks. You wouldn't actually hear him speak about too much. I'd heard him speak over in the IAAPA trade show held in Orlando every November, and he was absolutely brilliant. And then Ken managed to get him to speak at VAC one year. And again, he was absolutely excellent. And this fits in nicely because now that he's retired from Merlin, he's speaking again this year. So I think that will be really interesting because he's absolutely excellent. Ken Robinson: And by the way, guys, just to show you that we know what we're doing here, this is 2004, okay? And it says here the recipe for success. Nick Varney chief executive, will talk about the components for commercial success. And that's before. So we've got him first and look what happened. Kelly Molson: I'm really looking forward to that interview, actually, and I think it would be really interesting to see how he differs now. He's kind of outside of the sector, and I think that the format that you've got him in. So that's the interview with Liz, isn't it? On stage? I think that's going to be a really great format as well. I've seen that work really well in the past where she's interviewed people and it just feels really comfortable and really conversational. I think that brings out the best of people. Bernard Donoghue: Kelly, do you want to know who's been of most variable quality? Kelly Molson: Oh, yes. Bernard Donoghue: Tourism Minister. I mean, without doubt. I mean, we've been going 20 years now, therefore we've had 20 tourism ministers, had one a year, like Christmas cards. And some of them have completely got the industry completely understood. It delivered a barnstorming speech, and then the next year you'll get the annual Tourism Minister pop up and they'll read something flat, banal, uninteresting. And we're so torched by the experience that we don't invite the one next on the year. So we're always banging on about this. Tourism is very good at job creation. In fact, we've created 20 Tourism Minister jobs in years, but they are of variable quality. Ken Robinson: The best we ever had, Bernard, I think, by far, was John Penrose, when he had completed his review of the industry and got very clear views, which he put to government. Unfortunately, government didn't do it, as they usually don't, but he was good and people liked him and gave him a high rating. I think the next best was probably Margaret Hodge, who was very good and spoke from the heart. But as you say, when we look at every year, we look at a rating of every speaker and the meeting after the event, we go through those ratings and decide, those that got good ratings, why did they get it? Was it intrinsic to their character, their nature, their topic? Was there something special? And those who didn't, why was that? Was it our fault? Ken Robinson: Did we not brief them properly? Or was it never going to be any better? Ken Robinson: And that way we managed to manage the conference. So know the attraction sector. We sometimes forget that over half of all visits to visitor attractions in the UK are free of charge. We forget that the majority of visitor attractions are medium and small businesses. We forget that there are charitable and commercial attractions. We must be able to bring this whole sector together and move our thinking forward in the way that Bernard has just explained in terms of what he does with ALVA. And the other thing that Bernard mentioned was ALVA's research now. Ken Robinson: 20 years ago, you had to wait until the annual book came out from Thames Tower and then eventually from the centre of luck look to page 16 and there would be numbers, but very little interpretation of what those numbers meant. Now, Bernard is behind much of the work that is done now with ALVA. But the key to it is it's not just numbers, it's interpretation. And because of the communication skills, when ALVA put out a message, it is interpreted. It says why it was a successful year or what was mitigating against that. And that's so important in trying to move our case forward. Kelly Molson: But it's important in improving the content that you give your audience at the conferences as well, right? If something isn't working and you've got a process of evaluating why that hasn't worked and how you improve on it for the next one. Let's just focus on why should people attend VAC this year? What is in it for them? What's on the agenda? What have they got to look forward to and how can we get them to book a ticket? Bernard Donoghue: I'll happily go first and go quite niche, actually. One of the things that I do now outside of ALVA, or because of ALVA is that I co chair the advisory board for VisitLondon. So essentially chair the London tourist board. And I do that with Kate Nichols of UK hospitality. And we created the London Tourism Recovery Group during COVID So my suggestion would be Sadiq Khan. So we've managed to get the Mayor of London to come along and speak at this anniversary conference. And it's not just because he's the Mayor of London and it's the 20th anniversary, but it's because he's the first ever Mayor of London that hazard one of his four political priorities, culture and tourism. That's number one. Bernard Donoghue: Number two is that he put his money where his mouth was and he funded the Let's Do London Recovery campaign, which was both domestic and international with the industry. We delivered it with London and partners, but he put up the lump sum behind it. And third, he completely gets that tourism and heritage and culture is both where you grow jobs and we're very good at it, but it's also where you grow people. It's where you grow people in terms of their cultural literacy or their sense of community or their independence or their sense of history. And therefore knowing where you come from enables you to be a better future citizen, if you like. Bernard Donoghue: So my quick blast would be we've got him doing a welcome, but also saying why visitor attractions and tourism are so important to him and to the economy and the politics of London. So that's not to be missed. Kelly Molson: That is a big draw. Absolutely a big draw. Paul, you mentioned earlier about the variety in splitting up that second session, that second part of the day with the seminars and the smaller talks that you do as well. That for me, as an attendee, is really valuable because you can kind of pick and choose what's relevant to you and go along and see lots of different talks. What do you think is the draw for people to come to the conference this year for you? Paul Kelly: Well, I was just jotting down, thinking about it's a little bit. An extension of what Ken was talking about is that it's the variety of what we do in one place is greater than anywhere else. And all the conferences I do because of the nature of what we do each end of the spectrum. So we've got talks about people who run charities to people who run hugely commercial operations. We've got people doing talks on which are free to get into those who are quite expensive, but focus on value for money. And you've got those that are indoor, those that are outdoor. When I spent my time business development at Merlin, they were always focused on a balanced portfolio. And a balanced portfolio meant making sure that right across your business, you have every aspect covered. Paul Kelly: So everything balances indoor, outdoor, UK, Europe, USA, whatever it is. And I think with our conference, that's what we try and do, we try and balance all of those types of different types of operations so that everything is covered, not to the point where it's too thin and you don't learn anything. And that's the key to it, is that we go into the depth. And the depth, I think, is greater now because we do those breakout sessions and we've got time to do in fact, we double up for those three different areas just for that afternoon. So I think those are the things, if anyone asks me why they should come, it's about the variety.Kelly Molson: Regardless of size of your attraction as well. And actually, from my perspective as a supplier to the industry, it's just as valuable to come along and learn and understand what's going on in the sector. You don't have to be an attraction to come along and take part and be educated about what's happening in the sector. What about you, Ken? Ken Robinson: Well, I think that those of us who have stood on the stage at the QE II Centre and looked at the people who have come can see that there aren't any slumbering faces out there. There are people making notes, people nudging the person next to them, people looking round when we ask a question. We now have a sort of red and green card system for, do you agree? Don't you agree? Which we sometimes use, which is very interesting, engaging the mood of the room. And I think that the thing about VAC is don't be lazy if we're going to come to VAC. Don't be lazy. If you're coming to VAC, l And jot down what questions you might like to ask those people or what you'd like to learn from that session. Write it down, don't think you can remember it at the time. Ken Robinson: Bring it on a note with you when you come and then you will find, and we all know this, that the networking that happens at the end of the day and in the breaks at VAC it's like a family wedding in a way. I mean, everybody wants to talk to everybody else and it's so valuable. I think everybody who goes away from VAC should have a good few things that day, which they say, “I wouldn't have thought of that if I hadn't been there”, or even, “I disagree with that”, but it's made me realise what my true opinion about that is equally valuable. But don't be a lazy attendee. Come and participate, come and enjoy, come and learn, come and take back benefit to everybody that works with you. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think that thing about not being scared to ask questions is really valid as well, Ken, because this happened to me, actually. I went to one of the seminar sessions, and this is back in 2019 and was really inspired by one of the speakers about it was Julez Osbek, who was at Continuum Attractions at the time, and she talked about marketing segmentation, but had a completely different perspective on it in terms of not doing it demographically, just talking about age brackets and things like that. And it was really interesting. I didn't get a chance to ask a question during the seminar, but I found her afterwards and she was very approachable, very happy to answer my question. And then I stalked her on Twitter and got her to come on to the podcast afterwards to talk about it. Kelly Molson: But that's for me, what VAC is about. It's the openness that people are really willing to share. So don't be afraid to go and find the speaker that you've been inspired by and go and ask them the question afterwards, because everyone's really happy to talk about their topic and they're really happy to help people. That's my little key takeaway from it anyway. Right, so it's going to be on Thursday, the 5th October. This podcast episode is launching on the 20th September, so you haven't got long to go and get your tickets, so make sure you do. It is the 5th October, the QE II Conference Centre in Westminster. The website address is vacevents.com. That's Vacevents.com and you can get your ticket there. All of this information will be in the show notes, so don't worry if you didn't get time to scribble that down. Kelly Molson: While I've got you all, though, because you all are in the sector and you've got lots of insights to share. I want to know from each of you what you think that attractions should be focusing on and what 2024 might look like for the sector. Paul, what about you? Start with you. Paul Kelly: So I've been chatting to some of our operators. We have some very large operators around the UK asking them how it's going? And unsurprisingly, you could have said the same question 20 years ago, what's our biggest challenge? It's the weather. It's not actually the cost of living crisis, it's not COVID you can put plans together for those things and you can work on it, but the weather always is a little bit of a challenge. So this summer inverted commerce has been quite hard to focus on what we can deliver when the days have been half decent. Actually, we've done quite well, we always do relatively well, certainly in our sector, I'm sure the others will agree, in a recession. Paul Kelly: So the key seems to be, and I'm going to put it out, I haven't quite found the right words for it, but I'll develop this once I've spoken to a few more. What every attraction for me has to have is an opportunity for people to downgrade what they did slightly. What they're doing is they're ringing it up and saying, "Can't afford to do this, have you got something that's almost like that?" But whether it's a slightly different experience, less time, one day less so whatever the packages are that people are offering, there has to be one rung lower than it was before to still encourage people to come along because they're not able to reach the same heights at the moment that they did previously. But they still want to have that family experience that day out, create those memories. Paul Kelly: All of those things are still relevant. And if you don't have that opportunity, then they'll either go elsewhere or they won't go. So, again, it's managing. So I'm not talking about huge discounts, I'm talking about being relatively clever in what you package and what you put together to make sure they still attend and they still get what they perceive to be value for money. But unless you have that option then I think they won't come. Kelly Molson: Really great advice, Paul. Thank you. Bernard, what about you? Bernard Donoghue: Like Paul, actually, especially since Lockdown ended, but actually for about the last five or six years I've noticed a particular thing which is where visitor attractions have got reserves, and that's a big if by the way, particularly in the course of the last couple of years. Actually, especially since Lockdown ended, but actually for about the last five or six years I've noticed a particular thing which is where visitor attractions have got reserves, and that's a big if by the way, particularly in the course of the last couple of years. So it comes back to Paul's point about kind of ensuring yourself against the excesses of the weather and making sure that you're still particularly a family attractive visitor attractions that'd be one. Second is cost of living crisis, certainly for the average customer, but also the energy costs for visitor attractions too. Bernard Donoghue: Just crazy amounts of money that visitor attractions are now paying i If you're a zoo or an aquarium you can't turn down the temperature of your botanics you're a living reef. So we're going to have to find some way out of that. And that means that actually for many organisations it's going to be as financially challenging over the next twelve months as it has been over the last two. And then I think the third, and this is a continual for me and Kelly, you and I have talked about it before, but it forms the last session of the day at the VAC conference which is diversity and inclusivity. And my feeling is that every visitor attraction should be critically honest about who comes, who doesn't, why they don't come and what are you going to do about it?Bernard Donoghue: And in particular those organisations who in receipt are government money or public money or who had COVID loans from the UK taxpayer. If their visitors don't look like the community in which they're housed, they have a moral question at the heart of their business. That's it. If you want to take public money you need to have an audience that looks like the diversity of the public. And that's a challenge. I get that, I completely get that. But I think that making sure that we are as accessible in every conceivable way, economically, physically. Accessible to people and that they see their stories and themselves reflected in their collections and people and staff and volunteers and board members, I think that's the biggest challenge of the sector as it is indeed to many other sectors. Bernard Donoghue: But I think we're doing some amazing things and we need to shout about it and we need to share and we need to learn from each other. Kelly Molson: Absolutely agree. And that session is going to be a really great session. That's one not to miss. Ken? Ken Robinson: Well, I would say two things. First of all, as far as our visitors are concerned, I think there is a bigger polarisation now than there ever has been between those who have money and can still afford to do things and are not much impacted by the current circumstances, despite everything. And those who haven't and those who haven't have got to find ways of saving money, getting more for their money. There are so many things they can do that are free and alternatives that charged attractions find it difficult. I think we have to remember that the biggest number of attractions in the United Kingdom are heritage based attractions and they weren't purpose built like many of Paul's members, the attractions are purpose built for entertainment. But heritage attractions have got a bigger responsibility or museums housed in historic buildings. Ken Robinson: And all the time they're having to cut their costs and finding life difficult. Money isn't going into maintaining that National Heritage. And that's a real big long term challenge, one that government can't ignore. So government has a vested interest in the health of our businesses because the more healthy they are, the less will fall back on the state eventually. One last thing, I would like to mention Martin Evans and the tourism business. Ken Robinson: For the last I don't know how many years, Martin has been the person who has put together this event for us. He has to do the heavy lifting. He is backed up by our conference organisers, who are also very efficient. And the other person that I wouldn't like to miss from this, because if she could have been here today, you would have got a different flavour, is the wonderful Liz Terry and the support that her organisation. That's Liz's Organisation, her hard work in Leisure Media Group. She publishes Attractions Management magazine. Ken Robinson: She has never asked for anything from this conference and she gives it great support, without which we wouldn't have made 20 years, as I said earlier. And also a big shout and a screen for Liz. Kelly Molson: That is lovely. Thank you. I'm sure Liz will very much appreciate that. We won't forget her. Don't worry, she'll be on the credits for this podcast. I always ask our guests to leave us with a book recommendation for our listeners. So a book that you've loved, a book that you've enjoyed as part of your career growth can be absolutely anything. So, Paul, what would you like to share with us today? Paul Kelly: Oh, I tell you what, books are a bit highbrow for me. Yes, Bernard agrees with that. So I'm from the north, so I used to travel a lot when I was working North America. Commuting a little bit. So I did read a little bit then, but I very quickly swapped over to podcasts things that I download. I watch Silent Witness from the 90's, early 2000s repeatedly. I like Meet Marry Murder, which is one of the cable channels, so I'm quite simple. So I don't really have a book recommendation. I think when I have time to read, I will look forward to reading what somebody else recommends. Kelly Molson: Well, I will take Silent Witness as a recommendation because I love Silent Witness, Paul. Oh, so good. Never miss an episode, ever. So, OK, they go I mean, I can't give it away as a prize, but go and check out Silent Witness if you haven't. Bernard, what's yours? Bernard Donoghue: Well, I've been on this before and I remember my recommendation and it sounds really facile, but it was absolutely true, was Ladybird Books when I was a kid, and then that's how I got into history and heritage and storytelling and absolutely loved them. And I've still got loads of them, which is a bit sad, actually. I'm currently confined to home with a broken ankle. So I've been going through my big Bernard book of books, of all the ones that I haven't got around to reading, and the one that I've enjoyed most and has really surprised me is Lucy Worsley's biography of Agatha Christie. Absolutely fascinating. I thought I knew her. I thought I knew all about her. I know all of her characters, I've watched every conceivable film and TV program, but what a fascinating woman. Bernard Donoghue: So that's the one that I've loved this summer. Kelly Molson: Great recommendation. Yeah. I wondered what were going to get from you, actually, because you've had a lot of time on your hands to go through that book pile. Bernard Donoghue: It was either going to be Agatha Christie or the Argos catalogue. Honestly, it could have gone. Kelly Molson: It's not Christmas yet. You only do the Argos catalogue at Christmas. Ken, over to you for our last recommendation. Ken Robinson: Well, the best book quite hard to get hold of now, but I can supply copies is Action For Attractions, the National Policy Document, written in 2000. But if you want something other than that, then I have just finished reading a book which everyone else read years ago called Sapiens, which is about this thick, that's to say two and a half inches thick. For those of you listening. It's by somebody, I've just had to look him up because I couldn't have remembered it, by Yuval Noah Harari. And it's entitled A Brief History of Humankind. And what's so interesting about it is it goes through segments explaining the great moves that have happened to us humans since we appeared on this Earth. Ken Robinson: And I found the whole thing fascinating to read in one go what took me a long time, particularly the last bit, which talks about how commerce has changed the world and what we're all doing, and that's, after all, what we're doing at VAC. We are engaged in the kind of commerce that is to entertain, amuse and give enjoyment to our visitors, and at the same time keep the heritage of the country going and keep an awful lot of people employed, so I recommend Sapiens. Kelly Molson: Ken, that's a great book. It took me a really long time to read as well, but it is an absolutely fascinating book. I would totally back up your recommendation there. Have you read the next one as well, Homodeus? Ken Robinson: No one a year is enough for me. Kelly Molson: Well, I've got a toddler, so reading doesn't come easy for me right now. But Homodus is next on my list to read because that's the next one on from Sapiens and it's supposed to be a really good read as well. Right, listeners as ever, if you want to win a copy of Ken and Bernard's book, retweet this episode announcement with the words, I want the Vax books and you will be put into a prize drawer to win them. And also, do go and watch Silent Witness, Paul's recommendation, because it is blooming brilliant. I love it. Thank you all so much for coming on to join me today. I've really appreciated it. It's been a fascinating kind of deep dive into the Visitor Attractions Conference. I genuinely love this conference. It is one absolutely not to be missed. Kelly Molson: I mean, there might be a speaker called Kelly at this one. This is so I'll be there. Come and see me too. But no, thank you. It's been wonderful. As I said, we will put all of the info in the show notes. We'll put all of the connections to Paul, Ken and Bernard too. So if you've got any follow up questions that you want to ask them, I'm sure they'd be really happy to help. But it's vapevents.com. Go and grab your ticket now. Thank you, guys. Ken Robinson: And I have to tell you, Kelly, we are going to spend our time at our next committee meeting thinking of impossible questions for you for when you're speaking at VAC.Kelly Molson: Oh, God. Do it. I love impossible questions. Put me on the spot, Ken. I'll enjoy it. Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast. 

We read the papers so you don't have to… Today: Bulgarian spies in Harrow? It's Le Carré On Spying as the papers go to town on three people arrested for alleged espionage. Plus: dirty deeds down under as the Australian press tries to sabotage the Lionesses. And Murdoch's got a new girlfriend. What attracts women to 92-year old billionaire Rupert? Author and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann and comedy writer Jason Hazeley – co-creater of Philomena Cunk and the Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups series – join Andrew Harrison to give the third degree to the Fourth Estate. Follow Paper Cuts: Twitter: https://twitter.com/papercutsshow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papercutsshow Illustrations by Modern Toss https://moderntoss.com Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production: Alex Rees. Design: James Parrett. Music: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Exec Producer: Martin Bojtos. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. PAPER CUTS is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tucker Carlson releasing never-before-seen Jan. 6 footage to destroy the lie that Democrats have been feeding Americans. Twitter cannot publicly reveal the number of times the FBI asks it to provide information for national security investigations, a federal court ruled Monday. Blackrock board member and former Pfizer executive are behind the push for chicken vaccinations (chicken vax company is an offshoot of Pfizer). Book publisher Ladybird Books has been reviewing book content through the use of "sensitivity readers" to examine stories for problematic content ( Snow White & Cinderella), and author Douglas Murray published a scathing review of the British government's counter-terrorism Prevent program, which has apparently reported that authors like George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis can radicalize readers. Plus more on today's episode.

Alex Stein and Jaco Booyens join Sara today to discuss the newly released January 6 footage. A lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center was arrested and charged with domestic terrorism Sunday. Thomas Webb Jurgens was among the 23 suspected domestic terrorists participating in the attacks on Cop City, a training facility for Atlanta police. Book publisher Ladybird Books has been reviewing book content through the use of "sensitivity readers" to examine stories for problematic content. Vice President Kamala Harris claimed on Monday that she knew from an early age that "conservatives are bad."  Today's Sponsors: If you're ready to take action, join thousands of guys who have saved their hair with Keeps. Visit http://www.keeps.com/why for 50 percent off your first order.  Keep American farming going by signing up at http://www.MoinkBox.com/news RIGHT NOW, and listeners of this show get FREE filet mignon in every order for a year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On tonight's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers speaks to Conor Benn after his grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr was called off due to a failed drugs test or was it just a mistake. Also Piers debates whether Harry and Meghan will turn up to the King's coronation after being invited. Piers then delves into speaking about how the woke police are out in force again with Ladybird books now in the firing line.Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8 pm on TalkTV on Sky 522, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and the app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's story has been told for many many years and the book I am reading todaying was my book when I was your age! My book is a bit scruffy looking now because my brother and I read it so much! The story is all about some goats who want to eat the sweet green grass in the meadow beyone a bridge. A troll lives underneath the bridge and tries to stop the goats going over. Does he manage to stop them? Listen to find out! Subscribe today so you don't miss the next 123 Read With Me Story and follow us on Instagram at 123readwithmepodcast.   If you or your children love our 123 Read With Me Stories please leave us a 5* Rate and Review on Apple and a 5* Rate on Spotify.   About 123 Read With Me   123 Read With Me is a podcast to ignite your child's imagination and foster a life long love of reading.   Story time was always my favourite part of the day when I was teaching in primary schools and I am thrilled to share some of the many stories I have read with children over the last 30 years.   In my dreams, I see myself reading stories underneath a beautiful sparkle tree whose branches glisten in the sun light and every leaf is a different book ready to transport me and my imagination.   Where will you listen?   123 Read With Me is the perfect story podcast for you to play in your classroom to accompany your literacy curriculum or as a parent why not play in the car or listen in the comfort of your own home.   Narrated by Lara Lauder Produced by Lana Morris That Woman.Tech  

Louie Stowell has a long-established career in publishing having worked for Usborne books as an editor and in-house writer and for Ladybird Books. She is now a full-time writer with an expanding list of titles.In this interview, she talks to Nikki Gamble about Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good and her fascination with Norse mythologyAbout LokiA wry, witty and very funny diary-style story packed with doodles and comic strips about the frustration trickster god Loki feels at having to live trapped in the body of a weedy eleven-year-old boy. After one trick too many, Loki is banished to live on Earth as a "normal" schoolboy. Forbidden from using his AWESOME godly powers, Loki must show moral improvement.As he records his lies THE TRUTH in his magical (judgemental) diary, it becomes clear Loki hasn't a clue how to tell good from evil, trust from tricks, or friends from enemies.

Another fun trip into the Ladybird universe as we listen talk about 1987's “Decepticons at the Pole,” and “Autobots Strike Oil.” Please like and subscribe wherever you listen to this show. Please subscribe to TFU.INFO on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/tfuinfo Catch us on social media: Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/TFU_INFO Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/tfuinfo Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/tfuinfo Help support … Continue reading Episode 110 – Ladybird Books 1987 →

When I meet people who listen to this podcast, one of the most frequently mentioned features is the inclusion of the weather log with which I end each episode. This week I talk about what inspired it, one of which is my childhood love of the BBC's Shipping Forecast. What makes these stark lists of climatic data ring so powerfully in our minds?    Journal entry:“8th October, FridayLaundry-water coloured skies Heavy dews Clumps of willow-herb hang like desolate sodden paper tissues.The sock on my right foot keeps balling Under the arch of my instep. I lean against the brickwork of bridge 65 to readjust it.Penny contentedly sniffs out the worlds  Hidden from me.But my mind is filled with childhood snow scenes And socks that never stayed up in gum boots.”   Episode InformationFor lovers of the Shipping Forecast and, particularly for those outside the UK who might now have heard it, the 99% Visible Blog and podcast has a wonderfully informative online article by Roman Mars, ‘The Shipping Forecast', that sketches out its history and characteristics, as well as featuring links to recordings of it. You can listen and watch Laurie Macmillan read the Shipping Forecast accompanied with ‘Sailing By' on: Radio 4 Shipping Forecast (Youtube). Vangelis' track ‘Albedo 0.39' can be found on his album Albedo 0.39 (1976) released by RCA. To listen to it: Albedo 0.39 (Youtube).  In this episode I quote excerpts from:Charlie Connelly (2019) Last Train to Hilversum published by Bloomsbury Peter Jefferson (2011) And Now the Shipping Forecast: A tide of history around our shores. published by UIT Cambridge.Nic Compton (2016) The Shipping Forecast: A miscellany. Published by EburySeán Street's poem ‘The Shipping Forecast: Donegal' is from his Time Between Tides (2007) published by Rockingham. There is a beautifully crafted and presented reading of it on Soundcloud. To listen to it: The Shipping Forecast: Donegal.General DetailsIn the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org. Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. Piano interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.All other audio recorded on site. ContactFor pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPodI would love to hear from you. You can email me at nighttimeonstillwaters@gmail.com

In this week's show we answer four questions from Ted, Finn, Laurie and Louie with help from special guest expert Tony Adams. Tony Adams was England coach, played for decades for Arsenal, was the last person to score a goal at the old Wembley and has a statue of himself outside the Emirates stadium! Tony tells us how many football clubs there are in the world and how he felt when he played football. Next up we talk about the three kinds of tears and why sad tears help us to feel better in two different ways. We find out the origins of the use of the word LOVE in tennis to mean zero – it's a good one!Social media:Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod @mollyoldfieldwritesTwitter: @mollyoldfieldFacebook: Molly Oldfield WriterWebsite: www.everythingunderthesun.co.ukFind out how to submit an answer on our website www.everythingunderthesun.co.ukMolly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World's Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home. Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions is out now in all good bookshops and online, published by Ladybird Books. https://www.mollyoldfield.com/everything-under-the-sunTony Adams on twitter @tonyadams With thanks to Tyler Simmons Dale, Ash Gardner, Audio Networks and Billy Colours See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The British Museum Library registered the legal deposit of the first ever 'Ladybird Series' titles, from publishers Wills & Hepworth (later 'Ladybird') on 27th August, 1914. The books - 'Hans Andrersen's Fairy Tales' and 'Tiny Tots Travels' - didn't look at all like the classic Ladybird books we think of today - but were the beginning of a publishing legacy that changed children's books forever.In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explain how the classic Ladybird look - fashioned from one massive sheet of paper - was a response to World War Two; review how the publisher dealt with accusations of sexism and colour-blindness in the '70s; and explain the M.O.D.'s connection to one of the most valuable Ladybirds ever published…Thanks to Ladybird collector and historian Helen Day for helping us dig up this date from the archives! Discover more about Helen and her passion for Ladybird on her excellent website:https://ladybirdflyawayhome.com/so-whats-the-story-the-kitchen-table/Further Reading:• ‘Ladybird Books at 100: The series that inspired millions of children to read' (Daily Mirror, 2015): https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ladybird-books-100-series-inspired-5335319• ‘Ladybird Books: The strange things we learned' (BBC, 2015): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-30709937• ‘The Ladybird Books Story' (Little Car, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ED7o4mG0lMTo hear bonus material this and every week*, support the show NOW at Patreon.com/Retrospectors!(*top two tiers only)See you on TUESDAY (there's a bank holiday here in the UK) The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gen & Gath: Cerita Anak "Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016: The Blackberry Bush" Cerita yang dibacakan sebelum tidur bersama Genji, Gathan & Papa ini diambil dari Buku Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016, Ladybird Books. Text and illustration copyright Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2015. Adapted by Sue Nicholson. This book is based on the TV series Peppa Pig. Peppa Pig is created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Peppa Pig. Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2003. www.peppapig.com #GenGath #CeritaAnak #PeppaPig #FamilyPodcast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen & Gath. Sebuah podcast soal obrolan santai seorang Papa dengan kedua Anaknya yang pengen didengerin ulang pas anaknya umur 30 tahun nanti. Best friend at home. Let's count the memories, not calories! @SlametRaharjo

Gen & Gath: Cerita Anak "Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016" Cerita yang dibacakan sebelum tidur bersama Genji, Gathan & Papa ini diambil dari Buku Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016, Ladybird Books. Text and illustration copyright Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2015. Adapted by Sue Nicholson. This book is based on the TV series Peppa Pig. Peppa Pig is created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Peppa Pig. Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2003. www.peppapig.com #GenGath #CeritaAnak #PeppaPig #FamilyPodcast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen & Gath. Sebuah podcast soal obrolan santai seorang Papa dengan kedua Anaknya yang pengen didengerin ulang pas anaknya umur 30 tahun nanti. Best friend at home. Let's count the memories, not calories! @SlametRaharjo

Gen & Gath: Cerita Anak "Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016: Digging up the road" Cerita yang dibacakan sebelum tidur bersama Genji, Gathan & Papa ini diambil dari Buku Peppa Pig The Official Annual 2016, Ladybird Books. Text and illustration copyright Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2015. Adapted by Sue Nicholson. This book is based on the TV series Peppa Pig. Peppa Pig is created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Peppa Pig. Astley Baker Davies Ltd./Entertainment One UK Ltd. 2003. www.peppapig.com #GenGath #CeritaAnak #PeppaPig #FamilyPodcast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen & Gath. Sebuah podcast soal obrolan santai seorang Papa dengan kedua Anaknya yang pengen didengerin ulang pas anaknya umur 30 tahun nanti. Best friend at home. Let's count the memories, not calories! @SlametRaharjo

Helen Day who runs the website Ladybird Fly Away Home, dedicated to vintage Ladybird Books, talks to me about the history of the company, the artists involved, the topics covered, the most popular series and much more.  You can find Helen's website at http://www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com or find her facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/121640071180835 . You can follow her on Twitter at @LBFlyawayhome.  Details about the exhibition - The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Artists: https://ladybirdflyawayhome.com/the-ladybird-artists-exhibition/  Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast Like my facebook page www.facebook.com/hiddenwingsandbloodlust Follow me on twitter @HWABpodcast Follow me on instagram @365.ladybird Music by Debra Torrance.   

Find out about the ladybird behind Ladybird Books - the 11-spot ladybird. With a promo for CritterCast podcast. Also please check out Ryan Dalton's Into the Wild :)  Correction: The two white dots are on the ladybird's head not the pronotum.  Sources:  Spotlight Ladybirds by Richard Comont Helen Roy et al - Field Guide to the Ladybirds of Great Britain and Ireland  https://nzacfactsheets.landcareresearch.co.nz/factsheet/InterestingInsects/Eleven-spotted-ladybird---Coccinella-undecimpunctata.html  https://influentialpoints.com/biocontrol/Coccinella_undecimpunctata_eleven-spot_ladybird.htm https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03235400903024712  https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1058.8087&rep=rep1&type=pdf  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio-Soares-22/publication/234035763_Intraguild_predation_between_the_aphidophagous_ladybird_beetles_Harmonia_axyridis_and_Coccinella_undecimpunctata_Coleoptera_Coccinellidae_The_role_of_body_weight/links/58c6731d92851c0ccbff533f/Intraguild-predation-between-the-aphidophagous-ladybird-beetles-Harmonia-axyridis-and-Coccinella-undecimpunctata-Coleoptera-Coccinellidae-The-role-of-body-weight.pdf Follow Ryan Dalton's podcast at @IntoTheWildPod Follow CritterCast at @CastCritter or https://crittercast.blubrry.com :)  Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://www.ko-fi.com/hwabpodcast  Like my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hiddenwingsandbloodlust Follow me on twitter @hwabpodcast or on instagram @365.ladybird  Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.  Music is by Debra Torrance :) 

In this week's show we answer three questions from Matilda & Tabitha, Cleo and Magnus with help from special guest expert the picture book writer and illustrator Kim Hillyard. Kim has written two picture books, one about a brave and strong fly called Mabel who decides to climb a mountain and the other about a hamster called Ned, which is a story about kindness. Kim tells us about hamsters and their different kinds of poo and why they eat one kind usually at night! We have a competition to win a copy of Mabel and the Mountain and Ned: The Great Garden Race: a story about kindness. So listen to the podcast to find out how to enter! Our next question is from Cleo in Australia, we find out why poo is stinky, as well as how to make it LESS stinky by eating healthy food and doing exercise. Finally we find out how to turn poo into power! We talk about dairy farms that use manure to make biogas which is then turned into electricity to power local towns as well as how to use dehydrated poo to make power. Very useful! Have a lovely week everyone and thank you for listening, sending in questions and sharing the podcast with all your friends! Social media:Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpodTwitter: @everythingutsFacebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfieldWebsite: www.everythingunderthesun.co.ukFind out how to submit an answer on our website.More about Kim's books: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/139794/kim-hillyard.htmlMolly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World's Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home. This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House. With thanks to Ash Gardner, Tyler Simmons Dale, Ladybird Books, Audio Networks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Original Air Date: 3-10-20

EPISODE NOTES In this episode, Claire talks with Sue Atkins: a parenting expert, author, speaker, coach and broadcaster. Sue previously worked as a teacher and deputy headteacher for over twenty years; however, a period of reflection and re-evaluation whilst walking her dogs lead Sue on to a different path to becoming an author, parental coach and broadcaster. Sue is passionate about supporting, nurturing and helping parents to raise happy, confident and resilient children. As a practitioner and trainer in ‘Neuro-Linguistic Programming’ (NLP) she offers friendly advice that has resulted in the publication of her books ‘Raising Happy Children for Dummies’ and ‘Parenting Made Easy: How to Raise Happy Children’. Sue makes regular appearances on TV and radio to offer her advice and support: ‘This Morning’ and ‘BBC Radio’ to name but a few. She is also Disney’s parenting expert for their Facebook ‘lives’, Ladybird Books’ parenting expert, a counsellor for India’s Parents World magazine, and has established an online Parenting Club.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The importance of parental engagement. There is a lot of crossover between working with children, developing their confidence and resilience, and then working with their parents. Being there to greet children in a morning and chat with the parents, as well as sharing positive feedback at the end of the school day, are effective ways to build a rapport with parents. Time and effort must be spent on aiming to reach out to all parents. There will be parents who value education and they will be the ones who usually engage and become involved in the various events that schools organise. But we must also encourage the parents who, perhaps, had negative experiences at school and think of ways to reach out to those groups. Encouraging resilience. Sue discusses her principles of resilience and how these are important to develop in children to help them feel independent and autonomous. She outlines the importance of a child feeling connected to their family, their school and their community, and also to feeling that they matter and are important and significant. Sue talks about developing children’s understanding that it’s fine to try new things, maybe fail and make mistakes, and how this aspect of being courageous is an important attitude to encourage. Have a vote of confidence in our youngest children. Raising confident and resilient children starts, from a parenting point of view, right at the beginning. A positive mindset, attitude and habits start in the early years. Adults must empower young children to feel capable and confident. We must give children opportunities to find some things difficult rather than be too quick to step in and help as this encourages them to stick with challenging experiences and develop those skills. Adults need to empower young people and children with more independence earlier on. BEST MOMENTS “With good parental relationships, we are breaking down barriers and building bridges, not walls, between parents and children so that we all nurture them and give them the best start we can in life.” “Don’t always rush to rescue a child. Help them sometimes stick with something... We can help children by leaving them to struggle a little bit. Don’t leave them there struggling for ages - that demoralises them - but allow them to feel capable and confident. That builds their self-confidence and builds their self-esteem.” “He couldn’t make that connection [transitioning to Year 7]. He couldn’t get used to the changes; he couldn’t make good friends… That always sat in my mind as a surprise – there was this very self-confident young man in his primary school who struggled to belong, to connect, to feel he was part of the new school for a little while so that triggered something in me to make sure all children should be nurtured, just as good practice. I’m very keen on seeing primaries and secondaries talking a bit more.” “Parents and teachers think [children] are worried about certain things but sometimes it’s actually worth listening to what the children themselves say… what their anxieties or worries are. We mustn’t presume.” “It’s looking at the lines of communication… small ways to make big differences that will make sure that parents, teachers and kids are connected and communicating effectively.” “[Building and maintaining resilience is important] to help a young person feel connected, that they belong, that they’re important, they count, they’re significant, you see them, you hear them, you’re listening to them.” “I think you have to make peace with the fact that you never get it all right. You never juggle it so that everything is in balance all the time… don’t let time dominate you.” “As a former teacher and deputy head, I’ve got many, many friends who are still teaching and I just watch them in awe... Teachers are absolutely outstanding and need a real pat on the back and a medal. They are doing their very, very best.” “If you follow your passion, believe in yourself, and keep doing small things regularly every day, it’s amazing where you can turn out and where you can go and you just take your life into a different direction. We’ve got to adapt, we’ve got to be flexible, but we’ve got to realise what’s important to us and then take off from there.”   VALUABLE RESOURCES Website: https://sueatkinsparentingcoach.com/ Sue Atkins – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sueatkinstheparentingexpert Sue Atkins - Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00DVOOXAK Sue Atkins – Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sueatkins Sue Atkins – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sueatkins18 Sue Atkins – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sueatkins Sue Atkins - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/thesueatkins Classroom Secrets Kids: https://kids.classroomsecrets.co.uk The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast/ Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/ Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/ LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019/   ABOUT THE HOST 'My mother is a teacher. I will never be a teacher.' - Claire Riley Claire arrived at the end of her performing arts degree with no firm plans to move into the entertainment industry. A fully funded secondary teaching course seemed like the perfect way to stall for a year on deciding what to do with her life. Turns out, teaching was her thing.  Three years in a challenging secondary school - check. Two years in primary schools with over 90% EAL children - check. Eight years doing day-to-day supply across 4-18 - check. If there's one thing she learnt, it was how to identity the best ideas from every school in terms of resources and use that knowledge to create something that would work for teachers far and wide. In 2013, Classroom Secrets was born. Claire had seen other resource sites and wanted to add something to the market that she felt was missing. More choice + More quality = Balance. Claire is a self-proclaimed personal development junkie and is always looking for ways to learn and improve. It's usually centred around business, her new-found passion. In 2019, Claire launched The Teachers' Podcast that hits the charts on launch and is listed in the top 200 educational podcasts most weeks. The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A magical story about a little unicorns adventure before bedtime.

We will be discussing Masters of the Universe Origins art reveals, Power Con 2020 Exclusive reveals, the story "Skeletor's Ice Attack", and more!  http://FansOfPower.com

Peppa and her friend Rebecca Rabbit

Peppa Pig and George love their Mummy so much

Peppa and her friends have a jolly adventure, dressed up as pirates!

In this episode, Professor Victoria Martin from the University of Edinburgh shares work with CERN and how she came to work in such a collaborative environment. Book/article recommendation: Ladybird Books on Mathematics and astronomy, CERN Collider magazine and IOPs Physics World magazine University Website: https://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/victoria-martin Social media links: https://twitter.com/IntoDelving https://www.instagram.com/delvingintoacademics https://www.facebook.com/delvingintoacademics/?modal=admin_todo_tour

It's just another day in the life of the Scummy Mummies as we try to describe our vagina catsuits to Bake-Off winner Nadiya Hussain! She tells us what her kids think of celebrity lifestyle, and what it was like to bake a birthday cake for the Queen. We find out how many fish fingers she can eat in a row, and Nadiya shares some great life hacks for batch cooking, using up potato peelings and making mushy peas more exciting. We find out a way to hack pickled eggs that will change your life. There's a bit of serious chat as we talk about how Nadiya copes with panic attacks. She shares what went on behind the scenes on the Bake-Off, and we hear all about her ace new recipe book, Time to Eat. It's out now! **SEE US LIVE** Come to our live comedy show! We will be in Edinburgh for THE WHOLE FESTIVAL! 1-25 August at the Blue Room, Assembly Rooms, 7.50pm. Buy your tickets now! We are also on our way to Harlow, Sevenoaks, Stamford, Nunhead, Brighton, Didcot, Nottingham, Leatherhead, Hertford, Lancaster, Norwich, Lincoln, and more... To buy tickets, and for more dates, visit ScummyMummies.com. We're on Twitter (@scummymummies), Instagram, and Facebook. Please send your confessions to scummymummiespodcast@gmail.com and visit us at ScummyMummies.com. If you like the podcast, please rate, review and subscribe! The Scummy Mummies book is OUT NOW! We hope you like it, and if you do, we'd love an Amazon review!Thank you to Ladybird Books for sponsoring this podcast. For your chance to win their new audiobooks plus a Sonos One, go to www.penguin.co.uk/audioadventuresThank you for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Uncover the stories of the artists behind classic Ladybirds Books children's readers like 'Peter and Jane', and find out how the First and Second World Wars influenced the development of the publishing house. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-artists-of-classic-ladybird-books

We have our first history question this week! Answered by top historian, Dan Snow. It comes from Ethan who would like to know how many men were in a Roman army? Dan Snow tells us the answer, which is more complicated than you'd think! Dan tells us about some different battles and how many men took part. Discover how local men were recruited and how many more men there were than in the Roman army today. Our next question is about cats! And it comes from Alice, she would like to know why cats purr? We all know cats purr when they're content but how about other reasons? You'll find out all the ways cats communicate and how listening to cats purr can be great for humans, as well as for the overall health of cats. Next up is Faye who lives in Switzerland, she asks us in France and English why stars shine in the sky? To help answer the question we have Doug from the Science Museum in London. You'll also find out why stars twinkle and how come they don't twinkle if you see them from outer space. A huge thank you Dan Snow and Doug at the Science Museum for telling us about Roman armies and stars! Huge thanks also to Ethan, Faye and Alice and for this week's questions! I'll be back next week answering more questions from children around the world in another episode of Everything Under The Sun. Do send in your questions for the show and the Everything Under the Sun BOOK I'm writing for Ladybird Books, which will be a beautifully illustrated book for Christmas 2020. If you send in your questions soon they might make it into the book, which would be so exciting! Just ask an adult to record you using their smartphone and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk There's info about how to do that on the show's website, everythingunderthesun.co.uk. They can be questions about anything and everything under and even above the sun! If you like the show please do rate, review and subscribe and tell all your friends to do the same, it really does help! Remember to vote for Everything Under The Sun in the British Podcast Awards by going to britishpodcastawards.com/vote and type in the first few letters of Everything Under The Sun and it'll come up. Thank you very much everyone! Dan Snow on twitter: @thehistoryguy The Science Museum: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ My social media: Twitter: @mollyoldfieldInstagram: @mollyoldfieldwritesFacebook: Molly OldfieldWebsite: www.mollyoldfield.comAnd www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Have a lovely week! Thank you and goodbye! X See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ladybird book series for Grownups : I’ll be reading books from The Ladybird Books for Grownups

The team behind the Ladybird Books for Grown Ups, Joel Morris & Jason Hazeley, join Janina to discuss the art in the Ladybird books, nostalgic art, and Biblical plague.Episode CreditsProducer - Natt TapleyAudio - Pete Dennis--------Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ArtDetectiveInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/DrJaninaRamirez/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtDetectivePodTwitter: https://twitter.com/DrJaninaRamirez Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJaninaRamirezFacebook Group (Patreon Backers Only): https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtDetective/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Rabbit Welcome to 2018! This is the start of the second year for the podcast! As a recap from last year we put out 44 episodes. Almost an episode a week. We had two interviews. One with a Japanese exchange student (Yudai Tanabe), and one with Susie at Laughing Orange Studios. We covered about 23 different rabbit breeds, and three hares, so it looks like every other episode is about a breed. My favorite three episodes from last year were the Space rabbit episode, the Jack-a-lope, and Halloween Rabbits. What was your favorite episode? Post in the comments for the show! I would like to thank those that purchased through Amazon to support the show. It looks like Amazon is not seeing enough activity, and is threatening to shut down the account.  "We are reaching out to you because we have not seen qualified sales activity on your account." Remember it does not cost anything extra to use the link on the hareoftherabbit.com website.  I appreciate the support! Today we are going to check out Peter Rabbit! Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by Beatrix Potter. He first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902 and subsequently in five more books between 1904 and 1912. Spinoff merchandise includes dishes, wallpaper, and dolls. He appears as a character in a number of adaptations. This weeks item is A Peter Rabbit Book! The rabbits in Potter's stories are anthropomorphic and wear human clothes: Peter wears a jacket and shoes. Peter, his widowed mother, Mrs. Josephine Rabbit, as well as his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail live in a rabbit hole that has a human kitchen, human furniture, as well as a shop where Josephine sells various items. Peter's relatives are Cousin Benjamin Bunny and Benjamin's father Mr. Bouncer Bunny. Helen Beatrix Potter, known as Beatrix, was born on 28 July 1866 to Rupert and Helen Potter in Kensington, London, and she is one of the most beloved children's authors of all time. She was the daughter of Rupert and Helen Potter, both of whom had artistic interests. Her father trained as a lawyer, but he never actually practiced. Instead he devoted himself to photography and art. Her mother Helen was skilled at embroidery and watercolors. Beatrix got to know several influential artists and writers through her parents, including painter John Everett Millais. Her younger brother Walter Bertram was born six years after her birth. Both Beatrix and Bertram loved to draw and paint, and often made sketches of their many pets, including rabbits, mice, frogs, lizards, snakes and a bat. Beatrix was always encouraged to draw, and she spent many hours making intricate sketches of animals and plants, revealing an early fascination for the natural world that would continue throughout her life. Although she never went to school, Beatrix was an intelligent and industrious student, and her parents employed an art teacher, Miss Cameron, and a number of governesses, including Annie Moore, to whom she remained close throughout her life. Two of Beatrix’s earliest artist models were her pet rabbits. Her first rabbit was Benjamin Bouncer, who enjoyed buttered toast and joined the Potter family on holiday in Scotland where he went for walks on a lead. Benjamin was followed by Peter Piper, who had a talent for performing tricks, and he accompanied Beatrix everywhere. The most exciting time of the year for Beatrix was the summer, when the family traveled north to spend three months in Scotland. The children had the freedom to explore the countryside, and Beatrix learned to observe plants and insects with an artist’s eye for detail. When Beatrix was sixteen, the family stayed instead at Wray Castle, overlooking Lake Windermere, where Beatrix began a lifelong love of the countryside and of the Lake District. Botanist, Artist and Storyteller Beatrix was invited to study fungi at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, and she produced hundreds of detailed botanical drawings and investigated their cultivation and growth. Encouraged by Charles McIntosh, a revered Scottish naturalist, to make her fungi drawings more technically accurate, Beatrix not only produced beautiful watercolors but also became an adept scientific illustrator. By 1896, she had developed her own theory of how fungi spores reproduced and wrote a paper, ‘On the Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae’, which was initially rejected by William Thiselton-Dyer, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens. Undeterred, Beatrix continued her research, and after a year George Massee, a fungi expert who worked at the Kew gardens, agreed to present her paper to the Linnean Society of London, as women at that time were not permitted to do so. Although the paper was never published, scientists still recognize her contribution to mycological research today. Long before she was a published author, Beatrix Potter drew illustrations for some of her favorite stories, including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Cinderella, as well as her sketches from nature. Her imaginative art led to the publication of her earliest works – greeting-card designs and illustrations for the publisher Hildesheimer & Faulkner. There followed more publications, including a series of frog illustrations and verses for Changing Pictures, a popular annual offered by the art publisher Ernest Nister, which cemented Beatrix’s desire to publish her own illustrated stories. Potter first tasted success as an illustrator, selling some of her work to be used for greeting cards. The story was inspired by a pet rabbit Potter had as a child, which she named Peter Piper. Yes, there was a real Peter Rabbit. He was a Belgian buck rabbit named Peter Piper. He was actually the second rabbit that Potter kept as a pet—the first was Benjamin Bouncer, who was the inspiration for Benjamin Bunny. They were part of a menagerie of animals that Potter and her brother adopted as children, which also included birds, lizards, mice, snakes, snails, guinea pigs, bats, dogs, cats, and even hedgehogs. Potter was especially fond of Peter Piper, and would take him on walks on a leash. She later described in a letter how he liked to lie in front of the fire “like a cat. He was clever at learning tricks, he used to jump through a hoop, and ring a bell, and play the tambourine.” In one of her personal editions of Peter Rabbit, Potter wrote an inscription dedicated to “poor old Peter Rabbit, who died on the 26th of January 1901. … An affectionate companion and a quiet friend.” Through the 1890s, Potter sent illustrated story letters to the children of her former governess, Annie Moore. The first Peter Rabbit story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was originally created in 1893, when Potter was 26 years of age, sent a letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of Potter's former governess, Annie Moore. The boy was ill and Potter wrote him a picture and story letter to help him pass the time and to cheer him up. The letter included sketches illustrating the narrative. Transcript Eastwood Dunkeld Sep 4th 93 My dear Noel, I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were – Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter. They lived with their mother in a sand bank under the root of a big fir tree. "Now my dears," said old Mrs Bunny "you may go into the field or down the lane, but don't go into Mr McGregor's garden." Flopsy, Mopsy & Cottontail, who were good little rabbits went down the lane to gather blackberries, but Peter, who was very naughty ran straight away to Mr McGregor's garden and squeezed underneath the gate. First he ate some lettuce, and some broad beans, then some radishes, and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley; but round the end of a cucumber frame whom should he meet but Mr McGregor! Mr McGregor was planting out young cabbages but he jumped up & ran after Peter waving a rake & calling out "Stop thief"! Peter was most dreadfully frightened & rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate. He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages and the other shoe amongst the potatoes. After losing them he ran on four legs & went faster, so that I think he would have got away altogether, if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net and got caught fast by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new. Mr McGregor came up with a basket which he intended to pop on the top of Peter, but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind, and this time he found the gate, slipped underneath and ran home safely. Mr McGregor hung up the little jacket & shoes for a scarecrow, to frighten the blackbirds. Peter was ill during the evening, in consequence of overeating himself. His mother put him to bed and gave him a dose of camomile tea, but Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper. I am coming back to London next Thursday, so I hope I shall see you soon, and the new baby. I remain, dear Noel, yours affectionately Beatrix Potter After Potter sent the Moore children (including Noel's siblings Norah and Eric) two more illustrated letters, one about a squirrel named Nutkin and another about a frog named Jeremy Fisher, the children's mother, Annie, suggested she turn them into children’s books. In 1900, Moore, realizing the commercial potential of Potter's stories, suggested they be made into books. Potter embraced the suggestion, and, borrowing her complete correspondence (which had been carefully preserved by the Moore children), selected a letter written on 4 September 1893 to five-year-old Noel that featured a tale about a rabbit named Peter. Potter biographer Linda Lear explains: "The original letter was too short to make a proper book so [Potter] added some text and made new black-and-white illustrations...and made it more suspenseful. These changes slowed the narrative down, added intrigue, and gave a greater sense of the passage of time. Then she copied it out into a stiff-covered exercise book, and painted a colored frontispiece showing Mrs Rabbit dosing Peter with camomile tea". Potter’s beautiful illustrations came from her interest in the natural world. As a child, she would draw and sketch animals around her with a sharp, observing eye. She could be quite ruthless about it, in fact. When a pet died, she would skin and boil its body so she could use the skeleton for anatomical sketches. She studied the plant world as well, producing over 300 paintings of mushrooms by 1901. (Her study of mushrooms led Potter to submit a paper on spore reproduction to the Linnean Society of London. But it had to be read by botanist George Massee because women weren't allowed at the meetings.) All this practice and close observation led to her elegant style, where animals look real even though they’re wearing top hats and petticoats. As Lear explains, Potter titled The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden and sent it to publishers, but "her manuscript was returned ... including Frederick Warne & Co. ... who nearly a decade earlier had shown some interest in her artwork. Some publishers wanted a shorter book, others a longer one. But most wanted colored illustrations which by 1900 were both popular and affordable". The several rejections were frustrating to Potter, who knew exactly how her book should look (she had adopted the format and style of Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo) "and how much it should cost". She decided to publish the book herself, and on 16 December 1901 the first 250 copies of her privately printed The Tale of Peter Rabbit were "ready for distribution to family and friends". So Potter reworked Peter Rabbit, doubling its length and adding 25 new illustrations. Six publishers rejected the story, in part because they didn’t agree with Potter’s vision for the work. She wanted the book to be small for children’s hands, and the publishers wanted it to be bigger, and therefore more expensive. Potter refused, explaining that she would rather make two or three books costing 1 shilling each than one big book because “little rabbits cannot afford to spend 6 shillings on one book, and would never buy it.” In December 1901, she self-published Peter Rabbit. The 200 copies sold out in a few months and she ordered a reprint. Meanwhile, Potter continued to distribute her privately printed edition to family and friends, with the celebrated creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, acquiring a copy for his children. When the first private printing of 250 copies was sold out, another 200 were prepared. She noted in an inscription in one copy that her beloved pet rabbit Peter had died. To help Peter Rabbit get published, a friend rewrote it as a poem. While Potter was self-publishing, Canon Rawnsley, a family friend, rewrote the story in rhyming couplets in an attempt to get publishers interested again. His version began: “There were four little bunnies/ no bunnies were sweeter/ Mopsy and Cotton-tail,/ Flopsy and Peter.'' Rawnsley submitted his text with Potter’s illustrations to the publishers Frederick Warne & Co. They agreed to publish the book, but with one stipulation—they wanted to use Potter’s simpler language. In 1901, as Lear explains, a Potter family friend and sometime poet, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, set Potter's tale into "rather dreadful didactic verse and submitted it, along with Potter's illustrations and half her revised manuscript, to Frederick Warne & Co.," who had been among the original rejecters. Warne editors declined Rawnsley's version "but asked to see the complete Potter manuscript" – Warne wanted color illustrations throughout the "bunny book" (as the firm referred to the tale) and suggested cutting the illustrations "from forty-two to thirty-two ... and marked which ones might best be eliminated". Potter initially resisted the idea of color illustrations, but then realized her stubborn stance was a mistake. She sent Warne "several color illustrations, along with a copy of her privately printed edition" which Warne then handed to their eminent children's book illustrator L. Leslie Brooke for his professional opinion. Brooke was impressed with Potter's work. Fortuitously, his recommendation coincided with a sudden surge in the small picture-book market. Their interest stimulated by the opportunity The Tale of Peter Rabbit offered the publisher to compete with the success of Helen Bannerman's wildly popular Little Black Sambo and other small-format children's books then on the market. When Warne inquired about the lack of colour illustrations in the book, Potter replied that rabbit-brown and green were not good subjects for coloration. Potter arrived at an agreement with Warne for an initial commercial publication of 5,000 copies. Negotiations dragged on into the following year, but a contract was finally signed in June 1902. Potter was closely involved in the publication of the commercial edition – redrawing where necessary, making minor adjustments to the prose and correcting punctuation. The blocks for the illustrations and text were sent to printer Edmund Evans for engraving, and she made adjustments to the proofs when she received them. Lear writes that "Even before the publication of the tale in early October 1902, the first 8,000 copies were sold out. By the year's end there were 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in print. By the middle of 1903 there was a fifth edition sporting colored end-papers ... a sixth printing was produced within the month"; and a year after the first commercial publication there were 56,470 copies in print. Over the years, The Tale of Peter Rabbit has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and as of 2008, the Peter Rabbit series has sold more than 151 million copies in 35 languages. Peter Rabbit made his first appearance in 1902 in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The story focuses on a family of anthropomorphic rabbits. The widowed mother rabbit cautions her young against entering the vegetable garden of a man named Mr. McGregor, telling them: "your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor". Her three daughters obediently refrain from entering the garden, going down the lane to pick blackberries, but her rebellious son Peter enters the garden to snack on some vegetables. Peter ends up eating more than is good for him and goes looking for parsley to cure his stomach ache. Peter is spotted by Mr. McGregor and loses his jacket and shoes while trying to escape. He hides in a watering can in a shed, but then has to run away again when Mr. McGregor finds him, and ends up completely lost. After sneaking past a cat, Peter sees the gate where he entered the garden from a distance and heads for it, despite being spotted and chased by Mr. McGregor again. With difficulty he wriggles under the gate, and escapes from the garden, but he spots his abandoned clothing being used to dress Mr. McGregor's scarecrow. After returning home, a sick Peter is sent to bed by his mother, while his well-behaved sisters receive a sumptuous dinner of milk and berries as opposed to Peter's supper of chamomile tea. In The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, first published in 1904, Peter's cousin Benjamin Bunny brings him back to Mr. McGregor's garden and they retrieve the clothes Peter lost in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. But after they gather onions to give to Josephine, they are captured by Mr. McGregor's cat. Bouncer arrives and rescues them, but also reprimands Peter and Benjamin for going into the garden by whipping them with a switch. In this tale, Peter displays some trepidation about returning to the garden. In The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies, first published in 1909, Peter has a small role and appears only briefly. He is grown up and his sister Flopsy is now married to their cousin Benjamin. The two are the parents of six little Flopsy Bunnies. Peter and Josephine keep a nursery garden[a] and the bunnies come by asking him for spare cabbage. In The Tale of Mr. Tod, first published in 1912, Benjamin and Flopsy's children are kidnapped by notorious badger Tommy Brock. Peter helps Benjamin chase after Brock, who hides out in the house of the fox, Mr. Tod. Mr. Tod finds Brock sleeping in his bed and as the two get into a scuffle, Peter and Benjamin rescue the children. Peter makes cameo appearances in two other tales. In The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, first published in 1905, Peter and Benjamin are customers of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a hedgehog washerwoman. The two rabbits are depicted in one illustration peeping from the forest foliage. In The Tale of Ginger and Pickles, first published in 1909, Peter and other characters from Potter's previous stories make cameo appearances in the artwork, patronising the shop of Ginger and Pickles. To mark the 110th anniversary of the publication of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Frederick Warne & Co. commissioned British actress Emma Thompson to write The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit, in which Peter ends up in Scotland after accidentally hitching a ride on Mr. and Mrs. McGregor's wagon. The book was released on 18 September 2012. In autumn 2012, it was reported that Thompson would write more Peter Rabbit books. Her next tale, The Christmas Tale Of Peter Rabbit, was released in 2013, followed by The Spectacular Tale Of Peter Rabbit in 2014. “Once upon a time there was a serious, well-behaved young black cat, it belonged to a kind old lady who assured me that no other cat could compare with Kitty.” Thus begins the newly discovered children’s story by renowned British author Beatrix Potter. In 2016, Beatrix Potter fans received welcome news. A previously unpublished story, The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots, would be making its way to bookstore shelves that fall. An unedited manuscript for the work had been discovered by children's book editor Jo Hanks. Potter had only done one illustration for the book so Quentin Blake created the images to accompany this tale. Peter is said to be in the newly rediscovered book, The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots. According to the publisher, Peter is now older, “full-of-himself” and has “transformed into a rather portly buck rabbit." Now, Penguin Random House has announced the story, which was written over a century ago, will be published in September, 2016, in conjunction with celebrations being planned to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of Potter’s birth. ‘The Tale of Kitty-In-Boots’ tells the story of a cat who’s leading a double life. Jo Hanks, a publisher with Penguin Random House, discovered the 1914 manuscript two years ago after he came across a mention of it in an obscure literary history of Potter which sent him to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and knee-deep into the Potter archives. It appears the author was intending to publish the story; she had written and revised it twice, and after rewriting it for a third time she had it typeset. The author had even begun the process of laying out a proof dummy. The only thing left were the illustrations. Then life interrupted her; World War I started, a new marriage and a new farming business among her distractions. Whatever the reason, she never completed the manuscript, which has been described as possibly her best work – filled with humor, rebellious characters and even a couple of intriguing villains. Some old favorites also make an appearance; Peter Rabbit of course, although older, and everyone’s favorite hedgehog: Mrs Tiggywinkle. The author had completed just one drawing to accompany the story, so Quentin Blake, who provided the illustrations for Roald Dahl’s books, has been selected to complete the illustrations for The Tale of Kitty-In-Boots. Merchandising Peter Rabbit was the first character to be fully merchandised, and it was Beatrix Potter’s idea. In 1903, seeing the popularity of Peter Rabbit, she began to sew a doll version for Warne’s niece, writing, “'I am cutting out calico patterns of Peter, I have not got it right yet, but the expression is going to be lovely; especially the whiskers—(pulled out of a brush!)” She patented the doll, making Peter Rabbit the oldest licensed character. Potter was one of the first to be responsible for such merchandise when she patented a Peter Rabbit doll in 1903 and followed it almost immediately with a Peter Rabbit board game. She also invented a Peter Rabbit board game for two players in 1904, a complex version of which was redesigned by Mary Warne and came to market thirteen years later. In addition to toys and games, Beatrix published books, including Peter Rabbit’s Almanac and painting books for Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-duck. She felt passionately that all merchandise should remain faithful to her original book illustrations and be of the highest quality. The merchandising helped make Peter Rabbit into a popular icon and turned The World of Beatrix Potter into one of the biggest literature-based licensing organizations of its day. The character has been depicted in a multitude of spinoff merchandise such as porcelain figurines and dishes. Peter Rabbit had also appeared on the packaging of the infant formula Enfamil. Frederick Warne & Co owns the trademark rights of the Beatrix Potter characters. However, most of the stories are in the US public domain, as they were published before 1923. American copyright Warne's New York office "failed to register the copyright for The Tale of Peter Rabbit in the United States", and unlicensed copies of the book "(from which Potter would receive no royalties) began to appear in the spring of 1903. There was nothing anyone could do to stop them". To her dismay, the firm failed to register copyright in the United States, leading to piracies and loss of revenue. Although she helped save the company in 1917, after embezzlement by another Warne brother nearly bankrupted it, she scolded them on quality, condemning a copy of Peter Rabbit’s Almanac for 1929 as “wretched.” She wrote sharply, “It is impossible to explain balance & style to people, if they don’t see it themselves.” While she enthusiastically crafted her own unique merchandise prototypes — including an extraordinarily soulful Peter Rabbit doll — she could have had no idea of the extent of commodification to come. The enormous financial loss ... [to Potter] only became evident over time", but the necessity of protecting her intellectual property hit home after the successful 1903 publication of The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin when her father returned from Burlington Arcade in Mayfair at Christmas 1903 with a toy squirrel labelled "Nutkin". Potter asserted that her tales would one day be nursery classics, and part of the "longevity of her books comes from strategy", writes Potter biographer Ruth MacDonald. She was the first to exploit the commercial possibilities of her characters and tales; between 1903 and 1905 these included a Peter Rabbit stuffed toy, an unpublished board game, and nursery wallpaper. Considerable variations to the original format and version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, as well as spin-off merchandise, have been made available over the decades. Variant versions include "pop-ups, toy theaters, and lift-the-flap books". By 1998, modern technology had made available "videos, audio cassette, a CD-ROMs, a computer program, and Internet sites", as described by Margaret Mackey writing in The case of Peter Rabbit: changing conditions of literature for children. She continues: "Warne and their collaborators and competitors have produced a large collection of activity books and a monthly educational magazine". A plethora of other Peter Rabbit related merchandise exists, and "toy shops in the United States and Britain have whole sections of [the] store specially signposted and earmarked exclusively for Potter-related toys and merchandise". Unauthorized copying of The Tale of Peter Rabbit has flourished over the decades, including products only loosely associated with the original. In 1916, American Louise A. Field cashed in on the popularity by writing books such as Peter Rabbit Goes to School and Peter Rabbit and His Ma, the illustrations of which showed him in his distinctive blue jacket. In an animated movie by Golden Films, The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit, "Peter is given buck teeth, an American accent and a fourth sister Hopsy." Another video "retelling of the tale casts Peter as a Christian preacher singing songs about God and Jesus." The Peter Rabbit (rather than other Beatrix Potter characters) stories and merchandise are very popular in Japan: many Japanese visit the Lake District after becoming familiar with Potter's work at an early age at school. There is an accurate replica of Potter's house and a theme park in Japan, and a series of Mr McGregor's gardens in one of the largest banks. Merchandisers in Japan estimate that 80% of the population have heard of Peter Rabbit. In 2016, Peter Rabbit and other Potter characters appeared on a small number of collectors' 50p UK coins. Movie Adaptations In 1938, shortly after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney became interested in making an animated film based on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter refused. Some accounts say this was because she wanted to remain in control of the rights to her work. Others suggest that she didn’t think her drawings were good enough for large-scale animation, which she thought would reveal all their imperfections. However, most likely Beatrix Potter refused to give the rights to Disney because of marketing issues. In 1935, the story was loosely adapted in the Merrie Melodies short film, Country Boy. It shows some modifications in relation to Beatrix Potter's original story, most notably the Rabbit family surname is changed to "Cottontail" and Peter having two brothers and a sister rather than 3 sisters. In 1971, Peter Rabbit appeared as a character in the ballet film The Tales of Beatrix Potter. In late 1991, HBO aired an animated musical adaptation of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, narrated by Carol Burnett, as part of the network's Storybook Musicals series, which was later released to VHS by Family Home Entertainment under HBO license. Several of the stories featuring Peter Rabbit were also animated for the 1992 BBC anthology series, The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends and two edutainment titles published by Mindscape The Adventures of Peter Rabbit & Benjamin Bunny in 1995 and Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit's Math Garden in 1996. Both of which have since been released on VHS and DVD. In 2006, Peter Rabbit was heavily referenced in a biopic about Beatrix Potter entitled Miss Potter. In December 2012, a new CGI-animated children's TV series titled Peter Rabbit premiered on Nickelodeon, with a full series run beginning in February 2013. Peter was voiced by Colin DePaula throughout Season 1 and recanted by L. Parker Lucas for Season 2 in the US version. In the U.K. version he is voiced by Connor Fitzgerald. Also in 2012, Quantum Theater produced a new stage adaptation of the tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny. Written by Michael Whitmore the play toured the UK until 2015. More recently, John Patrick is adapting a number of Beatrix Potter's tales into an upcoming live-action/animated musical feature film for his brand-new film studio, called Storybook Studio. The film will be titled Beatrix Potter's The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends. One of the stories adapted for the film is The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Peter will be voiced by child actress Sienna Adams. John Patrick has released a preview clip of the film to YouTube. An animated/live-action adaptation, Peter Rabbit, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, is scheduled to be released on 9 February 2018. James Corden will voice Peter Rabbit and Rose Byrne will star in the live-action role of the lead female named Bea. Other cast members include Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki. Will Gluck is directing and producing the film and Zareh Nalbandian is also producing, while Lauren Abrahams is overseeing the project for Sony Pictures Animation. Peter Rabbit's feud with Mr. McGregor reaches new heights as both compete for the affections of a kind animal lover who lives next door. Cast Domhnall Gleeson as Mr. Thomas McGregor, a farmer and exterminator who seeks to be rid of Peter Rabbit and his mischievous acts. Rose Byrne as Bea, a kind animal lover who Thomas meets next door. Sam Neill as Old Farmer McGregor. The film is scheduled to be released on February 9, 2018. The Lake District When Peter Rabbit came out, Potter was 36 years old. She worked closely with her editor, Norman Warne, on it and several other books. The two became very close and in July 1905, Warne proposed marriage, even though Potter’s parents objected to his social position. They didn’t want their upper-class daughter to marry a man who worked in a “trade.” Still, Potter accepted his proposal. One month later, Warne fell sick and died of a blood disorder that was probably un-diagnosed leukemia. She bought Hill Top Farm in the Lake District that same year and there she wrote such books as The Tale of Tom Kitten (1907) and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers (1908). Beatrix loved the Lake District, and it became her solace after the death of her beloved Norman. Afterward, Potter remained unmarried for many years. Finally, in 1913, she married William Heelis, a lawyer. Her family objected to him, too. Income from her books enabled her to invest in farmland, including Hill Top Farm, which would become a feature in many of her tales. As she invested in the Lake District, she developed a relationship with William Heelis, a local solicitor who assisted her property dealings. William proposed to Beatrix in 1912, and they were married in London the following year. In 1913, Potter married local lawyer William Heelis. She only produced a few more books after tying the knot. Potter published The Fairy Caravan in 1926, but only in the United States. She thought the book was too autobiographical to be released in England. The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930) proved to be her final children's book. They lived together at Castle Cottage in their beloved Lake District until her death in 1943. Beatrix was a staunch supporter of the National Trust, having been impressed on meeting its founder Hardwicke Rawnsley from her first visit to the Lake District at sixteen. She followed its principles in preserving her buildings and farms in keeping with the rural culture of the area, and she saved many farms from developers. Instead of writing, Potter focused much of her attention on her farms and land preservation in the Lake District. She was a successful breeder of sheep and well regarded for her work to protect the beautiful countryside she adored. During her lifetime, Beatrix bought fifteen farms and took a very active part in caring for them. Dressed in clogs, shawl and an old tweed skirt, she helped with the hay-making, waded through mud to unblock drains, and searched the fells for lost sheep. Beatrix bred Herdwick sheep on her farms in the Lake District, and said she was at her happiest when she was with her farm animals. She won a number of prizes for her sheep at local shows, and became the first elected female President of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association in 1943. Legacy Beatrix died in 1943 Potter died on December 22, 1943, in Sawrey, England. In her will, she left much of her land holdings to the National Trust to protect it from development and to preserve it for future generations. leaving fifteen farms and over four thousand acres of land to the National Trust. In accordance with her wishes, Hill Top Farm was kept exactly as it had been when she lived in it, and receives thousands of visitors every year. Potter also left behind a mystery—she had written a journal in code. The code was finally cracked and the work published in 1966 as The Journal of Beatrix Potter. To this day, generation after generation are won over by her charming tales and illustrations. After Potter died in 1943 at the age of seventy-seven, Warne cast itself as the guardian of her legacy. But eventually the guardian began behaving badly, seeking to wring profits from its most famous long-eared property. In 1983, Warne was acquired by Penguin, itself owned by the international conglomerate Pearson, the largest book publisher in the world. Then, as scholar Margaret Mackey chronicles in The Case of Peter Rabbit: Changing Conditions of Literature for Children, Warne embarked on the expensive process of remaking printing plates for Potter’s books. While the new reproductions were a welcome improvement, Warne festooned them with what Mackey terms “aggressive” assertions of copyright, although Peter was already in the public domain. (In the UK, copyright protection lapsed but was then extended until 2013 when the European Union “harmonized” copyright law.) Warne seized on its “re-originated” illustrations to declare itself “owner of all rights, copyrights and trademarks in the Beatrix Potter character names and illustrations,” going so far as to attach a “tm” to the scampering Peter on the cover. Back in 1979, the publisher had sued a competitor, claiming trademark rights to eight images from Potter’s books that, it argued, were identified in the public mind with Warne alone. The case was settled out of court, but Viva R. Moffat, a legal scholar who teaches at the University of Denver, has called Warne’s claims (in a paper on “Mutant Copyrights”) a “stretch.” Warne has applied for trademarks in the US, and in the EU for every imaginable Peter Rabbit–related item that might feasibly be sold, from “books and texts in all media” to “toilet seat covers” and “meat extracts.” Moffat assails the practice of forcing trademarks to pinch-hit for lapsed copyright, while another legal expert, Jason Mazzone (who teaches intellectual property law at Brooklyn Law School), defines the placement of misleading warnings on public domain works as “copyfraud” in his book by the same name. Warne’s zealous pursuit of its rights has not deterred it from crass acts of its own. In 1987, the same year it published its painstakingly remade edition, the firm allowed Ladybird Books, a purveyor of cheap paperbacks owned by the parent company, Pearson, to market The Tale of Peter Rabbit with bowdlerized text, eliminating Potter’s dry wit, dispensing with the pie made of Peter’s father (Mrs. Rabbit instead explains that Mr. McGregor just “doesn’t like rabbits”), and replacing Potter’s illustrations with photos of stuffed animals. Warne was excoriated in The Times of London, which condemned the new edition as “Hamlet without the ghost, Othello without the handkerchief.” Undaunted, a few years later Warne took out an advertisement in The Bookseller — “Peter Rabbit Packs a Powerful Punch” — threatening those who wandered into its garden with “expensive legal action” One last question: why do so many Japanese tourists visit Potter's Lakeland cottage? According to the man from the Cumbrian tourist board interviewed on Radio 5 earlier this week, it is because Japanese children use her books to learn English. I love the idea of a nation mislearning another through such a distorting lens. To the people of Japan, I say this: your delightfully outré Edwardian syntax will do you no good in modern Britain, nor will your bizarre Potterian ideas about our dress codes and ethical views http://mentalfloss.com/article/75173/9-facts-about-peter-rabbit https://www.peterrabbit.com/about-beatrix-potter/ http://www.hbook.com/2013/05/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/peter-rabbit-and-the-tale-of-a-fierce-bad-publisher/ http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/04/tale-of-peter-rabbit.html https://www.biography.com/people/beatrix-potter-9445208 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/07/booksforchildrenandteenagers http://www.newhistorian.com/peter-rabbit-returns-for-potters-150th-birthday/5869/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rabbit_(film)   © Copyrighted

The Pod Couple kicks off the show with a snippet of a reading of The Zombie Apocalypse from Ladybird Books. What will it look like after the end of the world - Swipe Now Swipe for some good times.  The Pod Couple attended Shanon Sinn's Book Reading/Launch for ‘The Haunting of Vancouver Island' and PodGuy's 'OCDC' looms large causing him to focus in and question some spooky decorations. What Would Ya' Do? PodGal has a real life situation and needs some advice.   PodGuy follows up with a Halloween themed what would you do. The horror fans might like this, PodGal didn't. PodGal gets a real appreciation of the perils of going deep, deep undercover. She recalls the time that she was almost asphyxiated by a duvet, a big duvet – not the ‘lil one!.   After the reading of 'The Haunting of Vancouver Island' The Pod Couple A Ghost Walk at a Village by the Sea.  Going in they encounter deep, dark ditches and are feeling vulnerable and very unprepared.  PodGuy wraps with a final question to the listeners: What Movie Bar would you hang out at? Hosts: PodGuy and PodGal Twitter: @thepodcouple Periscope: @thepodcouple Email: thepodcouple@hotmail.com Facebook:  www.facebook.com/ThePodCouple Instagram: @thepodcouple Website: www.thepodcouple.ca  T-Shirts for Sale Patreon: Coming VERY soon! Books: Presidential 21 on Smashwords Have a great day - hope it just got a little bit better!  

In this lovingly illustrated evening, social and architectural historian and lover of postwar modernism John Grindrod (author of Concretopia) talks us through the dreams and the reality portrayed in the books over the decades. Social and cultural historian Helen Day documents the changing attitudes to gender race and class and Tim Dunn, transport historian, enthusiast and model village expert will discuss the social and design history revealed in the books From People At Work and Our Land In the Making and How It Works…to the changing reality around Peter and Jane. https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/ladybird-books/

This week Dave and Gunnar talk about partnerships: D&G + Nextgov, Red Hat + Microsoft, Marriott + Starwood, New Haven police + your stuff. Lauren strikes again: Young computer scientist shares her open source story Todoist now has the “repeat after completed” feature Gunnar Gets Keybase.io Invites, now what BadBIOS meets ad experience optimization: Beware of ads that use inaudible sound to link your phone, TV, tablet, and PC Nextgov’s article about our podcast episode about their article The cat sharing economy is for real: Clear Your Calendars—#UberKITTENS Are Back As heard in D&G 28: Old Chippewa Lake amusement park up for sale Yahoo! does password free signin New: How to Enable Amazon’s Two-Step Authentication Good news / bad news: Windows 10 has a Start menu.  Windows 10 Start menu displays ads. US proposal aims to regulate car privacy, make hacks illegal Erich’s TCO for OpenStack presentation from the Tokyo summit is now live New Haven PD very well-intentioned. (h/t uzoma) Marriott Buys Starwood (h/t uzoma) Shred your boarding pass: What’s in a Boarding Pass Barcode? A Lot See also (or not): ClearImage Free Online Barcode Reader / Decoder Shred your frequent flier card? American Airlines Jumps On Industry Bandwagon, Will Now Award Frequent Flier Miles Based On Ticket Price Product Releases! RHEL 7.2, including RHEL for Real Time, RHEL Server for ARM (Development Preview), and RHEL Atomic Host OpenShift 3.1 and Red Hat Atomic Enterprise Platform 3.1 Public Preview Red Hat Container Development Kit 2 Beta Red Hat Software Collections 2.1 and Developer Toolset 4 RHEV 3.6 Beta Microsoft ♥ Red Hat ♥ Microsoft .NET running on OpenShift 3! Red Hat CVE Database Revamp ISIS used PlayStation 4s to plan Paris. Or did they? Hack your meetings by taking all the action items Cutting Room Floor You Can Now Download The Soothing Sounds Of K-Mart The American Government’s Sears-for-Spying Payment Plan On what street did you lose your childlike sense of wonder? Nihilistic Password Security Questions Statue of Lenin Replaced with Darth Vader (with WiFi hotspot in head) Ladybird Books for Grownups Yamaha Designs a Robot That Can Ride Motorcycles China Unable To Recruit Hackers Fast Enough To Keep Up With Vulnerabilities In U.S. Security Systems Meanwhile in Scott McCarty’s kitchen… Please engage with our brand. BSODOTD Turn an ASCII diagram into something handwritten. War stories from the future Machine Gun + Elephant = War Machine We Give Thanks Our Inception friends at Nextgov The D&G Show Slack Clubhouse for the discussion topics!