Podcasts about Muslims

Some parts of America might be even more pagan than Christians think, and New York City is a great example of this. Today, the guys on CrossPolitic talk about the recent political victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Mamdani is a socialist Muslim who is the Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City this year. He wants to start government-run grocery stores, make bus rides fast and free, and raise the minimum wage to $30. Yikes. How did our country get here? In 2001, everyone would have been opposed to this. But now in 2025? We have forgotten the fire and smoke of the Twin Towers, our politicians want socialism, and our nation is flooded with idolatry. As Christians, what do we do next? Also, if you want your kids to thrive in this crazy world as godly men and women, you need to give them a solid, biblical education. This isn’t easy, but you’re not alone. We’ve decided to have our next conference on education so that you can prepare your kids to raise godly families, topple culture giants, and laugh at the darkness. Check out the Fight Laugh Feast Conference for this year at the link below! https://flfnetwork.com

Some parts of America might be even more pagan than Christians think, and New York City is a great example of this. Today, the guys on CrossPolitic talk about the recent political victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Mamdani is a socialist Muslim who is the Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City this year. He wants to start government-run grocery stores, make bus rides fast and free, and raise the minimum wage to $30. Yikes. How did our country get here? In 2001, everyone would have been opposed to this. But now in 2025? We have forgotten the fire and smoke of the Twin Towers, our politicians want socialism, and our nation is flooded with idolatry. As Christians, what do we do next? Also, if you want your kids to thrive in this crazy world as godly men and women, you need to give them a solid, biblical education. This isn’t easy, but you’re not alone. We’ve decided to have our next conference on education so that you can prepare your kids to raise godly families, topple culture giants, and laugh at the darkness. Check out the Fight Laugh Feast Conference for this year at the link below! https://flfnetwork.com

NYC might elect a Muslim, communist from Uganda as their next mayor. How is this possible? Because people want fast and free. We want something more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Full Text of ReadingsThursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 374The Saint of the day is Blessed Raymond LullBlessed Raymond Lull's Story Raymond worked all his life to promote the missions and died a missionary to North Africa. Raymond was born at Palma on the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea. He earned a position in the king's court there. One day a sermon inspired him to dedicate his life to working for the conversion of the Muslims in North Africa. He became a Secular Franciscan and founded a college where missionaries could learn the Arabic they would need in the missions. Retiring to solitude, he spent nine years as a hermit. During that time he wrote on all branches of knowledge, a work which earned him the title “Enlightened Doctor.” Raymond then made many trips through Europe to interest popes, kings, and princes in establishing special colleges to prepare future missionaries. He achieved his goal in 1311, when the Council of Vienne ordered the creation of chairs of Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldean at the universities of Bologna, Oxford, Paris, and Salamanca. At the age of 79, Raymond went to North Africa in 1314 to be a missionary himself. An angry crowd of Muslims stoned him in the city of Bougie. Genoese merchants took him back to Mallorca, where he died. Raymond was beatified in 1514 and his liturgical feast is celebrated on June 30. Reflection Raymond worked most of his life to help spread the gospel. Indifference on the part of some Christian leaders and opposition in North Africa did not turn him from his goal. Three hundred years later Raymond's work began to have an influence in the Americas. When the Spanish began to spread the gospel in the New World, they set up missionary colleges to aid the work. Saint Junípero Serra belonged to such a college. Click here for quotes from Catholic saints! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

With another packed news week at home and abroad, your co-pilots are here to steer you through the carnage with their usual dose of common sense.Allison thinks the PM's weak response to the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities is once again humiliating the UK on the world's stage, and that Keir Starmer is concerned more about the Muslim vote share than National Security.Meanwhile Liam wonders if Labour's is now deploying a ‘scorched earth' policy as they drop in the polls.Making a special trip in the rocket this week is Conservative Peer and lawyer, Baroness Cash, who shares her thoughts on Labour's Employment Rights Bill and the mythical non-existent worker it's claiming to help.Read Allison: ‘The mistreatment of Lucy Connolly in prison is deeply sinister' https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/24/the-mistreatment-of-lucy-connolly-in-prison-is-sinister/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |Read Liam: ‘Labour's 1970s employment rights bill could send Britain over the edge'https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/06/15/labour-1970s-employment-rights-bill-could-send-uk-over-edge/ |Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |For 30 days' free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most atheistic nations in the world are not all communist. They are all man worshippers and money worshippers. But how did they get that way? What are their roots? And why did they reject the Christian faith? Both North and South Korea made the list but for different reasons. Ideas, education, and books will make the difference and inform a nation's worldview. The most atheistic nation in the world is not China or North Korea. It's the Czech Republic. This program includes: 1. The World View in Five Minutes with Adam McManus (ICE arrested 11 Iranian nationals, including an Iranian sniper; Muslim socialist beat Andrew Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary; Astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary head to Int'l Space Station) 2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

Brad and Campy discuss the unusual ascension of Bill Clinton and noe the Muslim Socialists. How do We The People Respond?

Political scientist Mark Caleb Smith looks at what is being called EPIC City, a proposed Texas town founded on Muslim beliefs and practices. He also looks at the New York Democratic Mayoral candidate and his socialistic agenda.  Pastor Alfonso Espinosa looks at many of the things in our society that are leading to death, and the hope and healing in Jesus.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Arab-Muslim discussion and interviews with hosts Samar Jarrah and Ahmed Bedier.

In Rabbi Rembaum's continuing series, he explores the rise and evolution of antisemitism, defined simply as “hatred toward Jews” (IHRA — International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance). The learning is text based and emphasizes interactive discussion. There is some lecturing, primarily to provide historical background. The sessions are organized chronologically: 1. Greek and Roman sources through the lens of Josephus Flavius, 2. Christian and Muslim writings through the 16th century, and 3. the rise and evolution of secular antisemitism from the 19th through the 21st centuries. ​ This session took place via Zoom on June 25, 2025. Special Guest: Rabbi Emeritus Joel Rembaum.

In case you haven't heard, New York is dangerously close to voting a Muslim socialist as mayor. Charlie sounds the alarm for what would be the worst self-inflicted disaster in New York's history. Senator Mike Lee joins to discuss all the misinformation surrounding his push to sell government lands as part of the Big Beautiful Bill. What does it really do, and how could it improve life for ordinary Americans? Watch ad-free episodes on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megyn Kelly is joined by Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss the status of the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill and how it will help the American people, how the media and the left have distorted what the bill will actually do, the “threat to the state” leakers who are lying about Trump's successful Iran mission, how we know the truth about how damaging the Iran strikes were, why going to Congress would have allowed Iran to keep building toward a nuclear bomb, and more. Then Charlie Kirk, founder of "Turning Point USA," joins to discuss how the media is spreading false leaks to discredit President Trump's successful Iran mission, their relentless efforts to undermine him, Trump ripping into CNN calling them “gutless losers," Trump's successful push to get European leaders to finally step up and pay more for NATO, his goal to strengthen the Western world, how his “Big Beautiful Bill” will deliver record funding for the southern border,how President Trump's winning mindset is reshaping the world, the way he's strengthening NATO and getting to new agreements in the Middle East, his plan to focus the Americas next including Greenland and the Panama Canal, the MAGA "civil war" over Trump's actions in Iran, what Kirk told Trump before the strikes about what young people want, the healthy divide on the right over foreign policy, what it means that radical socialist Zohran Mamdani won the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, whether his Muslim religion plays a role in his potential policy changes, his radical ideas for America's biggest city, and more. Johnson- https://x.com/speakerjohnsonKirk- https://thecharliekirkshow.com/podcasts/the-charlie-kirk-show Riverbend Ranch: Visit https://riverbendranch.com/ | Use promo code MEGYN for $20 off your first order.Byrna: Go to https://Byrna.com or your local Sportsman's Warehouse today.Firecracker Farm: Visit https://firecracker.FARM & enter code MK at checkout for a special discount!120Life: Go to https://120Life.com and use code MK to save 15% Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow

New York City just elected a communist Muslim radical as its Democratic mayoral candidate. It only took 25 years after 9/11 for NYC to elect a jihadist apologist. Glenn exposes how radical this candidate, Zohran Mamdani, actually is. Glenn issues a dire warning for any conservative New York City resident: Now is the time to get out. Glenn predicts the downfall of New York City in light of the radical who may become the new mayor. Stu explains his theory on why New York City Democrats elected this radical as their mayoral candidate. Glenn announces his next mission that will change the way you learn history: a physical and digital museum. How did Andrew Cuomo blow a 70-point lead in NYC? Glenn speaks with Yasmine Mohammed, who calls out the dangers that radical Islam is to America. Yasmine also opens up about the horrors she faced during her childhood. Glenn and Yasmine discuss how the Islamist ideology is the biggest threat to the West right now. Lastly, Glenn and Yasmine discuss the current conflict in Iran and how the Iranian people are being held hostage by a radical regime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ridvan Aydemir, known online as Apostate Prophet, is a Turkish-born former Muslim who grew up in a devout Sunni household and later became a prominent critic of Islam. After a period of intense religious study and ideological shifts—including atheism, secular communism, and Judaism—he became an Orthodox Christian catechumen. Ridvan launched his YouTube channel in 2017 to document his deconversion and critique Islamic teachings, gaining notoriety for controversial videos and public debates with Muslim apologists. A staunch advocate of free speech, he has been critical of both Islamic doctrine and Western institutions that, in his view, suppress legitimate criticism of Islam. Ridvan regularly collaborates with both atheist and Christian thinkers and has debated numerous Muslim figures on theology, human rights, and religious history.

Tim's own stream shows Judaic (and thus Islamic) "monotheism" isn't good enough. Send Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join PRE-Order New Book Available in JULY here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/esoteric-hollywood-3-sex-cults-apocalypse-in-films/ Get started with Bitcoin here: https://www.swanbitcoin.com/jaydyer/ The New Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY44LIFE for 44% off now https://choq.com Lore coffee is here: https://www.patristicfaith.com/coffee/ Orders for the Red Book are here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/the-red-book-essays-on-theology-philosophy-new-jay-dyer-book/ Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Follow me on R0kfin here: https://rokfin.com/jaydyer Music by Amid the Ruins 1453Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Tim's own stream shows Judaic (and thus Islamic) "monotheism" isn't good enough. Send Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join PRE-Order New Book Available in JULY here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/esoteric-hollywood-3-sex-cults-apocalypse-in-films/ Get started with Bitcoin here: https://www.swanbitcoin.com/jaydyer/ The New Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY44LIFE for 44% off now https://choq.com Lore coffee is here: https://www.patristicfaith.com/coffee/ Orders for the Red Book are here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/the-red-book-essays-on-theology-philosophy-new-jay-dyer-book/ Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Follow me on R0kfin here: https://rokfin.com/jaydyer Music by Amid the Ruins 14531Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

BUY CAST BREW COFFEE TO SUPPORT THE SHOW - https://castbrew.com/ Become A Member And Protect Our Work at http://www.timcast.com Host: Tim Pool @Timcast (everywhere) Guest: Ann Coulter @AnnCoulter (X) My Second Channel - https://www.youtube.com/timcastnews Podcast Channel - https://www.youtube.com/TimcastIRL   Democrats MUSLIM SOCIALIST Mayor Sparks DEMAND For Deportation, Ann Coulter Joins

Send us a textFr Joe Krupp on Mongols, Muslims & Mayhem.Check out the JIBM Web site at:  https://www.joeinblackministries.com/Please use the following link if you would like to financially support Church of the Holy Family: https://pushpay.com/g/hfgrandblanc?sr...

A Stuckey's just outside of Rolla is trying to meet the needs of an increasing number of Muslim truck drivers and road trippers.

News of a ceasefire in the Israel-Iran-US conflict was met with cheers from much of the MAGA movement, who believed they could finally engage in their own ceasefire of firing off justifications for the lack peace. It was announced as a “https://www.npr.org/2025/06/23/g-s1-74059/iran-attack-us-bases-iraq-qatar?fbclid=IwY2xjawLHXKlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETF3QjhuM05yVkphM28yeTJyAR5sL4ve-8fBM78ziM5d_aTxQd56LsgInEnwwEiTyLI43mkOh7raQUPima3yOg_aem_Qg4v6KvGaBWCKif4los39A” though the President wrote that “there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.” But the United States cannot lie about a fake feud with Israel, lie to Iran about peace negotiations, assist the Israelis in assassinating the top peace diplomat, and lie to the American public about not being involved and not getting involved, and then proceed to bomb that country directly and demand peace, while threatening https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-considering-tactical-nukes-against-iran-what-we-know-2088461. In other words, claiming that you got peace in a war you started and lied about is a masterclass in gaslighting and deception Then, to further claim to claim that a staggered ceasefire is an absolute cease-fire, when a staggered cease-fire is informal, and not an armistice ceasefire. Peace or not, this is an important little detail, because multiple cease-fires that Trump worked out between Israel and what we call Hamas have been broken by Israel. The same types of cease-fires were broken under the Biden ministration as well by Israel. So it's possible they are lying about a ceasefire so when Iran continues firing missiles they become the aggressor and magically…regime change, which Trump https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-says-iran-may-need-regime-change/ar-AA1He2Nybefore the supposed deal.As https://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-place-called-armageddon-6-17-25--66585678: Just as Mariam Adelson called Trump the “savior of the Jewish people,” it appears he will be both the deceiver and the bringer of peace on the world stage. They will create peace from the chaos and once again break it as part of the art of tribulation.” And in a https://x.com/TST___Radio/status/1937467453866672594 16 post: If “peace” comes about through war then Trump, who green lit the operation, will be painted as the savior of Israel just like Adelson predicted. It would be a double ruse; lying to Iran, bombing them, then stepping in to grant fake peace. They are creating Biblical prophecy to strip Muslims and Christians of their faith.”It all fits in to the manufactured prophecy about peace, and the belief that Mariam Adelson, who gave Trump $100 million, has that Trump is the “savior” of the Jewish people.MAGA does not get to be this absolutely wrong, and then still claim to be the party of peace and America. You cannot start a war, deny that it is a war, then claim you ended a war you started with a fake ceasefire and fake peace. Particularly because even if we could all agree on why Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, the reasoning for the attack was based on a computer algorithm, not actual intelligence. And regardless of this logical assessment, the US bombing of Iran didn't work, or were possibly staged! From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, https://militarycognizance.com/the-ai-that-triggered-a-war-how-palantir-and-the-iaea-fueled-israels-strike-on-iran/ from Palantir, has been reportedly at the center of it all. And now, if Iran did not have a weapon before, they certainly could have one now, with https://www.newsweek.com/russia-says-countries-now-ready-supply-iran-nuclear-weapons-2088979. It's probably no coincidence then that the https://fortune.com/2024/08/17/palantir-alex-karp-us-3-front-war-russia-china-iran-autonomous-weapons-drones-military-draft/ there would be a 3-front war against Russia, China, and Iran, or that https://finance.yahoo.com/news/palantir-pltr-lands-1-3b-213719986.html for war on top of their half a billion last year https://archive.md/SP4ll#selection-1579.51-1579.56 that assists in identifying military points of interest. It's probably no coincidence that the https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/07/16/jd-vance-and-peter-thiel-what-to-know-about-the-relationship-between-trumps-vp-pick-and-the-billionaire/, Peter Thiel, or that the company's https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5372776/palantir-tech-contracts-trump, or that Trump just appointed technocratic computer geeks as Lt Cols. In the military - from https://www.army.mil/article-amp/286317/army_launches_detachment_201_executive_innovation_corps_to_drive_tech_transformation. This is also while an actual Pentagon Colonel, Nathan McCormack, the https://www.thejc.com/news/usa/us-israel-planner-sacked-death-cult-cz8o38kk, was just fired for calling Israel a “death cut.” It's probably no coincidence that virtual all of this is run by Israel zealots, Jewish supremacists, and Christian zionists, from Palantir to OpenAI (Sam Altman), Oracle (Larry Ellison), Nvidia (Chris Malachowsky), and https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/black-cube-inside-shadowy-israeli-firm-accused-trying-undermine-iran-n877511.Something feels off about the whole thing, more than what is obvious. It almost feels like more than a production, maybe something akin to a simulation with real world consequence. It feels like an invisible war, with Iran acting as nothing but a location for the simulation. It all just feels like a movie, be it WarGames, Wag the Dog, or the television show Fallout where a group of business managers plan the end of the world and to guarantee their investments in vaults - like the https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/underground-city-secret-bunker-bush-official-b2745199.html actually has - by deciding to drop the bomb themselves when peace talks between waring countries become more solid. When JD Vance said this could be an “https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/06/23/vp_vance_the_12_day_war_was_an_important_reset_moment_for_the_entire_region.html,” not only is that game talk, but it's also WEF pandemic talk. So was Trump's statement about a https://www.npr.org/2025/06/20/nx-s1-5440143/trump-two-weeks-deadline-pattern for a decision on Iran. Some people are even attempting to contact their relatives in Iran and hearing robotic voices that the AP reported on stating, “Five experts with whom the AP shared recordings said it could be low-tech artificial intelligence, a chatbot or a pre-recorded message to which calls from abroad were diverted.” Almost as if contact has been cut off from Iran or that maybe there was never contact to begin with, like an invisible war is being waged like the one we waged on an invisible virus. Even Thomas Massie said the bombings of Iran were the 2025 version of “https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1936899611362243064.”Everything that is happening, from electric cars and cryptocurrency, to mass surveillance, to the great reset of Trump' golden age, is all part of the same NWO conspiracy system. And furthermore, whatever MAGA stood for has been traded for false goods, a demonic bargain that results in the loss of one's soul for illusion. And if the plan is not followed by the POTUS, Vance, the Palantir puppet, will be installed. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tst-radio--5328407https://thesecretteachings.info/donate-subscribe/https://x.com/TST___Radio https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachingshttps://www.youtube.com/@TSTRadioOfficialhttp://tstradio.infohttps://cash.app/$rdgable: $rdgable Paypal email rdgable1991@gmail.comEMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Against all odds, Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old state assemblyman and proud 'Muslim democratic socialist' won as as the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. Aidan McLaughlin wrote about this for Spectator World. On this episode of Americano, Freddy Gray speaks to Aidan about how Mamdani defeated the favourite Andrew Cuomo, whether his success is attributed to TikTok and whether Zohran is really the voice of the 'oppressed'.

These are short and sweet reflections on everyday joys, Islamic insights, and real talk about being a Muslim mom. It's a quick pause in your busy day giving you a chance to reset, reflect, and celebrate the moments that make motherhood meaningful. To support this podcast, join our Muslim Moms Productions patron for exclusive content you'll only find there.Join my Patreon!Check out my Instagram!Visit www.MuslimMomsProductions.comEmail us at mmp@muslimmomsproductions.comDon't forget to rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts!

Yesterday, New York City Democrats chose a so-called “progressive” Muslim, Zohran Mamdani, to be their next mayor. Will his candidacy prompt at last scrutiny of what authoritative Islam's Sharia doctrine entails – a truth largely suppressed in this country since its adherents attacked us on 9/11?  Sharia requires faithful Muslims to strive to achieve its totalitarian triumph worldwide. Wherever possible, that is to be accomplished through violent jihad, or holy war, as practiced by the “perfect man”: Islam's prophet Mohammed.  When violence would be counterproductive, however, Sharia demands that jihad be pursued by other means. As we have seen in Britain especially, Sharia-supremacist Muslim Brotherhood-engineered block-voting has elected Muslim mayors in London and some twenty other cities. As Charlie Kirk recently courageously observed, “Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization.” And stealthy “electoral jihad” poses a threat to it here. This is Frank Gaffney.

Who is Zohran Mamdani? The state lawmaker seeking to become New York City's first Muslim and Indian American mayor. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports.

This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, June 25th, 2025. In today's newscast, WFHB Correspondent Max Schneider provides a rundown on campus and local news items over the summer. Also, we hear from Mohamed Sayed from the Islamic Center of Bloomington, on the need for a Muslim culture center on the Indiana University campus. …

Donald Trump says he is not happy after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran was violated. Also: NATO leaders are meeting and could a 33-year-old Muslim become the Democratic candidate for New York mayor?

Jeff Stanfield and Andy Shaver sit down with one of the most fascinating figures in the waterfowl world—Ramsey Russell. Known for his motto, “It's duck season somewhere,” Ramsey has made a life out of chasing waterfowl across the globe. He shares stories from some of his favorite hunting destinations, clears up misconceptions about hunting in Mexico, and offers insight into hunting in Muslim territories and the unique customs he's encountered. Ramsey also reflects on the honor of being inducted into the Mississippi Outdoor Hall of Fame and the years of sacrifice that went into the award. 

Tim's own stream shows Judaic (and thus Islamic) "monotheism" isn't good enough. Send Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join PRE-Order New Book Available in JULY here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/esoteric-hollywood-3-sex-cults-apocalypse-in-films/ Get started with Bitcoin here: https://www.swanbitcoin.com/jaydyer/ The New Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY44LIFE for 44% off now https://choq.com Lore coffee is here: https://www.patristicfaith.com/coffee/ Orders for the Red Book are here: https://jaysanalysis.com/product/the-red-book-essays-on-theology-philosophy-new-jay-dyer-book/ Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Follow me on R0kfin here: https://rokfin.com/jaydyer Music by Amid the Ruins 1453Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

President Trump made an angry intervention, accusing both sides of violating it when hostilities looked like they would restart.Also on the programme: the Muslim socialist shaking up the Democrats in New York as they look to pick their next mayoral candidate, as well as Jeff Bezos's wedding and the Venetians who'd rather he was tying the knot elsewhere.(Picture: President Trump speaking to reporters Credit: Reuters)

What would it take for us to deny our faith? Scripture foretells a future global persecution under the antichrist, similar to what many Christians face in parts of the Muslim world today. In this message, Pastor Lutzer examines how believers might endure the ultimate test of faith when facing death. God has given us spiritual resources to sustain us. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/172/29

What would it take for us to deny our faith? Scripture foretells a future global persecution under the antichrist, similar to what many Christians face in parts of the Muslim world today. In this message, Pastor Lutzer examines how believers might endure the ultimate test of faith when facing death. God has given us spiritual resources to sustain us. This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at https://rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. 

The flood of emotions you experience when someone you love is hurting? It's not just empathy; it might be toxic empathy that's destroying your peace.Toxic empathy occurs when you become so entangled in others' emotions that you can't distinguish where their feelings end and yours begin. For many Muslim women especially it's a learned survival strategy born from cultural expectations to carry emotional labor without complaint. The solution is learning to build gates, not barriers. Through the soulful intelligence paradigm, you can develop the ability to feel with someone without drowning in their experience. You can offer genuine support without making their healing your responsibility. This transformation begins by recognizing that empathy should be a momentary connection, not a constant burden.Whether you're dealing with a frustrated spouse, a child's meltdown, or difficult workplace conversations, regulated empathy lets you stay connected without getting consumed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If this podcast has benefited you, imagine the value of a one-on-one meeting with me! Click below to schedule your FREE consultation. Discover solutions with no obligation.https://www.islamiclifecoachschool.com/appointments

Auto-generated transcript: My brothers and sisters, today we are living in a world where there is a constant escalation of violence and war and strife and all kinds of things and Muslims seem to be in the receiving end of everything. So the question that I get asked, you know, wherever I go is what… Continue reading Help comes for the Muttaqoon

Dr. Hormoz Shariat of Iran Alive looks at how the headlines around Iran are reflected in Scripture and about what God is doing among the Persian people.  Plus, he highlights how there are places in the US where Muslim people are seeking to create special communities based on Muslim religious law.  Sara Wallace, author of "What to Say When She Feels like a falure as a Mom," offers some practical ways to support a mom both physically and spiritually as they struggle through the calling of being a mom.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

# Miracles Week 4: Exploring the Spiritual Realm In this week's sermon, we delve into the mysterious and often misunderstood realm of miracles and spirituality as depicted in the Bible. The discussion is centered around **1 Samuel 28:3-25**, which recounts the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor. This passage provides a vivid illustration of the spiritual battles and the reality of the unseen world. ## Key Themes ### The Yearning for the Spiritual - Throughout human history, there has been a persistent yearning for the spiritual dimension, a longing for something beyond the material world. This desire is rooted in the belief that God has placed eternity in our hearts, as mentioned in **Ecclesiastes 3:11**.- This spiritual yearning is universal, transcending religious boundaries, and is evident even in secular societies where materialism often dominates. ### Different Approaches to Spirituality - People can be categorized into four groups based on their approach to spirituality: 1. **Monotheists**: Those who seek spiritual direction within the framework of classical monotheism, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians. 2. **Atheists**: Individuals who reject the spiritual realm altogether, viewing it as a product of imagination. 3. **New Age Spiritualists**: Those who embrace spirituality but reject monotheism, often engaging in practices like mysticism and the occult. 4. **Syncretists**: People who blend traditional monotheism with New Age beliefs, despite their inherent contradictions. ### The Reality of the Spiritual Realm - The sermon emphasizes the reality of both divine and demonic forces. **Ephesians 6:12** reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil.- The story of Saul seeking the Witch of Endor highlights the dangers of turning to forbidden spiritual practices. Saul's desperation led him to consult a medium, defying God's commands as outlined in **Leviticus 19:31**. ### Lessons from Saul's Experience - Saul's story serves as a warning against disobedience and the consequences of seeking guidance outside of God's will. His failure to listen to God resulted in God withdrawing His guidance, as noted in **Proverbs 1:28-33**.- The Bible teaches that when we stop listening to God, He stops speaking to us. Saul's tragic end underscores the importance of faithfulness and obedience to God's revealed word. ### The Victory in Christ - Despite the reality of spiritual warfare, believers are assured of victory through Jesus Christ. **1 Peter 5:8** urges us to be alert and of sober mind, recognizing the enemy's schemes.- The ultimate victory was secured through Jesus' death and resurrection, offering believers abundant life and the promise of eternal peace. ## Conclusion This sermon challenges us to acknowledge the reality of the spiritual realm and to remain vigilant in our faith. By aligning ourselves with God's word and being alert to the enemy's tactics, we can walk in the victory that Jesus has already won for us. Let us be encouraged to seek God earnestly, trusting in His guidance and protection as we navigate the spiritual battles of life. --- For those seeking more information or needing prayer, the church offers support and guidance to help navigate these spiritual truths. Join us in worship and fellowship as we continue to explore the wonders of God's word.

For those who haven't heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the intertwining careers of Joe Boyd, Sandy Denny, and Richard Thompson. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-one-minute bonus episode available, on Judy Collins’ version of this song. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by editing, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Erratum For about an hour this was uploaded with the wrong Elton John clip in place of “Saturday Sun”. This has now been fixed. Resources Because of the increasing problems with Mixcloud’s restrictions, I have decided to start sharing streaming playlists of the songs used in episodes instead of Mixcloud ones. This Tunemymusic link will let you listen to the playlist I created on your streaming platform of choice — however please note that not all the songs excerpted are currently available on streaming. The songs missing from the Tidal version are “Shanten Bells” by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” by A.L. Lloyd, two by Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, three by Elton John & Linda Peters, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow” by Sandy Denny and “You Never Know” by Charlie Drake, but the other fifty-nine are there. Other songs may be missing from other services. The main books I used on Fairport Convention as a whole were Patrick Humphries' Meet On The Ledge, Clinton Heylin's What We Did Instead of Holidays, and Kevan Furbank's Fairport Convention on Track. Rob Young's Electric Eden is the most important book on the British folk-rock movement. Information on Richard Thompson comes from Patrick Humphries' Richard Thompson: Strange Affair and Thompson's own autobiography Beeswing.  Information on Sandy Denny comes from Clinton Heylin's No More Sad Refrains and Mick Houghton's I've Always Kept a Unicorn. I also used Joe Boyd's autobiography White Bicycles and Chris Blackwell's The Islander.  And this three-CD set is the best introduction to Fairport's music currently in print. Transcript Before we begin, this episode contains reference to alcohol and cocaine abuse and medical neglect leading to death. It also starts with some discussion of the fatal car accident that ended last episode. There’s also some mention of child neglect and spousal violence. If that’s likely to upset you, you might want to skip this episode or read the transcript. One of the inspirations for this podcast when I started it back in 2018 was a project by Richard Thompson, which appears (like many things in Thompson’s life) to have started out of sheer bloody-mindedness. In 1999 Playboy magazine asked various people to list their “songs of the Millennium”, and most of them, understanding the brief, chose a handful of songs from the latter half of the twentieth century. But Thompson determined that he was going to list his favourite songs *of the millennium*. He didn’t quite manage that, but he did cover seven hundred and forty years, and when Playboy chose not to publish it, he decided to turn it into a touring show, in which he covered all his favourite songs from “Sumer Is Icumen In” from 1260: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Sumer is Icumen In”] Through numerous traditional folk songs, union songs like “Blackleg Miner”, pieces by early-modern composers, Victorian and Edwardian music hall songs, and songs by the Beatles, the Ink Spots, the Kinks, and the Who, all the way to “Oops! I Did It Again”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Oops! I Did it Again”] And to finish the show, and to show how all this music actually ties together, he would play what he described as a “medieval tune from Brittany”, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”] We have said many times in this podcast that there is no first anything, but there’s a reason that Liege and Lief, Fairport Convention’s third album of 1969, and the album other than Unhalfbricking on which their reputation largely rests, was advertised with the slogan “The first (literally) British folk rock album ever”. Folk-rock, as the term had come to be known, and as it is still usually used today, had very little to do with traditional folk music. Rather, the records of bands like The Byrds or Simon and Garfunkel were essentially taking the sounds of British beat groups of the early sixties, particularly the Searchers, and applying those sounds to material by contemporary singer-songwriters. People like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan had come up through folk clubs, and their songs were called folk music because of that, but they weren’t what folk music had meant up to that point — songs that had been collected after being handed down through the folk process, changed by each individual singer, with no single identifiable author. They were authored songs by very idiosyncratic writers. But over their last few albums, Fairport Convention had done one or two tracks per album that weren’t like that, that were instead recordings of traditional folk songs, but arranged with rock instrumentation. They were not necessarily the first band to try traditional folk music with electric instruments — around the same time that Fairport started experimenting with the idea, so did an Irish band named Sweeney’s Men, who brought in a young electric guitarist named Henry McCullough briefly. But they do seem to have been the first to have fully embraced the idea. They had done so to an extent with “A Sailor’s Life” on Unhalfbricking, but now they were going to go much further: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves” (from about 4:30)] There had been some doubt as to whether Fairport Convention would even continue to exist — by the time Unhalfbricking, their second album of the year, was released, they had been through the terrible car accident that had killed Martin Lamble, the band’s drummer, and Jeannie Franklyn, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend. Most of the rest of the band had been seriously injured, and they had made a conscious decision not to discuss the future of the band until they were all out of hospital. Ashley Hutchings was hospitalised the longest, and Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, and Sandy Denny, the other three surviving members of the band, flew over to LA with their producer and manager, Joe Boyd, to recuperate there and get to know the American music scene. When they came back, the group all met up in the flat belonging to Denny’s boyfriend Trevor Lucas, and decided that they were going to continue the band. They made a few decisions then — they needed a new drummer, and as well as a drummer they wanted to get in Dave Swarbrick. Swarbrick had played violin on several tracks on Unhalfbricking as a session player, and they had all been thrilled to work with him. Swarbrick was one of the most experienced musicians on the British folk circuit. He had started out in the fifties playing guitar with Beryl Marriott’s Ceilidh Band before switching to fiddle, and in 1963, long before Fairport had formed, he had already appeared on TV with the Ian Campbell Folk Group, led by Ian Campbell, the father of Ali and Robin Campbell, later of UB40: [Excerpt: The Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Shanten Bells (medley on Hullaballoo!)”] He’d sung with Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd: [Excerpt: A.L. Lloyd, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” ] And he’d formed his hugely successful duo with Martin Carthy, releasing records like “Byker Hill” which are often considered among the best British folk music of all time: [Excerpt: Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, “Byker Hill”] By the time Fairport had invited him to play on Unhalfbricking, Swarbrick had already performed on twenty albums as a core band member, plus dozens more EPs, singles, and odd tracks on compilations. They had no reason to think they could actually get him to join their band. But they had three advantages. The first was that Swarbrick was sick of the traditional folk scene at the time, saying later “I didn’t like seven-eighths of the people involved in it, and it was extremely opportune to leave. I was suddenly presented with the possibilities of exploring the dramatic content of the songs to the full.” The second was that he was hugely excited to be playing with Richard Thompson, who was one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, and Martin Carthy remembers him raving about Thompson after their initial sessions. (Carthy himself was and is no slouch on the guitar of course, and there was even talk of getting him to join the band at this point, though they decided against it — much to the relief of rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol, who is a perfectly fine player himself but didn’t want to be outclassed by *two* of the best guitarists in Britain at the same time). And the third was that Joe Boyd told him that Fairport were doing so well — they had a single just about to hit the charts with “Si Tu Dois Partir” — that he would only have to play a dozen gigs with Fairport in order to retire. As it turned out, Swarbrick would play with the group for a decade, and would never retire — I saw him on his last tour in 2015, only eight months before he died. The drummer the group picked was also a far more experienced musician than any of the rest, though in a very different genre. Dave Mattacks had no knowledge at all of the kind of music they played, having previously been a player in dance bands. When asked by Hutchings if he wanted to join the band, Mattacks’ response was “I don’t know anything about the music. I don’t understand it… I can’t tell one tune from another, they all sound the same… but if you want me to join the group, fine, because I really like it. I’m enjoying myself musically.” Mattacks brought a new level of professionalism to the band, thanks to his different background. Nicol said of him later “He was dilligent, clean, used to taking three white shirts to a gig… The application he could bring to his playing was amazing. With us, you only played well when you were feeling well.” This distinction applied to his playing as well. Nicol would later describe the difference between Mattacks’ drumming and Lamble’s by saying “Martin’s strength was as an imaginative drummer. DM came in with a strongly developed sense of rhythm, through keeping a big band of drunken saxophone players in order. A great time-keeper.” With this new line-up and a new sense of purpose, the group did as many of their contemporaries were doing and “got their heads together in the country”. Joe Boyd rented the group a mansion, Farley House, in Farley Chamberlayne, Hampshire, and they stayed there together for three months. At the start, the group seem to have thought that they were going to make another record like Unhalfbricking, with some originals, some songs by American songwriters, and a few traditional songs. Even after their stay in Farley Chamberlayne, in fact, they recorded a few of the American songs they’d rehearsed at the start of the process, Richard Farina’s “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” and Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn’s “Ballad of Easy Rider”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Ballad of Easy Rider”] Indeed, the whole idea of “getting our heads together in the country” (as the cliche quickly became in the late sixties as half of the bands in Britain went through much the same kind of process as Fairport were doing — but usually for reasons more to do with drug burnout or trend following than recovering from serious life-changing trauma) seems to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and the Band getting together in Big Pink. But very quickly they decided to follow the lead of Ashley Hutchings, who had had something of a Damascene conversion to the cause of traditional English folk music. They were listening mostly to Music From Big Pink by the Band, and to the first album by Sweeney’s Men: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “The Handsome Cabin Boy”] And they decided that they were going to make something that was as English as those records were North American and Irish (though in the event there were also a few Scottish songs included on the record). Hutchings in particular was becoming something of a scholar of traditional music, regularly visiting Cecil Sharp House and having long conversations with A.L. Lloyd, discovering versions of different traditional songs he’d never encountered before. This was both amusing and bemusing Sandy Denny, who had joined a rock group in part to get away from traditional music; but she was comfortable singing the material, and knew a lot of it and could make a lot of suggestions herself. Swarbrick obviously knew the repertoire intimately, and Nicol was amenable, while Mattacks was utterly clueless about the folk tradition at this point but knew this was the music he wanted to make. Thompson knew very little about traditional music, and of all the band members except Denny he was the one who has shown the least interest in the genre in his subsequent career — but as we heard at the beginning, showing the least interest in the genre is a relative thing, and while Thompson was not hugely familiar with the genre, he *was* able to work with it, and was also more than capable of writing songs that fit in with the genre. Of the eleven songs on the album, which was titled Liege and Lief (which means, roughly, Lord and Loyalty), there were no cover versions of singer-songwriters. Eight were traditional songs, and three were originals, all written in the style of traditional songs. The album opened with “Come All Ye”, an introduction written by Denny and Hutchings (the only time the two would ever write together): [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Come All Ye”] The other two originals were songs where Thompson had written new lyrics to traditional melodies. On “Crazy Man Michael”, Swarbrick had said to Thompson that the tune to which he had set his new words was weaker than the lyrics, to which Thompson had replied that if Swarbrick felt that way he should feel free to write a new melody. He did, and it became the first of the small number of Thompson/Swarbrick collaborations: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Crazy Man Michael”] Thompson and Swarbrick would become a brief songwriting team, but as much as anything else it was down to proximity — the two respected each other as musicians, but never got on very well. In 1981 Swarbrick would say “Richard and I never got on in the early days of FC… we thought we did, but we never did. We composed some bloody good songs together, but it was purely on a basis of “you write that and I’ll write this, and we’ll put it together.” But we never sat down and had real good chats.” The third original on the album, and by far the most affecting, is another song where Thompson put lyrics to a traditional tune. In this case he thought he was putting the lyrics to the tune of “Willie O'Winsbury”, but he was basing it on a recording by Sweeney’s Men. The problem was that Sweeney’s Men had accidentally sung the lyrics of “Willie O'Winsbury'” to the tune of a totally different song, “Fause Foodrage”: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “Willie O’Winsbury”] Thompson took that melody, and set to it lyrics about loss and separation. Thompson has never been one to discuss the meanings of his lyrics in any great detail, and in the case of this one has said “I really don't know what it means. This song came out of a dream, and I pretty much wrote it as I dreamt it (it was the sixties), and didn't spend very long analyzing it. So interpret as you wish – or replace with your own lines.” But in the context of the traffic accident that had killed his tailor girlfriend and a bandmate, and injured most of his other bandmates, the lyrics about lonely travellers, the winding road, bruised and beaten sons, saying goodbye, and never cutting cloth, seem fairly self-explanatory: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Farewell, Farewell”] The rest of the album, though, was taken up by traditional tunes. There was a long medley of four different fiddle reels; a version of “Reynardine” (a song about a seductive man — or is he a fox? Or perhaps both — which had been recorded by Swarbrick and Carthy on their most recent album); a 19th century song about a deserter saved from the firing squad by Prince Albert; and a long take on “Tam Lin”, one of the most famous pieces in the Scottish folk music canon, a song that has been adapted in different ways by everyone from the experimental noise band Current 93 to the dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah to the comics writer Grant Morrison: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Tam Lin”] And “Matty Groves”, a song about a man killing his cheating wife and her lover, which actually has a surprisingly similar story to that of “1921” from another great concept album from that year, the Who’s Tommy. “Matty Groves” became an excuse for long solos and shows of instrumental virtuosity: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves”] The album was recorded in September 1969, after their return from their break in the country and a triumphal performance at the Royal Festival Hall, headlining over fellow Witchseason artists John and Beverly Martyn and Nick Drake. It became a classic of the traditional folk genre — arguably *the* classic of the traditional folk genre. In 2007 BBC Radio 2’s Folk Music Awards gave it an award for most influential folk album of all time, and while such things are hard to measure, I doubt there’s anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of British folk and folk-rock music who would not at least consider that a reasonable claim. But once again, by the time the album came out in November, the band had changed lineups yet again. There was a fundamental split in the band – on one side were Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, whose stance was, roughly, that Liege and Lief was a great experiment and a fun thing to do once, but really the band had two first-rate songwriters in themselves, and that they should be concentrating on their own new material, not doing these old songs, good as they were. They wanted to take the form of the traditional songs and use that form for new material — they wanted to make British folk-rock, but with the emphasis on the rock side of things. Hutchings, on the other hand, was equally sure that he wanted to make traditional music and go further down the rabbit hole of antiquity. With the zeal of the convert he had gone in a couple of years from being the leader of a band who were labelled “the British Jefferson Airplane” to becoming a serious scholar of traditional folk music. Denny was tired of touring, as well — she wanted to spend more time at home with Trevor Lucas, who was sleeping with other women when she was away and making her insecure. When the time came for the group to go on a tour of Denmark, Denny decided she couldn’t make it, and Hutchings was jubilant — he decided he was going to get A.L. Lloyd into the band in her place and become a *real* folk group. Then Denny reconsidered, and Hutchings was crushed. He realised that while he had always been the leader, he wasn’t going to be able to lead the band any further in the traditionalist direction, and quit the group — but not before he was delegated by the other band members to fire Denny. Until the publication of Richard Thompson’s autobiography in 2022, every book on the group or its members said that Denny quit the band again, which was presumably a polite fiction that the band agreed, but according to Thompson “Before we flew home, we decided to fire Sandy. I don't remember who asked her to leave – it was probably Ashley, who usually did the dirty work. She was reportedly shocked that we would take that step. She may have been fragile beneath the confident facade, but she still knew her worth.” Thompson goes on to explain that the reasons for kicking her out were that “I suppose we felt that in her mind she had already left” and that “We were probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, though there wasn't a name for it back then.” They had considered inviting Trevor Lucas to join the band to make Denny more comfortable, but came to the (probably correct) conclusion that while he was someone they got on well with personally, he would be another big ego in a band that already had several, and that being around Denny and Lucas’ volatile relationship would, in Thompson’s phrasing, “have not always given one a feeling of peace and stability.” Hutchings originally decided he was going to join Sweeney’s Men, but that group were falling apart, and their first rehearsal with Hutchings would also be their last as a group, with only Hutchings and guitarist and mandolin player Terry Woods left in the band. They added Woods’ wife Gay, and another couple, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, and formed a group called Steeleye Span, a name given them by Martin Carthy. That group, like Fairport, went to “get their heads together in the country” for three months and recorded an album of electric versions of traditional songs, Hark the Village Wait, on which Mattacks and another drummer, Gerry Conway, guested as Steeleye Span didn’t at the time have their own drummer: [Excerpt: Steeleye Span, “Blackleg Miner”] Steeleye Span would go on to have a moderately successful chart career in the seventies, but by that time most of the original lineup, including Hutchings, had left — Hutchings stayed with them for a few albums, then went on to form the first of a series of bands, all called the Albion Band or variations on that name, which continue to this day. And this is something that needs to be pointed out at this point — it is impossible to follow every single individual in this narrative as they move between bands. There is enough material in the history of the British folk-rock scene that someone could do a 500 Songs-style podcast just on that, and every time someone left Fairport, or Steeleye Span, or the Albion Band, or Matthews’ Southern Comfort, or any of the other bands we have mentioned or will mention, they would go off and form another band which would then fission, and some of its members would often join one of those other bands. There was a point in the mid-1970s where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport Convention while Fairport Convention had none. So just in order to keep the narrative anything like wieldy, I’m going to keep the narrative concentrated on the two figures from Fairport — Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson — whose work outside the group has had the most influence on the wider world of rock music more broadly, and only deal with the other members when, as they often did, their careers intersected with those two. That doesn’t mean the other members are not themselves hugely important musicians, just that their importance has been primarily to the folk side of the folk-rock genre, and so somewhat outside the scope of this podcast. While Hutchings decided to form a band that would allow him to go deeper and deeper into traditional folk music, Sandy Denny’s next venture was rather different. For a long time she had been writing far more songs than she had ever played for her bandmates, like “Nothing More”, a song that many have suggested is about Thompson: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Nothing More”] When Joe Boyd heard that Denny was leaving Fairport Convention, he was at first elated. Fairport’s records were being distributed by A&M in the US at that point, but Island Records was in the process of opening up a new US subsidiary which would then release all future Fairport product — *but*, as far as A&M were concerned, Sandy Denny *was* Fairport Convention. They were only interested in her. Boyd, on the other hand, loved Denny’s work intensely, but from his point of view *Richard Thompson* was Fairport Convention. If he could get Denny signed directly to A&M as a solo artist before Island started its US operations, Witchseason could get a huge advance on her first solo record, while Fairport could continue making records for Island — he’d have two lucrative acts, on different labels. Boyd went over and spoke to A&M and got an agreement in principle that they would give Denny a forty-thousand-dollar advance on her first solo album — twice what they were paying for Fairport albums. The problem was that Denny didn’t want to be a solo act. She wanted to be the lead singer of a band. She gave many reasons for this — the one she gave to many journalists was that she had seen a Judy Collins show and been impressed, but noticed that Collins’ band were definitely a “backing group”, and as she put it “But that's all they were – a backing group. I suddenly thought, If you're playing together on a stage you might as well be TOGETHER.” Most other people in her life, though, say that the main reason for her wanting to be in a band was her desire to be with her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas. Partly this was due to a genuine desire to spend more time with someone with whom she was very much in love, partly it was a fear that he would cheat on her if she was away from him for long periods of time, and part of it seems to have been Lucas’ dislike of being *too* overshadowed by his talented girlfriend — he didn’t mind acknowledging that she was a major talent, but he wanted to be thought of as at least a minor one. So instead of going solo, Denny formed Fotheringay, named after the song she had written for Fairport. This new band consisted at first of Denny on vocals and occasional piano, Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, and Lucas’ old Eclection bandmate Gerry Conway on drums. For a lead guitarist, they asked Richard Thompson who the best guitarist in Britain was, and he told them Albert Lee. Lee in turn brought in bass player Pat Donaldson, but this lineup of the band barely survived a fortnight. Lee *was* arguably the best guitarist in Britain, certainly a reasonable candidate if you could ever have a singular best (as indeed was Thompson himself), but he was the best *country* guitarist in Britain, and his style simply didn’t fit with Fotheringay’s folk-influenced songs. He was replaced by American guitarist Jerry Donahue, who was not anything like as proficient as Lee, but who was still very good, and fit the band’s style much better. The new group rehearsed together for a few weeks, did a quick tour, and then went into the recording studio to record their debut, self-titled, album. Joe Boyd produced the album, but admitted himself that he only paid attention to those songs he considered worthwhile — the album contained one song by Lucas, “The Ballad of Ned Kelly”, and two cover versions of American singer-songwriter material with Lucas singing lead. But everyone knew that the songs that actually *mattered* were Sandy Denny’s, and Boyd was far more interested in them, particularly the songs “The Sea” and “The Pond and the Stream”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “The Pond and the Stream”] Fotheringay almost immediately hit financial problems, though. While other Witchseason acts were used to touring on the cheap, all packed together in the back of a Transit van with inexpensive equipment, Trevor Lucas had ambitions of being a rock star and wanted to put together a touring production to match, with expensive transport and equipment, including a speaker system that got nicknamed “Stonehenge” — but at the same time, Denny was unhappy being on the road, and didn’t play many gigs. As well as the band itself, the Fotheringay album also featured backing vocals from a couple of other people, including Denny’s friend Linda Peters. Peters was another singer from the folk clubs, and a good one, though less well-known than Denny — at this point she had only released a couple of singles, and those singles seemed to have been as much as anything else released as a novelty. The first of those, a version of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” had been released as by “Paul McNeill and Linda Peters”: [Excerpt: Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”] But their second single, a version of John D. Loudermilk’s “You’re Taking My Bag”, was released on the tiny Page One label, owned by Larry Page, and was released under the name “Paul and Linda”, clearly with the intent of confusing particularly gullible members of the record-buying public into thinking this was the McCartneys: [Excerpt: Paul and Linda, “You’re Taking My Bag”] Peters was though more financially successful than almost anyone else in this story, as she was making a great deal of money as a session singer. She actually did another session involving most of Fotheringay around this time. Witchseason had a number of excellent songwriters on its roster, and had had some success getting covers by people like Judy Collins, but Joe Boyd thought that they might possibly do better at getting cover versions if they were performed in less idiosyncratic arrangements. Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway went into the studio to record backing tracks, and vocals were added by Peters and another session singer, who according to some sources also provided piano. They cut songs by Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “You Get Brighter”] Ed Carter, formerly of The New Nadir but by this time firmly ensconced in the Beach Boys’ touring band where he would remain for the next quarter-century: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “I Don’t Mind”] John and Beverly Martyn, and Nick Drake: [Excerpt: Elton John, “Saturday Sun”] There are different lineups of musicians credited for those sessions in different sources, but I tend to believe that it’s mostly Fotheringay for the simple reason that Donahue says it was him, Donaldson and Conway who talked Lucas and Denny into the mistake that destroyed Fotheringay because of these sessions. Fotheringay were in financial trouble already, spending far more money than they were bringing in, but their album made the top twenty and they were getting respect both from critics and from the public — in September, Sandy Denny was voted best British female singer by the readers of Melody Maker in their annual poll, which led to shocked headlines in the tabloids about how this “unknown” could have beaten such big names as Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black. Only a couple of weeks after that, they were due to headline at the Albert Hall. It should have been a triumph. But Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway had asked that singing pianist to be their support act. As Donahue said later “That was a terrible miscast. It was our fault. He asked if [he] could do it. Actually Pat, Gerry and I had to talk Sandy and Trevor into [it]… We'd done these demos and the way he was playing – he was a wonderful piano player – he was sensitive enough. We knew very little about his stage-show. We thought he'd be a really good opener for us.” Unfortunately, Elton John was rather *too* good. As Donahue continued “we had no idea what he had in mind, that he was going to do the most incredible rock & roll show ever. He pretty much blew us off the stage before we even got on the stage.” To make matters worse, Fotheringay’s set, which was mostly comprised of new material, was underrehearsed and sloppy, and from that point on no matter what they did people were counting the hours until the band split up. They struggled along for a while though, and started working on a second record, with Boyd again producing, though as Boyd later said “I probably shouldn't have been producing the record. My lack of respect for the group was clear, and couldn't have helped the atmosphere. We'd put out a record that had sold disappointingly, A&M was unhappy. Sandy's tracks on the first record are among the best things she ever did – the rest of it, who cares? And the artwork, Trevor's sister, was terrible. It would have been one thing if I'd been unhappy with it and it sold, and the group was working all the time, making money, but that wasn't the case … I knew what Sandy was capable of, and it was very upsetting to me.” The record would not be released for thirty-eight years: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Wild Mountain Thyme”] Witchseason was going badly into debt. Given all the fissioning of bands that we’ve already been talking about, Boyd had been stretched thin — he produced sixteen albums in 1970, and almost all of them lost money for the company. And he was getting more and more disillusioned with the people he was producing. He loved Beverly Martyn’s work, but had little time for her abusive husband John, who was dominating her recording and life more and more and would soon become a solo artist while making her stay at home (and stealing her ideas without giving her songwriting credit). The Incredible String Band were great, but they had recently converted to Scientology, which Boyd found annoying, and while he was working with all sorts of exciting artists like Vashti Bunyan and Nico, he was finding himself less and less important to the artists he mentored. Fairport Convention were a good example of this. After Denny and Hutchings had left the group, they’d decided to carry on as an electric folk group, performing an equal mix of originals by the Swarbrick and Thompson songwriting team and arrangements of traditional songs. The group were now far enough away from the “British Jefferson Airplane” label that they decided they didn’t need a female vocalist — and more realistically, while they’d been able to replace Judy Dyble, nobody was going to replace Sandy Denny. Though it’s rather surprising when one considers Thompson’s subsequent career that nobody seems to have thought of bringing in Denny’s friend Linda Peters, who was dating Joe Boyd at the time (as Denny had been before she met Lucas) as Denny’s replacement. Instead, they decided that Swarbrick and Thompson were going to share the vocals between them. They did, though, need a bass player to replace Hutchings. Swarbrick wanted to bring in Dave Pegg, with whom he had played in the Ian Campbell Folk Group, but the other band members initially thought the idea was a bad one. At the time, while they respected Swarbrick as a musician, they didn’t think he fully understood rock and roll yet, and they thought the idea of getting in a folkie who had played double bass rather than an electric rock bassist ridiculous. But they auditioned him to mollify Swarbrick, and found that he was exactly what they needed. As Joe Boyd later said “All those bass lines were great, Ashley invented them all, but he never could play them that well. He thought of them, but he was technically not a terrific bass player. He was a very inventive, melodic, bass player, but not a very powerful one technically. But having had the part explained to him once, Pegg was playing it better than Ashley had ever played it… In some rock bands, I think, ultimately, the bands that sound great, you can generally trace it to the bass player… it was at that point they became a great band, when they had Pegg.” The new lineup of Fairport decided to move in together, and found a former pub called the Angel, into which all the band members moved, along with their partners and children (Thompson was the only one who was single at this point) and their roadies. The group lived together quite happily, and one gets the impression that this was the period when they were most comfortable with each other, even though by this point they were a disparate group with disparate tastes, in music as in everything else. Several people have said that the only music all the band members could agree they liked at this point was the first two albums by The Band. With the departure of Hutchings from the band, Swarbrick and Thompson, as the strongest personalities and soloists, became in effect the joint leaders of the group, and they became collaborators as songwriters, trying to write new songs that were inspired by traditional music. Thompson described the process as “let’s take one line of this reel and slow it down and move it up a minor third and see what that does to it; let’s take one line of this ballad and make a whole song out of it. Chopping up the tradition to find new things to do… like a collage.” Generally speaking, Swarbrick and Thompson would sit by the fire and Swarbrick would play a melody he’d been working on, the two would work on it for a while, and Thompson would then go away and write the lyrics. This is how the two came up with songs like the nine-minute “Sloth”, a highlight of the next album, Full House, and one that would remain in Fairport’s live set for much of their career: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth”] “Sloth” was titled that way because Thompson and Swarbrick were working on two tunes, a slow one and a fast one, and they jokingly named them “Sloth” and “Fasth”, but the latter got renamed to “Walk Awhile”, while “Sloth” kept its working title. But by this point, Boyd and Thompson were having a lot of conflict in the studio. Boyd was never the most technical of producers — he was one of those producers whose job is to gently guide the artists in the studio and create a space for the music to flourish, rather than the Joe Meek type with an intimate technical knowledge of the studio — and as the artists he was working with gained confidence in their own work they felt they had less and less need of him. During the making of the Full House album, Thompson and Boyd, according to Boyd, clashed on everything — every time Boyd thought Thompson had done a good solo, Thompson would say to erase it and let him have another go, while every time Boyd thought Thompson could do better, Thompson would say that was the take to keep. One of their biggest clashes was over Thompson’s song “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”, which was originally intended for release on the album, and is included in current reissues of it: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”] Thompson had written that song inspired by what he thought was the unjust treatment of Alex Bramham, the driver in Fairport’s fatal car crash, by the courts — Bramham had been given a prison sentence of a few months for dangerous driving, while the group members thought he had not been at fault. Boyd thought it was one of the best things recorded for the album, but Thompson wasn’t happy with his vocal — there was one note at the top of the melody that he couldn’t quite hit — and insisted it be kept off the record, even though that meant it would be a shorter album than normal. He did this at such a late stage that early copies of the album actually had the title printed on the sleeve, but then blacked out. He now says in his autobiography “I could have persevered, double-tracked the voice, warmed up for longer – anything. It was a good track, and the record was lacking without it. When the album was re-released, the track was restored with a more confident vocal, and it has stayed there ever since.” During the sessions for Full House the group also recorded one non-album single, Thompson and Swarbrick’s “Now Be Thankful”: [Excerpt, Fairport Convention, “Now Be Thankful”] The B-side to that was a medley of two traditional tunes plus a Swarbrick original, but was given the deliberately ridiculous title “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”] The B. McKenzie in the title was a reference to the comic-strip character Barry McKenzie, a stereotype drunk Australian created for Private Eye magazine by the comedian Barry Humphries (later to become better known for his Dame Edna Everage character) but the title was chosen for one reason only — to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the song with the longest title. Which they did, though they were later displaced by the industrial band Test Dept, and their song “Long Live British Democracy Which Flourishes and Is Constantly Perfected Under the Immaculate Guidance of the Great, Honourable, Generous and Correct Margaret Hilda Thatcher. She Is the Blue Sky in the Hearts of All Nations. Our People Pay Homage and Bow in Deep Respect and Gratitude to Her. The Milk of Human Kindness”. Full House got excellent reviews in the music press, with Rolling Stone saying “The music shows that England has finally gotten her own equivalent to The Band… By calling Fairport an English equivalent of the Band, I meant that they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they maintain their roots in rock.” Off the back of this, the group went on their first US tour, culminating in a series of shows at the Troubadour in LA, on the same bill as Rick Nelson, which were recorded and later released as a live album: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth (live)”] The Troubadour was one of the hippest venues at the time, and over their residency there the group got seen by many celebrities, some of whom joined them on stage. The first was Linda Ronstadt, who initially demurred, saying she didn’t know any of their songs. On being told they knew all of hers, she joined in with a rendition of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”. Thompson was later asked to join Ronstadt’s backing band, who would go on to become the Eagles, but he said later of this offer “I would have hated it. I’d have hated being on the road with four or five miserable Americans — they always seem miserable. And if you see them now, they still look miserable on stage — like they don’t want to be there and they don’t like each other.” The group were also joined on stage at the Troubadour on one memorable night by some former bandmates of Pegg’s. Before joining the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Pegg had played around the Birmingham beat scene, and had been in bands with John Bonham and Robert Plant, who turned up to the Troubadour with their Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page (reports differ on whether the fourth member of Zeppelin, John Paul Jones, also came along). They all got up on stage together and jammed on songs like “Hey Joe”, “Louie Louie”, and various old Elvis tunes. The show was recorded, and the tapes are apparently still in the possession of Joe Boyd, who has said he refuses to release them in case he is murdered by the ghost of Peter Grant. According to Thompson, that night ended in a three-way drinking contest between Pegg, Bonham, and Janis Joplin, and it’s testament to how strong the drinking culture is around Fairport and the British folk scene in general that Pegg outdrank both of them. According to Thompson, Bonham was found naked by a swimming pool two days later, having missed two gigs. For all their hard rock image, Led Zeppelin were admirers of a lot of the British folk and folk-rock scene, and a few months later Sandy Denny would become the only outside vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin record when she duetted with Plant on “The Battle of Evermore” on the group’s fourth album: [Excerpt: Led Zeppelin, “The Battle of Evermore”] Denny would never actually get paid for her appearance on one of the best-selling albums of all time. That was, incidentally, not the only session that Denny was involved in around this time — she also sang on the soundtrack to a soft porn film titled Swedish Fly Girls, whose soundtrack was produced by Manfred Mann: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow?”] Shortly after Fairport’s trip to America, Joe Boyd decided he was giving up on Witchseason. The company was now losing money, and he was finding himself having to produce work for more and more acts as the various bands fissioned. The only ones he really cared about were Richard Thompson, who he was finding it more and more difficult to work with, Nick Drake, who wanted to do his next album with just an acoustic guitar anyway, Sandy Denny, who he felt was wasting her talents in Fotheringay, and Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band, who was more distant since his conversion to Scientology. Boyd did make some attempts to keep the company going. On a trip to Sweden, he negotiated an agreement with the manager and publisher of a Swedish band whose songs he’d found intriguing, the Hep Stars. Boyd was going to publish their songs in the UK, and in return that publisher, Stig Anderson, would get the rights to Witchseason’s catalogue in Scandinavia — a straight swap, with no money changing hands. But before Boyd could get round to signing the paperwork, he got a better offer from Mo Ostin of Warners — Ostin wanted Boyd to come over to LA and head up Warners’ new film music department. Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to LA with his fiancee Linda Peters, spending the next few years working on music for films like Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange, as well as making his own documentary about Jimi Hendrix, and thus missed out on getting the UK publishing rights for ABBA, and all the income that would have brought him, for no money. And it was that decision that led to the breakup of Fotheringay. Just before Christmas 1970, Fotheringay were having a difficult session, recording the track “John the Gun”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “John the Gun”] Boyd got frustrated and kicked everyone out of the session, and went for a meal and several drinks with Denny. He kept insisting that she should dump the band and just go solo, and then something happened that the two of them would always describe differently. She asked him if he would continue to produce her records if she went solo, and he said he would. According to Boyd’s recollection of the events, he meant that he would fly back from California at some point to produce her records. According to Denny, he told her that if she went solo he would stay in Britain and not take the job in LA. This miscommunication was only discovered after Denny told the rest of Fotheringay after the Christmas break that she was splitting the band. Jerry Donahue has described that as the worst moment of his life, and Denny felt very guilty about breaking up a band with some of her closest friends in — and then when Boyd went over to the US anyway she felt a profound betrayal. Two days before Fotheringay’s final concert, in January 1971, Sandy Denny signed a solo deal with Island records, but her first solo album would not end up produced by Joe Boyd. Instead, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens was co-produced by Denny, John Wood — the engineer who had worked with Boyd on pretty much everything he’d produced, and Richard Thompson, who had just quit Fairport Convention, though he continued living with them at the Angel, at least until a truck crashed into the building in February 1971, destroying its entire front wall and forcing them to relocate. The songs chosen for The North Star Grassman and the Ravens reflected the kind of choices Denny would make on her future albums, and her eclectic taste in music. There was, of course, the obligatory Dylan cover, and the traditional folk ballad “Blackwaterside”, but there was also a cover version of Brenda Lee’s “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”] Most of the album, though, was made up of originals about various people in Denny’s life, like “Next Time Around”, about her ex-boyfriend Jackson C Frank: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Next Time Around”] The album made the top forty in the UK — Denny’s only solo album to do so — and led to her once again winning the “best female singer” award in Melody Maker’s readers’ poll that year — the male singer award was won by Rod Stewart. Both Stewart and Denny appeared the next year on the London Symphony Orchestra’s all-star version of The Who’s Tommy, which had originally been intended as a vehicle for Stewart before Roger Daltrey got involved. Stewart’s role was reduced to a single song, “Pinball Wizard”, while Denny sang on “It’s a Boy”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “It’s a Boy”] While Fotheringay had split up, all the band members play on The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. Guitarists Donahue and Lucas only play on a couple of the tracks, with Richard Thompson playing most of the guitar on the record. But Fotheringay’s rhythm section of Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway play on almost every track. Another musician on the album, Ian Whiteman, would possibly have a profound effect on the future direction of Richard Thompson’s career and life. Whiteman was the former keyboard player for the mod band The Action, having joined them just before they became the blues-rock band Mighty Baby. But Mighty Baby had split up when all of the band except the lead singer had converted to Islam. Richard Thompson was on his own spiritual journey at this point, and became a Sufi – the same branch of Islam as Whiteman – soon after the session, though Thompson has said that his conversion was independent of Whiteman’s. The two did become very close and work together a lot in the mid-seventies though. Thompson had supposedly left Fairport because he was writing material that wasn’t suited to the band, but he spent more than a year after quitting the group working on sessions rather than doing anything with his own material, and these sessions tended to involve the same core group of musicians. One of the more unusual was a folk-rock supergroup called The Bunch, put together by Trevor Lucas. Richard Branson had recently bought a recording studio, and wanted a band to test it out before opening it up for commercial customers, so with this free studio time Lucas decided to record a set of fifties rock and roll covers. He gathered together Thompson, Denny, Whiteman, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Pat Donaldson, Gerry Conway, pianist Tony Cox, the horn section that would later form the core of the Average White Band, and Linda Peters, who had now split up with Joe Boyd and returned to the UK, and who had started dating Thompson. They recorded an album of covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Otis and others: [Excerpt: The Bunch, “Willie and the Hand Jive”] The early seventies was a hugely productive time for this group of musicians, as they all continued playing on each other’s projects. One notable album was No Roses by Shirley Collins, which featured Thompson, Mattacks, Whiteman, Simon Nicol, Lal and Mike Waterson, and Ashley Hutchings, who was at that point married to Collins, as well as some more unusual musicians like the free jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill: [Excerpt: Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band, “Claudy Banks”] Collins was at the time the most respected female singer in British traditional music, and already had a substantial career including a series of important records made with her sister Dolly, work with guitarists like Davey Graham, and time spent in the 1950s collecting folk songs in the Southern US with her then partner Alan Lomax – according to Collins she did much of the actual work, but Lomax only mentioned her in a single sentence in his book on this work. Some of the same group of musicians went on to work on an album of traditional Morris dancing tunes, titled Morris On, credited to “Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield”, with Collins singing lead on two tracks: [Excerpt: Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield with Shirley Collins, “The Willow Tree”] Thompson thought that that album was the best of the various side projects he was involved in at the time, comparing it favourably to Rock On, which he thought was rather slight, saying later “Conceptually, Fairport, Ashley and myself and Sandy were developing a more fragile style of music that nobody else was particularly interested in, a British Folk Rock idea that had a logical development to it, although we all presented it our own way. Morris On was rather more true to what we were doing. Rock On was rather a retro step. I'm not sure it was lasting enough as a record but Sandy did sing really well on the Buddy Holly songs.” Hutchings used the musicians on No Roses and Morris On as the basis for his band the Albion Band, which continues to this day. Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks both quit Fairport to join the Albion Band, though Mattacks soon returned. Nicol would not return to Fairport for several years, though, and for a long period in the mid-seventies Fairport Convention had no original members. Unfortunately, while Collins was involved in the Albion Band early on, she and Hutchings ended up divorcing, and the stress from the divorce led to Collins developing spasmodic dysphonia, a stress-related illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to sing. She did eventually regain her vocal ability, but between 1978 and 2016 she was unable to perform at all, and lost decades of her career. Richard Thompson occasionally performed with the Albion Band early on, but he was getting stretched a little thin with all these sessions. Linda Peters said later of him “When I came back from America, he was working in Sandy’s band, and doing sessions by the score. Always with Pat Donaldson and Dave Mattacks. Richard would turn up with his guitar, one day he went along to do a session with one of those folkie lady singers — and there were Pat and DM. They all cracked. Richard smashed his amp and said “Right! No more sessions!” In 1972 he got round to releasing his first solo album, Henry the Human Fly, which featured guest appearances by Linda Peters and Sandy Denny among others: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “The Angels Took My Racehorse Away”] Unfortunately, while that album has later become regarded as one of the classics of its genre, at the time it was absolutely slated by the music press. The review in Melody Maker, for example, read in part “Some of Richard Thompson’s ideas sound great – which is really the saving grace of this album, because most of the music doesn’t. The tragedy is that Thompson’s “British rock music” is such an unconvincing concoction… Even the songs that do integrate rock and traditional styles of electric guitar rhythms and accordion and fiddle decoration – and also include explicit, meaningful lyrics are marred by bottle-up vocals, uninspiring guitar phrases and a general lack of conviction in performance.” Henry the Human Fly was released in the US by Warners, who had a reciprocal licensing deal with Island (and for whom Joe Boyd was working at the time, which may have had something to do with that) but according to Thompson it became the lowest-selling record that Warners ever put out (though I’ve also seen that claim made about Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle, another album that has later been rediscovered). Thompson was hugely depressed by this reaction, and blamed his own singing. Happily, though, by this point he and Linda had become a couple — they would marry in 1972 — and they started playing folk clubs as a duo, or sometimes in a trio with Simon Nicol. Thompson was also playing with Sandy Denny’s backing band at this point, and played on every track on her second solo album, Sandy. This album was meant to be her big commercial breakthrough, with a glamorous cover photo by David Bailey, and with a more American sound, including steel guitar by Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers (whose overdubs were supervised in LA by Joe Boyd): [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Tomorrow is a Long Time”] The album was given a big marketing push by Island, and “Listen, Listen” was made single of the week on the Radio 1 Breakfast show: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Listen, Listen”] But it did even worse than the previous album, sending her into something of a depression. Linda Thompson (as the former Linda Peters now was) said of this period “After the Sandy album, it got her down that her popularity didn't suddenly increase in leaps and bounds, and that was the start of her really fretting about the way her career was going. Things only escalated after that. People like me or Martin Carthy or Norma Waterson would think, ‘What are you on about? This is folk music.'” After Sandy’s release, Denny realised she could no longer afford to tour with a band, and so went back to performing just acoustically or on piano. The only new music to be released by either of these ex-members of Fairport Convention in 1973 was, oddly, on an album by the band they were no longer members of. After Thompson had left Fairport, the group had managed to release two whole albums with the same lineup — Swarbrick, Nicol, Pegg, and Mattacks. But then Nicol and Mattacks had both quit the band to join the Albion Band with their former bandmate Ashley Hutchings, leading to a situation where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport plus their longtime drummer while Fairport Convention itself had no original members and was down to just Swarbrick and Pegg. Needing to fulfil their contracts, they then recruited three former members of Fotheringay — Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, Donahue on lead guitar, and Conway on drums. Conway was only a session player at the time, and Mattacks soon returned to the band, but Lucas and Donahue became full-time members. This new lineup of Fairport Convention released two albums in 1973, widely regarded as the group’s most inconsistent records, and on the title track of the first, “Rosie”, Richard Thompson guested on guitar, with Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson on backing vocals: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Rosie”] Neither Sandy Denny nor Richard Thompson released a record themselves in 1973, but in neither case was this through the artists’ choice. The record industry was changing in the early 1970s, as we’ll see in later episodes, and was less inclined to throw good money after bad in the pursuit of art. Island Records prided itself on being a home for great artists, but it was still a business, and needed to make money. We’ll talk about the OPEC oil crisis and its effect on the music industry much more when the podcast gets to 1973, but in brief, the production of oil by the US peaked in 1970 and started to decrease, leading to them importing more and more oil from the Middle East. As a result of this, oil prices rose slowly between 1971 and 1973, then very quickly towards the end of 1973 as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict that year. As vinyl is made of oil, suddenly producing records became much more expensive, and in this period a lot of labels decided not to release already-completed albums, until what they hoped would be a brief period of shortages passed. Both Denny and Thompson recorded albums at this point that got put to one side by Island. In the case of Thompson, it was the first album by Richard and Linda as a duo, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Today, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and as one of the two masterpieces that bookended Richard and Linda’s career as a duo and their marriage. But when they recorded the album, full of Richard’s dark songs, it was the opposite of commercial. Even a song that’s more or less a boy-girl song, like “Has He Got a Friend for Me?” has lyrics like “He wouldn’t notice me passing by/I could be in the gutter, or dangling down from a tree” [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “Has He got a Friend For Me?”] While something like “The Calvary Cross” is oblique and haunted, and seems to cast a pall over the entire album: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “The Calvary Cross”] The album itself had been cheap to make — it had been recorded in only a week, with Thompson bringing in musicians he knew well and had worked with a lot previously to cut the tracks as-live in only a handful of takes — but Island didn’t think it was worth releasing. The record stayed on the shelf for nearly a year after recording, until Island got a new head of A&R, Richard Williams. Williams said of the album’s release “Muff Winwood had been doing A&R, but he was more interested in production… I had a conversation with Muff as soon as I got there, and he said there are a few hangovers, some outstanding problems. And one of them was Richard Thompson. He said there’s this album we gave him the money to make — which was I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight — and nobody’s very interested in it. Henry the Human Fly had been a bit of a commercial disappointment, and although Island was altruistic and independent and known for only recording good stuff, success was important… Either a record had to do well or somebody had to believe in it a lot. And it seemed as if neither of those things were true at that point of Richard.” Williams, though, was hugely impressed when he listened to the album. He compared Richard Thompson’s guitar playing to John Coltrane’s sax, and called Thompson “the folk poet of the rainy streets”, but also said “Linda brightened it, made it more commercial. and I thought that “Bright Lights” itself seemed a really commercial song.” The rest of the management at Island got caught up in Williams’ enthusiasm, and even decided to release the title track as a single: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Neither single nor album charted — indeed it would not be until 1991 that Richard Thompson would make a record that made the top forty in the UK — but the album got enough critical respect that Richard and Linda released two albums the year after. The first of these, Hokey Pokey, is a much more upbeat record than their previous one — Richard Thompson has called it “quite a music-hall influenced record” and cited the influence of George Formby and Harry Lauder. For once, the claim of music hall influence is audible in the music. Usually when a British musician is claimed to have a music ha

Alan discusses two problems he has with the Quran's reference to crucifixion and explains why that's a huge problem for Muslims.

In this podcast Jeff discusses a moment he never dreamed would occur: Iran's nuclear facilities were destroyed by America and Iran is finally punished for its global terror. Every President from Carter through Biden looked the other way or appeased Iran's terrorism — Trump did not. Jeff eats some crow but points out the MAGA leading voices who sided with the Muslim terror state that tried to kill our President. And an update on Jeff's federal fraud sentencing before his fraternity brother. It was a hoot, it was surreal and it brought back a lot of memories.

In this episode of Crossing Faiths, John speaks with Michael Hirshorne, a motivational speaker and author, about the concept of "Dawn of Peace" and the path to achieving it through personal and collective transformation. Hirshorne outlines his philosophy of self-actualization, arguing that the current turbulent global climate is a prime opportunity for "radical change" which requires "radical thinking." The discussion revolves around the metaphor of viewing the world through different "lenses," the difficulty of changing one's perspective, and the importance of seeing "the other" as an extension of the self. They cover topics such as the self being under siege in the digital age, the danger of jumping on ideological bandwagons without personal research, and the illusion of our physical reality. Hirshorne advocates for proactive change through meditation, deep self-reflection, and focusing on desired outcomes, ultimately encouraging listeners to create a life they can look back on with a smile rather than regret. Michael Hirshorne links: https://podfol.io/profile/michael-hirshorne

Main Theme: Honor opens doors to God's blessings. Dishonor restrains God's power. Key Scripture: Mark 6:1–6 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. 4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Main Points: Honor Releases God's Power: Jesus could not (not just would not) perform mighty works because He was dishonored. Honor positions us to receive from God. Dishonor blocks blessings. Understanding Honor: Honor = Valuing someone or something. It involves public and private appreciation, respect, and esteem. Dishonor is treating someone as common or ordinary. The Danger of Familiarity: People in Jesus' hometown thought they knew Him based on His past, but failed to recognize the version of Him operating in purpose. Sometimes people limit others by clinging to an old version of them. The Role of Faith and Honor: Faith and honor are linked. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Dishonor is often rooted in unbelief. Peter dishonored Jesus by rebuking Him, failing to understand His purpose to suffer before reigning (Matthew 16:21–23). Misunderstanding Leads to Dishonor: Like Peter and the Pharisees, we can dishonor God by misunderstanding His ways and the people He uses. God may send help in unexpected packages (e.g., a story about rejecting help from a Muslim or atheist and then blaming God). Honor Is Seen in Action: Luke 5:17–20 – Friends of a paralyzed man honored Jesus through faith and action (breaking through the roof). Meanwhile, Pharisees sat in judgment and missed the move of God, despite God's power being present. Western vs. Eastern Mindsets: Western: “I think, therefore I am” (individualistic). Eastern: “We are, therefore I am” (community-oriented, honor flows more naturally). Practical Example: In education, honoring teachers leads to more help and deeper learning. Likewise, honoring spiritual leaders unlocks their ability to bless you. Final Takeaways: Honor opens doors of blessing. Dishonor, especially rooted in familiarity or misunderstanding, closes those doors. Faith acts, and honor releases what God has placed in others for your benefit. Always honor God, His people, and His process — not for their sake only, but for your own growth and blessing. Closing Declaration: “Doors of blessing are open to me because I honor.”

Mona and Michael are zealous disciples dedicated to sharing their faith and helping those in need, particularly within their community in Egypt. Mona grew up in a Christian family and found comfort in her faith after a difficult childhood marked by her mother's death. Michael, on the other hand, discovered his faith in Jesus later in life. Together, they felt called to ministry and have committed their lives to sharing the hope and love that can only be found in Jesus. Listen as they talk about Christian persecution faced by believers in Egypt, including discrimination in employment and education. These hardships have led church members to rely on one another. As Mona says, "The church becomes our family. We need each other." Muslims who choose to follow Jesus often face severe persecution from family and community, and at times from the government. They may also face severe pressure from a Muslim spouse. Mona reminds us, though, that Muslims around them are not their enemies. They know that the real enemy is the devil and emphasize that we are called to love others in the same way Christ loved us. Michael and Mona actively support refugees from war-torn countries, including Sudan, providing food and resources regardless of religious background. These acts of care and service often open doors for conversations about faith. Please pray for followers of Jesus in Egypt to remain strong and to be equipped to help those in need. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as give free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, flying to Malaysia (via Hong Kong) as this podcast drops! Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China. X is also the best way to contact me. Just follow and send a DM. You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com Who is Missionary Ben? I haven’t done this in a long time, but every now and then I am reminded I should probably give a little bit more of my background (and my China bonafides). Now I can’t divulge very much, for security reasons, but here are the basics: moved to China at the age of 19, in the early 2000s, taught myself to speak (and read) Chinese. Lived there w/ my family til I was deported in 2018. Unbeaten: Confronting the Lies (and Laughter) of the Chinese Communist Police The Story of My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China (Unbeaten.vip) Over those nearly 15 years, I set foot in every province, and visited hundreds of cities, towns, and villages. Alongside our evangelistic work, I helped manage a leather factory in a Muslim town, opened a yak burger/pizza restaurant on the Tibetan Plateau, served as a guide and Tibetan taxi driver, and taught English to elementary kids, high schoolers, and young adults. How I Taught Myself Mandarin (And How You Can Learn Chinese Too, But Won’t) https://chinacall.substack.com/p/how-i-taught-myself-mandarin Follow or subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Don’t forget: Follow @chinaadventures on X, and find everything else @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!

At a gathering of Muslim-majority states in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned Israel's military strikes on Iran, accusing it of violating international law and risking “total disaster” in the region. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, also at the summit, warned that any US involvement in the conflict would be “very dangerous.” Also in the programme: In the UK, the launch of a new scheme to map the DNA of newborn babies; and 50 years after the hit film Jaws was released, we ask if it's finally time for a PR makeover for sharks.Photo: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks in Istanbul Credit: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

On Thursday's Mark Levin Show, Iran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile development pose an existential threat to Israel and American civilization, which cannot be ignored. Israel, possibly with U.S. assistance, will take military action to neutralize this threat, as Iran will not go away on its own. Iran's actions, including attacks via proxies and American casualties, demand a decisive military response, which is self-defense rather than nation-building. These radical Democrats, fifth-columnists, and isolationists lack any strategy and moral clarity. Also, the people of Israel are never discussed by the media. They face severe challenges every day, especially in Tel Aviv, where ballistic missiles from Iran target hospitals and public areas, forcing families into bomb shelters. They are in constant fear with a disrupted quality of life. Media outlets ignore these struggles and ignore the regime's history of killing and maiming American soldiers. Later, Zuhdi Jasser calls in and addresses the mindset of the isolationists and fifth columnists who deliberately ignore the existential threat posed by Iran's theocratic regime and its proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis. He emphasizes that these groups are driven by a radical theology that glorifies suicide bombing, chaos, and the targeting of non-combatants, with the ultimate goal of triggering an apocalyptic scenario tied to the return of the 12th Imam. Jasser asserts that Iran's uranium enrichment is clearly aimed at developing nuclear weapons, not peaceful purposes, and warns that the regime would use such weapons, likening its leadership to a cult willing to commit national fratricide. Finally, Sayyid Qutb's book Milestones, promotes pure Islam and strict shariah, rejecting Western values and most modern Muslims as ignorant (jahiliyyah). Groups like CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, MSA, and MPAC dismiss devout Muslims who oppose their views. Qutb's ideas fuel sectarian violence and terrorism by groups like Hamas and al-Qaida, and states like Iran, which pursues nuclear weapons through deception (taqiyya). Western appeasement fails to counter this clash with democratic values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tim, Phil, Mary, & Tate are joined by Nathan Halberstadt to discuss donors fleeing the Democrat party as party collapse continues, Trump suggesting banning Juneteenth as a holiday, Laura Loomer slamming Tucker Carlson & saying he's controlled by Muslims, and Trump saying decision on striking Iran could come in 2 weeks.   Hosts:  Tim @Timcast (everywhere) Phil @PhilThatRemains (X) Mary  ⁨@PopCultureCrisis⁩  (YouTube, Rumble) Tate @RealTateBrown (X) Serge @SergeDotCom (everywhere) Guest: Nathan Halberstadt @NatHalberstadt (X)