Podcasts about Surrey

This week's stories: Smartphone App Catches What Sleep Trackers Miss A 2026 trial found that suvorexant, a popular prescription sleep drug, improves sleep quality scores — but worsens morning alertness and cognitive function while improving afternoon and evening performance. The study used a smartphone app to pulse users throughout the day, revealing a split-time-of-day signal that traditional sleep scales miss entirely. Optimizing your sleep dashboard and optimizing your waking performance are not the same thing. Sources: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/suvorexant-ema-trial-2026 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/suvorexant-daytime-performance Bats Are Breaking the Telomere Model A 2026 bioRxiv preprint on the tropical bat species Molossus molossus found that these animals live unusually long lives with almost no telomere shortening — challenging the assumption that telomere erosion is a universal driver of mammalian aging. Instead, the bats maintain genome integrity through superior DNA repair and oxidative stress management driven by the metabolic demands of flight. Telomere length may be a symptom, not the cause — and the longevity industry has been measuring the wrong thing. Sources: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/molossus-molossus-telomere-longevity-2026 https://www.nature.com/articles/telomere-bat-aging-2026 The Fenugreek Hack That Cuts Glucose Spikes by Up to 20% Soaking fenugreek seeds overnight and consuming them before meals has been shown across multiple small human trials to reduce fasting glucose and post-meal glucose spikes by 5 to 20 percent. The mechanism is dual — soluble galactomannan fibers slow carbohydrate absorption while bioactive compounds improve insulin receptor sensitivity in muscle and liver. It's a cheap, food-grade, CGM-trackable lever that most people have never tried. Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/fenugreek-glucose-clinical-review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/fenugreek-insulin-sensitivity-trial The First Longevity Supplement to Move Vascular Age Like Exercise A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial out of the University of Surrey found that a multi-ingredient longevity stack targeting NAD metabolism, glycation control, and mitochondrial function improved three independent vascular aging markers simultaneously in healthy adults over 40. Arterial stiffness improved by 1.18 meters per second — equivalent to reversing roughly a decade of age-related decline. Blood pressure dropped 6.1 millimeters of mercury, outperforming aerobic exercise, HIIT, the DASH diet, omega-3s, and magnesium in head-to-head comparisons. Sources: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6241278 https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06145087 https://novoslabs.com/blog/supplements/novos-core-clinical-trial-results-longevity-supplement https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/longevity-supplement-improves-vascular-aging-markers-clinical-trial-novos-magnesium-gi Carbon Monoxide Exposure Is Up 50% in 2026 — And Most People Won't Know Until It's Too Late Maryland state data reported by CBS News shows emergency room and urgent care visits for carbon monoxide exposure jumped from 167 cases in 2025 to 251 so far in 2026 — a nearly 50 percent increase. CO binds to hemoglobin more tightly than oxygen, quietly starving your brain, heart, and muscles while producing symptoms that mimic fatigue, brain fog, and the flu. The CDC estimates more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning every year — and most of them never saw it coming. Sources: https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/friday-march-6-2026 https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/co/default.html https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-monoxide-exposure-maryland-spike-2026 Fat Plus Carbs Around Training May Actually Be the Metabolic Move A 2026 study found that combining fat with a carbohydrate-rich period during or around exercise improves insulin sensitivity and fat oxidation in the recovery phase — directly challenging the long-held "never stack fat and carbs" rule. The mechanism appears to be a mixed-fuel training effect: the liver and muscle learn to manage glucose and fat concurrently when both are present during high metabolic demand. Context changes the calculus, and the workout itself may be the variable that flips the equation. Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/fat-carb-exercise-metabolism-2026 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/fat-carbohydrate-insulin-sensitivity-training All source links are provided for direct access to the original reporting and research. This episode is designed for biohackers, longevity seekers, and high-performance listeners who want mechanism-level clarity on circadian biology, neurodegeneration signals, cognitive training, caffeine strategy, and supplement regulation. Host Dave Asprey connects emerging science, behavioral data, and policy shifts into practical frameworks you can use to build a resilient, adaptable health stack. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Keywords: sleep medication daytime performance, suvorexant alertness, sleep score vs performance, telomere aging myth, bat longevity telomeres, DNA repair aging, fenugreek blood glucose, fenugreek insulin sensitivity, CGM glucose hack, longevity supplement clinical trial, vascular aging markers, arterial stiffness reversal, pulse wave velocity supplement, carbon monoxide poisoning 2026, CO detector home safety, environmental toxin biohacking, fat and carbs exercise, macronutrient timing training, insulin sensitivity workout, metabolic flexibility training, biohacking news, longevity research 2026 Thank you to our sponsors! - The One Device | Use code DAVE for $10 off at theonedevice.com/dave - Screenfit | Get your at-home eye training program for 40% off using code DAVE at https://www.screenfit.com/dave. Resources: • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Get My 2026 Biohacking Trends Report: https://daveasprey.com/2026-biohacking-trends-report/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 00:20 – Trailer 00:57 - Story #1: Sleep Meds & Morning Performance 02:42 - Story #2: Bats & the Telomere Model 04:33 - Story #3: Fenugreek & Glucose Spikes 06:00 - Story #4: Multi-Ingredient Longevity Stack Trial 07:51 - Story #5: Carbon Monoxide: The Silent Threat 09:45 - Story #6: Fat + Carbs Around Exercise 11:25 - Weekly Roundup See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In June 2016, Dawn Rhodes was killed at the family home in Redhill, Surrey. Her husband, carpenter Robert Rhodes, who cut Dawn's throat and claimed self-defence, told the police that she had attacked him. In 2017, a jury at the Old Bailey believed him. He walked free. But in 2021, one of the couple's children disclosed the truth to a therapist…*** LISTENER CAUTION IS ADVISED *** This episode was researched and written by Eileen Macfarlane.Edited by Joel Porter at Dot Dot Dot Productions.Script editing, additional writing, illustrations and production direction by Rosanna FittonNarration, additional audio editing and mixing, and script editing by Benjamin Fitton.To get early ad-free access, including Season 1, sign up for They Walk Among PLUS, available from Patreon or Apple Podcasts.More information and episode references can be found on our website https://theywalkamonguspodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: https://linktr.ee/TheyWalkAmongUsSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/theywalkamongus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supinder Wraich returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to chat all things Allegiance, the wildly popular CBC crime procedural that is both filmed and set in Surrey, British Columbia. Supinder is Sabrina Sohal, a brilliant and empathetic detective in the serious crimes unit of the CFPC who is simultaneously a bright light in her department and a serious threat to anyone who traffics in corruption.There's a lot to love about Allegiance. It's a showcase for Vancouver actors, from veterans like Vincent Gale to Stephen Lobo, to emerging talents like Hudson Williams (yes, Shane Hollander of Heated Rivalry fame). It explores pressing issues like mental illness, addiction, income inequality, xenophobia, and the impact of gang violence on communities and families, without being preachy about any of it. It centres beautifully diverse Surrey as a main character in its own right. Its foundation stone is an intelligent and compassionate women of colour who is at once vulnerable and extremely capable. In short, Allegiance shows us what's possible when we centre hyper-local stories and Canadian talent. Allegiance's third season kicked off in January, and has already served up heart-pounding episodes that touch on drug cartels, serial killers targeting marginalised women, domestic violence, and migrant workers. In this funny and fascinating interview with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Supinder reflects on Sabrina Sohal's journey to date, and also heads down some roads we haven't gone in our previous episodes, namely: the shows that raised us (remember Passions?), what she remembers about working with Hudson Williams in one of his first television roles, and where Sabrina Sohal ends and Supinder Wraich begins. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Surrey couple tried claiming neighbours land with garden gnome US embassy in Oslo hit by explosion, Norway police say Jessie Buckley says acting helped her overcome eating disorder as a teenager How Ive learned that certainty is the thing to really fear Singapore Frosted mirrors and dancers set off a fight over public space How the horror of the Dunblane school shooting changed Britain Trump accuses Starmer of seeking to join wars after weve already won Newspaper headlines Death of a monster and Blair rebukes Starmer PM is standing up for UK interests says Cooper after Trumps Iran criticism War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv US embassy in Oslo hit by explosion, Norway police say Jessie Buckley says acting helped her overcome eating disorder as a teenager War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases How the horror of the Dunblane school shooting changed Britain Surrey couple tried claiming neighbours land with garden gnome Trump accuses Starmer of seeking to join wars after weve already won How Ive learned that certainty is the thing to really fear PM is standing up for UK interests says Cooper after Trumps Iran criticism Singapore Frosted mirrors and dancers set off a fight over public space Newspaper headlines Death of a monster and Blair rebukes Starmer

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Singapore Frosted mirrors and dancers set off a fight over public space Jessie Buckley says acting helped her overcome eating disorder as a teenager How Ive learned that certainty is the thing to really fear How the horror of the Dunblane school shooting changed Britain Newspaper headlines Death of a monster and Blair rebukes Starmer US embassy in Oslo hit by explosion, Norway police say War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases Surrey couple tried claiming neighbours land with garden gnome PM is standing up for UK interests says Cooper after Trumps Iran criticism Trump accuses Starmer of seeking to join wars after weve already won

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Surrey couple tried claiming neighbours land with garden gnome Singapore Frosted mirrors and dancers set off a fight over public space War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases Trump accuses Starmer of seeking to join wars after weve already won PM is standing up for UK interests says Cooper after Trumps Iran criticism US embassy in Oslo hit by explosion, Norway police say How the horror of the Dunblane school shooting changed Britain Jessie Buckley says acting helped her overcome eating disorder as a teenager Newspaper headlines Death of a monster and Blair rebukes Starmer How Ive learned that certainty is the thing to really fear

El caso de Blair Adams es uno de los misterios sin resolver más extraños de los años 90. Blair, un hombre canadiense de 31 años, comenzó a decirle a amigos y familiares que alguien lo estaba persiguiendo y que su vida corría peligro. Poco después retiró todo su dinero del banco, abandonó su hogar en Surrey y viajó hacia Estados Unidos. Días más tarde fue encontrado muerto en un estacionamiento en Knoxville, rodeado de miles de dólares en efectivo y joyas de oro. A pesar de la brutal golpiza que causó su muerte, el dinero quedó en la escena y nunca se identificó a un sospechoso. Hasta hoy, nadie sabe si Blair realmente estaba huyendo de alguien… o de algo que nunca se logró descubrir.#TrueCrime #BlairAdams #ColdCase #UnsolvedMystery #TrueCrimePodcast #MisteriosSinResolver #CrimenReal #PodcastDeMisterio

A great week for Manchester and Newcastle as they both win twice, whilst an undermanned Leicester pulled off a stunning win at Surrey with seven points in 10 seconds to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Dan and Dave look back at all the action.London Lions 71-72 Manchester BasketballManchester Basketball 101-78 Caledonia GladiatorsNewcastle Eagles 108-97 Cheshire PhoenixSurrey 89ers 80-83 Leicester RidersSheffield Sharks 79-73 London LionsBristol Flyers 76-98 Newcastle EaglesCaledonia Gladiators 80-114 Cheshire Phoenix

Lois Miller talks with The Apprentice star Andrea Cooper, fresh after leaving in the show's historic triple firing, to break down the business idea she had for Lord Sugar, what really goes on behind the scenes of the show, and what dynamics were with other cast members.

Baz Richards and Leanne Brown talks with Maria Mclaren, Weybridge Bid Manager about latest business development in Weybridge.

Charlie Cuozzo chats with 90s pop icon Chesney Hawkes about his latest album Living Arrows, an exciting UK Tour coming to London's Bush Hall on Wednesday 18th March and his run to last year's final of Celebrity Big Brother!

Graham Laycock introduces Diana Roberts of Destination Toolkit with the essential guide things to see and do in Surrey and South West London over the coming weeks.

Graham Laycock talks to Sam Wakefiled from the Woking and Sam Beare Hospices about forthccoming fund raising events and how you can support and fund raise forthe hospice. More details at www.wsbh.org.uk

The week's local news for Surrey and South West London with Graham Laycock. More in Surrey Live and in the Times South West London series.

Send a textWelcome to Guilders-Ford Radio, a Necromunda podcast broadcasting from the East Gate Docks of Hive Primus (via Guildford Games Club, Surrey, UK).In episode 40 of Guilders-Ford Radio, the gang are joined by special guest Ray Aherne / @mundastories - Grand Architect of the  Necromunda Terrain Makers Competition 2026.We do a deep dive into Ray's Necromunda journey, discover all the competition details and discuss what we'd like to see for our own category, #VertigointheHive!*As usual, we also discuss the latest Necromunda-adjacent news and our own hobby progress, including Rosco's recent trip to Beachhead, Gaz's progress on the path to enlightenment and the gang's imminent incursion into Darktide.* Spoiler: MAXIMUM FALL DAMAGE.We'd like to take the opportunity to thank all our listeners who have chosen to support us on Patreon & Buzzsprout - your contributions help us make a better show!• Flow • Denny Wright • Stefan Sahlin  • Matt Miler  • Matti Puh  • Nick McVett  •Warhammer in the Dark  •From_Somewhere • Alfonso  • The Traitor • Johnny DeVille • Stephan B • Jeff Nelson • Lankydiceroller • Morskul • Beau  • Justin Clark • Dr.Toe • Mikael Livas • Josh Reynolds • StandStab • ChestDrain • Scott Spieker • Tucker Steel • Shaughn • Stewart Young • Goatincoat  • Jason • Joseph Serrani • Billy  • Phil • Stephen Griffiths  • Søren D • Spruewhisperer • Kevin Fowler • Scott Spieker • Andy Tabor  • TheMichaelNimmo • Tucker Steel  • Dave Shearman  • Shaughn  • Stewart Young •Damien Davis • Wayne Jeffrey   •  Frawgenstein • Matthey Mulcahy   • William Payne •Thomas Laycock • Stephen Livingston • Tyler Anderson • McGobbo • Jed Tearle • Gene Archibald • James Marsden • John Haynes • Ryan Taylor • Yuki van Elzelingen  • Dick Linehan • Rhinoxrifter • Shawn Hall  • Eric McKenzie  • Paul Shaw  • Jenifer • Drew Williams  • Greg Miller • Andy Farrell  • Nate Combrink •  Don Johnson • Michael Yule • Joe Roberts • TheRedWolf • Lukasz Jainski • Aaron Vissers • One Punch Orlock (Tom) • Matt Price • ShnubutsSupport the showHelp us make better content, and download free community resources!www.patreon.com/guildersfordradioAny comments, questions or corrections? We'd love to hear from you! Join the Guilders-Ford Radio community over at;https://linktr.ee/guildersfordradiowww.instagram.com/guildersfordradiowww.facebook.com/guildersfordradioGuildersFordRadio@Gmail.com ** Musical Attribution - Socket Rocker by (Freesound - BaDoink) **

Ahead of International Women's Day, Michelle will be speaking to Fiamma Pather, CEO of Your Sanctuary, to raise awareness of domestic abuse, the vital support their charity provides, and how listeners can access help or support others.

Welcome to "The Overthrow", Powered by Spond, from The Premier League Cricket Club, the show that has no need for results, stats & performances, just a proper chat with those in & around Premier League & NCCA cricket In this show, Livo & Hugh are again joined by top class coach Stuart Barnes who has held senior coaching positions with Warwickshire, Surrey & the England Lions amongst others, to talk about all things 'indoor nets & winter training' for bowlers! Thanks for listening and if you enjoy the show, why not show us some love and leave us a 5-star review on your favourite podcast platform as it helps other potential listeners to find us when they are searching for cricketing podcasts.  And don't forget to follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram on both to join the conversation, share your thoughts, and connect with us & fellow premier league cricket fans. Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠premierleaguecricket.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: @TPLCricketClub You Tube: @TPLCricketClub Twitter: @TPLCricketClub Facebook: @TPLCricketClub Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TPLCricketShow@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lois Miller talks with Channel 4 star Nelly Patel, who tells all about her tumultuous time on the hit show and rollercoaster relationship with Steven, the importance of friendship and self-love.

Baz Richards and Kate Holbey chat with Verity and Violet, singers and performers who blend vintage favourites with modern music seamlessly to provide outstanding performances and private events.

SJ Strum talks with Amanda Barnfield who reveals the secrets behind personal growth, confidence and finding your purpose.  A local mother and coach known for empowering people to move forward with clarity and create meaningful progress; Amanda and SJ discuss what it takes to truly find your purpose and create a thriving business between school runs. 

Graham Laycock introduces Diana Roberts of Destination Toolkit with the essential guide things to see and do in Surrey and South West London over the coming weeks.

Graham Laycock talks to Kerry Gibb from the Woking and Sam Beare Hospices about forthccoming fund raising events and how you can support and fund raise forthe hospice. More details at www.wsbh.org.uk

Beerinder Sidhu, Surrey-based realtor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extortion fears in Surrey severely halts business development (0:44) Beerinder Sidhu, Surrey-based realtor ‘Pawternity leave': the new job perk to attract young workers? (16:29) Rebeka Breder, Animal Rights Lawyer Trump Trade Rep: Any Deal with Canada Will Include Tariffs (25:19) Julian Karaguesian, Lecturer at McGill University's Department of Economics Former Premier Christy Clark talks Pink Shirt Day, and comments on B.C.'s alarming Budget (36:47) Christy Clark, Former Premier of B.C., and spearheaded Pink Shirt Day during her time as a CKNW host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for downloading episode 74 of our podcast!!  Mr & Mrs G return with another fun, honest and authentic episode!!! They start with a run down of upcoming events for the next four months as the year enters 'Swingering Season', and then they chat about some new 'value' sex toys, and a spiritual successor to 'TitMinge' from episode 36, as the fascinating 'MouthMinge' is unwrapped, live on air by Mrs G!!!!! This fun segment is followed up by a serious chat around the dropping of the L-Bomb, all ways around in their polyamorous quad, and how the effects of this have been encountered and managed. All this in their usual lighthearted and fun chat, this is an honest and open account of where they are in their journey into the lifestyle.  You'll feel like you're sat in a hotel bar with long term friends having a sexy discussion!    Mr & Mrs G are heading on a Mediterranean Virgin Voyages cruise in Summer 2026, and they are hosting a group onboard. If you fancy being part of the group and sailing, contact Mrs G at the details below to find out more. Booking with the group would bring access to the pre-cruise chat, a group pre-meet in March 2026, and being part of the lifestyle group on the ship.Contact us at:    Email: '⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@sexlessswingers.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'    X / Twitter: '@sexlessswingers'    FabSwingers - 'The_Sexless_Swingers'    SwingHub - 'TheSexlessSwingersUK' SwingHub Community Page - 'TheSexlessSwingersPodcast'Please note, explicit adult theme of a sexual nature are discussed and this podcast is for 18+ only.    Credit for mentions (please note, ALL products/events discussed on the podcast are purchased at the full advertised price, and so any reviews are fully honest, independent and authentic):    Wanderlust Swingers Mansion Takeover Event - Saturday 18 Apr 2026, Surrey, Englandhttps://wanderlustswingers.com/uk-mansion-takeover/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Intro and exit music via Pixabay - Track: Summer Trip with a Guitar - Artist: Sweet KR 

Day 1,462.Today, as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, we report live from Kyiv the morning after world leaders gathered in the Ukrainian capital to reaffirm their support for President Zelensky. With a new round of Ukraine-Russia-US peace talks scheduled in Geneva and fresh Russian aerial attacks across the country, we ask whether there is any tangible movement – aside from continued Ukrainian advances in the south. We also examine reports that Russia is sending migrants into Europe through covert routes as part of a hybrid strategy, and consider why Kyiv has not been targeted in the air war for several consecutive days. Plus, memories from our correspondents of being in Ukraine when the invasion began, and outrunning the expected Russian blitzkrieg.ContributorsFrancis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.Venetia Rainey (Co-host Battle Lines podcast). @venetiarainey on X.Roland Oliphant (Co-host Battle Lines podcast). @RolandOliphant on X.James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.NOW AVAILABLE IN VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://youtu.be/1fIYPjtdNa8?si=B7tHxw3CxQGAy3OG CONTENT REFERENCED:Four years ago, I outran what I thought was a blitzkrieg. The Russian army has still not caught up (Roland Oliphant in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/24/four-years-ago-i-outran-what-i-thought-was-a-blitzkrieg/Russia sends migrants into Europe through secret tunnels (James Rothwell in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/25/russia-sends-migrants-into-europe-through-secret-tunnels/ Nato will strike ‘deep inside Russia' if Putin hits Baltics (James Rothwell in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/16/nato-air-strikes-deep-in-russia-if-putin-hits-baltics/ Russian whistleblower's sudden death in Surrey ‘needs reinvestigating' (James Rothwell in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/15/russian-whistleblower-sudden-death-needs-reinvestigating-uk/ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:Our weekly newsletter includes maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons, answers your questions, provides recommended reading, and gives exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights.. It's free for everyone, including non-subscribers. Join here – http://telegraph.co.uk/ukrainenewsletter EMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.Subscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samantha Carr chats witth Gary Grant and Matt Roberts from the band Almost There who have a sellout gig this Saturday at Woking FC in the Cardinals Bar, in aid of The York Road Project for the homeless.

Lois Miller talks with UK star Leisha Lightbody who lifts the lid on her rollercoaster time on the hit show, who she's still in touch with, and what life and dating in the public eye looks like now.

We're back with another AFTN Soccer Show packed full of Vancouver Whitecaps, Major League Soccer, and general football chat. The Whitecaps got their 2026 MLS season off to a winning start with a narrow win over Real Salt Lake at the weekend. We pick over the bones of that one and the main talking points coming out of the game, hear some postgame thoughts from RSL's Pablo Mastroeni and Ariath Piol on the match and the Whitecaps, and look ahead to the midweek clash with Cartagines in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We also delve into some Whitecaps off the pitch news from the week around Jesper Sorensen's contract extension, talk of building a training centre and maybe even a new stadium out in Surrey, and look at some of MLS Commissioner Don Garber's latest comments about the Whitecaps stadium situation. Plus we round up the first week's action around MLS West, look at how the battle to be the Canadian number one goalkeeper is playing out down in Florida, and bring you our fun predictions for the Whitecaps and MLS for the season to come. All of this plus we move onto the letter I in our Canadian Soccer A to Z series and music-wise, Syd Barrett continues his residency as our Artist of the Month, A Witness are the latest band to feature in our 40th anniversary tribute year to the C86 movement, and we have another World Cup themed song in Wavelength, this time from the German national team with some interesting singings friends! Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode: 01.26: Intro - CanMNT injuries, online abuse to footballers, Scottish Premier drama 15.50: Canadian Soccer A to Z - I 28.00: Whitecaps beat RSL in MLS season opener 60.05: RSL postgame audio from Pablo Mastroeni and Ariath Piol 70.10: MLS West Week 1 round-up 94.10: Dayne vs Max - The battle to be Canadian number one 110.45: Our Whitecaps and MLS season predictions 149.45: Whitecaps News of the Week - Jesper extends, Surrey stadium chatter, Sabaly arrives, WFC2 coach 171.30: Wavelength - The Village People and the German National Team - Far Away In America

SJ Strum chats with local best selling Surrey based author Becca Day who writes psychological thrillers with 5 chart toppers she's quickly become known for exploring the secrets hidden inside everyday lives. With her new book The Mother Upstairs being released next week. Becca talks about her meteoric rise as a beloved crime writer, how she juggles motherhood and writing and tips to inspire all budding novelists.

In today's episode Jason sits down with Finu Iype, Co-Senior Pastor of Village Church in Surrey, British Columbia, to trace his story from an Indian family line marked by conversion and adoption into the family of God, to his early years preaching in small towns across Ontario, to eventually stepping into senior leadership at Village Church in Surrey. Along the way, Finu shares what he's learned about evangelism, the cost of calling, and the ways God builds His church beyond the influence of any one leader.Together, Finu and Jason explore:Finu's family story, his grandfather's conversion, the societal cost of following Jesus, and the gift of being “adopted” into a new spiritual family,How suffering formed his spirituality through personal illness and the loss of his younger brother,His early ministry years preaching in small-town Ontario and gathering churches to pray, disciple, and reach their communities,The Village Church story, including a prophetic word, a lunch invitation with Mark Clark, and a long discernment process,Leadership transition and resilience: what Village's continued growth says about the faithfulness of God, and the evangelistic opportunities provided by immigration to Canada. Finu's story invites us to live with courage, to hold loosely to our own visions for our lives, and to trust that God is often writing a better story than the one we would choose for ourselves.Show NotesVillage ChurchCity MeetupsThe Emerging Leaders LabPartnersContact John Wright at Generis for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church.We couldn't do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.

Today, we discuss a report in the Sunday Telegraph that Gordon Brown has demanded a police investigation into whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used taxpayer-funded jets and RAF bases to meet the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.The former PM says he's sent a five-page memorandum to the Metropolitan, Surrey, Sussex Thames Valley and other UK police constabularies.Laura and Paddy are joined by Henry Zeffman to discuss why he's turned investigator, what it means for the Royal Family, and whether rules around the line of succession should be changed.Ahead of the Government's Schools White Paper on Monday, we also discuss some of Labour's proposed changes to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, as well as Kemi Badenoch's vow to lower interest on some student loans which she says feel "increasingly feel like a scam".You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXdNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC.The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O'Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Kris Jalowiecki. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The weekend series producer is Chris Flynn. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Baz Richards and Leanne Brown chat with Dylan Lovegrove top comedy hypnotist appearing shortly at The Esher Theatre.

In France, prosecutors in Paris have opened multiple new investigations into suspected crimes connected to late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein following the public release of millions of pages of previously sealed documents by U.S. authorities. Authorities announced two preliminary probes — one focused on alleged sex abuse and human trafficking offenses and the other on potential financial and economic wrongdoing, including money laundering, corruption, and tax fraud — with the goal of examining whether any French nationals or activities in France played a role in Epstein's network. Prosecutors are also encouraging potential victims in France to come forward and are revisiting earlier inquiries, including the case of French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate who was charged with sex crimes but died in custody before trial. The investigations extend to high-profile figures, with probes under way into former culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter for suspected tax fraud linked to Epstein-related financial arrangements, as well as scrutiny of a French diplomat accused of improper conduct based on emails in the released files.In the United Kingdom, police have stepped up inquiries into potential ties between Epstein and activities on British soil as documents released by U.S. authorities shed light on previously unseen details. U.K. law enforcement agencies are examining whether Epstein may have used private flights in and out of UK airports, notably Stansted and Luton, to traffic women — claims prompted by flight logs and passenger lists found in the newly disclosed files. Multiple police forces, including Essex, Thames Valley, Surrey, and the Metropolitan Police, are coordinating through a national group to assess emerging allegations linked to trafficking, immigration irregularities, and connections to British-linked associates, with inquiries involving figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (both of whom have denied wrongdoing). The coordinated effort is part of a broader response to the global revelations from the Epstein files and reflects growing political and legal pressure in Britain to investigate any potential abuses or misconduct tied to Epstein's network.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Paris prosecutors open two new Epstein probes and call on victims to come forwardPolice probe claims Epstein trafficked British victims through Stansted | The Independent

Surrey mayoral candidate says yes Linda Annis, Surrey First city councillor and mayoral candidate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graham Laycock talks to Kerry Bennett from the Woking and Sam Beare Hospices about forthccoming fund raising events and how you can support and fund raise forthe hospice. More details at www.wsbh.org.uk

Ahead of an informal talk about dementia on Monday at 11am at Woking Library organised by West hall Care Home Graham Laycock talks with those involved: Paula Rifai General Manager and Esther from West Hall, Susan Gregory from Turners Oak supporting older homeowners, Jenny Thornton from Right at Home UK homecare assistance and Rachel Brennan, Manager, Adult Carer Support, Action for Carers Surrey.

John Cull with the essential guide things to see and do in Surrey and South West London over the coming weeks compiled by Diana Roberts of Destination Toolkit.

Episode 313 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck drops on a news-heavy day — from Olympic heartbreak to Prince Andrew's arrest to Conservatives jumping ship to the Liberals.Here's what's inside:

In France, prosecutors in Paris have opened multiple new investigations into suspected crimes connected to late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein following the public release of millions of pages of previously sealed documents by U.S. authorities. Authorities announced two preliminary probes — one focused on alleged sex abuse and human trafficking offenses and the other on potential financial and economic wrongdoing, including money laundering, corruption, and tax fraud — with the goal of examining whether any French nationals or activities in France played a role in Epstein's network. Prosecutors are also encouraging potential victims in France to come forward and are revisiting earlier inquiries, including the case of French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate who was charged with sex crimes but died in custody before trial. The investigations extend to high-profile figures, with probes under way into former culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter for suspected tax fraud linked to Epstein-related financial arrangements, as well as scrutiny of a French diplomat accused of improper conduct based on emails in the released files.In the United Kingdom, police have stepped up inquiries into potential ties between Epstein and activities on British soil as documents released by U.S. authorities shed light on previously unseen details. U.K. law enforcement agencies are examining whether Epstein may have used private flights in and out of UK airports, notably Stansted and Luton, to traffic women — claims prompted by flight logs and passenger lists found in the newly disclosed files. Multiple police forces, including Essex, Thames Valley, Surrey, and the Metropolitan Police, are coordinating through a national group to assess emerging allegations linked to trafficking, immigration irregularities, and connections to British-linked associates, with inquiries involving figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (both of whom have denied wrongdoing). The coordinated effort is part of a broader response to the global revelations from the Epstein files and reflects growing political and legal pressure in Britain to investigate any potential abuses or misconduct tied to Epstein's network.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Paris prosecutors open two new Epstein probes and call on victims to come forwardPolice probe claims Epstein trafficked British victims through Stansted | The Independent

In France, prosecutors in Paris have opened multiple new investigations into suspected crimes connected to late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein following the public release of millions of pages of previously sealed documents by U.S. authorities. Authorities announced two preliminary probes — one focused on alleged sex abuse and human trafficking offenses and the other on potential financial and economic wrongdoing, including money laundering, corruption, and tax fraud — with the goal of examining whether any French nationals or activities in France played a role in Epstein's network. Prosecutors are also encouraging potential victims in France to come forward and are revisiting earlier inquiries, including the case of French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate who was charged with sex crimes but died in custody before trial. The investigations extend to high-profile figures, with probes under way into former culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter for suspected tax fraud linked to Epstein-related financial arrangements, as well as scrutiny of a French diplomat accused of improper conduct based on emails in the released files.In the United Kingdom, police have stepped up inquiries into potential ties between Epstein and activities on British soil as documents released by U.S. authorities shed light on previously unseen details. U.K. law enforcement agencies are examining whether Epstein may have used private flights in and out of UK airports, notably Stansted and Luton, to traffic women — claims prompted by flight logs and passenger lists found in the newly disclosed files. Multiple police forces, including Essex, Thames Valley, Surrey, and the Metropolitan Police, are coordinating through a national group to assess emerging allegations linked to trafficking, immigration irregularities, and connections to British-linked associates, with inquiries involving figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (both of whom have denied wrongdoing). The coordinated effort is part of a broader response to the global revelations from the Epstein files and reflects growing political and legal pressure in Britain to investigate any potential abuses or misconduct tied to Epstein's network.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Paris prosecutors open two new Epstein probes and call on victims to come forwardPolice probe claims Epstein trafficked British victims through Stansted | The IndependentBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

In this episode, Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair talk with Cam Roxburgh about his thirty-plus years forming the Neighbourhood Church in greater Vancouver. Cam's story is one of faithful dwelling—listening to the Spirit and discerning what God is doing in the community. The conversation traces Cam's journey as a church leader, marking his shift away from what he calls “the era of projects” towards an approach centered on practices rooted in prayer, discernment and local relationships. He challenges forms of church leadership that prioritise strategy, methods, and quick outcomes - the “just add water and stir” view of the world. Instead, Cam advocates for “doing life with neighbours.” His steadfast commitment to place, despite many obstacles, has borne remarkable fruit: deep community trust, transformed lives, and even a measurable impact on the local economy. Al and Jenny explore how God has used Cam's long, patient journey to bring into being things no one could ever have imagined - a testament to his persistent patience and passionate desire to hear the Spirit even in the midst of real discouragement.Cam Roxburgh is Team Leader of The Neighbourhood Church in Burnaby, Vancouver. Here, he has been instrumental in transforming church property into a major affordable housing and community amenity development. He also leads Forge Canada and is Vice President of Missional Initiatives for the North American Baptists. Cam is driven by a love for the church and a desire to see people fulfil a Jesus-shaped life as disciples dwelling in their neighbourhoods. Cam is also co-founder and co-leader of the Commons Cooperative, a transatlantic group of pioneers and practitioners across denominations who have come together to “join in with God to form communities of hope” in the places people call home. Cam and his wife Shelley live in Surrey, British Columbia.For Cam Roxburgh:http://www.southside.ca/https://forgeca.wordpress.com/https://www.thecommonscooperative.com/abouthttps://churchforvancouver.ca/burnaby-church-plans-45-storey-project-in-partnership-with-bc-builds/For Alan J Roxburgh:http://alanroxburgh.com/aboutFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.roxburgh.127/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonsnetworkBooksForming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling: Leadership in a Changing World (with Roy Searle)Practices for the Refounding of God's People: The Missional Challenge of the West (with Martin Robinson)Joining God in the Great UnravelingLeadership, God's Agency and DisruptionsJoining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our TimeFor Jenny Sinclair:Substack https://t4cg.substack.com/s/from-jenny-sinclairWebsite: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclairLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/Twitter: https://x.com/T4CG Get full access to Leaving Egypt at leavingegyptpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In France, prosecutors in Paris have opened multiple new investigations into suspected crimes connected to late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein following the public release of millions of pages of previously sealed documents by U.S. authorities. Authorities announced two preliminary probes — one focused on alleged sex abuse and human trafficking offenses and the other on potential financial and economic wrongdoing, including money laundering, corruption, and tax fraud — with the goal of examining whether any French nationals or activities in France played a role in Epstein's network. Prosecutors are also encouraging potential victims in France to come forward and are revisiting earlier inquiries, including the case of French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate who was charged with sex crimes but died in custody before trial. The investigations extend to high-profile figures, with probes under way into former culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter for suspected tax fraud linked to Epstein-related financial arrangements, as well as scrutiny of a French diplomat accused of improper conduct based on emails in the released files.In the United Kingdom, police have stepped up inquiries into potential ties between Epstein and activities on British soil as documents released by U.S. authorities shed light on previously unseen details. U.K. law enforcement agencies are examining whether Epstein may have used private flights in and out of UK airports, notably Stansted and Luton, to traffic women — claims prompted by flight logs and passenger lists found in the newly disclosed files. Multiple police forces, including Essex, Thames Valley, Surrey, and the Metropolitan Police, are coordinating through a national group to assess emerging allegations linked to trafficking, immigration irregularities, and connections to British-linked associates, with inquiries involving figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (both of whom have denied wrongdoing). The coordinated effort is part of a broader response to the global revelations from the Epstein files and reflects growing political and legal pressure in Britain to investigate any potential abuses or misconduct tied to Epstein's network.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Paris prosecutors open two new Epstein probes and call on victims to come forwardPolice probe claims Epstein trafficked British victims through Stansted | The IndependentBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Surrey, BC has already recorded 51 extortions this year. 11 of them ended with shots fired. That might sound surprising until you realise last year there were 133 cases, and 49 related shootings. So what's actually driving this? And how is it possible that after more than a year of this, no level of government (municipal, provincial, federal) and no police force has managed to get it under control? Host Noor speaks with former MP Jinny Sims, who was targeted in these campaigns, and Wade Deisman, a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley.Host: Noor AzriehCredits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Host/Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)Guests: Jinny Sims, Wade DeismanBackground reading:B.C. politicians call on federal government to get tough on extortion crisis – CBC NewsProtest held against extortion wave in Surrey as 3 foreign nationals charged – CBC NewsShots fired at Surrey radio station believed to be extortion-related – Global NewsExtortion is disrupting B.C. lives and businesses. And there's no end in sight – Vancouver SunExtortion Theatre: Sikh Politicians, Party Scripts, & The Refusal To Name India – Baaz NewsSponsors: Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz mobile and its long list of added-value features and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off and 10GB of free data.Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today at douglas.ca/canadalandEveryone is still finding their way. Find yours and feel lighter. Sign up and get 10% off at Better Help.We have a monthly supporter-exclusive show, Off The Record, where our very own Sam Konnert gets to talk to YOU, fine listeners. We asked you to call in and share interesting stories happening from across the country, and you all delivered, so make sure to tune in to that this Thursday.If you want to hear that (or if you want to catch up on all the great episodes of Off The Record you may have missed!) become a supporter at canadaland.com/join.If you value this podcast, Support us! You'll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You'll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you'll be a part of the solution to Canada's journalism crisis, you'll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

L'impact de la politique de Donald Trump s'étend sur les États européens. En Grèce, un bras de fer est en marche entre les États et la Chine pour mettre la main sur les infrastructures portuaires alors que le port du Pirée est sous contrôle chinois depuis 2016. Bras de fer en Méditerranée entre Américains et Chinois Donald Trump a lui jeté son dévolu sur la petite ville d'Eleusis et son port, dans la banlieue industrielle d'Athènes, qui est devenu un point stratégique dans la guerre commerciale entre la Chine est les États-Unis. Les États-Unis ont, en effet, obtenu l'autorisation du Parlement grec pour y développer les activités portuaires et le chantier naval. Le reportage de notre correspondante Emmanuelle Steels.   Un Européen sur 5 juge qu'une guerre directe avec les États-Unis est probable La vision des États-Unis a profondément changé pour les Européens depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir de Donald Trump. C'est ce que démontre un vaste sondage intitulé « le moment Groenland » mené dans 7 pays européens par l'institut Cluster 17 et la revue Le Grand Continent. Ce sondage révèle une rupture sans précédent dans la perception que les Européens ont des États-Unis : l'hypothèse d'une guerre directe avec Washington est désormais clairement exprimée par un Européen sur 5 alors que la politique impériale de Donald Trump est en train de restructurer l'espace politique européen. Jean-Yves Dormagen, professeur de Sciences politiques à l'Université de Montpellier et président de l'institut de sondage Cluster17 est au micro de Frédérique Lebel.   L'agriculture anglaise nostalgique de l'avant-Brexit Les agriculteurs britanniques ont voté en majorité en faveur du Brexit il y a 6 ans. Que ressentent-ils aujourd'hui alors qu'ils ne bénéficient plus de la politique agricole commune (PAC) et des aides européennes ? Quelles conséquences pour eux alors que les promesses du gouvernement britannique ne semblent plus qu'un vague souvenir ? Marie Billon est allée à leur rencontre dans le Surrey, au sud-est de l'Angleterre.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the debut Bat for Lashes album, Fur and Gold, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Natasha Khan had grown up in Hertfordshire, England and studied art at the University of Brighton. After graduating, she taught as a schoolteacher while writing songs and performing as Bat for Lashes. Her manager, Dick O'Dell, got her a publishing deal and connected her with producer David Kosten to work on some demos. The first Bat for Lashes single, “The Wizard” was released on her own label in early 2006. After signing with Echo, Natasha and David began working on a full-length album together at Jacobs studio in the Surrey countryside. They brought in other musicians, including Abi Fry and Caroline Weeks, who had been playing as a group with Natasha at this time. Fur and Gold was eventually released in 2006. In this episode, Natasha Khan and David Kosten have an in-depth conversation where they revisit their initial collaboration that continued long after this record. David shares how he was first asked to co-write with Natasha until he realized she had no interest in co-writing and already had a fully formed vision for this album. Natasha describes wanting to create the world of the album and use unconventional recording techniques, such as recording in a forest and under blankets, to try to achieve the sound she had imagined. Even though Natasha had a fondness for lo-fi MIDI sounds, she worked with David to craft a unique hybrid of well-recorded acoustic instruments with lower quality digital components. The result was the Mercury Prize-nominated Fur and Gold, which launched Natasha's music into the world. From a cinematic approach of method acting and practical effects, to a shared love of girl groups, to David finding a CD-R meant for another producer, to a memorable tour with Devendra Banhart, to taking inspiration from contemporaries Cat Power, Joanna Newsom and Gwen Stefani, to being averse to anything trip-hop, to having high standards and holding the vision, we'll hear the stories around how the album came together.

We can't avoid the files so it gets a little dark but we also get into the esoteric and fringe aspect of the latest batch of files.   We also get into the global coup. Agenda 2030, Democracy inevitable falls, Socrates and Democracy, pushback against Alberta separation, the presidential malfunctioning mask, Rabbi's in Jersey way back - when corruption actually seemed to get addressed, the NGO / BC Gov / Resource problem in Canada. The circle jerk is real. Does Canada want to lock away jab injuries?   Surrey in trouble and the risks of immigration from 1988 in Canada....   To gain access to the second half of show and our Plus feed for audio and podcast please clink the link http://www.grimericaoutlawed.ca/support.   For second half of video (when applicable and audio) go to our Substack and Subscribe. https://grimericaoutlawed.substack.com/ or to our Locals  https://grimericaoutlawed.locals.com/ or Rokfin www.Rokfin.com/Grimerica Patreon https://www.patreon.com/grimericaoutlawed   Support the show directly: https://open.spotify.com/show/2punSyd9Cw76ZtvHxMKenI?si=ImKxfMHgQZ-oshl499O4dQ&nd=1&dlsi=4c25fa9c78674de3 Watch or Listen on Spotify https://grimericacbd.com/ CBD / THC Tinctures and Gummies https://grimerica.ca/support-2/ Our Adultbrain Audiobook Podcast and Website: www.adultbrain.ca Our Audiobook Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@adultbrainaudiobookpublishing/videos Check out our next trip/conference/meetup - Contact at the Cabin www.contactatthecabin.com Other affiliated shows: www.grimerica.ca The OG Grimerica Show Join the chat / hangout with a bunch of fellow Grimericans  Https://t.me.grimerica grimerica.ca/chats   Discord Chats Darren's book www.acanadianshame.ca Eh-List Podcast and site: https://eh-list.ca/ Eh-List YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEh-List www.Rokfin.com/Grimerica Our channel on free speech Rokfin Leave a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/grimerica-outlawed http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/grimerica-outlawed Sign up for our newsletter http://www.grimerica.ca/news SPAM Graham = and send him your synchronicities, feedback, strange experiences and psychedelic trip reports!! graham@grimerica.com InstaGRAM https://www.instagram.com/the_grimerica_show_podcast/  Purchase swag, with partial proceeds donated to the show www.grimerica.ca/swag Send us a postcard or letter http://www.grimerica.ca/contact/ ART - Napolean Duheme's site http://www.lostbreadcomic.com/  MUSIC Tru Northperception, Felix's Site sirfelix.bandcamp.com    See links to the stuff we chatted about: https://x.com/realalexjones/status/2018841058864497043?s=43 https://x.com/byzgeneral/status/2018365991059677453?s=43 https://x.com/TruthFairy131/status/2018135807115288784/photo/1 https://x.com/tpvsean/status/2018407958091010116?s=43 https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/2017912289022685327/photo/1 https://x.com/redpillb0t/status/2015951647768555748?s=43 https://x.com/liz_churchill10/status/2018153242782298147?s=43 https://x.com/Heatherc_77/status/2017876540030378153/photo/4 https://x.com/mrsroykeaneo/status/2018243580062564846?s=43 https://x.com/iluminatibot/status/2018565139944112408?s=43 https://x.com/redpillb0t/status/2018385819753713960?s=43 https://x.com/interstellaruap/status/2018157915773792580?s=43 https://www.westernstandard.news/news/health-canada-seals-vaccine-injury-records-for-15-years/70851 https://peaceandquiet.io/ https://x.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1990395227547316324 https://x.com/brandoincognito/status/2018485979921760479?s=43 https://x.com/drawandstrike/status/2018388947353940431?s=43 https://x.com/conspiracyb0t/status/2015878928548983222?s=43 https://x.com/redpillb0t/status/2018157639033925836 https://x.com/info_maiden/status/2018765651935216016?s=20 https://x.com/AFpost/status/2017706377196802340?s=20 https://x.com/AshtonForbes/status/2017473370724372610?s=20 https://x.com/GubbaHomestead/status/2018753205673636241?s=20 https://x.com/KEriksenV2/status/2018722390029832497?s=20 https://x.com/NickHintonn/status/2018182480554275270?s=20 https://x.com/JasonLavigneAB/status/2017793593977794769?s=20 https://x.com/TheReclamare/status/2017630774162321654?s=20 https://x.com/StephenM/status/2017618266290577851?s=20 https://x.com/cosminDZS/status/2016980514922778851?s=20 https://x.com/MAVERIC68078049/status/2016568235546857656?s=20 https://x.com/MJTruthUltra/status/2016717631655432368?s=20 https://x.com/Tablesalt13/status/2016217393517781327?s=20 https://x.com/hollyanndoan/status/2016114548302840137?s=20 https://x.com/SatireSquadHQ/status/2011142499620835528?s=20 https://x.com/ezralevant/status/2011435466034184479?s=20

How can indie authors raise their game through academic-style rigour? How might AI tools fit into a thoughtful research process without replacing the joy of discovery? Melissa Addey explores the intersection of scholarly discipline, creative writing, and the practical realities of building an author career. In the intro, mystery and thriller tropes [Wish I'd Known Then]; The differences between trad and indie in 2026 [Productive Indie Fiction Writer]; Five phases of an author business [Becca Syme]; Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn; Today's show is sponsored by Bookfunnel, the essential tool for your author business. Whether it's delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all. Check it out at bookfunnel.com/thecreativepenn This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Melissa Addey is an award-winning historical fiction author with a PhD in creative writing from the University of Surrey. She was the Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library, and now works as campaigns lead for the Alliance of Independent Authors. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Making the leap from a corporate career to full-time writing with a young family Why Melissa pursued a PhD in creative writing and how it fuelled her author business What indie authors can learn from academic rigour when researching historical fiction The problems with academic publishing—pricing, accessibility, and creative restrictions Organising research notes, avoiding accidental plagiarism, and knowing when to stop researching Using AI tools effectively as part of the research process without losing your unique voice You can find Melissa at MelissaAddey.com. Transcript of the interview with Melissa Addey JOANNA: Melissa Addey is an award-winning historical fiction author with a PhD in creative writing from the University of Surrey. She was the Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library, and now works as campaigns lead for the Alliance of Independent Authors. Welcome back to the show, Melissa. MELISSA: Hello. Thank you for having me. JOANNA: It's great to have you back. You were on almost a decade ago, in December 2016, talking about merchandising for authors. That is really a long time ago. So tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and self-publishing. MELISSA: I had a regular job in business and I was writing on the side. I did a couple of writing courses, and then I started trying to get published, and that took seven years of jumping through hoops. There didn't seem to be much progress. At some point, I very nearly had a small publisher, but we clashed over the cover because there was a really quite hideous suggestion that was not going to work. I think by that point I was really tired of jumping through hoops, really trying to play the game traditional publishing-wise. I just went, you know what? I've had enough now. I've done everything that was asked of me and it's still not working. I'll just go my own way. I think at the time that would've been 2015-ish. Suddenly, self-publishing was around more. I could see people and hear people talking about it, and I thought, okay, let's read everything there is to know about this. I had a little baby at the time and I would literally print off stuff during the day to read—probably loads of your stuff—and read it at two o'clock in the morning breastfeeding babies. Then I'd go, okay, I think I understand that bit now, I'll understand the next bit, and so on. So I got into self-publishing and I really, really enjoyed it. I've been doing it ever since. I'm now up to 20 books in the last 10 or 11 years. As you say, I did the creative writing PhD along the way, working with ALLi and doing workshops for others—mixing and matching lots of different things. I really enjoy it. JOANNA: You mentioned you had a job before in business. Are you full-time in all these roles that you're doing now, or do you still have that job? MELISSA: No, I'm full-time now. I only do writing-related things. I left that in 2015, so I took a jump. I was on maternity leave and I started applying for jobs to go back to, and I suddenly felt like, oh, I really don't want to. I want to do the writing. I thought, I've got about one year's worth of savings. I could try and do the jump. I remember saying to my husband, “Do you think it would be possible if I tried to do the jump? Would that be okay?” There was this very long pause while he thought about it. But the longer the pause went on, the more I was thinking, ooh, he didn't say no, that is out of the question, financially we can't do that. I thought, ooh, it's going to work. So I did the jump. JOANNA: That's great. I did something similar and took a massive pay cut and downsized and everything back in the day. Having a supportive partner is so important. The other thing I did—and I wonder if you did too—I said to Jonathan, my husband, if within a year this is not going in a positive direction, then I'll get another job. How long did you think you would leave it before you just gave up? And how did that go? Because that beginning is so difficult, especially with a new baby. MELISSA: I thought, well, I'm at home anyway, so I do have more time than if I was in a full-time job. The baby sleeps sometimes—if you're lucky—so there are little gaps where you could really get into it. I had a year of savings/maternity pay going on, so I thought I've got a year. And the funny thing that happened was within a few months, I went back to my husband and I was like, I don't understand. I said, all these doors are opening—they weren't massive, but they were doors opening. I said, but I've wanted to be a writer for a long time and none of these doors have opened before. He said, “Well, it's because you really committed. It's because you jumped. And when you jump, sometimes the universe is on board and goes, yes, all right then, and opens some doors for you.” It really felt like that. Even little things—like Writing Magazine gave me a little slot to do an online writer-in-residence thing. Just little doors opened that felt like you were getting a nod, like, yes, come on then, try. Then the PhD was part of that. I applied to do that and it came with a studentship, which meant I had three years of funding coming in. That was one of the biggest creative gifts that's ever been given to me—three years of knowing you've got enough money coming in that you can just try and make it work. By the time that finished, the royalties had taken over from the studentship. That was such a gift. JOANNA: A couple of things there. I've got to ask about that funding. You're saying it was a gift, but that money didn't just magically appear. You worked really hard to get that funding, I presume. MELISSA: I did, yes. You do have to do the work for it, just to be clear. My sister had done a PhD in an entirely different subject. She said, “You should do a PhD in creative writing.” I said, “That'd be ridiculous. Nobody is going to fund that. Who's going to fund that?” She said, “Oh, they might. Try.” So I tried, and the deadline was something stupid like two weeks away. I tried and I got shortlisted, but I didn't get it. I thought, ah, but I got shortlisted with only two weeks to try. I'll try again next year then. So then I tried again the next year and that's when I got it. It does take work. You have to put in quite a lot of effort to make your case. But it's a very joyful thing if you get one. JOANNA: So let's go to the bigger question: why do a PhD in creative writing? Let's be clear to everyone—you don't need even a bachelor's degree to be a successful author. Stephen King is a great example of someone who isn't particularly educated in terms of degrees. He talks about writing his first book while working at a laundry. You can be very successful with no formal education. So why did you want to do a PhD? What drew you to academic research? MELISSA: Absolutely. I would briefly say, I often meet people who feel they must do a qualification before they're allowed to write. I say, do it if you'd like to, but you don't have to. You could just practise the writing. I fully agree with that. It was a combination of things. I do actually like studying. I do actually enjoy the research—that's why I do historical research. I like that kind of work. So that's one element. Another element was the funding. I thought, if I get that funding, I've got three years to build up a back catalogue of books, to build up the writing. It will give me more time. So that was a very practical financial issue. Also, children. My children were very little. I had a three-year-old and a baby, and everybody went, “Are you insane? Doing a PhD with a three-year-old and a baby?” But the thing about three-year-olds and babies is they're quite intellectually boring. Emotionally, very engaging—on a number of levels, good, bad, whatever—but they're not very intellectually stimulating. You're at home all day with two small children who think that hide and seek is the highlight of intellectual difficulty because they've hidden behind the curtains and they're shuffling and giggling. I felt I needed something else. I needed something for me that would be interesting. I've always enjoyed passing on knowledge. I've always enjoyed teaching people, workshops, in whatever field I was in. I thought, if I want to do that for writing at some point, it will sound more important if I've done a PhD. Not that you need that to explain how to do writing to someone if you do a lot of writing. But there were all these different elements that came together. JOANNA: So to summarise: you enjoy the research, it's an intellectual challenge, you've got the funding, and there is something around authority. In terms of a PhD—and just for listeners, I'm doing a master's at the moment in death, religion, and culture. MELISSA: Your topic sounds fascinating. JOANNA: It is interesting because, same as you, I enjoy research. Both of us love research as part of our fiction process and our nonfiction. I'm also enjoying the intellectual challenge, and I've also considered this idea of authority in an age of AI when it is increasingly easy to generate books—let's just say it, it's easy to generate books. So I was like, well, how do I look at this in a more authoritative way? I wanted to talk to you because even just a few months back into it—and I haven't done an academic qualification for like two decades—it struck me that the academic rigour is so different. What lessons can indie authors learn from this kind of academic rigour? What do you think of in terms of the rigour and what can we learn? MELISSA: I think there are a number of things. First of all, really making sure that you are going to the quality sources for things—the original sources, the high-quality versions of things. Not secondhand, but going back to those primary sources. Not “somebody said that somebody said something.” Well, let's go back to the original. Have a look at that, because you get a lot from that. I think you immerse yourself more deeply. Someone can tell you, “This is how they spoke in the 1800s.” If you go and read something that was written in the 1800s, you get a better sense of that than just reading a dictionary of slang that's been collated for you by somebody else. So I think that immerses you more deeply. Really sticking with that till you've found interesting things that spark creativity in you. I've seen people say, “I used to do all the historical research. Nowadays I just fact-check. I write what I want to write and I fact-check.” I think, well, that's okay, but you won't find the weird little things. I tend to call it “the footnotes of history.” You won't find the weird little things that really make something come alive, that really make a time and a place come alive. I've got a scene in one of my Regency romances—which actually I think are less full of historical emphasis than some of my other work—where a man gives a woman a gift. It's supposed to be a romantic gift and maybe slightly sensual. He could have given her a fan and I could have fact-checked and gone, “Are there fans? Yes, there are fans. Do they have pretty romantic poems on them? Yes, they do. Okay, that'll do.” Actually, if you go round and do more research than that, you discover they had things like ribbons that held up your stockings, on which they wrote quite smutty things in embroidery. That's a much more sexy and interesting gift to give in that scene. But you don't find that unless you go doing a bit of research. If I just fact-check, I'm not going to find that because it would never have occurred to me to fact-check it in the first place. JOANNA: I totally agree with you. One of the wonderful things about research—and I also like going to places—is you might be somewhere and see something that gives you an idea you never, ever would have found in a book or any other way. I used to call it “the serendipity of the stacks” in the physical library. You go looking for a particular book and then you're in that part of the shelf and you find several other books that you never would have looked for. I think it's encouraging people, as you're saying, but I also think you have to love it. MELISSA: Yes. I think some people find it a bit of a grind, or they're frightened by it and they think, “Have I done enough?” JOANNA: Mm-hmm. MELISSA: I get asked that a lot when I talk about writing historical fiction. People go, “But when do I stop? How do I know it's enough? How do I know there wasn't another book that would have been the book? Everyone will go, ‘Oh, how did you not read such-and-such?'” I always say there are two ways of finding out when you can stop. One is when you get to the bibliographies, you look through and you go, “Yep, read that, read that, read that. Nah, I know that one's not really what I wanted.” You're familiar with those bibliographies in a way that at the beginning you're not. At the beginning, every single bibliography, you haven't read any of it. So that's quite a good way of knowing when to stop. The other way is: can you write ordinary, everyday life? I don't start writing a book till I can write everyday life in that historical era without notes. I will obviously have notes if I'm doing a wedding or a funeral or a really specific battle or something. Everyday life, I need to be able to just write that out of my own head. You need to be confident enough to do that. JOANNA: One of the other problems I've heard from academics—people who've really come out of academia and want to write something more pop, even if it's pop nonfiction or fiction—they're also really struggling. It is a different game, isn't it? For people who might be immersed in academia, how can they release themselves into doing something like self-publishing? Because there's still a lot of stigma within academia. MELISSA: You're going to get me on the academic publishing rant now. I think academic publishing is horrendous. Academics are very badly treated. I know quite a lot of academics and they have to do all the work. Nobody's helping them with indexing or anything like that. The publisher will say things like, “Well, could you just cut 10,000 words out of that?” Just because of size. Out of somebody's argument that they're making over a whole work. No consideration for that. The royalties are basically zilch. I've seen people's royalty statements come in, and the way they price the books is insane. They'll price a book at 70 pounds. I actually want that book for my research and I'm hesitating because I can't be buying all of them at that price. That's ridiculous. I've got people who are friends or family who bring out a book, and I'm like, well, I would gladly buy your book and read it. It's priced crazy. It's priced only for institutions. I think actually, if academia was written a little more clearly and open to the lay person—which if you are good at your work, you should be able to do—and priced a bit more in line with other books, that would maybe open up people to reading more academia. You wouldn't have to make it “pop” as you say. I quite like pop nonfiction. But I don't think there would have to be such a gulf between those two. I think you could make academic work more readable generally. I read someone's thesis recently and they'd made a point at the beginning of saying—I can't remember who it was—that so-and-so academic's point of view was that it should be readable and they should be writing accordingly. I thought, wow, I really admired her for doing that. Next time I'm doing something like that, I should be putting that at the front as well. But the fact that she had to explain that at the beginning… It wasn't like words of one syllable throughout the whole thing. I thought it was a very quality piece of writing, but it was perfectly readable to someone who didn't know about the topic. JOANNA: I might have to get that name from you because I've got an essay on the Philosophy of Death. And as you can imagine, there's a heck of a lot of big words. MELISSA: I know. I've done a PhD, but I still used to tense up a little bit thinking they're going to pounce on me. They're going to say that I didn't talk academic enough, I didn't sound fancy enough. That's not what it should be about, really. In a way, you are locking people out of knowledge, and given that most academics are paid for by public funds, that knowledge really ought to be a little more publicly accessible. JOANNA: I agree on the book price. I'm also buying books for my course that aren't in the library. Some of them might be 70 pounds for the ebook, let alone the print book. What that means is that I end up looking for secondhand books, when of course the money doesn't go to the author or the publisher. The other thing that happens is it encourages piracy. There are people who openly talk about using pirate sites for academic works because it's just too expensive. If I'm buying 20 books for my home library, I can't be spending that kind of money. Why is it so bad? Why is it not being reinvented, especially as we have done with indie authors for the wider genres? Has this at all moved into academia? MELISSA: I think within academia there's a fear because there's the peer reviews and it must be proven to be absolutely correct and agreed upon by everybody. I get that. You don't want some complete rubbish in there. I do think there's space to come up with a different system where you could say, “So-and-so is professor of whatever at such-and-such a university. I imagine what they have to say might be interesting and well-researched.” You could have some sort of kite mark. You could have something that then allows for self-publishing to take over a bit. I do just think their system is really, really poor. They get really reined in on what they're allowed to write about. Alison Baverstock, who is a professor now at Kingston University and does stuff about publishing and master's programmes, started writing about self-publishing because she thought it was really interesting. This was way back. JOANNA: I remember. I did one of those surveys. MELISSA: She got told in no uncertain terms, “Do not write about this. You will ruin your career.” She stuck with it. She was right to stick with it. But she was told by senior academics, “Do not write about self-publishing. You're just embarrassing yourself. It's just vanity press.” They weren't even being allowed to write about really quite interesting phenomena that were happening. Just from a historical point of view, that was a really interesting rise of self-publishing, and she was being told not to write about it. JOANNA: It's funny, that delay as well. I'm looking to maybe do my thesis on how AI is impacting death and the death industry. And yet it's such a fast-moving thing. MELISSA: Yes. JOANNA: Sometimes it can take a year, two years or more to get a paper through the process. MELISSA: Oh, yes. It moves really, really fast. Like you say, by the time it comes out, people are going, “Huh? That's really old.” And you'll be going, “No, it's literally two years.” But yes, very, very slow. JOANNA: Let's come back to how we can help other people who might not want to be doing academic-level stuff. One of the things I've found is organising notes, sources, references. How do you manage that? Any tips for people? They might not need to do footnotes for their historical novel, but they might want to organise their research. What are your thoughts? MELISSA: I used to do great big enormous box files and print vast quantities of stuff. Each box file would be labelled according to servant life, or food, or seasons, or whatever. I've tried various different things. I'm moving more and more now towards a combination of books on the shelf, which I do like, and papers and other materials that are stored on my computer. They'll be classified according to different parts of daily life, essentially. Because when you write historical fiction, you have to basically build the whole world again for that era. You have to have everything that happens in daily life, everything that happens on special events, all of those things. So I'll have it organised by those sorts of topics. I'll read it and go through it until I'm comfortable with daily life. Then special things—I'll have special notes on that that can talk me through how you run a funeral or a wedding or whatever, because that's quite complicated to just remember in your head. MELISSA: I always do historical notes at the end. They really matter to me. When I read historical fiction, I really like to read that from the author. I'll say, “Right, these things are true”—especially things that I think people will go, “She made that up. That is not true.” I'll go, “No, no, these are true.” These other things I've fudged a little, or I've moved the timeline a bit to make the story work better. I try to be fairly clear about what I did to make it into a story, but also what is accurate, because I want people to get excited about that timeline. Occasionally if there's been a book that was really important, I'll mention it in there because I don't want to have a proper bibliography, but I do want to highlight certain books. If you got excited by this novel, you could go off and read that book and it would take you into the nonfiction side of it. JOANNA: I'm similar with my author's notes. I've just done the author's note for Bones of the Deep, which has some merfolk in it, and I've got a book on Merpeople. It's awesome. It's just a brilliant book. I'm like, this has to go in. You could question whether that is really nonfiction or something else. But I think that's really important. Just to be more practical: when you're actually writing, what tools do you use? I use Scrivener and I keep all my research there. I'm using EndNote for academic stuff. MELISSA: I've always just stuck to Word. I did get Scrivener and played with it for a while, but I felt like I've already got a way of doing it, so I'll just carry on with that. So I mostly just do Word. I have a lot of notes, so I'll have notepads that have got my notes on specific things, and they'll have page numbers that go back to specific books in case I need to go and double-check that again. You mentioned citations, and that's fascinating to me. Do you know the story about Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner? It won the Pulitzer. It's a novel, but he used 10% of that novel—and it's a fairly slim novel—10% of it is actually letters written by somebody else, written by a woman before his time. He includes those and works with them in the story. He mentioned her very briefly, like, “Oh, and thanks to the relatives of so-and-so.” Very brief. He got accused of plagiarism for using that much of it by another part of her family who hadn't agreed to it. I've always thought it's because he didn't give enough credence to her. He didn't give her enough importance. If he'd said, “This was the woman who wrote this stuff. It's fascinating. I loved it. I wanted to creatively respond and engage with it”—I think that wouldn't have happened at all. That's why I think it's quite important when there are really big, important elements that you're using to acknowledge those. JOANNA: That's part of the academic rigour too— You can barely have a few of your own thoughts without referring to somebody else's work and crediting them. What's so interesting to me in the research process is, okay, I think this, but in order to say it, I'm going to have to go find someone else who thought this first and wrote a paper on it. MELISSA: I think you would love a PhD. When you've done a master's, go and do a PhD as well. Because it was the first time in academia that I genuinely felt I was allowed my own thoughts and to invent stuff of my own. I could go, “Oh no, I've invented this theory and it's this.” I didn't have to constantly go, “As somebody else said, as somebody else said.” I was like, no, no. This is me. I said this thing. I wasn't allowed to in my master's, and I found it annoying. I remember thinking, but I'm trying to have original thoughts here. I'm trying to bring something new to it. In a PhD, you're allowed to do that because you're supposed to be contributing to knowledge. You're supposed to be bringing a new thing into the world. That was a glorious thing to finally be allowed to do. JOANNA: I must say I couldn't help myself with that. I've definitely put my own opinion. But a part of why I mention it is the academic rigour—it's actually quite good practice to see who else has had these thoughts before. Speed is one of the biggest issues in the indie author community. Some of the stuff you were talking about—finding original sources, going to primary sources, the top-quality stuff, finding the weird little things—all of that takes more time than, for example, just running a deep research report on Gemini or Claude or ChatGPT. You can do both. You can use that as a starting point, which I definitely do. But then the point is to go back and read the original stuff. On this timeframe— Why do you think research is worth doing? It's important for academic reasons, but personal growth as well. MELISSA: Yes, I think there's a joy to be had in the research. When I go and stand in a location, by that point I'm not measuring things and taking photos—I've done all of that online. I'm literally standing there feeling what it is to be there. What does it smell like? What does it feel like? Does it feel very enclosed or very open? Is it a peaceful place or a horrible place? That sensory research becomes very important. All of the book research before that should lead you into the sensory research, which is then also a joy to do. There's great pleasure in it. As you say, it slows things down. What I tend to say to people if they want to speed things up again is: write in a series. Because once you've done all of that research and you just write one book and then walk away, that's a lot. That really slows you down. If you then go, “Okay, well now I'm going to write four books, five books, six books, still in that place and time”—obviously each book will need a little more research, but it won't need that level of starting-from-scratch research. That can help in terms of speeding it back up again. Recently I wrote some Regency romances to see what that was like. I'd done all my basic research, and then I thought, right, now I want to write a historical novel which could have been Victorian or could have been Regency. It had an openness to it. I thought, well, I've just done all the research for Regency, so I'll stick with that era. Why go and do a whole other piece of research when I've only written three books in it so far? I'll just take that era and work with that. So there are places to make up the time again a bit. But I do think there's a joy in it as well. JOANNA: I just want to come back to the plagiarism thing. I discovered that you can plagiarise yourself in academia, which is quite interesting. For example, my books How to Write a Novel and How to Write Nonfiction—they're aimed at different audiences. They have lots of chapters that are different, but there's a chapter on dictation. I thought, why would I need to write the same chapter again? I'm just going to put the same chapter in. It's the same process. Then I only recently learned that you can plagiarise yourself. I did not credit myself for that original chapter. MELISSA: How dare you not credit yourself! JOANNA: But can you talk a bit about that? Where are the lines here? I'm never going to credit myself. I think that's frankly ridiculous. MELISSA: No, that's silly. I mean, it depends what you're doing. In your case, that completely makes sense. It would be really peculiar of you to sit down and write a whole new chapter desperately trying not to copy what you'd said in a chapter about exactly the same topic. That doesn't make any sense. JOANNA: I guess more in the wider sense. Earlier you mentioned you keep notes and you put page numbers by them. I think the point is with research, a lot of people worry about accidental plagiarism. You write a load of notes on a book and then it just goes into your brain. Perhaps you didn't quote people properly. It's definitely more of an issue in nonfiction. You have to keep really careful notes. Sometimes I'm copying out a quote and I'll just naturally maybe rewrite that quote because the way they've put it didn't make sense, or I use a contraction or something. It's just the care in note-taking and then citing people. MELISSA: Yes. When I talk to people about nonfiction, I always say, you're basically joining a conversation. I mean, you are in fiction as well, but not as obviously. I say, well, why don't you read the conversation first? Find out what the conversation is in your area at the moment, and then what is it that you're bringing that's different? The most likely reason for you to end up writing something similar to someone else is that you haven't understood what the conversation was, and you need to be bringing your own thing to it. Then even if you're talking about the same topic, you might talk about it in a different way, and that takes you away from plagiarism because you're bringing your own view to it and your own direction to it. JOANNA: It's an interesting one. I think it's just the care. Taking more care is what I would like people to do. So let's talk about AI because AI tools can be incredible. I do deep research reports with Gemini and Claude and ChatGPT as a sort of “give me an overview and tell me some good places to start.” The university I'm with has a very hard line, which is: AI can be used as part of a research process, but not for writing. What are your thoughts on AI usage and tools? How can people balance that? MELISSA: Well, I'm very much a newbie compared to you. I follow you—the only person that describes how to use it with any sense at all, step by step. I'm very new to it, but I'm going to go back to the olden days. Sometimes I say to people, when I'm talking about how I do historical research, I start with Wikipedia. They look horrified. I'm like, no. That's where you have to get the overview from. I want an overview of how you dress in ancient Rome. I need a quick snapshot of that. Then I can go off and figure out the details of that more accurately and with more detail. I think AI is probably extremely good for that—getting the big picture of something and going, okay, this is what the field's looking like at the moment. These are the areas I'm going to need to burrow down into. It's doing that work for you quickly so that you're then in a position to pick up from that point. It gets you off to a quicker start and perhaps points you in the direction of the right people to start with. I'm trying to write a PhD proposal at the moment because I'm an idiot and want to do a second one. With that, I really did think, actually, AI should write this. Because the original concept is mine. I know nothing about it—why would I know anything about it? I haven't started researching it. This is where AI should go, “Well, in this field, there are these people. They've done these things.” Then you could quickly check that nobody's covered your thing. It would actually speed up all of that bit, which I think would be perfectly reasonable because you don't know anything about it yet. You're not an expert. You have the original idea, and then after that, then you should go off and do your own research and the in-depth quality of it. I think for a lot of things that waste authors' time—if you're applying for a grant or a writer-in-residence or things like that—it's a lot of time wasting filling in long, boring forms. “Could you make an artist statement and a something and a blah?” You're like, yes, yes, I could spend all day at my desk doing that. There's a moment where you start thinking, could you not just allow the AI to do this or much of it? JOANNA: Yes. Or at least, in that case, I'd say one of the very useful things is doing deep searches. As you were mentioning earlier about getting the funding—if I was to consider a PhD, which the thought has crossed my mind—I would use AI tools to do searches for potential sources of funding and that kind of research. In fact, I found this course at Winchester because I asked ChatGPT. It knows a lot about me because I chat with it all the time. I was talking about hitting 50 and these are the things I'm really interested in and what courses might interest me. Then it found it for me. That was quite amazing in itself. I'd encourage people to consider using it for part of the research process. But then all the papers it cites or whatever—then you have to go download those, go read them, do that work yourself. MELISSA: Yes, because that's when you bring your viewpoint to something. You and I could read the exact same paper and choose very different parts of it to write about and think about, because we're coming at it from different points of view and different journeys that we're trying to explore. That's where you need the individual to come in. It wouldn't be good enough to just have a generic overview from AI that we both try and slot into our work, because we would want something different from it. JOANNA: I kind of laugh when people say, “Oh, I can tell when it's AI.” I'm like, you might be able to tell when it's AI writing if nobody has taken that personal spin, but that's not the way we use it. If you're using it that way, that's not how those of us who are independent thinkers are using it. We're strong enough in our thoughts that we're using it as a tool. You're a confident person—intellectually and creatively confident—but I feel like some people maybe don't have that. Some people are not strong enough to resist what an AI might suggest. Any thoughts on that? MELISSA: Yes. When I first tried using AI with very little guidance from anyone, it just felt easy but very wooden and not very related to me. Then I've done webinars with you, and that was really useful—to watch somebody actually live doing the batting back and forth. That became a lot more interesting because I really like bouncing ideas and messing around with things and brainstorming, essentially, but with somebody else involved that's batting stuff back to you. “What does that look like?” “No, I didn't mean that at all.” “How about what does this look like?” “Oh no, no, not like that.” “Oh yes, a bit like that, but a bit more like whatever.” I remember doing that and talking to someone about it, going, “Oh, that's really quite an interesting use of it.” And they said, “Why don't you use a person?” I said, “Well, because who am I going to call at 8:30 in the morning on a Thursday and go, ‘Look, I want to spend two hours batting back and forth ideas, but I don't want you to talk about your stuff at all. Just my stuff. And you have to only think about my stuff for two hours. And you have to be very well versed in my stuff as well. Could you just do that?'” Who's going to do that for you? JOANNA: I totally agree with you. Before Christmas, I was doing a paper. It was an art history thing. We had to pick a piece of art or writing and talk about Christian ideas of hell and how it emerged. I was writing this essay and going back and forth with Claude at the time. My husband came in and saw the fresco I was writing about. He said, “No one's going to talk to you about this. Nobody.” MELISSA: Yes, exactly. JOANNA: Nobody cares. MELISSA: Exactly. Nobody cares as much as you. And they're not prepared to do that at 8:30 on a Thursday morning. They've got other stuff to do. JOANNA: It's great to hear because I feel like we're now at the point where these tools are genuinely super useful for independent work. I hope that more people might try that. JOANNA: Okay, we're almost out of time. Where can people find you and your books online? Also, tell us a bit about the types of books you have. MELISSA: I mostly write historical fiction. As I say, I've wandered my way through history—I'm a travelling minstrel. I've done ancient Rome, medieval Morocco, 18th century China, and I'm into Regency England now. So that's a bit closer to home for once. I'm at MelissaAddey.com and you can go and have a bit of a browse and download a free novel if you want. Try me out. JOANNA: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Melissa. MELISSA: That was great. Thank you. It was fun. The post Research Like An Academic, Write Like an Indie With Melissa Addey first appeared on The Creative Penn.

It was a quiet morning in Surrey, British  Columbia, on the 10th of December, 2014. A woman living in a quiet cul-se-sac heard a knock on her front door. She opened it up to find a woman there she didn't recognise. She stank of alcohol, and asked her to call 911.SPONSORS -Hero Bread: This year, hit your goals without giving up your favourite bready dishes. Use code "MORBIDOLOGY" to get 10% off at: https://www.hero.co/Rocket Money: Cancel your unwanted subcriptions and reach your financial goals faster at: http://rocketmoney.com/morbidologyAG1: AG1 puts your multivitamin, pre and probiotics, superfoods, and antioxidants into one scoop. Get the best offer at: http://drinkag1.com/morbidologySKIMS: Shop my favorite bras and underwear at http://www.skims.comHelloFresh: Get 10 free meals + a FREE Zwilling Knife on your third box at: http://hellofresh.com/morbidology10fmBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.