Podcasts about Victorian

Donna covers the strange saga of Ballechin House, a Scottish estate in the late 1800s that became ground zero for one of the most famous paranormal investigations in history. Think séances, phantom sounds, and a cast of Victorian-era skeptics and believers who could not agree on anything except that something was definitely going on in that house. Kerri's covering the case of Jeni Haynes, a woman who developed over 2,500 alternate personalities to survive years of unimaginable abuse at the hands of her own father — and then used them to bring him to justice. It's one of the most remarkable stories of survival, and legal history, you'll ever hear. If you have any local true crime, local urban legend/lore, ghost stories.. we want them all!! We want to hear from YOU. Especially if you have any funny Ambien stories! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Head to www.betterhelp.com/apc for 10% off today! This episode is sponsored by HoneyLove. Head to www.honeylove.com/apc for 20% off your order. Email us at aparanormalchicks@gmail.com Join The Creepinati @ www.patreon.com/theAPCpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Donna covers the strange saga of Ballechin House, a Scottish estate in the late 1800s that became ground zero for one of the most famous paranormal investigations in history. Think séances, phantom sounds, and a cast of Victorian-era skeptics and believers who could not agree on anything except that something was definitely going on in that house. Kerri's covering the case of Jeni Haynes, a woman who developed over 2,500 alternate personalities to survive years of unimaginable abuse at the hands of her own father — and then used them to bring him to justice. It's one of the most remarkable stories of survival, and legal history, you'll ever hear. If you have any local true crime, local urban legend/lore, ghost stories.. we want them all!! We want to hear from YOU. Especially if you have any funny Ambien stories! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Head to www.betterhelp.com/apc for 10% off today! This episode is sponsored by HoneyLove. Head to www.honeylove.com/apc for 20% off your order. Email us at aparanormalchicks@gmail.com Join The Creepinati @ www.patreon.com/theAPCpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed. In 2016, a woman reported that she was sexually assaulted at a birthday party in the small western Victorian town of Balmoral. The case divided the close-knit community and led to a complex legal process involving an appeal, a retrial and a key witness who later changed her evidence, though two juries ultimately found the men guilty of rape. Journalists Andy Burns and Charlotte King join us to discuss their investigation for the ABC podcast Hometown Boys and the impact the case had on the town. PLEASE NOTE: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. You can listen to Hometown Boys on the Background Briefing podcast by the ABC. You can watch our episodes and subscribe to our Youtube channel here. Wanting to hear about certain kinds of crime? Check out our Spotify playlists for a curated list of our episodes. Join our Facebook Group here. Do you have information regarding any of the cases discussed on this podcast? Please report it on the Crime Stoppers website or by calling 1800 333 000. For Support: Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie Guests: Andy Burns and Charlotte KingExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard GET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.com

In 2016, a woman reported that she was sexually assaulted at a birthday party in the small western Victorian town of Balmoral. The case divided the close-knit community and led to a complex legal process involving an appeal, a retrial and a key witness who later changed her evidence, though two juries ultimately found the men guilty of rape. Journalists Andy Burns and Charlotte King join us to discuss their investigation for the ABC podcast Hometown Boys and the impact the case had on the town. PLEASE NOTE: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. You can listen to Hometown Boys on the Background Briefing podcast by the ABC. You can watch our episodes and subscribe to our Youtube channel here. Wanting to hear about certain kinds of crime? Check out our Spotify playlists for a curated list of our episodes. Join our Facebook Group here. Do you have information regarding any of the cases discussed on this podcast? Please report it on the Crime Stoppers website or by calling 1800 333 000. For Support: Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380CREDITS:Host: Meshel Laurie Guests: Andy Burns and Charlotte KingExecutive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard GET IN TOUCH:https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook Email the show at AusTrueCrimePodcast@gmail.com

Grab a butterbeer and sing with us: Snape, Snape, Severus Snape! Join Sam, Taavi, Irvin, and our guest Luke, in discussion of Harry's first week at school in Chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! Join the discussion on our website In this episode: Are there Fitting Charms on Mrs. Weasley's sweaters? Madam Malkin's clever marketing ploy! Hermione's parents would be appalled at Quirrellmort's dental hygiene Did Dumbledore know that Voldemort was possessing Quirrell? Can you make a map of Hogwarts for the first years? The Victorian language of flowers Can Snape's behavior be excused or just explained? House point inflation Does Hagrid save his favorite newspapers? A wizard is never late, except to class Pub's Jukebox: Potions with Neville by Seamus and the Finnigans Seamus and the Finnigans on Facebook Contact: Website: https://threebroomstickspod.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threebroomstickspod/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebroomstickspodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/threebroompod Email: 3broomstickspod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/3broomsticks 

This is a special episode of Strong Sense of Place in which we announce that we're doing it again — we're taking a group of readers back to Trevor Hall. In October 2025, we took over Trevor Hall — a Georgian manor house in Llangollen, Wales — with forty members of the Strong Sense of Place community. It was the best book club ever. We took walks in the countryside, talked about (so many) books, enjoyed ridiculously delicious meals, and told spooky stories by candlelight. And we made lifelong friends. We're doing it again — and you're invited to join us! Together, we'll make ourselves at home in this historic mansion surrounded by the picturesque North Wales countryside. We'll have a book club, share gourmet meals in the Great Hall, play parlor games, ramble in the hills, and stomp our feet at a Celtic ceilidh. Our weekend begins in Manchester, England — a UNESCO City of Literature. We'll check into our rooms at a design hotel and enjoy our first IRL meetup in a historic library. After a good night's sleep, we're off to Elizabeth Gaskell's House for a private tour of the Victorian villa where she wrote ‘North and South' (and entertained literary friends like Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens). After a restorative tea-and-cake break, we'll ride together via private motor coach through the rugged countryside to Llangollen, a charming town on the River Dee in North Wales. Our destination: Trevor Hall. The Hall sits on a wooded hilltop overlooking green slopes dotted with sheep and horses. After a tour of the house and gardens, we'll ease into country living in the Hall's luxurious (and tastefully eclectic) rooms. With bookish activities, entertainment, and surprises planned throughout the weekend, you're sure to be delighted — and have plenty of time to connect with old and new bookish friends. DatesThis is a five-day, four-night trip: Thursday through Monday. It will be held on two consecutive weekends; each weekend is limited to 19 guests. Weekend 1: Thursday, November 5 through Monday, November 9 Weekend 2: Thursday, November 12 through Monday, November 16 Also! Click here for the complete details about the weekend and to enjoy the pretty photos For early access to tickets, join our Patreon. To be notified the minute tickets go on sale, join our free Substack newsletter. If you're curious about last year's trip, listen to our podcast episode That Time We Rented a Manor House in Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spring is springing — and in this Wheel of the Year episode, Ashleigh turns the wheel toward Ostara, the Spring Equinox (March 20)—releasing this episode a week early so you have time to gather herbs, choose crystals, build an altar, and plan a ritual (or bake something cozy).Recorded in a brand-new gothic loft setup (with chaotic Spirit Halloween Ouija press-on nails making a surprise cameo), this episode blends historical honesty, mythic storytelling, and practical seasonal magic: Ostara's modern roots, Eostre, the lunar timing of Easter, deity offerings, altar ideas, crystal correspondences (with a deep dive on Green Aventurine), egg + flower divination, and a Spring Cleaning oracle spread from Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle.In this episode, we cover:A cozy check-in + Ashleigh's new “Victorian nightmare” recording space (and why the audio might sound different)Wheel of the Year recap: starting back at Samhain (Oct 31) and arriving at OstaraWhat the Spring Equinox actually is (day/night balance + official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere)A shout-out to Southern Hemisphere listeners celebrating MabonHistorical roots + modern reconstruction: Gerald Gardner, Wicca, and why Ostara isn't as “ancient” as people assumeThe goddess Eostre/Eostra and why there's limited historical informationEaster's “moon math” and why it feels secretly witchy (yes, we're talking full moon timing)Spring deities + seasonal myth:Persephone (and the return from the underworld)DemeterDionysus (vines, vitality, pleasure returning)Aphrodite + Venus (beauty, gardens, glamour magic)How to build an Ostara altar + simple offerings for each deityCrystals of Ostara: Moss Agate (or Tree Agate in a pinch), Rose Quartz, Citrine, Aquamarine, Clear QuartzGreen Aventurine deep dive: heart chakra growth, steady expansion, and “it's safe to begin again” energyA favorite quote from Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials: Ostara:“We till our own internal fields and plant our own emotional, mental, spiritual, or even physical crops…”Divination for the season:Oomancy (egg divination in water—how to read shapes/strands/clusters)Floromancy (flower divination—symbolism, petals, noticing what blooms first)Spring Cleaning Spread from Seasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle (can also be used with tarot)A live card pull: “Moon Milk” + reflection on self-ritual, pride, and celebrating your own growthClosing invocation: till your internal soil, plant wisely, tend gently… Happy OstaraThe Spring Cleaning Spread (5 cards)What part of your life is stagnant or blocked?What action can clear away the dust?What can renew or breathe fresh air into this area?What action encourages growth and expansion?How can you maintain lighter, more vibrant energy moving forward?Mentioned in this episode:Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials: OstaraSeasons of the Witch: Ostara Oracle — Lorraine Anderson & Juliet DiazQuick listener invitationBuild a tiny altar. Light a candle. Open a window. Choose one crystal ally. Pull one card. Ask: “What am I ready to grow?”Send me any questions or comments you may have and I will answer them on upcoming podcast episodes!! Looking forward to hearing from you!Please message me with any questions or comments. bigcrystalenergypodcast @gmail.com

Remember that whiteout in deep playa? That prepared you for a NASA mission to space, maybe. Andie Grace talks with Samuel M. Coniglio, aka Ranger Spacecat, and Spaceman Sam. He isn't just a ten-year Black Rock Ranger and a veteran of the legendary Neverwas Haul (that three-story Victorian house on wheels)... He's a writer, inventor, and futurist who worked on the Space Shuttle and the ISS. From his Zero-G cocktail glass, to his book about making offworld living worth living, he studies creature comforts in extreme environments.  Stuart Mangrum opens the show with a look at the Lunar Codex, an ambitious project placing the art of 50,000 Earthlings (including Burners!) into permanent archives on the Moon. Then, Sam and Andie spacewalk into why "civilizing a barbaric situation" is a human need, whether its serving fancy tea in a mud storm, or grilling chicken on a space station. Hear about radical self-reliance, orbital infrastructure, and why—if we're going to Mars—we'd better bring decent coffee… and a bucket. "Burning Man is just like going to Las Vegas on Mars. You have to learn how to live on Mars first before you enjoy the parties. It's survival first, party second… The Burning Man org learned we have to have toilets, roads, and support systems. NASA probably should learn from you guys." retro-futurist.com spacemansam.substack.com obtainiumworks.net nss.org/book-review-creature-comforts-in-space youtube.com/@spaceman.sam.coniglio LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

When a respectable Victorian doctor became Britain's most feared poisonerVictorian England believed murder belonged to the gutters. Then Dr William Palmer shattered that illusion.In this gripping episode of History Rage, award-winning journalist and author Stephen Bates exposes the dark truth behind the case of William Palmer — the Midlands doctor hanged in 1856 for poisoning his friend John Parsons Cook.Known as the “Rugeley Poisoner”, Palmer was a churchgoing professional, a gambler drowning in debt, and a man suspected of killing far more than the one murder for which he was convicted. His weapon? Newly available strychnine — a terrifying poison that left victims writhing in agony and Victorian society gripped by fear.What You'll Discover in This EpisodeWhy Victorian Britain refused to believe a middle-class doctor could be a killerHow strychnine changed the landscape of 19th-century murderThe explosive Old Bailey trial that required a special Act of ParliamentThe role of celebrity pathologist Alfred Swaine TaylorHow press sensationalism helped create one of Britain's first “serial killer” panicsThe disturbing class bias in Victorian (and modern) murder trialsStephen also explores parallels with later cases, including Herbert Rouse Armstrong, the subject of his book The Poisonous Solicitor, and reflects on how professional status has long influenced public perceptions of guilt.This is Victorian true crime at its most unsettling: insurance fraud, gambling debts, missing betting slips, botched inquests, and a public execution witnessed by 30,000 people.About Our Guest – Stephen BatesStephen Bates is an award-winning journalist and former political correspondent. He is the author of:The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctorhttps://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781837730285The Poisonous Solicitorhttps://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781785789601The Poisoner was shortlisted for the prestigious Agatha Award for True Crime in the United States.

This Week Grace and Mamrie discuss Mercury in Retrograde, allergies, how one hears their own voice, focaccia bread, Victorian slang, and big, gay Brian. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at RocketMoney.com/TMGW  Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to quince.com/tmgw for free shipping and 365-day returns. Save 25% on your first month at Ritual.com/TMGW.  Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/WEIRD to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victorian homes were supposed to be safe havens of comfort and refinement… but what if the most dangerous thing in the room was the wallpaper? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro uncover the bizarre history of arsenic-laced green wallpaper that quietly poisoned Victorian households, causing mysterious headaches, illness, and even death while families admired their fashionable décor. Then, the show shifts from deadly décor to astonishing resilience with the remarkable true story of Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American woman to earn a medical degree, who spent her life bringing healthcare to underserved communities on the Omaha Reservation. It's a strange mix of bizarre history, hidden dangers, and inspiring real-life heroes—exactly the kind of odd, fascinating stories that make The Box of Oddities such a delightfully weird listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Dr. Rena Malik sits down with Michael Joseph Gross to explore the fascinating history and cultural perceptions of strength training. Together, they discuss the evolving relationship between physical fitness and intelligence, the forgotten stories of strength training among women in the Victorian era, and the vital role exercise plays in both physical and mental health. Listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of body and mind, and practical insights into incorporating strength training into everyday life. Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content: renamalik.supercast.com Schedule an appointment with me: https://www.renamalikmd.com/appointments ▶️Chapters: 00:00 Brain vs Brawn Myth 01:00 George Barker Winship & Early Strength Training 03:18 The “Health Lift” and 19th Century Fitness 05:10 Why Strength Training Isn't Normalized Today 07:34 Strength Training for Public Health 09:44 Strength Training Among Victorian Women 12:56 How Few People Actually Lift Weights 13:42 Strength Training and Depression Research 16:05 Strength Training and Sexual Health 17:00 Exercise Reducing Hip Surgery Risk 18:12 Strength Training for Obese Adolescents 19:40 Why Feeling Strong Matters Stay connected with Michael Joseph Gross on social media for daily insights and updates. Don't miss out—follow him now and check out these links! INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/michaeljosephgross/ X - https://x.com/m_j_gross?lang=en WEBSITE - https://www.michaeljosephgross.com Dr. Gross's book: STRONGER: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/319063/stronger-by-michael-joseph-gross/ Let's Connect!: WEBSITE: http://www.renamalikmd.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@RenaMalikMD INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/RenaMalikMD TWITTER: http://twitter.com/RenaMalikMD FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/RenaMalikMD/ LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renadmalik PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/renamalikmd/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/RenaMalikMD ------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is purely educational and does not constitute medical advice. The content of this podcast is my personal opinion, and not that of my employer(s). Use of this information is at your own risk. Rena Malik, M.D. will not assume any liability for any direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up, dudes? I'm joined by Kids of the Kingdom Mike Westfall of Advent Calendar House and Charlie Ague of Closer to Christmas to discuss this 1985 single broadcast “Magic Kingdom Yuletide Special!” Scrooge McDuck can't fathom the magic of Christmastide, so Mickey and Santa Goofy contribute to his conversion through song and dance! Skating? Yep. Singing? Check. Nightmare-inspired bipedal horses prancing? Definitely! So put on your Victorian  bonnet, grab your ice skates, and magically teleport into this episode!Advent Calendar HouseFB: @adventcalendarhouseTwitter: @adventcalhouseIG: @adventcalendarhouseCloser to ChristmasTwitter: @closertoxmasIG: @closertoxmasAgue DesignsIG: @aguedesignsGive us a buzz! Send a text, dudes!Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com! Later, dudes!

This episode explores Sherlock Holmes' encounter with Irene Adler, a formidable woman who outsmarts Holmes himself. Discover the nuances of Holmes' respect for Adler, the clever tactics used to recover a compromising photograph, and the enduring impact of this iconic case.Uncover how Sherlock Holmes's legendary brilliance turned a seemingly impossible case into a masterstroke of deception—and what it reveals about the power of clever disguises and pure ingenuity. This episode explores the true story behind Holmes's most intriguing case, "A Scandal in Bohemia," featuring the unforgettable Irene Adler, a woman who outsmarts the world's greatest detective without even trying to be a villain.Imagine Holmes, the epitome of cold logic, faced with a woman whose wit and beauty threaten to topple his meticulous plans. Holmes's respect for Adler is quiet but profound, not born out of love but admiration for her formidable intelligence—a rare and enlightening insight into Holmes's nuanced appreciation of strength and cunning. This dynamic duel showcases Holmes's mastery of disguise and strategy, where every move is a calculated play in a high-stakes game of wits, leaving even him in awe.You'll discover:The subtle artistry behind Holmes's disguise as a clergyman, revealing the importance of psychological strategy in espionage and investigation.How a fake fire and a smoke rocket became Holmes's most unconventional but effective method to recover a stolen photograph—showing that sometimes, the most complex problems have surprisingly simple solutions.The fascinating details of Irene Adler's background, from her stage career in Warsaw to her London residence, and how her sharp mind outposts Holmes himself.Why Holmes's respect for Adler isn't romantic but strategic—and what this relationship tells us about male-female dynamics and respect in a Victorian context.The broader lessons on the importance of adaptability and thinking outside the box in problem-solving, applicable in both detective work and everyday challenges.This episode is essential listening for fans of mystery, strategy, and psychology, as well as anyone eager to understand the subtle art of outthinking opponents—an art Holmes mastered better than anyone. Whether you're a detective at heart or simply crave stories of brilliant minds clashing, you'll walk away with insights into how perception, disguise, and wit shape victory.Perfect for history buffs, mystery lovers, and puzzle solvers alike, this deep dive into Holmes's cleverest case will inspire you to see challenges as opportunities for innovation. Don't miss out—hit play to uncover the secrets behind one of Sherlock Holmes's most cunning adventures, and learn what it truly takes to outsmart even the greatest minds.Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes case, detective story, Holmes and Adler, Victorian detective, Holmes' respect for women, Holmes' disguises, Holmes' investigations, classic detective stories

Here's what we're reading, recommending, and revisiting this week.Catherine's library find is a novel that had many blurbs that appealed to her, so she wants to check it out: Like Family by Erin O. White. She also has a follow-up to last week's history of Victorian parenting. It's Hot Victorians: Meet Your Dream Man From the Past by Aaron Radford-Wattley (inspired by an Instagram account of the same name). Mentioned: True Biz by Sara Novic.Terri's random recommendation is Duolingo, where you can learn not just languages used in the real world, but those from the past (Latin) and fictitious worlds (Klingon, High Valyrian). Mentioned: Duolingo French podcast and a Game of Thrones scene that demonstrates the power of knowing your enemy's language: Part 1, part 2.In the archives, we checked in on an episode from 2022 on the warning labels we need as parents. Mentioned: AIM away messages.Next week's lineup:Shrinking S3 E7, "I Will Be Grape," on Tuesday, March 17Lost S5 E5, "This Place Is Death," on Wednesday, March 18Weekly roundup on Thursday, March 19Until then (and anytime you're in need), the archives are available.

On this episode of The Jeff Dornik Show, Jeff Dornik sits down with Ryan from RCAM TV to expose the growing dangers behind artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and the Silicon Valley push to replace the human workforce. They discuss Elon Musk's Neuralink, the possibility of brain chips erasing and rewriting human memories, and how these technologies could fulfill the warnings found in the book of Revelation. Jeff also explains how AI and robotics are being positioned to eliminate jobs across every industry while Big Tech leaders push universal basic income controlled by private tech companies rather than governments. Along the way they confront division within the conservative movement after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the cultural battle shaping politics, and why storytelling, media, and faith rooted in biblical truth may be the only path to rebuilding a fractured society.SPONSOR:Supermassive Black Coffee is crafted from organic, gourmet beans fire-roasted in an antique Victorian-era roaster, delivering the rich, smooth, non-acidic taste that reminds you this is how coffee was always meant to be. Use code JEFF50 for 50% off your first order. https://supermassiveblackcoffee.com/?ref=JEFFFollow RCAM on Pickax - https://pickax.com/rcamFollow Jeff Dornik on Pickax -https://pickax.com/jeffdornikTune into The Jeff Dornik Show LIVE daily at 7pm ET on Rumble. Subscribe on Rumble and never miss a show.https://rumble.com/c/jeffdornikBig Tech is silencing truth while farming your data to feed the machine. That's why I built Pickax… a free speech platform that puts power back in your hands and your voice beyond their reach. Sign up today:https://pickax.com/?referralCode=y7wxvwq&refSource=copy

Love Stinks! Month continues its march across the moors this week on We Drink & We Watch Things as we confront the year's most scandalous and polarizing adaptation: Emerald Fennell's 2026 reimagining of Wuthering Heights. This isn't your grandmother's Brontë; it's a hyper-stylized, anachronistic, and deeply provocative "bodice-ripper" that trades Victorian restraint for BDSM, heavy-metal corsetry, and a Charli XCX soundtrack. Pour yourself something dark and intoxicating - perhaps our cocktail take on Yearning - and join us as we discuss why this film has everyone from literary scholars to Barbie fans talking.This week, we analyze the relationship between Margot Robbie's fashion-doll Cathy and Jacob Elordi's long-haired, seething Heathcliff. We examine Fennell's decision to strip away the novel's second generation to focus entirely on the toxic, cyclical lust of its leads, and we talk through the film's shocking, "Saltburn-esque" flourishes - like the horse-bridle-and-shackle games that redefine Heathcliff's legendary cruelty. We also consider the controversy surrounding the casting and the film's unapologetic rejection of historical accuracy in favor of creating a "sensory experience" that feels like a teenage girl's fever dream of the 1840s.If you're a Brontë purist ready to clutch your pearls, a fan of Fennell's brand of "campy depravity," or just want to hear us debate whether a story about two people "driving each other mad" is a romance or a red flag, this is the episode you've been waiting for. We're blending our critique of its provocative choices with our biggest disagreement in recent memory, making this a truly wild second chapter in our month of Not-So-Love-Love-Stories. Be with us always - take any form - just don't miss this one!This episode VIDEO is live on YouTube AND Spotify!Follow us on Instagram to get ep sneak peaks and find out what's coming next. DM us what you want to hear about next or email us at wedrinkandwewatchthingspod@gmail.com.

Retired FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong examines the disturbing case of Mary Ann Cotton, the Victorian-era poisoner who used arsenic to systematically eliminate husbands, stepchildren, and even her own children across nearly two decades in Northeast England. Behind the facade of a grieving widow was a calculating killer who collected insurance payouts and cleared the path to her next financial and romantic opportunity with each death. Candice digs into what drove Mary Ann to view her own families as disposable and how her modus operandi and the time period allowed her to stay under the radar for so long -- killing at least 21 people in the process.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Content WarningThis episode contains discussions of poisoning and death. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 39: The Balham Mystery. April 1876—a young barrister collapses in agony minutes after retiring to bed. For three days, Charles Bravo suffers while doctors, family, and suspects gather. He names no one. The poison is antimony—enough to kill ten men.Behind the gaslit elegance of The Priory, a household harbors dangerous secrets. A wife with a scandalous past. A companion facing dismissal. A former lover humiliated by her marriage. And a husband who knew everything—and paid the ultimate price.The VictimCharles Delauney Bravo was thirty years old when he died on 21 April 1876. A barrister called to the bar only recently, he had married Florence Campbell just four months earlier, on 7 December 1875. The marriage brought him access to Florence's considerable fortune—approximately £40,000, inherited from her first husband Alexander Ricardo.Charles was ambitious. His chambers at Essex Court in the Temple represented the foundation of a legal career he hoped would match his new social position. But colleagues described a man preoccupied with money—Florence's money—and control over the household he had married into.On that final Tuesday, Charles argued with Florence in their carriage, his horse bolted during an afternoon ride, and by nightfall he had consumed enough antimony to "kill a horse," according to the doctors who watched him die.The CrimeThe evening of 18 April 1876 began unremarkably. Charles, Florence, and her companion Jane Cox dined together at The Priory on Bedford Hill. Charles ate well—whiting, lamb, eggs on toast—and drank several glasses of burgundy. Neither woman touched the wine.After dinner, they retired to the morning room. Around nine o'clock, Charles suggested Florence retire to bed. She had been unwell. Jane accompanied her upstairs.Charles remained alone.Approximately fifteen minutes later, he climbed the stairs to his bedroom. The housemaid Mary Ann Keeber passed him on the staircase. She would later tell police that he looked at her strangely—pale, silent, studying her face.In his room, Charles undressed and reached for the water jug that servants prepared fresh each evening. He drank. Within minutes, his bedroom door flew open and he staggered onto the landing, screaming for Florence, for hot water, vomiting violently.The post-mortem revealed thirty to forty grains of tartar emetic—a derivative of antimony—ten times the lethal dose. The poison had been in the water.The InvestigationThe first inquest convened on 25 and 28 April 1876. Coroner William Carter sought to spare the family's feelings, keeping the inquiry private. The jury returned an open verdict.But Charles's stepfather, Joseph Bravo, was not satisfied. He demanded a second investigation.The second inquest ran for an unprecedented twenty-three days, from 11 July through 11 August 1876, at the Bedford Hotel in Balham. It became a Victorian sensation. Crowds gathered in the streets. Newspapers printed every salacious detail—Florence's affair with Dr James Manby Gully, the abortion in Bavaria, the household tensions, Charles's jealousy.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foulplay/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What does a Roman emperor's craving for cucumbers have to do with feeding eight billion people? How did a 15th-century Korean cookbook quietly invent heated agriculture centuries before Europe's glass palaces? And how did Victorian spectacle, world wars, hydroponic ambition, and Dutch engineering transform the greenhouse from aristocratic indulgence into global infrastructure?Join John and Patrick as they trace the extraordinary history of climate control in the service of fresh produce - from Tiberius's selenite-covered cucumber beds, to the heated ondol systems of the Joseon Dynasty, the imperial glasshouses of Palace of Versailles and Royal Botanic Gardens, and the hydroponic battlefields of the Second World War.Because this is not just a story about architecture. It is a story about anxiety, empire, science, and survival. About humanity's refusal to let winter - or war, or geography - dictate what ends up on our plates.From Roman villas to vertical farms... this is the history of the greenhouse, and the quiet revolution that changed how the world grows its food.----------In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Group tours are one of the most popular ways to experience Ireland – especially for travelers who want to see a lot without worrying about driving, directions, or logistics. Nearly half of overseas visitors explore Ireland this way, which means coaches crisscross the island daily, bringing travelers to castles, coastlines, and charming towns. But what is it actually like to travel around Ireland on a coach tour? And how do you make sure the tour you choose matches the experience you want? This National Secondary road to the Cliffs of Moher is just wide enough for tour buses to squeeze past each other. This article is based on podcast episode 329 featuring Clodagh FitzGerald, a professional tour guide in Ireland.Use the player below to listen or scroll to continue reading the article and get resource links. [powerpoint] Group Tours in Ireland: How Coach Travel Works Professional tour guide Clodagh Fitzgerald spends her days leading travelers around Ireland, and she describes the role as wearing many hats. A guide becomes the storyteller, problem solver, travel advisor, and sometimes even the group timekeeper. Each tour follows a planned itinerary, and the guide's job is to help travelers understand what they're seeing along the way – sharing history, culture, geography, and the little details that make Ireland special. For travelers, the biggest benefit is simple: someone else handles the logistics. Typical coach tours include: Transportation across Ireland A knowledgeable guide providing commentary Pre-booked accommodations Select included attractions Some scheduled meals Planned sightseeing stops Instead of worrying about navigation or parking, travelers can simply enjoy the journey. How to Choose the Right Group Tour in Ireland Not all tours are created equal. Before booking, it's important to carefully review the itinerary and details. A few things experienced guides recommend travelers check: Length of the Tour Consider how much time you actually want to spend in Ireland. If you're traveling from North America, it's wise to arrive at least one day before the tour begins to recover from jet lag and adjust to the time difference. Starting a tour the same day you land can mean spending the first day tired, disoriented, and missing out on the experience. What Is Included (and What Isn't) Tour itineraries often use wording like “see” or “visit.” Those two words can mean very different things. See often means you'll drive past the attraction. Visit usually means the group will stop and go inside. Reading the itinerary carefully helps avoid disappointment later. Hotel Locations Some tours stay in city centers, while others stay outside town. Neither is wrong, but the location affects your free time. If you want to explore pubs, shops, or restaurants in the evening, staying in or near the town center makes that much easier. Built-In Free Time Even on a group tour, it's nice to explore on your own. Many itineraries include: Free evenings Independent sightseeing time Opportunities to shop or explore small towns This balance lets travelers enjoy the structure of a tour while still having personal travel moments. What to Pack for a Coach Tour in Ireland Travelers forget things on every tour, but a few items come up again and again. Some essentials to pack include: A washcloth – not all Irish hotels provide them Prescription medications (always in carry-on luggage) Familiar over-the-counter medicine you normally use Earplugs or headphones for comfort on the coach Weather layers and rain protection Ireland's weather can change quickly, even in summer. Packing for rain – no matter the forecast – is always a smart move. Understanding Group Travel Dynamics Coach tours bring together travelers from different places and backgrounds. That's part of the fun, but it also means being mindful of the group. A few simple habits make the experience smoother for everyone: Be on time when the group departs Keep phone calls and music quiet on the coach Pay attention when the guide explains timing and stops Respect shared travel spaces Tours run on schedules, and if one person is late, the entire group may be affected. But the flip side of traveling together is the camaraderie that often develops. By the end of a tour, many travelers have formed friendships, shared photos, and even planned future trips together. Three Places Travelers Wish They Had More Time When tours move quickly, certain destinations leave visitors wishing they could stay longer. These three locations consistently top the list. Kilkenny Often called Ireland's medieval capital, Kilkenny is packed with winding streets, historic buildings, and excellent local shops. Many tours stop for only a short visit to see Kilkenny Castle, but the town rewards travelers who slow down and explore. Things to see and do: Tour Kilkenny Castle Walk the Medieval Mile Visit St. Canice's Cathedral Browse artisan shops and cafés Dingle Located on the spectacular Dingle Peninsula, this colorful harbor town is full of personality. Many tours visit as a quick stop during a scenic drive, but travelers often wish they had more time to enjoy the town itself. Highlights include: Traditional music pubs Boat tours in Dingle Bay The Dingle Distillery Walking along the harbor It's a place where spending the evening, rather than just an hour, can completely change the experience. Kylemore Abbey Set against the dramatic landscape of Connemara, Kylemore Abbey is far more than just a quick photo stop. The estate includes: The Victorian walled gardens Woodland and lakeside walks The Gothic church The abbey itself While some tours allow only a short visit, travelers often say they could easily spend an entire day exploring the grounds. About Clodagh FitzGerald Clodagh is a professional tour guide who leads coach tours across Ireland throughout the travel season. Her experience guiding international travelers offers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on how group tours operate and how visitors can make the most of them. Clodagh has previously joined the podcast to share her tips for Kinsale and Waterford. The post Group Tours in Ireland: What to Expect and How to Choose the Right Coach Tour appeared first on Ireland Family Vacations.

There's something deep within us that craves a haven and a place to belong. We have been created to dwell with God. Although that desire, to reside and abide with Him a beautiful secure place of rest, can never fully be met on this side of heaven, we can receive a sacred foretaste through rooting ourselves to our homes in the here and now. But sometimes the kind of home we long for feels out of reach. That can be discouraging. Today we are going to think through godly desires, the seed of dreams planted within us, and the tension living in the present moment while working towards the future with Christie Purifoy.Christie Purifoy is a writer and gardener who loves to grow flowers and community. Most of all, she is a placemaker, and the place she is making with her family is a red brick Victorian farmhouse in Pennsylvania called Maplehurst.She's the author of numerous books –all of which will encourage and delight you –and her latest book, A House to Call Home, might just be a new favorite.There's no place like Home! There's no place like Home!To thee, I'll return overburdened with care,The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there.No more from that cottage again will I roam,Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.–Home, Sweet Home, John Howard Payne (1791-1852)

Claude wrote these. I did not. Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack are back for Episode 147, recorded on 5 March 2026. It's a massive week of news — a record Kiwi exodus to Australia, a leaked Liberal Party post-mortem, the Star Casino legal fallout, a landmark war in Iran, and a bumper AFL season preview. Settle in.Record Kiwi Migration & Trans-Tasman Economics[00:00:41]The BBC reports New Zealand citizens are leaving at record levels — over 60,000 departed in a single year, the equivalent of 180 people per day. Former PM Jacinda Ardern has joined the exodus, reportedly house-hunting on Sydney's northern beaches. Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack debate the merits of the northern beaches vs. the eastern suburbs, and the real net migration figures behind the headlines.Net migration loss from NZ: over 30,000 in 2024 to Australia aloneLong-term departures hit 101,932 in 2023 — remarkable for a nation of 5.3 millionNZ GDP per capita: USD 49,000 vs. Australia's USD 69,000New Zealand has been in negative GDP growth since December 2024, but is forecasting ~4% growth in the next financial yearAustralia has maintained consistent positive GDP growth post-COVID (0.8%–2.5% p.a.)The two countries are described as being at opposite ends of the economic cycleBrief discussion on Jacinda Ardern's post-Harvard career options and what Julia Gillard's post-PM trajectory looks like by comparison

You know that special kind of tired where you technically slept… but you still feel like a haunted Victorian child? Same. This week, Kee and Kelly get obsessed with the question every parent is silently screaming: why am I always so damn tired? (Even when the sleep tracker says you’re “fine”.) They bring in sleep specialist Nikki, to break down what’s actually going on - why sleep quality beats chasing a perfect “8 hours,” what might be quietly wrecking your deep sleep (hello, pillows/mattresses/heat), and the surprisingly simple tweaks that can help. LINKS TO EVERYTHING MENTIONEDTEMPUR pillow HOSTS & PRODUCERSKelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kee Reece Searles @keereece AUDIO PRODUCTIONMadeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ministers from the G7 group of leading industrialised nations have said they are ready to take "necessary measures" to support the global supply of energy after the US-Israel war with Iran led to a big increase in the international price of oil. At one point this morning, it reached nearly $120 a barrel before falling back to less than $100. Also: Investigations have begun into what caused yesterday's fire in Glasgow city centre, which destroyed a Victorian building and forced the neighbouring Central Station to close. And: King Charles has attended the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey along with other senior royals.

On our penultimate County Episode of Three Ravens Series 7 we're off to the heartland of Welsh language-speaking in Merionethshire! Abolished in 1974, its flag, showing three goats rampant above the dawning sun, still flies in the area, which is filled with monuments like Harlech Castle, Tomen y Mur, some of the deepest slate mines in Wales, and a town guarded by demonic flaming cartwheels. Taking its name from the founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, its most famous saint founded a monastery on an island now filled with the bones of 20,000 saints. On its most famous mountain Idris the giant once watched the stars and threw loads of stones about. In its deepest lake lives Teggie, the Welsh version of the Loch Ness monster - and there's indications she actually exists!Including excerpts from this Saturday's Local Legends guest writer and broadcaster Will Millard, host of BBC's Hidden Wales, we'll talk you through it - from the strangeness of Port Merion to the shimmering wonder of the Dolgellau Gold Belt and beyond.Then we come to Martin's story for this week, "The Werewolf of Gellilydan" which is a one of a kind Victorian legend that might just unsettle you...We hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday with our brand new episode of Magic and Medicines all about Holistic and Herbal Healing!Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, we take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOURVisit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is all about how the Victorian era's culture and politics shaped J. R. R. Tolkien and, by extension, the world of Middle Earth.We start with a look at the Grotesque vs. the Romantic Middle Ages as defined by medievalist David Matthews, and how each approach was at play in the late 19th century Medieval Revival. We use Matthews' work as a framework for analyzing the medievalism of The Lord of the Rings, and then take a closer look at the society and politics of the Shire in particular in light of this context.Next episode we'll move into the 1960s and talk about how much hippies loved The Hobbit, and there will probably be some Creature Talk.Further Reading:Setting and Medievalism in Jackson's Lord of the RingsMedievalism: a Critical History by David MatthewsThe Victorian Medieval RevivalWilliam Morris' influence on TolkienSocial hierarchies in HobbitonSocial advancement in Middle Earth societies

https://rootsandall.co.uk/podcast/episode‑193‑growing‑under‑protection/In this episode, I'm joined by Beth Gregg, founder of Claverton Cloches, who's on a mission to revive the beauty and practicality of Victorian cloche gardening. We talk about cloches of all shapes, sizes, and materials, how they can extend the growing season and protect crops, and explore the history, design, and sustainability behind them — and why sometimes the smallest structures can make the biggest difference in the garden. Benny's Insect of the Week: Daffodil Dung Fly About Beth Gregg is a passionate advocate of cloche gardening and the founder of Claverton Cloches. Her love affair with the romance of the English garden, particularly the ingenuity of historic kitchen gardens, led her to explore the power of the humble cloche as both a practical and beautiful growing tool. In her own garden, Beth uses cloches extensively to extend the seasons and create microclimates. She ripens chillies and tender crops outdoors in lieu of a greenhouse, overwinters flowers for early cutting in late spring, and protects delicate young plants from frost, wind and hungry garden visitors. For her, cloches are not ornamental extras, but transformative tools - simple structures that can dramatically improve yield, resilience and timing in the garden. Inspired by antique Victorian designs, she went on to found Claverton Cloches in 2020, reviving traditional cast-iron and glass forms for modern gardeners who value both beauty and productivity. Her work celebrates the quiet practicality of historic garden craft, and the idea that functional objects in the garden can, and should, be deeply beautiful. You can explore Claverton Cloches at www.clavertoncloches.com Please support the podcast on Patreon And follow Roots and All: On Instagram @rootsandallpod On Facebook @rootsandalluk On LinkedIn @rootsandall If you liked this week's episode with Beth you might also enjoy this episode from the archives: Episode 142: Growing Under Cover with Niki Jabbour Canadian gardener and author Niki Jabbour joins Sarah to share her deep‑dive wisdom on using crop covers, season‑extending techniques and protected structures to grow productive, weather‑resilient vegetable gardens — even in challenging climates. From practical crop‑cover strategies to prolonging your growing year, this episode is full of hands‑on insight for gardeners looking to get more from their space.  Episode 193: Growing Under Protection Horticultural expert Guy Deakins joins Sarah to explore what "protected growing" really means — how to create successful micro‑climates in the garden, the benefits and pitfalls of sheltered environments, and how protection can boost plant health and productivity. It's a thoughtful complement to our discussion about cloches and ways of supporting plants through design and environment. 

Something moved through parking lots, forests, open water, and even hospital wards. Ten witnesses describe encounters that refuse easy explanation.From quadrupedal sprinting figures to translucent humanoids, from Bigfoot in a public park to a vanished Victorian-era stranger, these cases raise a difficult question: are these isolated events, or connected patterns?If you have experienced an unexplained encounter or sighting, visit Phantoms and Monsters https://phantomsandmonsters.com to submit & share your story.

Puedes adquirir tu copia de Colectivero en este link: https://a.co/d/0897DDCe   DESCRIPCIÓN / SHOW NOTES Sumérgete en la mente de Erwin Schrödinger en 1936, mientras desafía la interpretación de Copenhague y la moral victoriana de Oxford. Este episodio narra el experimento mental que cobró vida, donde la física cuántica deja de ser teoría para convertirse en una pesadilla de estados simultáneos. Descubre la verdad detrás de la caja, el uso de polonio-210 y el destino final del físico en Austria, en una búsqueda por preservar su existencia más allá de la observación humana.   CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introducción y última carta a Einstein  02:15 El conflicto moral en la Universidad de Oxford  05:30 La propuesta del experimento público  08:45 El incidente del gato, el cianuro y la superposición  12:20 Huida a Austria y el colapso eterno de la realidad   FAQ  ¿De qué trata La Caja de Erwin? Es un cuento que reimagina la vida de Schrödinger y las consecuencias físicas de su famoso experimento mental.  ¿Es una historia real? Es una obra de ficción histórica basada en figuras reales y conceptos fundamentales de la mecánica cuántica.  ¿Qué es la superposición cuántica en el relato? Es el estado donde el gato permanece vivo y muerto simultáneamente hasta que la observación obliga a la realidad a decidirse.   //   DESCRIPCIÓN / SHOW NOTES  Delve into the mind of Erwin Schrödinger in 1936 as he challenges the Copenhagen interpretation and Oxford's Victorian morality. This episode narrates the thought experiment brought to life, where quantum physics shifts from theory to a nightmare of simultaneous states. Discover the truth behind the box, the use of polonium-210, and the physicist's final fate in Austria, in a quest to preserve his existence beyond human observation.   CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS  00:00 Introduction and final letter to Einstein  02:15 Moral conflict at Oxford University  05:30 The public experiment proposal  08:45 The incident with the cat, cyanide, and superposition  12:20 Flight to Austria and the eternal collapse of reality   FAQ  What is Erwin's Box about? It is a story that reimagines Schrödinger's life and the physical consequences of his famous thought experiment.  Is this a true story? It is a work of historical fiction based on real figures and fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics.  What is quantum superposition in the story? It is the state where the cat remains both alive and dead simultaneously until observation forces reality to collapse.   //   DESCRIPCIÓN / SHOW NOTES  Mergulhe na mente de Erwin Schrödinger em 1936, enquanto ele desafia a interpretação de Copenhague e a moral vitoriana de Oxford. Este episódio narra o experimento mental ganhando vida, onde a física quântica deixa de ser teoria para se tornar um pesadelo de estados simultâneos. Descubra a verdade por trás da caixa, o uso de polônio-210 e o destino final do físico na Áustria, em uma busca para preservar sua existência além da observação humana.   CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS  00:00 Introdução e última carta para Einstein  02:15 O conflito moral na Universidade de Oxford  05:30 A proposta do experimento público  08:45 O incidente com o gato, o cianeto e a sobreposição  12:20 Fuga para a Áustria e o colapso eterno da realidade   FAQ  Sobre o que é A Caixa de Erwin? É uma história que reimagina a vida de Schrödinger e as consequências físicas de seu famoso experimento mental.  Esta é uma história real? É uma obra de ficção histórica baseada em figuras reais e conceitos fundamentais da mecânica quântica.  O que é sobreposição quântica no conto? É o estado onde o gato permanece vivo e morto simultaneamente até que a observação force a realidade a se decidir. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The former home of Goodland Country Club, a historic nudist resort in New Jersey with roots stretching back to the early 1930s, has been listed for sale. The 35-acre property includes a Victorian main house, cabins, campsites, and recreational facilities that once supported a thriving naturist community. Its closure in 2024 ended nearly nine decades of activity on the site, leaving the future of the estate—and its place in nudist history—uncertain. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.planetnude.co/subscribe

rWotD Episode 3231: Kirstie Marshall Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Monday, 9 March 2026, is Kirstie Marshall.Kirstie Claire Marshall (born 21 April 1969) is an Australian aerial skier and Victorian state politician.Marshall was an ex-gymnast who became an aerial skier at Mount Buller, Victoria. During her skiing career Marshall won over 40 World Cup medals, including 17 World Cup gold medals. Marshall competed in aerial skiing as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, and as a medal event at the 1994 Lillehammer and 1998 Nagano games, where she came sixth and fourteenth, respectively.In December 2002, aged 33, Marshall was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party.On 26 February 2003, she was ejected from the Lower House chamber for breastfeeding her 11-day-old baby, Charlotte Louise. A section of the Parliamentary rules, namely Standing Order 30, states: "Unless by order of the House, no Member of this House shall presume to bring any stranger into any part of the House appropriated to the Members of this House while the House, or a Committee of the whole House, is sitting." As there is no age limit to 'strangers in the House' (non-elected persons), only MPs and certain parliamentary staff are allowed in the House during sitting times.Subsequently, the Speaker of the House set aside a room in which female MPs can feed their children without violating the Standing Orders.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:19 UTC on Monday, 9 March 2026.For the full current version of the article, see Kirstie Marshall on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Matthew.

Solve crimes with the great detective in "Sherlock Holmes Short Stories." Featuring classic tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, this podcast brings you the brilliant deductions and thrilling adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the world of Holmes, these timeless mysteries will keep you captivated.

WhoSusan Cross, Vice President of Operations at Aspen Skiing Company (and former Mountain Manager of Snowmass)Recorded onNovember 14, 2025 - which was well before I traveled to Snowmass and chased Cross around a bit in the pow. There she is tiny in the distance:About Aspen Skiing CompanyAspen Skiing Company (Skico) is part of something called Aspen One. Don't ask me what that is because even though they rolled it out two years ago I still have no idea what they're talking about. All I know or care about is that they own four ski areas and here is what I know about them:Don't be fooled by the scale of the map above - at 3,342 acres, Snowmass is larger than Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, and Aspen Highlands combined. The monster 4,400-foot vert means these lifts are massively shrunken to fit the map - Snowmass operates three of the 10 longest chairlifts in America, and seven chairlifts over one mile long:You can't ski or ride a lift between the four mountains, but free shuttles connect them all. Aspen Mountain, Highlands, and Buttermilk are all bunched together near town, and Snowmass is a short drive (15 to 20 minutes if traffic is clear and dependent upon which base area you want to hit):Why I interviewed herAmerican ski areas will often re-use chairlifts or snowcats that other operators have outgrown. Aspen Mountain re-used a whole town.In 1879, Aspen the city didn't exist, and by 1890 more than 5,000 people lived there. They came for silver, not snow. In less than a decade they laid out the Victorian street grid of brick and wood-framed buildings using hand tools and horses, with the Roaring Fork River as their supply road.Aspen's population collapsed in the economic depressions of the 1890s and didn't rebound to 5,000 for 100 years. The 1940 Census counted 777 residents. That was 16 years before the first chairlift rose up Ajax, a perfect ski mountain above an intact but semi-abandoned town made pointless by history.It was an amazing coincidence, really. Americans would never build a ski town on purpose. That's where the parking lots go. But hey it all worked out: Aspen evolved into a ski town that offset its European walk-to-the-chairlifts sensibility with a hard-coded American refusal to expand the historic street grid in favor of protectionism and mansion-building. The contemporary result is one of the world's most expensive real estate markets cosplaying as a quaint ski town, a lively and walkable mixed-use community of the sort that we idealize but refuse to build more of. Aspen's population is now around 7,000, most of whom live there by benefit of longevity, subsidy, inheritance, or extreme wealth. The city's median household income is just over $50,000. The median home price is $9.5 million. Anyone clinging to the illusion that Aspen is an actual ski town should consider that it took 25 years to approve and build the Hero's chairlift. Imagine what the fellows who built this whole city in half a decade without the benefit of electricity or cement trucks or paved roads would make of that.The illusory city, however, is a dynamic separate from the skiing. Aspen, despite its somewhat dated lift fleet, remains one of America's best small ski mountains. But it is small, and, with no green terrain and barely any blues, the ski area lacks the substance and scale to draw tourists west of Summit County and Vail.Sister mountain Snowmass does that. And while Snowmass did not benefit from an already-built town at its base, it did benefit from not having one, in that the mountain could evolve with a purpose and speed that Ajax, boxed in by geography and politics, never could. Snowmass has built 13 new aerial lifts this century, including the two-station, mountain-redefining Elk Camp Gondola; the Village Express six-pack, which is the fourth-longest chairlift in America; and, in just the past two years, a considerably lengthened Coney high-speed quad and a new six-pack to replace the Elk Camp chairlift.I've focused on Aspen's story a bit over the years (including this 2021 podcast with former Skico CEO Mike Kaplan), but probably not enough. The four Aspen mountains are some of the most important in American skiing, even if visitation doesn't quite match their status as skiing word-association champion among non-skiers (more on that below). Aspen, a leader not just in skiing but in housing, the environment, and culture, carries narrative heft, and the company's status as favored property of Alterra part-owner Henry Crown hints at deeper influence than Skico likely takes credit for. Aspen, like Big Sky and Deer Valley and Sun Valley, is rapidly emerging as one of the new titans of American skiing, unleashing a modernization drive that should lead, as Cross says in our conversation, to an average of at least one new lift per year across the portfolio. Snowmass' 2023 U.S. Forest Service masterplan envisions a fully modern mountain with snowmaking to the summit. Necessary and exciting as that all is, forthcoming updates to the dated masterplans at Aspen Highlands (2013) and Buttermilk (2008), could, Skico officials tell me, offer a complete rethinking of what Aspen-Snowmass is and how the ski areas orbit one another as a unit.And they do need to rethink the whole package. Challenging Skico's pre-eminence in the Circle of American Ski Gods are many obstacles, including but not limited to: an address that's just a bit remote for Denver to bother with or tourists to comprehend; a rinky-dink airport that can't land a paper plane; an only-come-if-you-have-nine-houses rap on the affordability matrix; a toxic combination of one of America's most expensive season passes and most expensive walk-up lift tickets; and national pass partners who do a poor job making it clear that Aspen is not one ski area but four.A lot to overcome, but I think they'll figure it out. The skiing is too good not to. What we talked about“I thought I had found Heaven” upon arrival in Aspen; Aspen in the 1990s; $200 a month to live in Carbondale; “as soon as you go up on the lifts, the mountain hasn't changed”; when Skico purchased formerly independent Aspen Highlands; Highlands pre-detachable lifts; four ski areas working (and not), as one ski resort; why there is “minimal sharing” of employees between the four mountains; why “two winter seasons, and then I was going back to Boston” didn't quite work out; why “total guilt sets in” if Cross misses a day of skiing and how she “deliberately” makes “at least a couple of runs” happen every day of the winter and encourages everyone else to do the same; Long Shot in the morning; the four pods of Snowmass; why tourists tend to lock onto one section of the mountain; “a lot of people don't realize their lift ticket is good for the four mountains”; “there's plenty of room to spread out and have a blast” even at busy Snowmass; defining the four mountains without typecasting them; no seriously there are no green runs on Aspen Mountain; the new Elk Camp six-pack; why Elk Camp doesn't terminate at the top of Burnt Mountain; why Elk Camp doesn't have the fancy carriers that came with 2024's new Coney Express lift; why Snowmass opted not to add bubbles to its six-packs; how Coney Express changed how skiers use Snowmass; why Coney is a quad rather than a six; why skiers can't unload at the Coney Express mid-station (and couldn't load last season); how Coney ended up with a mid-station and two bends along the liftline; the hazards of bending chairlifts and lessons learned from Alta's Supreme debacle; why Snowmass replaced the Cirque Poma with a T-bar (and not a chairlift); which mountain purchased the old Poma; Aspen's history of selling lifts and how the old Elk Camp wound up at Powderhorn ski area; where Skico had considered moving the Elk Camp quad; “we want everybody to stay in business”; why Snowmass didn't sell or relocate the Coney Glade lift; prioritizing future chairlift upgrades; the debate over whether to replace Elk Camp or Alpine Springs first, and why Elk Camp won; “what we're trying to do is at least one lift a year across the four mountains”; a photobomb from my cat; why the relatively new Village Express lift is a replacement candidate and where that lift could move; why we're unlikely to see the proposed Burnt Mountain chairlift anytime soon; and the new megalift that could rise on Aspen Mountain this summer.What I got wrong* I said that Breck had “T-bars serving their high peaks,” which is incorrect. In fact, Breck runs chairlifts close to the summits of Peak 8 (Imperial Superchair, the highest chairlift in North America), and Peak 6 (Kensho Superchair). I was thinking, however, of the Horseshoe T-Bar, an incredible high-alpine machine that I rode recently (it lands below Imperial Superchair on Peak 8).* I said that Maverick Mountain, Montana, was running a “1960-something” Riblet double. The lift dates to 1969, and is slated for replacement by Aspen Mountain's old Gent's Ridge fixed-grip quad, which Skico removed in 2024.* I referred to the Sheer Bliss chairlift as “Super Bliss,” which I think was fallout from over-exposure to Breck, where 12 of the chairlifts are named [SOMETHING] Superchair or some similar name.Why you should ski Aspen-SnowmassWhy do we ski Colorado? In some ways, it's a dumb question. We ski Colorado because everyone skis Colorado: the state's resorts account for 20 to 25 percent of annual U.S. skier visits, inbounds skiable acreage, and detachable chairlifts. Colorado is so synonymous with skiing that the state basically is skiing from the point of view of the outside world, especially to non-skiers who, challenged to name a ski resort, would probably come up with Vail or Aspen.But among well-traveled skiers, Colorado is Taylor Swift. Talented, yes, but a bit too obvious and sell-your-kidneys expensive. There's a lot more music out there: Utah gets more snow, Idaho and Montana have fewer people, B.C.'s Powder Highway has both of those things. Europe is cheaper (well, everywhere is cheaper). Colorado is only home to 26 public, lift-served ski areas, and only two of the 10 largest in America. Only seven Colorado ski areas rank among the nation's 50 snowiest by average annual snowfall. Getting there is a hassle. That awful airport. That stupid road. So many Texans. So many New Yorkers. Alternate, Man!But we all go anyway. And here's why: Colorado ski areas claim 14 of the 20 highest base areas in North America, and 16 of the 20 highest summits. What that means is that, unlike in Tahoe or Park City or Idaho, it never rains. Temperatures rarely top freezing. That means the snow that falls stays, and stays nice. Even in a mediocre Rocky Mountain winter – like this one – Colorado is able to deliver a consistent and predictable trail footprint in a way that no other U.S. ski state can match. Add in an abundance of approachable, intermediate-oriented ski terrain, and it's clear why America's two largest ski area operators center their multi-mountain pass empires in Colorado.Which brings us back to the thing most skiers hate the most about Colorado skiing: other skiers. There are just so many of them. And they all planned the same vacation. For the same time.But there is a back door. Around half of Colorado's 12 to 14 million annual skier visits occur at just five ski areas: Vail Mountain, Breck, Keystone, Copper, and Steamboat – often but not always strictly in that order. Next comes Winter Park, then Beaver Creek. And all the way down at number eight for Colorado annual skier visits is Snowmass.Snowmass' 771,259 skier visits is still a lot of skier visits. But consider some additional stats: Snowmass is the third-largest ski area in Colorado and the 11th-largest in America. From a skier visits-to-skiable-acreage ratio, it comes in way below the state's other 2,000-plus-acre ski areas (save Telluride, which is even more remote than Aspen):Why is that? The map explains it: Snowmass, and Aspen in general, lost the I-70 sweepstakes. They're too far west, too far off the interstate (so is Steamboat, but at least they have a real airport).Snowmass is worth the extra drive time. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon is slow-going but gorgeous, and the 40 miles of Colorado 82 after the interstate turnoff barely qualify as mountain driving – four lanes most of the way, no tight turns, some congestion but only if you're arriving in the morning. A roundabout or two and there you are at Snowmass.And here's what that extra two hours of driving gets you: all the benefits of Colorado skiing absent most of its drawbacks. Goldilocks Mountain. Here you'll find the fourth-highest lift-served summit in American skiing, the second-tallest vertical drop, and a dizzying, dazzling modern lift fleet spinning 20 lifts, including 9 detachables and a gondola. You'll find glorious ever-cruisers, tree-dotted and infinite; long bumpers twisting off High Alpine; comically approachable green zones at the village and mid-mountain. If Campground double is open, you can sample Colorado skiing circa 1975, alone in the big empty lapping the long, slow lift. And since the Brobots hate Snowmass, the high-altitude Hanging Valley and Cirque Headwall expert zones are always empty.That's one of four mountains. Towering, no-greens-for-real Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands are as rugged and wicked as anything a Colorado chairlift can drop you onto. And Buttermilk is just delightful – 2,000 vertical feet of no-stress-with-the-9-year-old, with fast lifts back to the top all day long.Podcast NotesOn Sugarbush and Mad River GlenI always like to make this point for western partisans: there is eastern skiing that stacks up well against the average western ski experience. Most of it is in northern Vermont, and two of the best, terrain-wise, are Alterra-owned Sugarbush - home of the longest chairlift in the world - and co-op-owned Mad River Glen, which still spins the only single chair in the lower 48. Here's Sugarbush:Mad River Glen is right next door. Just keep going looker's right off Mt. Ellen:On pre-Skico HighlandsWhoa that's a lot of lifts. And they're almost all doubles and Pomas.On Joe HessionHession is founder and CEO of Snow Partners, which owns Mountain Creek ski area, the Big Snow indoor ski ramp in New Jersey, Snow Cloud resort-management software, the Snow Triple Play Pass, and the Terrain Based Learning concept that you see in beginner areas all over America. He's been on the pod a few times, and he's a huge fan of Susan's.On Timberline's wonky vertMeasuring vertical drop is a somewhat hazardous game. Potential asterisks include the clandestine inclusion of hike-up terrain (Aspen Highlands), ski-down terrain with no return lift access (Sunlight), or both (Arapahoe Basin). Generally, I refer to lift-served vert, meaning what you can ski down and ride back up without walking. But even that gets tricky, as in the case of Timberline Lodge, Oregon, home to the tallest vertical drop in American lift-served skiing. We have to get mighty creative with the definition of “lift” however, since Timberline includes a 557-vertical-foot lift-served gap between the top of the Summit chairlift (4,290 feet) and the bottom of the Jeff Flood high-speed quad (4,847 feet). This is the result of two historically separate ski areas combining in 2018:Timberline's masterplan calls for a gondola from the base of Summit up to the top of Jeff Flood:For now, skiers can ski all the way down, but have to ride back up to Timberline from the Summit base via shuttle. To further complicate the calculus here, the hyper-exposed Palmer high-speed summit quad rarely runs in winter, acting mostly as a summer workhorse for camp kids. When Palmer's not running, a snowcat will sometimes shuttle skiers close to the unload point.Anyway, that's the fine print annotating our biggest lift-served vertical drop list:On Big Sky's new lifts and pod-stickingSnowmass' recent lift upgrade splurges are impressive, but Big Sky has built an incredible 12 aerial lifts in the past decade, 11 of them brand-new. These are some of the most sophisticated lifts in the world and include two six-packs, two eight-packs, a tram, and two gondolas. This reverse chronology of Big Sky's active lifts doubles as a neat history of the mountain's evolution from striver importing other resorts' leftovers to one of the top ski areas on the continent:Big Sky still has some older chairs spinning along its margins, but plenty of tourists spend their entire vacation just lapping the out-of-base super lifts (according to on-the-ground staff). The only peer Big Sky has in the recent American lift upgrade game is Deer Valley, which has erected nearly a dozen aerial lifts in just the past two years to feed its mega-expansion.On the Ikon Pass site being confusing as to mountain accessI just find the classification of four separate and distinct ski areas as one “destination” confusing, especially for skiers who aren't familiar with the place:On the new Elk Camp chairliftThe upside of taking nine years to distribute this podcast is that I was able to go ride Snowmass' gorgeous new Elk Camp sixer:On my Superstar lift discussion with KillingtonOn Aspen's history of selling liftsI somewhat overstated Aspen's history of selling lifts to smaller mountains. It seemed like a lot, though these are the only ones I can find records of:However, given Skico's enormous number of retired Riblets (28, all but two of which were doubles), and the durability and ubiquity of these machines, I suspect that pieces – and perhaps wholes – of Aspen's retired chairlifts are scattered in boneyards across the West.On the small number of relocated detachable lifts Given that the world's first modern detachable chairlift debuted at Breckenridge 45 years ago, it's astonishing how few have been relocated. Only 19 U.S. detaches that started life within the U.S. are now operating elsewhere in the country, and only nine moved to a different ski area:On Powderhorn's West End chairThe number of relocated detachables is set to increase to 10 next year, when Powderhorn, Colorado repurposes Snowmass' old Elk Camp quad to replace this amazing, 7,000-foot-long double chair, a 1972 Heron-Poma machine:Elk Camp is already sitting in a pile beside the load station (Powderhorn officials tell me the carriers are also onsite, but elsewhere):Powderhorn's existing high-speed quad, the Flat Top Flyer, also came used, from Marble Mountain in Canada.On Snowmass' masterplan and the proposed Burnt Mountain liftSnowmass' most recent U.S. Forest Service masterplan, released in 2022, shows the approximate location of a future hypothetical Burnt Mountain chairlift (the left-most red dotted line below):Unfortunately, Cross and the rest of Skico's leadership seem fairly unenthusiastic about actually building this lift. Right now, skiers can hike from the top of Elk Camp chair to access this terrain.On Aspen's Nell-Bell ProposalOh man how freaking cool would it be to ride one chairlift from Aspen's base to the top of Bell? Cross and I discuss Aspen Mountain's Forest Service application to do exactly that, with a machine along roughly this line parallel to the gondola:The new detachable would replace two rarely-used chairs: the Nell fixed-grip quad and the Bell Mountain double chair, which, incredibly, dates to 1957 (with heavy modifications in the 1980s), making it the fourth-oldest standing chairlift in the nation (after Mt. Spokane's 1956 Vista Cruiser Riblet, Mad River Glen's 1946 American Steel & Wire single chair, and Boyne Mountain's Hemlock Riblet double, moved to Michigan in 1948 after starting life circa 1936 as America's first chairlift – a single standing at Sun Valley).I lucked out with a gondola wind hold when I was in Aspen a few weeks back, meaning Nell was spinning:Sadly, Bell was idle, but I skied the liftline and loaded up on photos:On the original Lift 1 at AspenBehold Lift 1 on Aspen Mountain, a 1946 American Steel & Wire single chair that rose 2,574 vertical feet along an 8,480-foot line in something like 35 or 40 minutes. Details on this lift's origin story and history vary, but commenters on Lift Blog suggest that towers from this lift ended up as part of Sunlight's Segundo double following its removal from Ajax in 1971. That Franken-lift, which also contained parts from Aspen's Lift 3 – which dated to 1954 and may have been a Poma or American Steel & Wire machine, but lived its 52-year Sunlight tenure as a Riblet – came down last summer to make way for a new-used triple – A-Basin's old Lenawee chair.On the Hero's expansionAt just 826 acres, Aspen Mountain is the most famous small ski area in the West. The reason, in part, for this notoriety: a quirky, lively treasure chest of a ski area that rockets straight up, hiding odd little terrain pockets in its fingers and folds. The 153-acre Hero's terrain, a byzantine scramble of high-altitude tree skiing opened just two years ago, fits into this Rocky Mountain minefield like a thousand-dollar bill in a millionaire's wallet. An obscene boost to an already near-perfect ski mountain, so good it's hard to believe the ski area existed so long without it.Here's a mellow section of Hero's:And a less-mellow one (adding to the challenge, this terrain is at 11,000 feet):The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Something moved through parking lots, forests, open water, and even hospital wards. Ten witnesses describe encounters that refuse easy explanation.From quadrupedal sprinting figures to translucent humanoids, from Bigfoot in a public park to a vanished Victorian-era stranger, these cases raise a difficult question: are these isolated events, or connected patterns?If you have experienced an unexplained encounter or sighting, visit Phantoms and Monsters https://phantomsandmonsters.com to submit & share your story.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 7, 2026 is: libertine • LIB-er-teen • noun A libertine is in broad terms a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality. More narrowly, the word describes someone who leads an immoral life. // The legend of Don Juan depicts him as a playboy and libertine. See the entry > Examples: "As horrifying as some of the sins of Victorian scholarship may have been, it would have been anathema to these students of classical philosophy to simply throw out Plato. But that's what some of their modern inheritors have tried to do. … It's worth noting that we might not have Plato's work at all, were it not carefully studied and preserved by the Islamic scholars (hardly libertines themselves) of the medieval period." — R. Bruce Anderson, The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida), 1 Feb. 2026 Did you know? "I only ask to be free," says Mr. Skimpole in Charles Dickens' Bleak House. His words would undoubtedly have appealed to the world's first libertines. The word libertine comes from the Latin lībertīnus, a word used in early writings of Roman antiquity to describe a formerly enslaved person who had been set free (the Roman term for an emancipated person was the Latin lībertus). Middle English speakers used libertine to refer to a freedman, but by the late 1500s its meaning was extended to freethinkers, both religious and secular, and it later came to imply that an individual was a little too unrestrained, especially in moral affairs. The likely Latin root of libertine is līber, the ultimate source of our word liberty.

Thanks for joining us this week on MU! Today we offer another installment from Dirk Gillabel entitled Accidentally Viewing of Past Scenes. This continues on our investigations into odd moments when time doesn't behave like it's supposed to; from the legendary Oregon Vortex to being suddenly teleported from a bus into the Victorian era, Dirk has compiled many of these stories in an attempt to find the patterns that seem to permeate them. Are these hallucinations or is this a natural phenomenon that occurs when several contributing factors align? For your Plus+ Extension, this Joe-round we continue and conclude THE quintessential look at one of the most popular conspiracies that has ever been brought to our attention. Project Blue Beam part deux, that is. It's got it all: crumbling religious structures, Antichrist takeover, and Alien battles with super-messiahs in the sky. Check out the link below and get the new Inescapable Podcast out now. Get both amazing shows for the investment of one through April 14th. Plus+ Members can now find the new feed on your Dashboard and add it to your preferred podcast player. Soul-Guidance.com Cosmick Traveler Project Blue Beam; Revival Of The Fake Alien Invasion Technology Book - Project Blue Beam By Serge Monast Educate-Yourself - The Freedom of Knowledge, The Power of Thought Book - Auditory Effects of Microwave Radiation   LinksPlus+ ExtensionThe extension of the show is EXCLUSIVE to Plus+ Members. To join. click HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1800s death was a lot more of a regular occurrence in people’s lives. Almost half of all children died by the time they were 5! So . . the Victorians developed some pretty unusual ways of processing that reality. Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty SteeleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From never-ending list of tasks and duties to possibly being mistreated, domestic service in the Victorian era sounds like absolute hell. And yet, for many women, it was a dream job. Today we're reading “Instructions in household matters: or, The young girl's guide to domestic service” from 1845, which details how to best prepare for that sort of work. Also, welcome to season 3 of Textory The Podcast! Announcement time – future episodes of the podcast will be uploaded on a separate Youtube channel rather than on my channel, so if you've been following the podcast there, make sure to subscribe the new channel to stay up to date with new episodes! You'll find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@TextoryThePodcast _________________ Check out my Patreon!  https://patreon.com/textory

Mocha can't stop saying “that's what she said” while Jenna teaches Cruze the recorder, the crew debates who would win a Thirst Trap Thursday battle, Roz suffers through an itchy Mexico sunburn while everyone argues about payday, we break down the Blood Moon confusion, Maurie gets reaction to B.C. moving to permanent daylight time, we translate The Lion King's “Circle of Life,” hear a wild vent about a nightmare basement neighbour, talk Jamaican patties and Victorian slang, Maurie chats with the Law & Order Toronto cast, the team vents about broken car signals, chats with Stephan James about War Machine, and covers everything from the future of Jersey Shore to Tate McRae's new relationship.

With war in Iran going on, Hochul says NY is exposed but prepared... Bronx Week is canceled — leaving businesses outraged... Gen Z men like the way things were in Victorian times full 453 Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:50:13 +0000 9riorPu4swFJAxfWMonjc9JrgZPrxdPS news 1010 WINS ALL LOCAL news With war in Iran going on, Hochul says NY is exposed but prepared... Bronx Week is canceled — leaving businesses outraged... Gen Z men like the way things were in Victorian times The podcast is hyper-focused on local news, issues and events in the New York City area. This podcast's purpose is to give New Yorkers New York news about their neighborhoods and shine a light on the issues happening in their backyard. 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.

Who is up for a walk on the beach? Great! Bring some gloves and a thinking cap because we need to solve not one but 2 puzzles. — Support and sponsor this show! Venmo Tip Jar: @wellthatsinteresting Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@wellthatsinterestingpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky: @wtipod Threads: @wellthatsinterestingpod Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@wti_pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen on YouTube!! Oh, BTW. You're interesting. Email YOUR facts, stories, experiences... Nothing is too big or too small. I'll read it on the show: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com WTI is a part of the Airwave Media podcast network! Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other incredible shows. Want to advertise your glorious product on WTI? Email me: wellthatsinterestingpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had 2 #ASKJIM's in February 2026, Jim covers a lot of things plus why he is running for the seat of Northcote in the Victorian state election.

Éamon de Valera is one of the most influential figures in modern Irish history. Born in New York in 1880s and raised in rural Limerick, he rose from obscurity to become a central figure in the Irish Revolution. He played a major role in the 1916 Rising, became the most internationally recognised Irish figure during the War of Independence, and was central to the Treaty split that led to the Civil War. Although defeated in that conflict he returned to politics as a founder of Fianna Fáil and, in 1932, began the long era in which he dominated Irish public life.Today he is often remembered as the architect of a conservative, Catholic and insular Ireland. This podcast featuring, David McCullagh, looks at de Valera's early years and rise to power and seeks to answer if he was the architect of a conservative state, or simply a reflection of the Irish society that shaped him?My guest is David McCullagh. David is a broadcaster with RTÉ, has a PhD in politics and is the author of six books, including a biography of John A. Costello, The Reluctant Taoiseach, a two-volume biography of Éamon de Valera, Rise and Rule, and most recently From Crown to Harp: How the Anglo-Irish Treaty Was Undone. RTÉ broadcaster and author of the acclaimed two volume biography of de Valera, You can find David's books here.Sound by Kate Dunlea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The BBC has had exclusive access to the world's largest study scanning pregnant women's brains. The BeMOther project is based in Spain and has found that women's brains change significantly through pregnancy and beyond. We learn more about the changes and ask why Matrescence - and the transformations that can come with pregnancy, birth and raising a child - are only just starting to receive attention as a distinct life-stage. There's even a campaign to get the word in US dictionaries. Nuala McGovern talks to Smitha Mundasad, a BBC health and science reporter who visited the trial in Spain for her documentary, Baby Brain: What's Really Going On? and Lucy Jones, the journalist and author of Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. Hester Musson's latest book is The Night Hag. It's a Victorian Gothic novel which takes place in 19th century Scotland. It delves into themes including the budding science of archaeology, spiritualism and folklore legends, but at its heart is the question of the role of women in Victorian society. A major global study says more than a quarter of healthy years lost to breast cancer could be prevented through lifestyle changes like cutting red meat, staying active and not smoking. The Lancet Oncology analysis shows cases worldwide are set to rise by a third, reaching over 3.5 million by 2050. We are joined by Professor Jayant Vaidya, Professor of Surgery and Oncology at University College Hospital, London, Dr Liz O'Riordan, a former breast cancer surgeon who herself has had breast cancer and is currently in remission, and Claire Rowney, Breast Cancer Now's chief executive, who has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Last week, news broke of the killing of one of Mexico's most dangerous men - known as El Mencho. He was killed by the Mexican military. He ran one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation. In response, members of his cartel torched businesses and buses across the country. But among the burnt-out cars, a new wave of posters appeared, with the faces and names of some of Mexico's 130,000 people who are either missing or disappeared – a tactic used by criminal cartels. The people taping their faces to walls are often their mothers, part of groups fighting to find out what happened to their loved ones. They are known as 'madres buscadoras' or searching mothers. Journalist Andalusia Soloff joins us from Mexico City, she has been following stories like these for years.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Helen Fitzhenry

Content WarningThis episode contains discussions of domestic abuse, poisoning, and death. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 39: The Balham Mystery. April 1876—a successful barrister collapses in his bedroom after drinking from a bedside water jug. For three agonizing days, doctors begged him to name his poisoner. He never would. This is the story of Charles Bravo, and the Victorian murder that has never been solved.Behind the elegant facade of The Priory, a villa in Balham, South London, lay a tangle of secrets: a wealthy widow's scandalous past, a controlling husband who knew everything, and a companion with everything to lose.The VictimCharles Delauney Turner Bravo was thirty years old when he died. A barrister called to the bar, Charles came from a prosperous family of Portuguese Jewish ancestry. He was ambitious, charming, and by all accounts, determined to control every aspect of his household—including his wife's considerable fortune. Charles married Florence Campbell Ricardo in December 1875, knowing full well about her four-year affair with the famous hydropathy physician Dr. James Gully. What should have been a fresh start for Florence became something else entirely: a marriage built on leverage and suspicion.The CrimeOn the evening of April 18, 1876, Charles Bravo dined at The Priory with his wife Florence and her companion, Jane Cannon Cox. He retired to his bedroom around 8:30pm. Shortly after, servants heard a bedroom door crash open. Charles staggered into the hallway, his face contorted in agony, crying out for hot water. Jane Cox reached him first—a detail that would later prove crucial.Charles had been poisoned with antimony, likely administered in his bedside water jug. The dose was massive: 20-40 grains of tartar emetic, ten times the lethal amount. For three days, as doctors fought to save him, Charles was asked repeatedly who had poisoned him. His only answer: "I have told you all I know."The InvestigationCharles Bravo died at 5:20am on April 21, 1876. The first inquest returned an open verdict—insufficient evidence to determine what had happened. But public outrage demanded answers. A second inquest, lasting 23 days and calling over 40 witnesses, became a Victorian sensation.Florence Bravo took the stand and admitted everything: the affair with Gully, a pregnancy, a possible miscarriage. Dr. James Gully, 66 years old and once one of England's most respected physicians, saw his reputation destroyed. Jane Cox, whose position in the household was under threat from Charles's cost-cutting, gave contradictory testimony that convinced no one.The verdict: "Wilful murder by person or persons unknown." Three suspects. No conviction. No justice.Historical ContextThe Bravo case emerged during a period when Victorian marriage laws trapped women in impossible situations. Florence had inherited £40,000 (approximately £5 million today) from her first husband, an alcoholic who died at 27. Yet as a married woman, she had limited control over her own life. Divorce required proving both adultery and cruelty—nearly impossible for women of her class.The case also highlighted Victorian England's reputation as a "poisoner's paradise." Antimony was readily available in most households, used to treat horses in stables. The science of toxicology was still developing, and many poisonings went undetected or unprosecuted.Sources (Chicago Notes-Bibliography format):Primary:The National Archives, Coroner's Inquest Records, Bravo Case (1876)Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foulplay/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mary Balmana grew up in San Francisco and has driven down Monterey Boulevard near the Glen Park neighborhood hundreds of times. She often notices a large, beautiful Victorian building tucked between the houses and apartment buildings that dominate the block. And she's wondered, what's the story with it? How did such a grand building end up in such an unassuming spot? Additional Resources: The Eccentric Personalities Behind Sunnyside Conservatory, a 120-Year-Old Garden in San Francisco Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Forsytes is a modern reimagining of John Galsworthy's landmark novels which chronicle the lives and loves, trials and triumphs of a wealthy Victorian stockbroking family. Written by Debbie Horsfield, who also wrote MASTERPIECE's 2015 adaptation of Poldark, this new series depicts the tensions between tradition and self-sacrifice, and personal happiness and the pursuit of love. In preparation for The Forsytes, coming to MASTERPIECE on Sunday, March 22, we're joined by MASTERPIECE mainstay, actor Tom Durant-Pritchard, who plays Montague Dartie, to take a sneak peek at this highly anticipated upcoming drama.  

March 2nd: Kate Webster Kills (1879) A disagreement with an employer is nothing new. How one handles it, though, is entirely unique. On March 2nd 1879 a woman and her employer reached a boiling point. And only one walked away with their life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Julia_Martha_Thomas, https://historianandrew.medium.com/why-kate-websters-murder-of-julia-martha-thomas-captivated-london-in-1879-adbc17dd0b63, https://mail.murderpedia.org/female.W/w/webster-catherine.htm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices