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An action packed episode taking a look at the SNP/Scottish Government developments and the SNP leadership reporting. At the end of the show a listener question from Ian Currie. Recommendations: Stuart: Fragile Animals - book - Genevieve Jagger When an ex-catholic woman develops a sexual relationship with a vampire, she is forced to confront the memories that haunt her religious past. Struggling to deal with the familial trauma of her Catholic upbringing, hotel cleaner, Noelle, travels to the Isle of Bute. There, she meets a man who claims to be a vampire, and a relationship blooms between them based solely on confession. But as talk turns sacrilegious, and the weather outside grows colder, Noelle struggles to come to terms with her blasphemous sexuality. She becomes hounded by memories of her past: her mother’s affair with the local priest, and the part she played in ending it. Catriona: Night Train to Odesa - book - Jen Stout When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, millions of lives changed in an instant. Millions of people were suddenly on the move. In this great flow of people was a reporter from Shetland. Jen Stout left Moscow abruptly, ending up on a border post in southeast Romania, from where she began to cover the human cost of Russian aggression. Her firsthand, vivid reporting as she travelled alone, hauling around body armour, brought the war to audiences back home, as she reported from front lines and cities across Ukraine. Stories from the night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers: stories from the ground, from a writer with a deep sense of empathy, always seeking to understand the bigger picture, the big questions of identity, history, hopes and fears in this war in Europe. Eamonn: THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS - film In 1896, a construction engineer from the British Army, J.H. Patterson (Kilmer) is sent to build a railway bridge across Uganda's Tsavo River for the British East African Railway. Soon after he arrives, workmen begin to disappear at night from their tents never to be seen alive again.

At the end of the show a question from Roger Hyam Recommendations: Ruth The Glasgow Girl (Paperback) - Aasmah Mir A Glasgow Girl is the coming of age story of Aasmah Mir's childhood growing up in 1970s Glasgow. From a vivacious child to a teenage loner, Aasmah candidly shares the highs and lows of growing up between two cultures - trying to fit in at school and retreating to the safe haven of a home inhabited by her precious but distant little brother and Helen, her family's Glaswegian guardian angel. Intricately woven into this moving memoir is the story of Aasmah's mother, as we follow her own life as a young girl in 1950s Pakistan to 1960s Scotland and beyond. Both mother and daughter fight, are defeated and triumph in different battles in this sharp and moving story. A Glasgow Girl is a remarkable memoir about family, identity and finding yourself where you are. This book was previously titled A Pebble in the Throat. https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-glasgow-girl/aasmah-mir/9781472288554 Blue Lights - series - BBC For three police recruits in Belfast, the pressure is immense. Facing criminal gangs and divided communities, they don't know who to trust. The odds are, they won't all make it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0f2cxpr/blue-lights Hollyrood Sources Podcast The Holyrood Sources podcast analyses Scottish politics through the experiences of those who have lived and breathed it as Special Advisers to the Scottish Government, SNP and opposition parties. Join hosts Calum Macdonald, Geoff Aberdein (Chief of Staff to the First Minister, 2007-2014) and Andy Maciver (Former Head of Communications for the Scottish Conservatives). Their insight is second to none - they've been there. What does Scottish Politics look like after Nicola Sturgeon? Holyrood Sources bring you the insider information you need to navigate the next chapter. https://holyroodsources.com/ Stuart When a struggling comedian shows one act of kindness to a vulnerable woman, it sparks a suffocating obsession which threatens to wreck both their lives https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81219887 Eamonn Living - film - netflix Overwhelmed at work and lonely at home, a council bureaucrat's life takes a heartbreaking turn when a medical diagnosis tells him his time is short. Influenced by a local decadent and a vibrant woman, he continues to search for meaning until a simple revelation gives him a purpose to create a legacy for the next generation. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9051908/

At the end of the show a question from John Daly. Recommendations: Stuart Riley - Netflix Scott’s Tom Ripley is a grifter scraping by in early ’60s New York. He’s hired by a wealthy industrialist to travel to Italy to try to convince the man’s dilettante son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Accepting the job is Tom’s first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81678765 Eamonn imagine... Pet Shop Boys: Then and Now - BBC Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are the most successful duo in UK Music history. They have sold more than 50 million records, produced over 40 Top 40 singles, four UK number ones, performed in several world tours, and they are still making new music together. Their songs have often commented on Britain and the world around them with wit, sensitivity and intelligence driving the stories they want to share through some of the most memorable synth-pop music ever created. For their tours they have worked with the most innovative theatre personnel to create original and thrilling performances. Now for the first time they have allowed backstage access as imagine… accompanies them on their global Dreamworld tour, filming rehearsals in London and backstage in Helsinki. Contributors include fellow musicians Brandon Flowers, Jake Shears, Olly Alexander, Marc Almond; music journalist Miranda Sawyer, and creative collaborators Stuart Price, James Ford, Es Devlin, Javier De Frutos, Tom Scutt and Mark Farrow. https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/proginfo/2024/16/imagine-pet-shop-boys David The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of Gaza and the Occupied Territories - Ilan Pappé A powerful, groundbreaking history of the Occupied Territories from one of Israel's most influential historians From the author of the bestselling study of the 1948 War of Independence comes an incisive look at the Occupied Territories, picking up the story where The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine left off. In this comprehensive exploration of one of the world’s most prolonged and tragic conflicts, Pappe uses recently declassified archival material to analyse the motivations and strategies of the generals and politicians – and the decision-making process itself – that laid the foundation of the occupation. From a survey of the legal and bureaucratic infrastructures that were put in place to control the population of over one million Palestinians, to the security mechanisms that vigorously enforced that control, Pappe paints a picture of what is to all intents and purposes the world’s largest ‘open prison’. https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-biggest-prison-on-earth/ilan-pappe/9781786073419 Strangers in the House - Raja Shehadeh Raja Shehadeh was born into a successful Palestinian family with a beautiful house overlooking the Mediterranean. When the state of Israel was formed in 1948 the family were driven out to the provincial town of Ramallah. There Shehadeh grew up in the shadow of his father, a leading civil rights lawyer. He vowed not to become involved in politics or law but inevitably did so and became an important activist himself. In 1985 his father was stabbed to death. The Israeli police failed to investigate the murder properly and Shehadeh, by then a lawyer, set about solving the crime that destroyed his family. In Strangers in the House, Shehadeh recounts his troubled and complex relationship with his father and his experience of exile - of being a stranger in his own land. It is a remarkable memoir that combines the personal and political to devastating effect. https://www.waterstones.com/book/strangers-in-the-house/raja-shehadeh/9781846682506

After two weeks with the brilliant Catriona Stewart and Shona Craven, the Boys are Back In Town! At the end of the show a question from J.P. Gallacher Recommendations: Stuart: Bobby Fischer Goes to War: The most famous chess match of all time - Dave Edmonds Bobby Fischer Goes to War by David Edmonds and John Eidinow details the occasion when Bobby Fischer met Boris Spassky in one of the most thrilling and politically charged chess matches of all time. For decades, the USSR had dominated world chess. Evidence, according to Moscow, of the superiority of the Soviet system. But in 1972 along came the American, Bobby Fischer: insolent, arrogant, abusive, vain, greedy, vulgar, bigoted, paranoid and obsessive - and apparently unstoppable. Against him was Boris Spassky: complex, sensitive, the most un-Soviet of champions. As the authors reveal, when Spassky began to lose, the KGB decided to step in. . . https://www.waterstones.com/book/bobby-fischer-goes-to-war/david-edmonds/john-eidinow/9780571214129 Eamonn: Scoop - Netflix Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization gives an insider account of how the women of Newsnight secured Prince Andrew's infamous interview. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81600418 The Boys in the Boat - MGM The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. https://www.mgm.com/movies/the-boys-in-the-boat Paddy: Girls5eva - Netflix A one-hit wonder '90s girl group attempts a comeback while hilariously navigating family and relationships — plus the joys and pains of middle age. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81630704 Round Britain Quiz - Radio 4 Radio's most fiendish quiz, with cryptic questions drawing on unpredictable fields of knowledge https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qxpr

This week, with Stuart and Eamonn on holiday, we have a wee treat in store - a girl power double header with Talk Media favourites Catriona Stewart and Shona Craven. At the end of the show a listener question suggested by Brian Brussels. Recommendations: Shona Invisible Child - Book - Andrea Elliot Based on nearly a decade of reporting, Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child with an imagination as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn homeless shelter. Born at the turn of a new century, Dasani is named for the bottled water that comes to symbolise Brooklyn's gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. As Dasani moves with her family from shelter to shelter, this story traces the passage of Dasani's ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. Dasani comes of age as New York City's homeless crisis is exploding. In the shadows of this new Gilded Age, Dasani leads her seven siblings through a thicket of problems: hunger, parental drug addiction, violence, housing instability, segregated schools and the constant monitoring of the child-protection system. When, at age thirteen, Dasani enrolls at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, her loyalties are tested like never before. Ultimately, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning the family you love? By turns heartbreaking and revelatory, provocative and inspiring, Invisible Child tells an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family and the cost of inequality. https://www.waterstones.com/book/invisible-child/andrea-elliott/9781529156102 Catriona: American Fiction - Film - Cord Jefferson AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. https://www.mgm.com/movies/american-fiction Glasgow School of Art fire - Features - The Herald Almost a decade has passed since the unique and world-renowned Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art was badly damaged in a fire as final year students prepared for their degree show. Four years later, the category A-listed landmark - widely regarded as Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece - suffered a second, more significant fire as it was nearing the end of a £35 million restoration effort to repair the damage incurred during the 2014 fire. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24199850.complete-timeline-glasgow-school-art-fires/

This week, the boys are really happy to have the company of Chris Mullin - journalist responsible for exposing the false convictions of the Birmingham Six , author and ex-labour MP. At the end a question from Jim Hunter. Recommendations: Chris Mullin Books: Error of Judgement, Didn’t You Used to be Chris Mullin, A Very British Coup, Secret State and Walk on Part and Many More… https://www.waterstones.com/author/chris-mullin/77471 Film: The Investigation Inside a Terrorist Bombing 1990 Martin Shaw John Hurt www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAvevePIp4c Stuart: Now Then: A Biography of Yorkshire by Rick Broadbent Written from the perspective of an exiled Yorkshireman this bestselling, award-winning author returns to his native county to discover and reveal its soul. We all know the tropes - Geoffrey Boycott incarnate, ferret-leggers and folk singers gambolling about Ilkley Moor without appropriate headgear - but why is Yorkshire God's Own County? Exiled Yorkshireman Rick Broadbent sets out to find out whether Yorkshireness is something that can be summed up and whether it even matters in a shrinking world. Along the way he meets rock stars, ramblers and rhubarb growers as he searches for answers and a decent cup of tea. Now Then is a biographical mosaic of a place that has been victimised and stereotyped since the days of William the Conqueror. Incorporating social history, memoir and author interviews, Now Then is not a hagiography. Broadbent visits the scenes of industrial neglect and forgotten tragedy, as well as examining the truth about well-known Yorkshire figures and institutions. Featuring Kes, the Sheffield Outrages and the most controversial poem ever written, as well as a heroic dog, a lost albatross and a stuffed crocodile, Now Then is an affectionate but unsparing look at a county, its inhabitants and their flinty vowels. This is a funny, wise and searching account of a place that claims to have given the world its first football club and England its last witch-burning. It does include cobbles, trumpets and stiff-necked, wilful obstinacy, but it is also about ordinary Yorkshire and its extraordinary lives. https://www.waterstones.com/book/now-then/rick-broadbent/9781838957360 Eamonn: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies. A firsthand account of the brutal conditions of the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia includes an introduction by Julian Symons in Penguin Modern Classics. https://www.waterstones.com/book/homage-to-catalonia/george-orwell/julian-symon/9780141183053 Chris Mullin: How they broke Britain by James O’Brien Something has gone really wrong in Britain. Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists involved in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees. https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-they-broke-britain/james-obrien/9780753560341

At the end of the show a question from Stephen Cameron. Recommendations: Stuart “Rabbits” by Hugo Rifkind Tommo has just started at a new school – a training ground for the Scottish elite – when his friend Johnnie’s brother is found dead in a Land Rover on a Highland farm. There’s a shotgun at his feet. Nobody seems clear about what has happened, least of all Tommo. A child of the middle class, and with new independence thrust upon him, Tommo finds himself invited into fading crumbling houses. It’s the early nineties and this elite is struggling for relevance. Alienated from the mainstream, and running low on inherited wealth, his peers have retreated into snobbery and fatalism. Half-remembered traditions mix with decadence and an awful lot of small dead animals. And sometimes, not just animals. Awed by their poise and seduced by their hedonism, Tommo gradually becomes aware of sinister currents beneath the surface and a suppressed rage that threatens to explode into violence. https://birlinn.co.uk/product/rabbits-2/ Eamonn “Our Dirty War: The British State and the IRA” BBC Northern Ireland - Peter Taylor Stakeknife was a super-spy, a secret agent working for both the British and the IRA. He walked a precarious tightrope in an undercover war where exposure meant death. Operation Kenova, the long-running investigation into Stakeknife and the so-called dirty war, which is now coming to a close, brings Peter Taylor back to Northern Ireland. He revisits the chilling IRA interrogation tapes he initially uncovered and talks again to grieving families devasted by the loss of their loved ones to the IRA’s brutal interrogators and killers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001x24x Sara www.salvo.scot https://liberation.scot/ “Doun-Hauden: The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence” by Alfred Baird There is an increasingly urgent need to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon that is Scottish independence. Many commentators assume general policy matters remain key influencers of voter decisions on whether to support or reject Scottish independence. This may grossly underestimate and misunderstand the real complexity of the matter. Here, the author uses his academic expertise to ‘ground out’ an analytical framework which helps to identify, based on analysis of key environmental factors, the fundamental determinants of Scottish independence. It is argued that the framework, entitled ‘The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence’, permits far deeper analysis and understanding of the Scottish independence challenge. Collectively, the nine socio-political determinants which the author has ‘ground out’ of the data collected and analysed, help to explain and underpin the quest for, and outline the barriers opposing, Scottish independence. Each of the determinants is analysed using appropriate and relevant theories and supporting data. It is argued that this work represents a new, comprehensive, robust, and scientific way to approach the subject of Scottish independence. It is an approach that has arguably never been taken before in any of the growing mass of literature concerning the subject of Scotland’s independence, and hence represents an important and unique contribution offering new and provocative insights into Scotland’s quest for liberation. As such the book will be of interest to those interested in Scotland, in Scottish independence and to self-determination of peoples and nations more generally. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doun-Hauden-Socio-Political-Determinants-Scottish-Independence-ebook/dp/B086ZTRXM8

This week we have filled the boys with cups of tea, chocolate biscuits and sweeties, locked them in to the studio and set them on a two hander across this weeks' stories. At the end of the show a question from David Stark. Recommendations: Stuart 'Never Have I Ever' - Netflix After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status — but friends, family and feelings won’t make it easy on her. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80179190 Eamonn Thatcher: A Very British Revolution - BBC iplayer The irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher. Her inner circle reveal how a political outsider won power and dominated British life through a turbulent decade. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0005brf/thatcher-a-very-british-revolution Miners' Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain - Ch4 Forty years after, through the eyes of those directly involved, this powerful series explores the bitterly divisive strike that wounded the soul of the nation. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/miners-strike-1984-the-battle-for-britain

At the end of the show a question from Maggie Rankin Recommendations: Eamonn Greyhound Tom Hanks stars as a longtime Navy veteran who, as a first-time captain, is tasked with protecting a convoy of 37 ships carrying thousands of soldiers and much-needed supplies across the treacherous waters of the Atlantic during WWII. For five days with no air cover, the captain and his small force of three escort ships must make their way through an area of the ocean known as “the Black Pit,” battling Nazi U-boats while protecting their invaluable ships and soldiers. https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/greyhound/umc.cmc.o5z5ztufuu3uv8lx7m0jcega Stephen The Empire Podcast How do empires rise? Why do they fall? And how have they shaped the world around us today? William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the stories, personalities and events of empire over the course of history. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/empire/id1639561921 Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar This thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar. https://www.waterstones.com/book/stalin/simon-sebag-montefiore/9781474614818 Stuart Licking Hitler BBC, 1978. Kate Nelligan, Bill Paterson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbsR7S60hRA

At the end of the show a question from Andy McNeil Our apologies for the sound issues we encountered on this episode. Recommendations Paddy Jon Stone There’s been a reassessment of the Blair/Brown government on the Left in recent years: you hear more about its achievements than you used you. that’s good, but it’s also important not to forget that it regularly did things a Tory government would be criticised for https://twitter.com/joncstone/status/1231543272943898626?lang=en Putin Vs The West- Norma Percy A new three-part series from award-winning film-maker Norma Percy tells the inside story of how, through a decade of clashes, the West has struggled to deal with Vladimir Putin as he tries to exert his power on the world stage. https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/proginfo/2023/05/putin-vs-the-west The Fifty Years War- Norma Percy The main decision-makers from Israel, the Arab states, Russia and the US tell the inside story of the Arab-Israel conflict. Made in 1998. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0glc7yp/the-fifty-years-war-israel-and-the-arabs Elusive Peace- Norma Percy As today’s headlines continue to be dominated by the latest news from Israel and Gaza, award-winning film-maker Norma Percy looks back on her 2005 series Elusive Peace, sharing memories of her encounters with key players like Bill Clinton, Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat as she explored the story behind the efforts to end the conflict made around the start of the new millennium. Norma also talks about her experiences securing rare interviews with those behind some of the suicide bombings that destroyed lives and also the chances of peace. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001swsb David The Jazz Loft Project- W Eugene Smith Smith’s Jazz Loft Project has been legendary in the worlds of art, photography, and music for more than forty years, but until the publication of this book, no one had seen his extraordinary photographs or read any of the firsthand accounts of those who were there and lived to tell the tales. https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-jazz-loft-project/w-eugene-smith/sam-stephenson/9780226824840 W. Eugene Smith’s Warning to the World The Magnum photographer made his last photo essay about industrial mercury poisoning in the Japanese city of Minamata, helping to bring justice and visibility to the victims https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/w-eugene-smith-minamata-warning-to-the-world/ Minimata- Film Revered photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) is coaxed out of retirement by a commission from Life magazine editor Robert Hayes (Bill Nighy). He is sent to Minamata, a Japanese city ravaged by mercury poisoning, the result of decades of gross corporate negligence. There, Smith documents the people living with Minamata Disease, the assignment quickly turning into a life-changing experience https://www.amazon.co.uk/Minamata-Johnny-Depp/dp/B099NBF5H3 Eamonn Slow Horses- Season 3 Spy drama following a dysfunctional team of M15 agent - and their obnoxious boss Jack Lamb - as they navigate the espionage world’s smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces. https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000&mttn3pid=Google%20AdWords&mttnagencyid=a5e&mttncc=UK&mttnsiteid=143238&mttnsubad=OUK2019944_1-684757160536-c&mttnsubkw=136907710791__RTZ7DK1w_&mttnsubplmnt=_adext_

With Stuart off on his book tour (rock 'n roll), Eamonn is joined by Catriona Stewart and Simon Pia for a great discussion on the week's stories. This week we've included questions by John Nichol and Alex MacDonald. Recommendations: Eamonn The Long Way Up Best friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, reunite for Long Way Up, after more than a decade since their last motorbike adventure around the world. Covering 13,000 miles over 100 days through 16 border crossings and 13 countries, starting from the city of Ushuaia at the tip of South America, Ewan and Charley journey through the glorious and underexposed landscapes of South and Central America. Using cutting-edge technology on the back of their prototype electric Harley-Davidsons, the new series follows Ewan and Charley as they journey through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and up through Colombia, Central America, Mexico and the USA. Also joining them are their longtime collaborators, directors David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, following them in their electric Rivians. https://tv.apple.com/us/show/long-way-up/umc.cmc.1nv0tluok21c2f8549mdjqdnh Simon Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry David stars as an over-the-top version of himself in this comedy series the shows how seemingly trivial details of day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events. https://www.nowtv.com/watch/curb-your-enthusiasm/iYEQZ2uDbPiuTXRbUUJCcA?DCMP=knc-google:nc_ents&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8YyuBhBSEiwA5R3-E12wUhtETCYFiZ9J7czZ9lBujNDwaQzL5_xUjTqAFdk4VcjZB3-3MxoCXYwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Catriona A Teen's fatal plunge in to the London Underworld After Zac Brettler mysteriously plummeted into the Thames, his grieving parents discovered that he’d been posing as an oligarch’s son. Would the police help them solve the puzzle of his death? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld Electoral Disfunction Beth Rigby, Jess Phillips and Ruth Davidson team up for a new political podcast from Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/electoral-dysfunction-beth-rigby-jess-phillips-and-ruth-davidson-team-up-for-a-new-political-podcast-from-sky-news-13065409

With questions inspired by Mark Stephenson, Kevin Richey, John Daly, Michelle Shortt and Muriel Cockburn. At the end a question from Grant McLanaghan. Recommendations: Ruth A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America Richly sourced and highly readable . . . Sheds new light on how the 45th president tests the boundaries of the office while trying the patience and dignity of those who work for or with him. It is not just another Trump tell-all or third-party confessional - Guardian https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-very-stable-genius/carol-d-leonnig/philip-rucker/9781526609090 Stuart The New Highland Clearances Time and again local people, impacted by a series of issues surrounding transport, infrastructure and opportunities, have described the region as being in the midst of a 'New Highland Clearances'. Over the coming week we will examine those issues, feature local voices and ask if the viability and very futures of rural communities in Scotland are under threat. Here senior reporter at The Herald, Caroline Wilson, looks ahead to what we will cover. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24075771.new-highland-clearances-herald-series-starts-monday/ Eamonn The Irish Civil War THE IRISH CIVIL WAR tells the epic and often challenging story of the origins, conflict and legacy of the civil war that took place in Ireland in 1922 and 1923. Narrated by Brendan Gleeson https://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/series/the-irish-civil-war/ Brotherhood: The Inner Life of Monks The monks of Mount St Bernard Abbey, a community of 25 men, more than half of whom are over 80 years old, are opening the first Trappist brewery in the UK. For their historic, countercultural lifestyle to survive, the venture must succeed. In the meantime, as the monks reflect on spirituality, ageing and the end of life, the number of burials in the abbey graveyard continues to grow https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000tpzb/brotherhood-the-inner-life-of-monks

At the end of the show a question from Niail Mackay. Recommendations: Eamonn Northern Exposure A recently graduated New York City physician, Dr. Joel Fleischman, is sent to practice in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska to fulfil his obligation after Alaska paid for his medical education. Early episodes deal with Fleischman's culture shock in the small town. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.c0cbc05a-d575-4808-abff-898c5388461a?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb or https://tv.apple.com/gb/episode/tranquility-base/umc.cmc.3kryqi740nnwawz2z8q5ut96e?action=play Stuart How the Government captured the BBC A right-wing cabal, largely unaccountable, is waging war on the principles that made our public broadcaster great. It must not succeed By Alan Rusbridger https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/64534/how-the-government-captured-the-bbc Paddy Loudermilk Grumpy former music critic Sam Loudermilk grudgingly navigates the world of sobriety with surly rants, even as he guides others in recovery. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80174074

At the end of the show a question from Andrew Anderson Recommendations Stuart: ‘Poor Things’ From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation. https://www.searchlightpictures.com/poor-things/ Eamonn: Napoleon (Film) Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed. https://www.napoleon.movie/home/ My Rembrandt (Doc) Aristocrats cherish, experts rule, art dealers hunt, collectors crave and museums battle for Rembrandt. 350 years after the grand master of intimacy’s death, entire nations are more than ever obsessed with his paintings. My Rembrandt is an epic art thriller into the super exclusive world of the Old Masters collectors. https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/my-rembrandt/umc.cmc.6fjqvjy45ins0rtvlbas04yst David: The Legacy Of Mark Rothko (Paperback) At the time of Mark Rothko's apparent suicide in 1970, the deeply troubled, pioneering artist of Abstract Expressionism was at the height of fame and financial success yet within months of the funeral, his three trusted friends, acting as executors, relinquished his entire legacy of 800 paintings to the powerful, international Marlborough Galleries (run by Frank Lloyd) for a fraction of their real worth on terms suspiciously unfavourable to the estate. The suit that Rothko's daughter brought against the executors and Marlborough rocked the art world with its shocking revelations of corruption in the international art trade: from the deceptions practiced on Rothko when he was alive to the scandals after his death involving conspiracies and cover-ups, double dealings and betrayals, missing paintings and manipulated markets, phony sales and laundered profits, forgery and fraud. https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-legacy-of-mark-rothko/lee-seldes/9780306807251 MARK ROTHKO Exhibition - Fondation Louis Vuitton The Fondation Louis Vuitton presents the first retrospective in France dedicated to Mark Rothko (1903-1970) since the exhibition held at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1999. The retrospective brings together some 115 works from the largest international institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Tate in London and the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., and from international private collections, including the artist's family collection. https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/events/mark-rothko

Our first show of 2024! At the end of the show a question from John Daly Recommendations: Catriona: Priscilla When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a gentle best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla's long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame. https://a24films.com/films/priscilla Eamonn: Nyad Athlete Diana Nyad sets out at 60 to achieve a nearly impossible lifelong dream: to swim from Cuba to Florida across more than 100 miles of open ocean. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81447231 Stuart: Damascus Station A riveting spy thriller that bears comparison with the works of Deighton, le Carré and Herron, Damascus Station revolves around a CIA operative and his latest recruit who find themselves enmeshed in lethal danger in Assad's Syria. https://www.waterstones.com/book/damascus-station/david-mccloskey//9781800752696?sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=531573&awc=3787_1704895983_9b6d2b139bd3979c1d62ad9b8d9a84a0&utm_source=531573&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=https%3A%2F%2Fshopforward.nl%2F

Thanks for lending us your ears in 2023. We'll be back in 2024 full of energy and opinions. Happy New Year from everyone at Talk Media and The Big Light.

At the end a question from Denis Maxwell. Recommendations: Eamonn: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Puffin Clothbound Classics are stunning collectable gift editions of some of the best-loved classics in the world - get into the Christmas spirit and celebrate the 180th anniversary of A Christmas Carol with this irresistible clothbound edition. https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-christmas-carol/charles-dickens/9780241411193 A Christmas Carol BBC4 Simon Callow enacts the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, the miserly owner of an old counting house, who is visited by the ghost of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, on Christmas Eve. Marley warns Scrooge he is doomed in the afterlife unless he pays heed and learns from three ghosts who will visit him during the night. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come show Scrooge how his mean, uncaring behaviour has oppressed those around him as they visit episodes from his past, his present and his future life. By the end Scrooge is humbled and redeemed and transforms into a generous, kind-hearted man. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001kwg Paddy: Die Hard A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/movies/die-hard/1NWCEanaAK2b Casablanca BBC2 Saturday Classic romantic drama. Rick's Cafe is a centre for criminals, refugees, resistance fighters and Nazis. Its cynical owner takes risks for no-one - until the arrival of Ilsa. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mmc2 Refugees of Casablanca https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2363302.html Catriona: The Bishop’s Wife An angel in human form enters the life of a bishop in order to help him build a new cathedral and repair his fractured marriage. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bishops-Wife-Cary-Grant/dp/B08CVT7W7H Stuart: Sir Ian Botham's charity handed up to £94,000 to his daughter's PR company last year 'but NOTHING to charitable causes’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5696579/Sir-Ian-Bothams-charity-handed-94-000-daughters-PR-company.html

The Boys are on their own this week getting stuck in to today's topics, albeit with a wheezy soundtrack. At the end of the show a question from Martin O'Donnell. Recommendations: Eamonn Archie: the man who became Cary Grant Young Archie Leach escapes his childhood in Bristol and journeys to America as his older self Cary Grant falls in love with Dyan Cannon. https://www.itv.com/watch/archie-the-man-who-became-cary-grant/7a0170/7a0170a0001 Stuart The Complete Collection of Fyodor Dostoevsky 6 Books Box Set Titles In this Set Notes From The Underground Crime and Punishment The Brothers Karamazov The Devils The Idiot The House of the Dead Link Here

At the end of the show a question by Michael Heffernan Recommendations: Joyce McMillan Pitlochry Festival Theatre Set to fantastic songs from world-renowned Scottish band The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith is both a funny and moving play about Davy and Ally, two Edinburgh natives returning to their hometown after serving in war-torn countries overseas, who are questioning what ‘home’ really means. A fantastic feel-good story from Stephen Greenhorn, with a feature film adaptation in 2013, this is returning to Pitlochry Festival Theatre for 2023 as a fresh new production of an audience favourite which is sure to delight yet again. https://pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on/sunshine-on-leith-2023/ Eamonn Tweed Valley Blogger Let’s rewind a wee bit, I’m Stewart Wilson. Scottish dad and husband, with two young kids, and a passion for Scotland and sharing stories. I adore writing and am an enthusiastic amateur historian. I love my home patch and the wider countryside around it and hope that comes across in my blogs. In 2023, I decided to take this passion even further and left my job in the corporate world to expand the blog into TVB Tours, offering private, guided tours of the Borderlands, and further afield. If you decide to join me for a tour, you can expect a lot of laughs, a true local insight and a deeper understanding of what makes the area so special. Think of it as the audiobook version of the blogs you can read on the site - with lots of sweets along the way! So head over to the tours page if you are interested in finding out more, or feel free to check out the blog which is and always will be available for all to read. https://tweedvalleyblogger.com/ Reporters sans frontières (RSF) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) defends the right of every human being to have access to free and reliable information. This right is essential to know, understand, form an opinion and take action on vital issues in full awareness, both individually and collectively. Our mission? Act for the freedom, pluralism and independence of journalism and defend those who embody these ideals. Our mandate is in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and of the major declarations and charters relating to journalistic ethics, notably the Munich Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists. https://rsf.org/en Stuart THE NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL PARADE® The Nation’s Springtime Parade was an amazing sight on Constitution Avenue this year! Grand colourful helium balloons, elaborate floats, marching bands from across the country, celebrity entertainers, and performers burst down the Parade route in a spectacle of music and showmanship celebrating spring in Washington, DC. https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/event/2024-national-cherry-blossom-festival-parade/

At the end of the show a question from Gerry Mulvenna. Recommendations: David: The Pigeon Tunnel - Apple TV Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes. "The Pigeon Tunnel" is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré's extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction. https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/the-pigeon-tunnel/ The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life (Paperback) https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-pigeon-tunnel/john-le-carre/9780241976890 Stuart: The Boat Story - BBC Two strangers. One boat. Nothing to lose. An unexpected discovery could mean a second chance - or a bloody end. Dark comic thriller with Paterson Joseph and Daisy Haggard. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0glbknc/boat-story Eamonn: Lockerbie - Sky LOCKERBIE, a new mini-series that will be based on the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and the search for justice by Dr Jim Swire and his wife Jane who lost their beloved daughter, Flora, in the air disaster in 1988. The five-part series will be written by Academy Award nominees Jim Sheridan (In The Name of The Father, My Left Foot) and Kirsten Sheridan (In America, Dollhouse). All 259 passengers and crew were killed when the bomb exploded over Lockerbie 38 minutes after take-off, with a further 11 residents losing their life as the plane came down over the quiet, Scottish town. Thirteen years later, in 2001, Libyan national Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the crime and later released on compassionate grounds in 2009. Shortly after the Lockerbie bombing, one of the worst terrorist attacks in history, some families of the victims joined together to launch a campaign for truth and justice. Among them was Dr Jim Swire whose campaign has taken him to the sand dunes of Libya to meet face-to-face with Colonel Gaddafi, to 10 Downing Street to meet with successive Prime Ministers and to the corridors of power in the US where he worked with the American victims’ groups to mount pressure on Washington for tighter airport security, well before 9/11. The moving series will explore events from 1988 to the present day, while providing an intimate account of a man, a husband, and a father who pushes his marriage, his health, and his sanity to the edge. https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/8a3430f6-066b-3397-abec-1d72b380ed90