Episodes

  • ‘BBC Scotland Announce New Director’, ‘Netanyahu Answers to Nobody’ and ‘In Liz We Trust’ / with Simon Pia and David Pratt.
    Oct 2 2024

    We are still missing our big pal Cosgrove so we're really grateful to Simon and David for getting the TM jersey on and getting stuck in to the day's subjects.

    Recommendations:

    Eamonn

    In Vogue - the 90's Disney+

    The '90s was the decade when high fashion walked off the runway and into mainstream culture. Featuring an A-list cast from the worlds of fashion, film and music, alongside Vogue’s Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful, this landmark series reveals the inside story of the 90’s most celebrated fashion and pop culture moments.

    David

    Algiers, Third World Capital:Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers - book

    The life of an unexpected revolutionary with the Black Panthers in Algiers

    Mokhtefi (née Klein), a Jewish American from Long Island, has had an exhilarating life. In the 1960s, she served as a press adviser to the National Liberation Front in postwar Algiers, before going to work with Eldridge Cleaver, who was wanted in the US for his role in a deadly shoot-out with Oakland police. Half a century later, as an eighty-nine-year-old painter living on the Upper West Side, Mokhtefi still seasons her prose with the argot of revolution.

    Simon


    The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

    The twentieth century for Palestine and the Palestinians has been a century of denial: denial of statehood, denial of nationhood and denial of history. The Hundred Years War on Palestine is Rashid Khalidi's powerful response.

    Drawing on his family archives, he reclaims the fundamental right of any people: to narrate their history on their own terms. Beginning in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, Khalidi reveals nascent Palestinian nationalism and the broad recognition by the early Zionists of the colonial nature of their project. These ideas and their echoes defend Nakba - the Palestinian term for the establishment of the state of Israel - the cession of the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, the Six Day War and the occupation.

    Moving through these critical moments, Khalidi interweaves the voices of journalists, poets and resistance leaders with his own accounts as a child of a UN official and a resident of Beirut during the 1982 seige. The result is a profoundly moving account of a hundred-year-long war of occupation, dispossession and colonialisation.

    https://www.channel4.com/news/


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    6 mins
  • ‘The Labour Conference’, ‘Indy Ref Anniversary Media’ and ‘Money in Detention’ / with Angela Haggerty and Catriona Stewart
    Sep 25 2024

    Hopefully we will have Stuart back with us next week, but in the meantime we are delighted to have two of Scotland’s best commentators on the show - welcome back Angela Haggerty and hot from the Labour Party Conference - Catriona Stewart .

    Recommendations:

    Eamonn

    The Seige - Book - Ben Macintyre

    On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.

    A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.

    Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.

    Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself.

    Angela

    Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story:

    This riveting true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills.

    Catriona

    Tell Me Everything - book - Elizabeth Strout

    Tell Me Everything is a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world. It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William.

    Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. Together, they spend afternoons in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known – “unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them – reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.

    Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love."

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    6 mins
  • ‘Exploding Pagers’, ‘Huw Edwards’, ‘Glasgow Saves the Commonwealth’ and ‘Section 31’ / with Angela Haggerty and David Pratt
    Sep 18 2024

    Stuart is off this week so we have brought in the wonderful Angela Haggerty and David Pratt to discus this week's topics with Eamonn at the helm.

    Recommendations:

    Angela

    Darren McGarvey's trauma industrial complex

    Royal Society of Edinburgh

    Darren McGarvey – author of Poverty Safari and The Social Distance Between Us – began his new project, “The Trauma-Industrial Complex”, by delivering a Signature Lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Tuesday this week.

    Youtube

    David

    Mozart - Rise of a Genuis

    Child prodigy, flawed human, musical giant. Letters, manuscripts and performances reveal the making of a man who created some of the world’s most magnificent music.

    Eamonn

    Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos - Amazon Prime

    In WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos, acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney delves deep into the psyche of renowned "Sopranos" creator and writer, David Chase, to illuminate his life and career while offering a unique window into his unparalleled work on the iconic program.

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    6 mins
  • ‘Starmer Wins, Pensioners Lose’, ‘Royals Go Pro’, ‘Trump v Harris’ / with Paddy Duffy
    Sep 11 2024

    This week we're talking about yesterday's big Labour vote , the candyfloss royal pop video and discussing what might be the one and only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

    We took as many questions as we could get through and have kept submissions from Lorraine Kerr, Edward Docherty and Gill Blair for next week.

    RECOMMENDATIONS:

    Paddy

    Colin from Accounts - iplayer

    Two single(ish) people, brought together by fate, a car accident... and an injured dog. Warm-hearted Aussie rom-com about a flawed, funny couple getting it all utterly wrong.

    Eamonn

    The Perfect Couple - Netflix

    Amelia is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket, until a shocking death derails the wedding — and turns everyone into a suspect.

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    6 mins
  • ‘Scottish Government Cuts’, ‘Israel - behind the headline?’ and the ‘Dynamic Ticket Pricing - Who knew?’ / with Batman and Robin
    Sep 4 2024

    This week we've given the dynamic duo a chance to talk over this week's headlines by themselves.

    Recommendations:

    Eamonn

    From the Vine - Film - Amazon Prime

    A downtrodden man experiences an ethical crisis and travels back to his hometown in rural Italy to recalibrate his moral compass. There he finds new purpose in reviving his grandfather's old vineyard, offering the small town of Acerenza a sustainable future, and reconnecting with his estranged family in the process.

    Stuart

    Sing Sing - Film - General Release

    Based on the real-life arts rehabilitation programme founded at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Greg Kwedar’s new film follows a troupe of incarcerated actors who work on a play as part of a theatre workshop at the prison.

    Every six months, the men gather in a circle of chairs, often looking to Divine G (Colman Domingo) to help decide their next play. When he recruits a new member called Divine Eye, he gets more than he bargained for. The group’s dynamic begins to shift as Divine Eye suggests they do a comedy for the first time, prompting the men to throw out a jumble of wild ideas — from pirate ships to Roman gladiators to Old West gunfights. Flustered at first, Divine G quickly starts to see Divine Eye’s discomfort with the vulnerability required for what seems like a silly pursuit. While planning for his own clemency hearing, he tries to forge a connection with Eye, as the men collectively unpack the pain of their experience while undergoing the joy and escape of creativity.

    Domingo gives one of the most memorable and affecting performances of his career, bolstered by a cast made up almost entirely of formerly incarcerated actors and alumni of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme. Their participation brings an authenticity to the group’s founding principle that human dignity must be a part of the justice system. Directed with a dynamism that matches the charm, mischief, and compassion of the men themselves, Sing Sing recognises the value of a place we can gather in which to discuss, debate, and create, wherever that may be. It’s an ode to art as a process, much the same as life, through which we can strive to better understand ourselves and each other.

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    6 mins
  • ‘Ukrainian Knife-Edge’, ‘Propaganda’ and the ‘Definitely Maybe’ / with David Pratt New
    Aug 28 2024

    If you like this trailer, come and join us @ www.patreon.com/talkmedia for the price of a cuppa coffee each month.

    A lively show today with our pal David who brings us up to date on Ukraine and Gaza, then it's off to the business of "propaganda".......

    Enjoy!

    Recommendations:

    David

    Tangier: City of the Dream (Paperback)

    'A dream concealed in stone...sky supersonic, orgone blue, warm wind...Such beauty, but more than that, it's like the dream is breaking through.' William Burroughs No city in the world has quite the exotic allure of Tangier. From the 17th century, it has been a place on the edge, beyond the normal disciplines of government, a city of refuge and excitements where sex is cheap, drugs are plentiful and where the outcasts of the world can breathe easily. The golden years of Tangier began after World War I and barely survived World War II. Among those who sought sanctuary in or inspiration from this legendary city were Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Paul and Jane Bowles, Ronnie Kray, the unhappy Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, Tennessee Williams, Joe Orton, Cecil Beaton and Truman Capote. It is this 'last resort of the living dead, alive but not madly kicking' which Iain Finlayson explores in his witty, enthralling book.

    Eamonn

    Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (Hardback)

    For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of ageing that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late, prolonging lifespan at the expense of quality of life. Dr Peter Attia, the world's top longevity expert who is featured on Chris Hemsworth's National Geographic documentary LIMITLESS, believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalised, proactive strategy for longevity.


    This isn't 'biohacking,' it's science: a well-founded strategic approach to extending lifespan while improving our physical, cognitive and emotional health, making each decade better than the one before. With Outlive's practical advice and roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.

    Stuart

    Monsters, Inc.

    Lovable Sulley (John Goodman) and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top scare team at MONSTERS, INC., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it's the monsters who are scared silly, and it's up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.

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    6 mins
  • ‘Israeli Meeting Fallout’, ‘Cuts, cuts, cuts!’ and the ‘Democratic National Convention’ / with Alison Thewliss
    Aug 21 2024

    It was a pleasure to welcome Alison to the podcast. We hope you enjoy it - we did.

    Recommendations:

    Stuart

    Radio WHUR

    Eamonn

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2KYZ1BritY

    Alison

    Listen to a cd - from top to bottom!

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    6 mins
  • ‘Musk v Yousaf’, ‘Scottish Energy goes South’ and ‘Problems at The Scotsman’ / With Catriona Stewart
    Aug 14 2024

    Both social and print media gets the going over today in this episode as the dynamic duo, in the company of oor pal Catriona Stewart talk over the weeks talking points.

    Recommendations:

    Stuart

    White Robes and Broken Badges

    Infiltrating the KKK and Exposing the Evil Among Us

    In this shocking memoir, a former FBI informant reveals what he learned from successfully infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the backwoods of the Sunshine State, uncovering details about the hate group’s structure and its modern far-right spinoffs which are operating to achieve the same goal: inciting a second civil war by whatever violent means necessary.

    Catriona

    Lady in the Lake Apple TV

    When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore in 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course.

    Eamonn

    BBC Four Who Killed Caravaggio? (Full Documentary) (2010)

    When Caravaggio died in 1610, he was 39 years old, the most famous painter of his age and an exile from Rome after killing a man in a street fight. But his death has always been a mystery, with no body, no grave site, and conflicting stories of what happened. In 2001, art critic Andrew Graham- Dixon went in search of the true story of the extraordinary life and mysterious death of one of the greatest painters in western art, travelling from Rome to Naples to Malta and Sicily, meeting experts and scouring archives on the way. He uncovered the painter's criminal record, a trail of violent incident, sexual intrigue and conspiracy, and came face to face with some of the most profoundly spiritual paintings ever painted. Graham-Dixon has been researching and working on the story of the artist ever since. Caravaggio's art has never been more popular, and now he thinks he may have found some of the answers.

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    6 mins