Marc Teitler is an award-winning musical theatre composer whose works include Baddies, The Grinning Man, and The Magician’s Elephant. He was kind enough to chat to us here about his journey to becoming a composer, the distortion of fairy tales, why children love darkness, disagreeing with good reviews, and working on a retro-futuristic Gepetto. He was also kind enough to let us some of his wonderful pieces throughout this episode.

https://marcteitlermusic.com/

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We’ve been to some far flung corners of the globe on this podcast but none have been flung further than Ascension Island, a lone rock in the middle of the Atlantic, and home to this week’s guest Kashmir, who works on the island as a conservationist. She takes us on a captivating journey from Margate to Madagascar, via the Amazon jungle, to life on one of the most remote islands in the world. We hear extraordinary tales of turtles, sand fleas, The Drunk Bus, and what’s top of everyone’s list when a boat comes in.

A full transcript can be downloaded at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bPQLN-0sJNTc2djG9YHCzacde7WmeB0S/view?usp=sharing

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After more than 20 years working with the biggest names in whisky, Ken Grier has now set up his own company, De-Still Creative, driving a wide range of drink brands. He talks to us (ignorant novices) about all things whisky – casks, history, glasses, prices and much more. He also discusses his collaboration with some of the world’s most famous photographers, including Rankin and Annie Leibovitz, for Macallan’s Masters of Photography project. And finally we talk about his beloved Queen of The South, and end with a whisky cocktail for everyone (even if you think you don’t like whisky!)

For listeners who've joined us from Luke's English Podcast a transcript of the whole episode is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UDpKV7Mm_PPcwdr_J8tPdvgYbOOyD3C4/view?usp=sharing

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This week we chat to Gemma Simms, a frontline police sergeant of 17 years service, who is also professional genealogist with a special interest in genetic genealogy, and a tutor in adult education teaching courses in family history and DNA for genealogy. Gemma talks to us about moving to Cornwall from Surrey and the differences that brings in terms of policing. We discuss how perceptions of “skeletons in the closet” change over time, and the seismic discoveries she made in researching her own family tree. She also talks about how commercial DNA testing works, if we really are all descended from Henry VIII, the Golden State Killer, and how IGG (investigative genetic genealogy) could provide the perfect combination of her two careers – policing and genealogy.

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Any comments, questions or recommendations for guests for future episodes please email us at aarballs2023@gmail.com

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Ffion Morgan is an incredibly talented artist, creating miniature replicas of houses and other amazing projects. Before listening to this week’s episode make sure you first check out her creations on her Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/ffimini/ Ffion very kindly talked to us about abandoning the bus driver plan, making rocks for Dr Who, Shackleton’s boat, big plans, and worrying about model railways.

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As always, our overly reductive episode titles do not do our guest justice - for Claudia Hammond is not ONLY an award-winning broadcaster who presents All in the Mind on BBC Radio 4 covering psychology, neuroscience & mental health AND the weekly global health show Health Check on BBC World Service,.but she is also the author of numerous fascinating books (see links below) in which she shares the ways that psychological and medical research can help us in our everyday lives AND Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex. Claudia also gives talks on psychology around the world and often chairs public events on psychology, medicine and science.

She talks to us here about the importance of boring factory jobs, changing perceptions of mental health, noticing kindness, and governments and happiness. An absolutely fantastic chat!

Some of Claudia's books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Over-Money-Psychology-Better/dp/1782112057

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Rest-Find-Respite-Modern/dp/1786892804

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keys-Kindness-Kinder-Yourself-Others/dp/1838854444/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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Any comments, questions or recommendations for guests for future episodes please email us at aarballs2023@gmail.com

Thank you!

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In addition to having gone to the same school as Aarballs Podcast's very own Aar and Bailles, Richard Fuller's main achievement is to have become the MP for North Bedfordshire and the current Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was very kind in giving up his time to talk to us about how and why he moved into politics, bringing US-style campaigning strategies to Bedford, his cross-bench work with the enquiry into the BHS scandal and businessman Philip Green, why he still thinks Brexit is a good idea, and life in his second home in Texas.

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Nyaradzo Hoto is an original member of Akashinga, an all-women anti-poaching team in Zimbabwe

She explains to us the fantastic positive impact the team has had, not only on massively reducing poaching but also in the broader context of empowering women in a traditionally male-dominated society. She also tells of her two favourite species and the best ways to survive if you encounter elephants, lions, and water buffalo in the wild! (spoiler: running is not going to help)

If you enjoyed listening to Nyaradzo’s wonderful story please consider making a donation to Akashinga to continue the fantastic work they do: https://www.akashinga.org/donate

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Any comments, questions or recommendations for guests for future episodes please email us at aarballs2023@gmail.com

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