AarBalls

Lucy Allen has worked as a stunt artiste for 34 years appearing in over a hundred films and TV shows, including Titanic, The World Is Not Enough, Skyfall, the Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones, Dr Who, The Batman, The Crown, Robin Hood, Hot Fuzz, and Braveheart. She talks to us about early days of striptease in Istanbul and becoming a circus performer, before getting her first stunt role on Cas...

Mike Smith, A&R man extraordinaire, was head of A&R for EMI music publishing before becoming Managing Director of Columbia Records, then Warner Chappell. Over this extraordinary career he signed an incredible roster of acts including Blur, Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey, Supergrass, Arcade Fire, Manic Street Preachers, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, Chemical B...

Ayrshire sheep farmer and YouTube superstar Cammy Wilson talks to us about joining the Police in Glasgow before moving home to start farming sheep, and the subsequent huge popularity of his two YouTube channels – The Sheep Game and The Shearing Season, and his podcast Fed By Farmers.  Please help Aarballs Podcast grow by subscribing/following on the links below : https://www.instagram.com/aar...

Lorraine Galvin has served as an RNLI volunteer for 25 years at Wexford, Ireland, and she gives a fascinating account of her incredible service. She tells us of how a near-death experience at sea inspired her to help set up the lifeboat service at Wexford, of the scariest rescue and the confusion of too many Kellys, of dolphin rescue, of an invitation to Westminster Abbey, of her grandfather’s bra...

Bev talks to us about his native Sicily, being Italian and staying calm, the 1980s – were they really so bad? –, the sexual specifications of a certain client, Japan, and delicious pasta recipes.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sofia Hoas works as a Project Manager and Culture Heritage Advisor at Gotlands Museum, at Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland. She talks to us about the museum and its most popular exhibits, including Viking picture stones and hoards of buried silver, and the best ways to get kids interested in history. She also talks us through the incredible and unique mass graves of the Battle of Visby where...

Local legend and pillar of the community Libby Lionetti talks to us about growing up as an Italian in Bedford, working the door at legendary Sweetings nightclub, establishing his iconic café La Piazza , and serving as a Special Constable. We hear about national service in the Italian Air Force, chasing goats, and running the police cadets. And one day, we’ll get to the bottom of the Bruno Brookes...

Multi-award-winning comedian Heidi Regan talks us through comedy beginnings in Australia, early open-mic night nerves, hecklers and not judging Hereford, the correlation between Trump and Sharknado, touring support for the most wonderful man on earth, giving birth live on stage or your money back, rude Radio 4 colonialists, and Sam Campbell’s insane Edinburgh poster. You can find links to some of...

Terence Blacker has worked as a writer for over 40 years, publishing novels, a biography, and children's books, and was a regular newspaper columnist for The Independent . He published 37 books for children, including the much-loved Ms Wiz series. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017. Terence talks to us about riding as a jockey in his youth before moving in...

After 15 years in the police, Hannah Bailey transitioned into psychotherapy and set up Blue Light Wellbeing, offering therapy and support, particularly for those who serve or have served in the emergency services and the military. She talks here about the impact of cuts on the police force, of dealing with her own mental and physical illness, and how this led her out of policing and into psychothe...

WO2 Alex talks to us about his 26 years in the Royal Marines. We hear about his reasons for joining, the drive that got him through selection (and naked fighting), his first deployment to Sierra Leone in 2000 where he was part of Operation Barras, his subsequent 4 tours of Afghanistan, and what a life in The Corps provides. He also answers our Old Fogey Colonel question about whether Gen Z are tou...

Joseph talks to us about how he got into working in VFX, on winning an Oscar and a BAFTA, and his work on Kingsman, The Jungle Book, Dr Who, Sherlock, Black Mirror, and other projects. We also talk about directors Jon Favreau, Edgar Wright, Ridley Scott, Tim Burton, and The Mystery Knob Who Cannot Be Named (can you guess who he is?). There's also discussion about Star Wars movies, the future of CG...

Peter Moore was kidnapped in Iraq in 2007 while working as an IT consultant. He was held hostage for 2 years 7 months and 1 day, during which he was subjected to beatings and mock executions. His security protection - four British ex-soldiers with whom he was kidnapped and held captive - were all murdered. He tells us his extraordinary story, and his inspiring approach to getting on with life sinc...

From scandalous days as aircrew to making packed lunches for DJs in Spain, Gemma Ogston talks to us about her Brighton-based cookery business - Gem's Wholesome Kitchen , her TV appearances on Saturday Kitchen and This Morning , and her best-selling cookbooks The Self-Care Cookbook and The Healing Cookbook . We also chat about how to make a "proper" British curryhouse korma, why dahl is the best, T...

Marie takes us through the past 20 years of working for the NHS, important reasons to be cheerful, how to win brownie points as a junior doctor, why cardiac surgeons are the worst, and why she can't watch Casualty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lockdown quizzes, zombie cupcakes and The Guv’nor, childhood dreams of being an accountant, The Firth of Forth Bridge of Tintin, A’Level retake nostalgia, a discussion of satire within Petronius’ Dinner With Tremalchio, The Gods Themselves and flatmate Andy, parking David Seaman’s car and Chelsea toe training, Brentford unpleasantness, Hungarian bible Christmas challenge; sonny, do you know where...

Chris Chambers spent 16 years as a pilot in the Royal Navy before leaving to set up his own property business, then returning to the helicopter cockpit for the National Police Air Service. He talks us through hallucinating while being tracked by dogs, eating the fatty meats, finding a new use for the sleeve of his best naval tunic, the perils of flying in total darkness, and rescuing hypothermic h...

Fashion catwalk model to diversity champion in The City, Deon relates the journey from his native South Africa to modelling in the UK, before entering the world of finance where he has become an advocate for diversity and equality. As well as some parrot talk, Deon also talks of the seedy side of the modelling world, of facing bigotry in the world of finance, of the many awards he has won, and the...

Mud, melons, and burpees..................................................................................... The very wonderful Jane, a fitness coach in Hertfordshire, talks us through early days of frozen fish pub disasters, when your mum crashes your Zoom class, Californian thongs, winging aqua-aerobics in a business suit and no music, envying office jobs, and Darth Vader megaphones. Hosted on...

Celebrities' pets and the dumbest breeds. Lara takes us through her journey to becoming a veterinary cardiologist - teaching small talk to Germans, finding a snake’s heart, Obama’s titanium-toothed attack dogs, celebrity’s pets, and playing with puppies and kittens. She also talks about struggling with Yorkshire accents, the differences between working in the US and the UK, troublesome breeds and...

Britain's finest pints and punts. Pub expert Luke talks all things pubs - from listing historic pubs, his own preferences and recommendations, and the future of British pubs. He also talks us through early jobs - from paper boy to wine porter to punt chauffeur - inappropriate Buddy Holly death announcements, getting framed in a shoe shop, mysterious urns on the Cam, shady scouse backstreet Appleti...

Paul Weller, Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt et al. The very wonderful Jamie J entertains us with tales of early jobs – paperboy pornography, going slow as a postie, resisting the pies in a chippie, tough guys at Bejams, and eating all the icecream at the flicks – then how he fell into sound engineering and working for Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music. There are tales of diva Americans and melted kettles in t...

From headmistress to head massage. How many people have started off collecting chicken eggs, then became a head mistress, then, having turned a failing primary school into a phenomenal success story, moved on to become a qualified massage therapist? Oh…really? That many people? You surprise me. Anyway, none can be so lovely as our Vicky who regales us with tales of Indian head massage, Grandma Gla...

Kurt Cobain's broken guitar. Tim gives fascinating insights into generously allowing Ricky Gervais, Martin Freedman, Stephen Merchant, and McKenzie Crook to have their careers; Sliding Doors moments with Radiohead; life as a photographer on a local newspaper; rehearsals with The Monkeys; working for the NME; his military heritage; going on tour with bands; driving over tents at Glastonbury; photog...

Hiding the naughty kids from Ofsted. Secondary school teacher Ed entertains us with tales of not actually being a Man of God, joining the misfit postman gang, becoming a park groundsman, litter picking at a landfill site, dealing with Noilly Prats, Alan Partridge driving gloves and selling electronics in the Black Country, the hidden treasures to be found in a Renault Leguna boot, inspirational te...