Behind The Spine

The relationship between slave and master. If we go by what we see on screen and in literature, it would appear that’s the only narrative that exists around slavery. But the slave trade was a global phenomenon, connecting countries and continents around the world. The history books are rarely written on a global scale, so inconvenient truths from our past are often unintentionally, and intentional...

Whether it’s the racial divides highlighted by #OscarsSoWhite or the unhelpful stereotypes portrayed in films like ‘The Help’, the stories of people of colour remain under-represented and are often ill informed. And with the #BlackLivesMatter movement gaining worldwide recognition, it’s clear we need to step up. Many of the issues stem from the fact that publishers are simply failing to put out en...

The long life of shows like Casualty, which has been running since 1986, highlight our obsession with the drama of the hospital. But how many times have you felt the scripting drift too far from reality? Aoife Abbey is the writer of ‘Seven Signs of Life: Stories from an Intensive Care Doctor’ and brings a captivating insight into the actual experiences of those on the front line of medicine. This...

From Central Perk cafe in Friends, to Corrie’s Rovers Return, building up a memorable environment is essential in storytelling. Our own lives and emotions are heavily influenced by the places we visit, so it stands to reason that location affects our characters’ lives too. This episode delves into the often unseen art of Wayfinding. Alison Richings from Endpoint explains the impact a poorly laid o...

Would you have the skills to survive in the immediate aftermath of an apocalypse? Popular culture often focuses on the lead up to the devastating event, or life as it unfolds sometime after. Professor Lewis Dartnell, however, focuses on the days, weeks and months after the fallout, and in his book “The Knowledge”, details the tools humanity would need to survive. This episode will help you re-thin...

Whether it’s the Vietnamese Buddhist monk set ablaze on a busy street in Saigon, or a pair of squabbling mice in a tube station, photographs are able to evoke the most intense, emotional responses. Dr Michael Pritchard is director of education and public affairs at the Royal Photographic Society, and in this episode he explores the depth of thought that goes into capturing the perfect image. As th...

Religion is a force that guides many through what’s right and wrong, it’s that sense of meaning, that feeling of community… it’s the story of mankind, resonating through the ages. In this episode, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, explores his role in the story of the liturgy, and where that fits within many people’s unique and deeply personal understandings of faith. In a conve...

Creating content for a sophisticated audience of ultra-rich, entrepreneurial minds, requires a unique set of skills. When your readers are all game-changers in their fields, how do you give them something new to muse over? Well, Worth magazine puts the pen in the hands of the experts themselves. In this episode, editor-at-large of Worth Media, Richard Bradley, explores the marriage of expertise an...

There is so much more to music than sound. There's the emotion you feel when you hear your favourite song, the intensity of watching a live performance, and the vibrations of the beat that thump through your chest. As our guest Dame Evelyn Glennie puts it, our bodies are resonating chambers. Dame Evelyn is an award-winning, deaf, multi percussionist. Though she might not hear sound in the typical...

Movie-like stories, life-like graphics and sprawling environments. Video games are now creating some of the most immersive narrative experiences imaginable, so there’s plenty that writers can learn in this episode of the podcast. Sam Loveridge, global editor-in-chief at Games Radar , discusses the power of choice and autonomy in storytelling, the changing perceptions of the video game industry, an...

Sex can be an uncomfortable subject for many, but for actors being filmed under the sheets, that discomfort takes on a whole new meaning. That's where the role of an intimacy coordinator comes in. Ita O'Brien has worked on many high-profile TV shows, including Sex Education, Watchmen and Normal People. She explores the narrative of sex, from the way its written about, to its portrayal on-screen, a...

The beauty of country music lies in its simplicity - its ability to speak to the everyman. And yet it is powerfully evocative, with lovers of the genre finding an incredible depth of meaning in the words, as they relate to their own lives. Liv Austen is a Norwegian-born country musician, and in this episode shares her thoughts on song-writing, nostalgia and stubbornness. Snippets of her music feat...

"If you think things are going back to normal, think again". It's a phrase we've heard time and again since this pandemic locked us all in our homes, but just how permanent will our behaviour changes be? Rory Sutherland works for marketing agency Ogilvy, and set up its behavioral science practice. In this compelling and funny conversation, he explores the emotions that drive us as human beings, an...

To tell an entire story, an entire history and personality, in just a few words, a single sentence, or a symbol - that is the power of brand marketing. From Coca Cola, to Disney or McDonald's, the name of a successful brand alone has the power to conjure images, memories and emotions in our minds. So what can writers learn from the way a brand tells its story? Pete Gomori is the founder of brand a...

Research, evidence and building up a case - the work of a detective and an investigative journalist are closely interlinked, and both have much in common with the art of storytelling. In this episode we're joined by investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas. He explores the genre of true crime, and what we, as writers, can learn from the narratives of truth and memory, our fascination with the...

Sport, and in particular football, has the ability to envoke such intense and strong emotions, both positive and negative. So what can we learn, as writers, from the obsession and passion of football fans, when developing our characters? Graham Sibley, host of the long-running podcast 'Sound of Football', explores how sport can so profoundly affect a person’s behaviour, and why that passion is suc...

Readers the world over are obsessed with stories of post-apocalyptic worlds, dystopian futures and pandemics - and now those stories have become our reality. Christian Hunt, expert in behavioural science and founder of ‘Human Risk’, explores our reactions amid the coronavirus crisis. This conversation serves to inspire your writing by drawing on the juxtaposition between our real-world behaviours ...

Behind The Spine is a podcast which deconstructs genre and narrative, and finds learning opportunities for writers in the most unlikely of places. The first episode is coming soon, available on your favourite podcast platform from Wednesday 15th April - stay tuned.