Light on Leeds

Send us Fan Mail Buy Nowt Ls6 believe that everyone can make an environmental difference by borrowing and not buying. This reduces the creation of waste and allows people to come together and share resources. The scheme was set up by Jed, Sarah, Lee, Mark and John. I had a great time chatting to Jed about the ethos of the scheme and how they got started. The group decided to feature the stunning t...

Send us Fan Mail Dermot Daly was a very interesting person to chat to! Dermot is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire. He has worked regionally, nationally and internationally in stage, screen and radio drama. He has directorial awards for his film work and he explains to me whay he is so fond of the phrase "throwing the ladder back down". Dermot voices The Guardian podcasts and tell...

Send us Fan Mail Phil Mellen was the Deputy Director of Children's Services for Leeds City Council. He tells me about having to leave the role, contracting Covid and then long Covid, writing songs and his recording deal. Phil lives in Cheshire, just south of Manchester and answers the three questions I ask every guest. http://www.blacksheeplad.com/ https://twitter.com/blacksheeplad https://so...

Send us Fan Mail It was great to chat to another Leeds Podcaster - Simon Treen about his podcast Working Hours. Simon is aiming to record 1000 people over the course of the decade about their job and how they feel about it. If you'd like to get involved please check the links below. The featured song on this episode is the raucous "Sunset Claims" by Blue Orchid Reaction. https://wes...

Send us Fan Mail Dr Kerry Harker remotely connected to tell me all about the East Leeds Project of which she is a founder and the Artictic Director. Kerry tells me about the MakerSpace project, East Leeds Pavillion and KIOSK. She was very proud to tell me about the launch of their newspaper "We Are Pioneers". "We are a practitioner-led visual arts organisation based in Gipton, East...

Send us Fan Mail Philip Cumberland has written a fantastic book called "Killing Time in Cambridge". He speaks to me about the book, how he got started writing and about Cambridge and the Fens. The featured track is "The Sesh" by the brilliant Kirkcaldy musician PG Ciarletta. https://fenlandphil.com/ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20858356.Philip_Cumberland https://www.am...

Send us Fan Mail I was so excited to speak to Dr Kate Lister who is a lecturer at Leeds Trinity University and who researches the literary history of sex work and created the online research project Whores of Yore - a digital archive for the study of historical sexuality. Kate is the author of the A Curious History of Sex (which I have read and is a fantastic and fascinating read) and has appeared...

Send us Fan Mail Sara Merritt was a brilliant guest and told me about her role as Leeds Museums & Galleries Audience Development Officer. She and her colleague Meg are the hosts of the Museums n'that podcast. Sara chose to feature the astoundingly great track "Cool Down" by Issac Saierre. https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/podcasts/ https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mu...

Send us Fan Mail I had a fabulous chat with Alex from Riptide. As of 2014 Riptide have been making work that places audiences at the heart of the experience. They use innovative story-telling and digital technology to achieve this. The featured track is the absloutely beautiful "Lost and Found" by the incredibly talented Carmen McClean. The single was released on 30th July - do go and su...

Send us Fan Mail I am abandoning the Corona Bloody Virus Extraordinary episodes for now in the great hope that we do not need to return to them... I had a brilliant chat with Jeremy Morton who is the Editor of South Leeds Life - a community news channel. We talk about how it started and Jeremy gives advice about how you could start your own... The featured track is the wonderful ""Chance...

Send us Fan Mail I had a great time chatting to author Richard Smyth.  We talked about his inspiration, writing processes and the books he has published including his latest book "The Woodcock": "It’s 1920s England, and the coastal town of Gravely is finally enjoying a fragile peace after the Great War. Jon Lowell, a naturalist who writes articles on the flora and fauna of the shore...

Send us Fan Mail I had a fabulous chat with Raj aka SilverFinger Singh. We talked about his music career, Leeds 2023, Hyde Park Unity Day, his BBC Radio Leeds show, about his father, the acclaimed percussionist, Inder Goldfinger Matharu and much more! Raj chose to feature his new single "Lioness" out on 21.07.21 - it's a brilliant track dedicated to the amazing women in their lives...

Send us Fan Mail Andy Wilson is a facilitator at Andy's Man Club and connected to tell me how he got involved and what the ethos behind the club is. "We are talking groups for men who have either been through a storm, are currently going through a storm or have a storm brewing in life. OPEN EVERY MONDAY FROM 7PM EXCLUDING BANK HOLIDAYS." #itsoktotalk Andy chose to feature the fantas...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Lloyd was the perfect person to talk to about Red Ladder Theatre Company where is is a producer, the joy and pain of being a Leeds United supporter and much more. " Red Ladder is a radical theatre company with 50 years of history. The company is acknowledged as one of Britain’s leading national touring companies producing new theatre, contributing to social change and g...

Send us Fan Mail Luke Dickson was a great person to chat to and is the Co-Creative Director at Alive and Kicking Theatre Company. He is also playing Brian Clough in Red Ladder Theatre Company's production of The Damned United - you can see this live from 10 June - 12 June, 2021 at Leeds Playhouse. Luke talks about the state of theatre through COVID, LUFC and much, much more. The featured trac...

Send us Fan Mail I really enjoyed my chat with Paul Handley of Grindhouse: "The first movie-themed bar in Leeds has opened in the city centre following a film-like journey through lockdown. Grindhouse Bar on Upper Briggate is the creation of Dave Holmes [founder of Santiago ] and Paul Handley, [formerly of Santiago and Mojo] . Work started on the bar in February 2020 and it was due to open in...

Send us Fan Mail I had a great time chatting to Yvonne Carmichael the Director of South Square Heritage Arts & Community Centre in Thornton Bradford. " South Square Centre is a collection of 19th Century Grade II workers cottages. In 1979, following a period of dereliction, 30 unemployed people and graduates from Bradford College came together to transform the building and Thornton and Al...

Send us Fan Mail Camilla Asher and Anita Adams remotely connected with me to tell me about "Theatre For A New World"  "Presented by Leeds Community Arts Network and The Carriageworks Theatre, Theatre for a New Word is a season of five pieces of theatre, Songs for a New World, Stake-Out, The End and The Last Five Years. Rehearsed entirely in lockdown and recorded live and COVID safe...

Send us Fan Mail The lovely Katie Hayes remotely connected to tell me all bout the great work they do down at Cloth Cat Studios. She told me about the Man About Town Project, the Get Your Act Together Project, their Repair & Recycle Workshop and loads more. Katie chose to feature the brilliant track "Try That" by The Slates - a band completely made up of 15 and 16 year olds and they...

Send us Fan Mail Satnam Galsian remotely connected to tell me about her band Kinaara: "Kinaara are a Leeds trio exploring the connections between the music of Punjab and the West. Brought together by singer Satnam Galsian in 2018 they aim to achieve an identity that reflects both her Punjabi heritage and their UK upbringing as a whole. They began with the folk songs of Surinder Kaur and the p...

Send us Fan Mail Elissa Newman remotely connected to tell ne all about the fantastic work she and her team at Holbeck Together are doing: "Once the beating industrial heart of Leeds, Holbeck has a rich history shaped by the people who have lived and worked in the area. It’s a history brimming with pride, entrepreneurship and success. Yet more recently Holbeck’s situation has been better refle...

Send us Fan Mail Jack Simpson is a very busy man! He owns Hyde Park Book Club, Eiger Studios, runs the Leeds Literary Festival AS WELL as completing a PhD in Politics. He tells me about all of these things and much more, including DAWS - Digital Access West Yorkshire and the time Damon Albarn had a wild night in Beeston... The song Jack has chosent o feature is "Lara - A Piano At Night"...

Send us Fan Mail Jo Bailey remotely connected to tell me all about her work as a Wellness Co-ordinator and what life has been like for residents, family and staff during lockdown. The featured song on his episode is the beautifukl track "Don't Mind the Weather" by the briliant Sunflower Thieves. This episode was produced by Richard Hatton. https://www.anchorhanover.org.uk/ https://w...

Send us Fan Mail Tony Macaluso (Co-Director of Chapel FM and Heads Together Productions) and Peter Spafford (Chapel FM, Dircetor of Words) remotely connected to tell me about all of the great work they are doing at Chapel FM: "East Leeds FM was created back in 2003 as a pilot project run by Heads Together Productions with students from John Smeaton High School. It has grown and developed sinc...

Send us Fan Mail Faye Phillips remotely connected to tell me about her self-published book The Pumpkin Pantry which includes 91 delicious vegan recipes. "A quirky little scrapbook of 91 rounds of tasty glorious vegan grub. Right up your tastebud's street and packing a super splendidly delicious and nutritious punch, this is one motley collection aimed to have you both firing on all cylin...