Two and a Mic - The Social Podcast

This lovely poem, penned by one my favourite poems speaks of nature, of transition and transformation, of positive projection, hopes and dreams, painful memories mixed in with some sweet recollections. Coleridge’s poems are always alive for me. I am including here a link to a far more professional and complete essay on the poem if you would like to consider the meanings more deeply. Samuel Taylor...

When we talk about something Orwellian, the term conjures up a certain distasteful image of power cycles corrupting society, misshaping communities, poisoning human interactions, and infecting any and every sense of love with suspicion and anger. That is the curse of 1984. In Animal Farm we are confronted by the manipulation of revolutionary leaders, the dangers of not being educated enough to und...

In this episode I am joined by Florah who raises funds for African Parks in Germany, and other select European countries. I met Florah not in a professional capacity but as participants in a Friends of Nature hiking troupe 2 years ago. We had some great talks then and more recently when we met again and it was abundantly clear that I needed to record our conversations. Florah has experienced on he...

Book Review – The Black Echo by Michael ConnollyRIP Lance Reddick – You will be forever remembered. Talking about books is a pleasure because it inherently requires one to read or listen to a book. For me the chance to talk about a mutual passion with my brother at the same time makes this little amateur book review opportunity too good to miss out on. In this episode we review specifically the fi...

Talking about the presidents, learning about the development of US political structures, institutes and principles, gives an obvious and equally oft forgotten insight into where US politics is today. We have gone way back, right to the beginning, and are working our way through the list of US leaders. We have inadvertently decided not to follow the usual deference and romanticism that figures so p...

In this episode, Caragh and Mikey recount some of the activities they have been up to since we last spoke. In addition to the amazing work of further establishing neurodiversity in the minds of the mainstream and solidifying the platform from which to generate debate, innovation and change, the Neurodiversity in Sport blog has revealed some amazing stories. For those who have not previously had th...

I have always found people whose primary work-ethic has revolved around people to be most interesting. I love hearing that people form the core and biggest asset of an organisation. However, assets are normally owned, people are employed. I am sure there are distinctions in these words. I am joined by Helga, a HR manager of many years experience, to talk about some of the main issues that currentl...

Jack London (1876-1916) was born John Griffith Chaney. Famous for a number of classics today he is by some considered best represented by his many short stories, the historian Dale L. Walker wrote of him: “London's true métier was the short story ... London's true genius lay in the short form…”Having read some of his shorter works I agree that they are extremely good, however I cannot discount his...

Today I talk with Benni from the Spirit of Football. Benni introduces the organisation I had the immense pleasure of meeting recently for an eye-opening and fun workshop about how the world of football can take a sporting lead into sustainability. Benni talks about the history and the present and in part the future of Spirit of Football, Future Ball, the new project and some of the principles behi...

This is my second reading of a Maya Angelou poem. It will not be the last. I commented last time as to the depth and mystery of her poetry, and I won’t repeat commonly held sentiments. She was a unique poet, philosopher, civil rights activist, and an example for many others. The release date of this episode coincides with Maya’s birthday. She was born on April 4th, 1928. She would have been 95 tod...

The Sniper is a short story set during the Irish Civil War and based on the on the Battle of Dublin. It was published while the war was still ongoing, in January 1923.It is a tale simply told. It remains a popular tale even a hundred years after its initial publication. Unfortunately as war continues to be ever-present in human reality, the relevance and tragedy of The Sniper will go unnoticed by...

An American writer and poet and considered as one of America’s greatest authors from the American Renaissance period. Though his great fame came much after his death he remains an ever present on the list of classic authors among such greats as Jack London, Emily Dickinson, Tennessee Williams, and Nathaniel Hawthorne to name just a few. He was born to staunchly Christian parents and both his grand...

What a difference a day makes. Well imagine what kind of difference a year or two can make. In periods of quick change such as ours, every decision can have significant impact on our lives for many years to come. We are all experiencing this in a variety of ways today. It is for this reason that people should be given choice. To make better choices they should be informed. To be well-informed, we...

Parastu recently wrote an article about her interview with Shole Pakravan, whose daughter Reyhaneh Jabbari was executed in 2014. In this episode Parastu talks about Shole, her daughter’s innocence and fight for justice, and her own experience of meeting this wonderful, dedicated and loving woman whose life mission is to ensure her daughter’s tale is never forgotten. It is a very emotional episode...

2022 was a big year for Lively Story and the big story is…Lively Story is now in the entertainment business. This brings a lot of change to the direction of the company and the way in which the platform is presented to the market. It is exciting because it broadens the scope of storytelling, and it allows the story to jump out through modern tech and popular mediums. This is also why CEO and found...

Franklin Adams was an American columnist. He was a poet. He was a veteran of the first world war. He was the son of Jewish-German immigrants. He was witty. He was a radio panelist. He was, suffice to say, many things. His most important work was his column “The Conning Tower”. The Conning Tower it is said, “…was enough to launch a career.” As turned out to be the case for a number of writer’s whos...

In this latest chat with Chris, we have undertaken to do an irregular series that focuses on stories of interest from across the Atlantic. We have taken the liberty of discussing anything even remotely connected to the USA which basically means we can loosely talk about anything on the planet because, well, the US right? Anyway, no need for a long intro. In this session we cover the following topi...

Katherine Mansfield was a New Zealand writer who died far too young at the age of 34, 100 years ago. She is considered, despite having her life so prematurely curtailed, as being one of the most important voices in the modernist movement. It was the intention of modernism to break away from traditional forms of writing in poetry and prose fiction, but also in the content such writing represented....

This episode is my narration of the Rudyard Kipling classic we are all familiar with. Kipling is known the world over for his famous story of Mowgli, the boy raised by a bear and a panther in The Jungle Book. Immortalised by the Disney animation and the wonderful song writing skills of Terry Gilkyson and the Sherman Brothers and the musical composition of George Bruns. Kipling wrote so much more,...

When we talk about giving a voice to diverse people, it should be more than a slogan. When we invite different voices to express themselves, we are confronted by beautiful thoughts, determination and culture. Parastu talks about what is happening in Iran, how the people in Iran feel and how much they appreciate the support they are getting from the Iranian diaspora, from other peoples and cultures...

When we consider the reality in which we exist today, reading Red Rising doesn’t come across as too far-fetched at all. In fact, we could quite easily superimpose some countries, regions, economies and sectors over the colours and societies created by Pierce Brown and people would immediately understand what was happening. This podcast with Greg is an introduction to the Red Rising trilogy and it...

Margaret Fuller is not as well known as perhaps she should be, as she most definitely would have been, had tragedy not curtailed her life to a mere 40 years of age. Brilliant, witty, brave and a considered and accomplished debater, she should have become known the world over as a woman and a feminist of great influence. Though her work as a journalist and poet, essayist and serialised columnist ha...

The Sacagawea and York (Lewis and Clark) Expedition: How it should be known! Ayda talks about how the native Americans were hunted down, slaughtered and had their children taken from them until, as he says, “there are no more stories to tell…” This is a part of the legacy upon which the United States is today built. The other parts include slavery, mass exploitation of surrounding countries and in...

Caragh is joined by Mike, her husband, to talk about how they deal with, and have always dealt with the challenges of sport, the adversity of misdiagnosis, the fight for improvement or to stay in the team and in general all the obstacles of life. They are a great duo and so open it is a real pleasure to listen to them go. They inspire and complete one another and they have a great way of laughing...

Listening to Shirley talk, explain and simply recount a story, a decision or a fact is a powerful insight into years, decades of experience, thought and practical wisdom. I was immediately struck not only by Shirley’s wealth of knowledge, but by the intensity of her thought and the depth of her assessment. She didn’t have a topic map for the podcast because she didn’t want one. She didn’t need one...