‘Israeli Meeting Fallout’, ‘Cuts, cuts, cuts!’ and the ‘Democratic National Convention’ / with Alison Thewliss

Hopefully we will have Stuart back with us next week, but in the meantime we are delighted to have two of Scotland’s best commentators on the show - welcome back Angela Haggerty and hot from the Labour Party Conference - Catriona Stewart . Recommendations: Eamonn The Seige - Book - Ben Macintyre On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens. A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod. Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue. Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself. Angela Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: This riveting true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills. Catriona Tell Me Everything - book - Elizabeth Strout Tell Me Everything is a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world. It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. Together, they spend afternoons in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known – “unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them – reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning. Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love."

Stuart is off this week so we have brought in the wonderful Angela Haggerty and David Pratt to discus this week's topics with Eamonn at the helm. Recommendations: Angela Darren McGarvey's trauma industrial complex Royal Society of Edinburgh Darren McGarvey – author of Poverty Safari and The Social Distance Between Us – began his new project, “The Trauma-Industrial Complex”, by delivering a Signature Lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Tuesday this week. Youtube David Mozart - Rise of a Genuis Child prodigy, flawed human, musical giant. Letters, manuscripts and performances reveal the making of a man who created some of the world’s most magnificent music. Eamonn Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos - Amazon Prime In WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos, acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney delves deep into the psyche of renowned "Sopranos" creator and writer, David Chase, to illuminate his life and career while offering a unique window into his unparalleled work on the iconic program.

This week we're talking about yesterday's big Labour vote , the candyfloss royal pop video and discussing what might be the one and only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We took as many questions as we could get through and have kept submissions from Lorraine Kerr, Edward Docherty and Gill Blair for next week. RECOMMENDATIONS: Paddy Colin from Accounts - iplayer Two single(ish) people, brought together by fate, a car accident... and an injured dog. Warm-hearted Aussie rom-com about a flawed, funny couple getting it all utterly wrong. Eamonn The Perfect Couple - Netflix Amelia is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket, until a shocking death derails the wedding — and turns everyone into a suspect.

This week we've given the dynamic duo a chance to talk over this week's headlines by themselves. Recommendations: Eamonn From the Vine - Film - Amazon Prime A downtrodden man experiences an ethical crisis and travels back to his hometown in rural Italy to recalibrate his moral compass. There he finds new purpose in reviving his grandfather's old vineyard, offering the small town of Acerenza a sustainable future, and reconnecting with his estranged family in the process. Stuart Sing Sing - Film - General Release Based on the real-life arts rehabilitation programme founded at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Greg Kwedar’s new film follows a troupe of incarcerated actors who work on a play as part of a theatre workshop at the prison. Every six months, the men gather in a circle of chairs, often looking to Divine G (Colman Domingo) to help decide their next play. When he recruits a new member called Divine Eye, he gets more than he bargained for. The group’s dynamic begins to shift as Divine Eye suggests they do a comedy for the first time, prompting the men to throw out a jumble of wild ideas — from pirate ships to Roman gladiators to Old West gunfights. Flustered at first, Divine G quickly starts to see Divine Eye’s discomfort with the vulnerability required for what seems like a silly pursuit. While planning for his own clemency hearing, he tries to forge a connection with Eye, as the men collectively unpack the pain of their experience while undergoing the joy and escape of creativity. Domingo gives one of the most memorable and affecting performances of his career, bolstered by a cast made up almost entirely of formerly incarcerated actors and alumni of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme. Their participation brings an authenticity to the group’s founding principle that human dignity must be a part of the justice system. Directed with a dynamism that matches the charm, mischief, and compassion of the men themselves, Sing Sing recognises the value of a place we can gather in which to discuss, debate, and create, wherever that may be. It’s an ode to art as a process, much the same as life, through which we can strive to better understand ourselves and each other.

If you like this trailer, come and join us @ www.patreon.com/talkmedia for the price of a cuppa coffee each month. A lively show today with our pal David who brings us up to date on Ukraine and Gaza, then it's off to the business of "propaganda"....... Enjoy! Recommendations: David Tangier: City of the Dream (Paperback) 'A dream concealed in stone...sky supersonic, orgone blue, warm wind...Such beauty, but more than that, it's like the dream is breaking through.' William Burroughs No city in the world has quite the exotic allure of Tangier. From the 17th century, it has been a place on the edge, beyond the normal disciplines of government, a city of refuge and excitements where sex is cheap, drugs are plentiful and where the outcasts of the world can breathe easily. The golden years of Tangier began after World War I and barely survived World War II. Among those who sought sanctuary in or inspiration from this legendary city were Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Paul and Jane Bowles, Ronnie Kray, the unhappy Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, Tennessee Williams, Joe Orton, Cecil Beaton and Truman Capote. It is this 'last resort of the living dead, alive but not madly kicking' which Iain Finlayson explores in his witty, enthralling book. Eamonn Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (Hardback) For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of ageing that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late, prolonging lifespan at the expense of quality of life. Dr Peter Attia, the world's top longevity expert who is featured on Chris Hemsworth's National Geographic documentary LIMITLESS, believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalised, proactive strategy for longevity. This isn't 'biohacking,' it's science: a well-founded strategic approach to extending lifespan while improving our physical, cognitive and emotional health, making each decade better than the one before. With Outlive's practical advice and roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before. Stuart Monsters, Inc. Lovable Sulley (John Goodman) and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top scare team at MONSTERS, INC., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it's the monsters who are scared silly, and it's up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.

It was a pleasure to welcome Alison to the podcast. We hope you enjoy it - we did. Recommendations: Stuart Radio WHUR Eamonn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2KYZ1BritY Alison Listen to a cd - from top to bottom!

Both social and print media gets the going over today in this episode as the dynamic duo, in the company of oor pal Catriona Stewart talk over the weeks talking points. Recommendations: Stuart White Robes and Broken Badges Infiltrating the KKK and Exposing the Evil Among Us In this shocking memoir, a former FBI informant reveals what he learned from successfully infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the backwoods of the Sunshine State, uncovering details about the hate group’s structure and its modern far-right spinoffs which are operating to achieve the same goal: inciting a second civil war by whatever violent means necessary. Catriona Lady in the Lake Apple TV When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore in 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Eamonn BBC Four Who Killed Caravaggio? (Full Documentary) (2010) When Caravaggio died in 1610, he was 39 years old, the most famous painter of his age and an exile from Rome after killing a man in a street fight. But his death has always been a mystery, with no body, no grave site, and conflicting stories of what happened. In 2001, art critic Andrew Graham- Dixon went in search of the true story of the extraordinary life and mysterious death of one of the greatest painters in western art, travelling from Rome to Naples to Malta and Sicily, meeting experts and scouring archives on the way. He uncovered the painter's criminal record, a trail of violent incident, sexual intrigue and conspiracy, and came face to face with some of the most profoundly spiritual paintings ever painted. Graham-Dixon has been researching and working on the story of the artist ever since. Caravaggio's art has never been more popular, and now he thinks he may have found some of the answers.

Stuart is back!!!!!! We've missed him in the studio and our setting the world to rights chats pre show. Again, we've tried to answer all your question in the topics themselves so forgive us for not reading out all your questions. We tried to address them in the discussions but of course will have missed a few opportunities. Recommendations: David Jungle Novels - B Traven B. Traven’s legendary Jungle Novels series, which begins with Government, details the oppression of the Mexican indigenous people and the subsequent uprising of the Mexican Revolution. This critically acclaimed but overlooked collection of six volumes is a classic that belongs on any historical fiction lover’s bookshelf and “constitute[s] one of the richest portraits of revolution in all literature” Eamonn Paris '44: The Shame and the Glory - Patrick Bishop Paris ’44 tells the story of the occupation and the liberation, but it does not read like military history . . . The book resembles some epic thriller, with vividly evoked characters all somewhere on the spectrum between collaboration and resistance, shame and glory . . . Paris ’44 is a wonderful book: droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it. Stuart Michael Johnson - 4 TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST

Eamonn is back at the helm with a show packed full of great observations. At the end of the show we had more questions lined up but no time to fit them in so apologies to you that missed the cut. This week's recommendations: Angela Women on Death Row. Of the nearly 3000 inmates on death row in America, only 51 are women. This documentary series examines these women's stories. Part of True Crime on Channel 4. Presumed Innocent A horrific murder upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney's' office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. David KIM SENGUPTA Fearless, intrepid, dogged – Kim Sengupta never gave up on a story Independent’s Kim Sengupta Named Journalist of the Year 2016 Eamonn Art Matters Melvyn Bragg draws on a career spanning more than 60 years, making a rousing case for why the arts matter - exploring his early years and the stories of influential interviewees.

To hear the whole episode go here! Nothing much to talk about this week.... aye right! Always good to have Angela and Paddy on the show - good insights. At the end of the show we had lined up a huge listener question section but due to time constraints we had to edit it a bit. Recommendations: Angela Dark Matter - Apple TV Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his life; to get back to his true family, he embarks on a harrowing journey to save them from the most terrifying foe imaginable: himself; based on Blake Crouch's best-selling book. Dark - Netflix A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations. Paddy Last Week Tonight - HBO Winner of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, British comedian, actor and writer John Oliver delivers all the breaking news in his own inimitable style. The North Face of Soho - Clive James - Book From Fleet Street to the television, North Face of Soho is the fascinating and hilarious fourth volume of memoir from much-loved author, poet and broadcaster Clive James. Eamonn House Arrest - Alan Bennet - Book A year in and out of lockdown as experienced by Alan Bennett. The diary takes us from the filming of Talking Heads to thoughts on Boris Johnson, from his father's short-lived craze for family fishing trips, to stair lifts, junk shops of old, having a haircut, and encounters on the local park bench. A lyrical afterword describes the journey home to Yorkshire from King's Cross station via fish and chips on Quebec Street, past childhood landmarks of Leeds, through Coniston Cold, over the infant River Aire, and on.