Thursday, December 10, 2020

December 2020 - Independence From Wales

 
Gareth Gwynn Declares Independence From Wales - This is a brand new show all about the very concept of independence and the towns that think they can go-it-alone. 
 
What started out as a look at places like Hay-On-Wye and Llanrwst in Wales or Uzupis in Lithuania ended up with me and the producer speaking to the Honorary Consul for Kiribati, leaving answerphone messages with the UN and asking a former Welsh First Minister for advice on whether I could do this for real - as well as speaking to people who did/would campaign on the "Yes" and "No" sides of national independence campaigns. I also hit the streets (with a mic on a two metre pole) and spoke to the people of Brecon, who were fantastic at entertaining the idea of turning their town into an independent state. 
 
It's about why towns try and claim independence, what they really mean by it - and what it would take to achieve international recognition. The whole thing is produced by Rosemary Baker (who also drew the picture!) and will be broadcast in two parts on the 10th and 17th of December on BBC Radio Wales and is also available on BBC Sounds.
 
Felicity Ward: Appisodes
is back on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds for another four part series about mobile phone apps how they claim to change your life. This time we cover those that help with pregnancy, addiction, procrastination and wedding planning - and by downloading the relevant apps for research purposes,
Google now thinks I had a brief but intense interest in pregnancy, quitting smoking and planning a particularly frugal wedding.
 
The Sink: A Sleep Aid
- All six episodes of Natasha Hodgson's comedy-horror sketch-show is now available on BBC Sounds. It's all about dreams, nightmares and that time a bird man came to your school. Again, I acted as script editor on the show, which bills itself as a sleep aid and I have seen one podcast mailing list not really offering any explanation of the show beyond that. Uh oh.
 
And as well as all those, these shows are all still available online too: