Author Hattie Williams (Bitter Sweet) talks about Nick Park’s lovable Oscar-smashing plasticene cheesepunk technologists, the joy of vegetable puns, silent villains and doomed romances, and the comforts of slow, careful, human craft.

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Writer Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch (Horrible Histories, Cursed Under London, Darkwood) talks about Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 beautiful animated adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, and how the Studio Ghibli masterpiece subverts fairytale tropes and flips hackneyed gender roles, while remembering to include sufficient wisecracking fireplaces and hot emo wizards.

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Actor Geoffrey McGivern (Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Ghosts, Back) talks about the bittersweet Viennese comforts of Graham Greene and Carol Reed's blackly comic thriller 'The Third Man'.

Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at:

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Writer John Finnemore (Cabin Pressure, Souvenir Programme) talks about the comforts of Alexander Mackendrick's classic 1955 Ealing comedy 'The Ladykillers', and explains how the film cleverly subverts the audience's expectations, while satisfying them at the same time.

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Comedian John-Luke Roberts picks the 1990 LP by They Might Be Giants (the one that contains their hit single Birdhouse In Your Soul, and 18 other wildly inventive songs) and talks about the idea of ‘too much’, of overwhelm, of an invigorating deluge of ideas, and how that connects the worlds of music and comedy.

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Writer and comedian Robin Ince (The Infinite Monkey Cage, Cosmic Shambles Network) talks about the comforts of Carol Reed’s masterpiece The Fallen Idol, the beautiful film he made between Odd Man Out and The Third Man, and touches on the links between film and our memories of loved ones.

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Writer Neil Forsyth (The Gold, Guilt, Bob Servant) talks about the comforts of Molly Dineen's 1989 fly-on-the-wall documentary 'Heart Of The Angel', a surprisingly deep study of the people working in a failing London Underground station.

The documentary is available on the BBC iPlayer here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074tkn/40-minutes-heart-of-the-angel

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Writer Will Maclean (The Apparition Phase) talks about John Carpenter's classic 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing, and why its tale of gruff short-tempered men failing to deal with an impossible situation in a pitiless white landscape is a comforting place to return to again and again.

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Sunday Times bestselling author Beth Morrey (Saving Missy, Lucky Day) talks about Sue Townsend's definitive comic coming-of-age novel The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4.

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Comedian and writer Sara Barron (Firecrotch & Normcore, They Like To Watch) celebrates the comforts of 30 Rock, Tina Fey's sitcom skewering of network TV, and the joy of seeing relatable character Liz Lemon surviving and thriving (even if she has lettuce in her hair).

Support us making these podcasts by becoming a paid subscriber at:

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