Heretics | Andrew Gold

Dr. James Fallon is renowned for his work in psychopathy. But a chance occurrence led him to realise something dark about his own family history...and the brain scans concurred...

today on the show is Angela Maxwell, who walked 20,000 miles or 32,000 kilometres around the entire globe. It took her the best part of six years to do so, and she learned about as much about life as is humanly possible. She’s just back now – having overcome all sorts of adversity on the trip - she suffered from sunburn blisters and heatstroke in the Australian desert and dengue fever in Vietnam. Things hit a real low point, when a man broke into her tent in Mongolia, and raped her. We’ll discuss those moments, as much as the myriad positive interactions and experiences. She, better than most of us, has experienced the limits of life, so I’m honoured that she’s here to share that experience with all of us.

Leading linguistics professor at Columbia University John McWhorter talks about his brilliant book Nine Nasty Words, and the origin of swearing. Why are some words profane, and others not? How has it changed over time, and what will the unmentionable words of the future be?

Today’s guest, James Bloodworth, is an intrepid journalist who went undercover to work in an Amazon warehouse and expose the torrid conditions within. His acclaimed book Hired details his journey back into the working classes from which he came for six months, also working as an Uber driver and a care worker in impoverished parts of the UK for the book.

James Bloodworth Links:

https://www.instagram.com/james.bloodworth 

Andrew Gold Links:

Top barrister Chris Daw QC talks about how more and more people are being incarcerated with tougher sentences. Being tough on crime is a vote winner – it appeals to our primal urges as well as our sense of schadenfreude – there but for the grace of god go I - punish them! But there’s sufficient evidence that such tough sentences and appalling prison conditions in the US and the UK in particular lead to more crime, making the world a less safe place for you and your family.

Thanks to today's sponsor, VPN Express - sign up with a discount on https://vpnexpress.com/edge

Buy Chris' book and subscribe/follow him here:

Gary Cliffe is one of the 800 survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of former football coach and paedophilic serial offender Barry Bennell. Bennell terrorised children in the late 80s and 90s, while working with the children coming through the youth academies of Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and later, Stoke City. Despite suspicions and complaints made about Bennell, he was allowed to continue in his depravity, staying at the homes of the children’s families. His actions quickly turned what should have been a dream for young kids looking to become footballers into a nightmare.

Follow Gary on: https://twitter.com/garycliffe1

Olivia Jackson is one of the most talented and impressive people I’ve had on the show. She is a South African Muay Thai champion, kickboxer and stunt performer who has worked on huge films like Guardians of the Galaxy. But something happened to Olivia back in 2015 that would change everything for her life going forward.

Find Olivia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviathebandit

Get your free beer on me here: http://beer52.com/edge

Today, I talk to Professor Sue Black about how she helped to save Bletchley Park, the home of the codebreakers during the Second World War. She tells some fabulous stories about the people who worked there, and also talks about meeting the Queen and Stephen Fry, and her own tough upbringing, before becoming a celebrated professor at the University of Durham.

Meet Coche Inciarte, the most marvellous and loveliest man, who tells me about what it was like to survive a plane crash and live for 72 days in the most awful conditions imaginable. Eventually, he and his friends had to resort to desperate measures. It's a captivating story of human survival.

Thanks to sound recordist and editor Gonzalo Kaplanski for doing the English voice-over. Find his photography and video work here: https://gonkaplanski.myportfolio.com/

And thank you to the book's brilliant translator John Guiver. You can buy his and Coche's book, Memories of the Andes, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memories-Andes-Jos%C3%A9-Coche-Inciarte/dp/1913166333

Also thanks very much to Esther Harris at the Bookollective and Katharine Smith at Heddon Publishing for helping to make this happen.

British journalist Jenny Kleeman - a mix of Louis Theroux and Margaret Atwood - talks to the On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast about the near-future of sex, food, birth and death, with some startling, worrying and fascinating science.

Get the bonus content on my YouTube and Patreon pages (links below).

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https://twitter.com/jennykleeman