smallVOICE

Our roving reporter, Margaret, had a good few days out at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, and one of the shows she saw was the inspiration for this ‘small voice’. Searchlight Theatre Company aims to be “a light on the Fringe” and with seven plays over two weeks, they had a lot of good stories to share at Palmerton Place Church in Edinburgh’s West End. Margaret met David Robinson to find out about the people whose lives they have brought to the audiences in August 2025.

Searchlight Theatre Company

In our podcast for August, we discuss the new book, Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Meaning by the writer and journalist Lamorna Ash. It came out earlier this year and has, it has to be said, made quite the splash in Christian church circles. Also for August: a big ‘welcome back’ to Roz as our conversation partner! Roz is Assistant Chaplain at the University of Glasgow and she joins Holly and Darren to discuss the book and then for a wider chat about some of the themes and issues raised by the book.

We ponder: are all the answers in the back when you do an Alpha Course? Can woolly Christians do mission? What the bloomin’ heck is the Quiet Revival?

Have you read Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, dear listener? If so, join in the conversation and let us know what you thought!

Links for this podcast

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 7 August 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Duration: 69’14 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast in your podcast app – if you like us! – as it helps others to find us. Thanks!

Our latest ‘small voice’ features inspiring work at the Family Centre at Polmont Prison and Young Offenders Institution in central Scotland. Our roving reporter, Margaret, went there and spoke with Sasha Groves, the Manager of the Centre who told her about the range of support given to friends and families. Listen out for the very special bedtime stories.

Margaret visited the prison just before Easter this year. In fact, as you’ll hear, she embarked on an Easter Egg hunt which led in an unexpected direction…

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We’re always on the look out for new ‘small voices’ to showcase – please get in touch if you have any recommendations! You can comment here on this website or contact us on Facebook OR try out our Substack and chat with us there.

This podcast is available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Duration: 22’59 minutes. Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas.

Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast in your podcast app (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks!

In this podcast we review recent film-of-the-book, The Salt Path, which stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. It’s based on Raynor Wynn’s best-selling memoir of the same name which we read and reviewed in 2019. We liked the book a lot – will the film live up to it?

And with high summer almost upon us, Holly and Darren share some summer recommendations: a cheerful mix of books, TV programmes, podcasts and music.

As always, we love it when you get in touch! What is on your summer playlist? Any other recommendations for us? You can comment here on this website or contact us on Facebook OR try out our Substack and chat with us there.

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This podcast was recorded on Thursday 5 June 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Duration: 52’07 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast in your podcast app (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks!

In our slow-but-sure journey through the year, it’s now May and in this month’s podcast Darren & Holly review two BBC TV series currently broadcasting in the UK: Pilgrimage and Race Across The World. They are both series about people on a journey and the things they learn about each other and themselves, so we thought it would be fun to look at them together. We’re also still taking some time to think about the importance of conversations across divides and – as part of that – we reflect a bit on the life of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Sunday.

Get in touch! Holly and Darren want you to tell them about some ‘thin places’ to visit or a pilgrim path to follow … we’re sure there are some good suggestions out there!

You can comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook  OR you can also interact with us on Substack and chat with us there.

Links for this podcast

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 1 May 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Duration: 51’37 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks.

Pilgrimage photo: BBC.

OK, time to have a proper conversation …. we’re delighted to be joined by a very special guest – long-time friend of the podcast and actual scientist, Dr Gavin Merrifield. He joins Holly and Darren for a discussion about science & faith, Christians working in science – and, what we can do to have better conversations across potential divides. Gavin describes himself as a ‘Physicist who has been exiled to Biology and has seen the light’ and, in this podcast, he tells us about planets that are made of diamonds and worlds where it rains metals… What’s not to like. We also ask: ‘why faith OR science?’ Why would we ever think that was a sensible question to ask? Is there a vision of both science and religion working together to build the Kingdom of God?

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Over to you faithful listener, do you have a thought about how to start and maintain conversations across perceived divides? You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on our Facebook Page.

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 3 April 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks.

Duration: 47’19 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

Cartoon image by Manfred Steger from Pixabay

According to the Scotland-Malawi Partnership, 64% of people in Scotland have a direct connection with Malawi or know someone who does. It sounds like an overestimate, but when small voice presenter Margaret thought about her own connections – the daughter of a friend doing a medical elective there; two midwives who had gone there to train others; a former colleague of another friend who had taught in Malawi – she decided it was probably about right. Malawi’s population is just over 22 million, and the median age is around 18. In Scotland it’s around 40. Both countries have a slightly higher number of women. But in Malawi, many girls and women do not have good access to education at tertiary or even secondary level.

Two organisations, with roots in Scotland, are working to change that- the Mamie Martin Fund, and the Soko Fund by funding disadvantaged girls and young women. Margaret battled international comms issues to speak to those involved.

You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our Substack email and chat with us there.

The smallVOICE podcast is available from your favourite podcast App!

Duration: 29’37 minutes. Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas.

In this podcast Darren and Holly review the recent Channel 4 programme Go Back To Where You Came From, a four-part series which deals with attitudes to immigration in a way that has polarised opinion. Go Back To Where You Came From is a kind of reality show in which six people from Britain, with differing views on immigration, recreate the sort of journeys which so-called illegal immigrants make to try and get to the UK. Frankly, a painful watch … but was it a necessary one? Is it a new way to air differing views? How do we avoid demonising those who demonise?

Small warning: some quoted strong language.

And the season of Lent is here … and we know, for most of us, that brings up images of giving up chocolate or alcohol or difficult Channel 4 programmes. You’ll be pleased to hear that we’re absolutely not about to tell you what to give up, but we do explore how we might use this season as a chance to reflect – maybe shake things up a bit – and connect with something bigger than ourselves. Oh, and Holly & Darren have picked their Lent books!

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We really want to think further about conversations across divides … Help us out with your thoughts and ideas. You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our Substack email and chat with us there.

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 6 March 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks.

Duration: 48’37 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

It’s February (we’re getting there, folks) and in this podcast Holly and Darren review the award-winning book Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst, the true-life story of a couple shipwrecked at sea. And, given, well, EVERYTHING, we just can’t ignore the Big Orange One. We discuss how we’re all getting on living in a world in which Donald J Trump is once again President of the United States of America. We are trying to find a tone and a pace that might help, and highlight a few small voices out there …

Speaking of small (but really quite loud) voices, apologies if you are at all diverted by Holly’s cat, Skye, making a special guest appearance in the podcast! She wasn’t even in the same room as Holly, nor even at the door, but in an entirely different part of the house, but … well, you’ll hear.

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The Rest is Politics

And, so, over to you, faithful listener – how are you getting on? Hope you are doing ok? Have you read Maurice and Maralyn, perchance?

If so, get in touch! You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook.

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 6 February 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.

Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast (if you like us!) as it helps others to find us. Thanks.

Duration: 44’56 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.

It’s January 2025 – amazingly! – and we kick off the year with a couple of reviews. First up is the thrilling film, Conclave, which stars so many fantastic character actors we can’t even start to list them. Holly & Darren lead us through all the drama about how to choose a Pope: What will prevail, the Holy Spirit or human politics? Can we draw parallels with TV smash The Traitors? Or church meetings? (Spoiler: we just might.) What to do if you’re the person in charge and you have a crisis of faith?

And, since it’s a new year, it’s an excellent excuse for a look at a self-help book. It’s Kendra Adachi’s latest book which is called The Plan: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius, an exercise in what she calls ‘compassionate time management’. Make listening to the podcast top of your ‘To Do’ list and find out what we make of it!

Links for this podcast

We love hearing from you … You can leave a comment on this website or get in touch on Facebook. Remember we are looking for book or other recommendations for Lent!

You can also subscribe to our Substack email and chat with us there.

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 9 January 2025. Available from Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App. Please consider rating the smallVOICE podcast ( but only if you like us!) as it helps others to find the podcast. Thanks.

Duration: 56’59 minutes. Theme music and stings by Nicolai Heidlas.