Stop and Search

The Fear of 13 is the self-told tale of Nick Yarris, a prisoner who spent 22 years on death row. Nick's incarceration - and time spent in solitary confinement - led him to request his own execution. Nick wrote the book The Fear of 13 which was subsequently made into a film - currently available on Netflix. We're joined by one of the producers of the film, BAFTA and Emmy nominated filmmaker, Christopher Riley.

Christopher describes Nick as one of the most interesting people he's ever met, and during the making of The Fear of 13 they spent quite a lot of time together. This is such an unusual journey and an incredible tale, and one that you have to see and hear for yourself. So either listen to this podcast then watch the film, or, watch the film and then listen to this podcast!

What drives a person to request their own execution? And what can Nick's journey teach us?

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A very special episode recorded on the parliamentary estate at Portcullis House in Westminster. We're joined by a panel of parliamentarians and members from the incredible campaign group, Anyone's Child. We're talking about the journey of drug policy reform:

Anyone's Child members are walking the Thames Pathway all the way to Westminster - a day of mass lobbying is to take place on June 25th. This podcast was made to give multiple perspectives as to why we need urgent drug law reform in efforts to save lives. Joining us for this discussion are two members from Anyone's Child:

Anne-Marie Cockburn - We remember Martha, Anne-Marie's teenage daughter who sadly passed away from complications relating to MDMA

Raychel Lewis - We remember Kevin, Raychel's soulmate. Kevin suffered with mental health and addiction. He passed away due to overdose

And joining the discussion we have:

Baroness Meacher - Crossbencher in the House of Lords

Crispin Blunt - Conservative MP

Thangam Debbonaire - Labour MP

Ronnie Cowan - SNP MP

You'll also hear Jane Slater who is the project manager for Anyone's Child.

Please do listen and share this podcast, and also get involved in the campaigns and groups that we speak about in this episode. Follow Anyone's Child and their work - as well as all the members' heartbreaking stories - here: https://anyoneschild.org

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We need to keep talking about the Philippines and their literal war on drugs, predicated by President Rodrigo Duterte. We're joined by a trio of journalists who have covered this subject, both on the ground and within the presidential palace, but also how this fits in relation to international drug policy.

• Jonathan Miller is Channel 4 News' Asia Correspondent and author of the biography Duterte Harry (which you can hear in a previous episode).
• Livvy Haycock is a friend of the podcast and a brave filmmaker who has been on the ground in the region, alongside gangs and victims alike, her film The Deadliest Place to Deal is a must watch.
• Avinash Tharoor is a journalist, editor of TalkingDrugs.org, and a staff member at Release (Avinash has now moved on to new projects and we thank him for being part of this podcast and we wish him well in future endeavours).

So where do we begin? President Rodrigo Duterte has mercilessly declared an all-out war on drugs in his country, the results of this have meant that murder on the streets is now commonplace. The only thing is.... drugs are being used simply to frame suspects and people in venerable positions. If you're not liked, then a drugs warrant for your arrest (or worse) may be knocking at the door.

This is one of those episodes that we can't stress enough just how important it is to keep talking about what's really going on.

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After coming back from their fact-finding trip to the US, the team behind Jonathan Pie join us to discuss their BBC film Jonathan Pie's American Pie. And oh wow, is this a conversation?!

Our guests:

Tom Walker, the person behind the Jonathan Pie. And we have an all-star list of previous guests in: Andrew Doyle, co-writer of Jonathan Pie. Olly Pollard, producer and co-director of Jonathan Pie's American Pie. And Jennifer Randall, lecturer at the Queen Mary University - where we were kindly hosted.

We cover a lot of ground in this, we mainly address themes around polorisation and critical thinking, hence the pod-title. As you'll imagine we cover themes around Brexit, Trump, and how these two issues ended up dividing nations. We do get some drug policy topics in too! And yes, this has some creative language and swearing.

Photo credits for the live event (and many thanks to): Darren Rigby Photography

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Southeast Asia's crime waves range from drugs to human trafficking and these trades are extremely lucrative, and yet the West doesn't seem to talk about it very much. Why?

We have a much needed conversation with award winning journalist Patrick Winn. We chat about the writing of his book 'Hello, Shadowlands' and the unprecedented insights he got into the region's meth trade. We also take a look at what's going on in Myanmar. And we also talk about the the contraceptive pill...? Yes, this is truly a fascinating discussion.

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The British Medical Journal (BMJ) is one of the most respected publications in the world, so much so that it doesn't really need an introduction, does it? We're joined by:

• Ian Hamilton, mental health worker and academic who's written for the BMJ, Independent, and many other publications
• Dr Fiona Godlee, the Editor in Chief for the BMJ
• Richard Hurley, the Features and Debates editor for the BMJ

In this episode we discuss if the medical profession holds the key to drug policy reform? We cover a lot of ground in this, and there are a lot of extra links and content so this is definitely one to use the Acast app for.

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Channel 4 Hunted's Peter Bleksley and Danni Brooke, and documentary filmmaker Aaron Roach Bridgeman... do we have a chat or what?! This is a very powerful look into drugs, gangs, the mafia, undercover work, and the UK streets. Each guest can give an incredible insight from their rather unique perspective.

All three of our guests are now media professionals, but each one of them is very familiar with street-level interaction and crime. We often have intriguing and powerful testimonies, but this particular episode stands out. Have a listen!

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We're joined by Hunted's Chief, Peter Bleksley, Hunted's Danni Brooke, and documentary maker Aaron Roach Bridgeman. We're talking about television, crime, documentaries, and the realities.

All three of our guests are now prominent media figures, but each one of them has a very interesting background:

Peter Bleksley is now the Chief on Channel 4's hit programme Hunted, and Peter is also a regular pundit on crime on many channels, but he started life as a police officer and has a very colourful career. Peter is also the author of three books.

Danni Brooke is also a hunter of Channel 4's Hunted. Danni has had a previous career as a commended police officer and an undercover operative at New Scotland Yard. Danni is an expert in surveillance and covert operations.

Aaron Roach Bridgeman can be called an media entrepreneur, having started out on SB.TV, the UK's biggest online youth platform with 300 million views, he has since presented hard-hitting documentaries such as When Kids Kill, and 8 Years Old and Smuggling Drugs.

So join us as we talk about the streets, crime, gangs, drugs, violence, and also the media & television. Part 1!

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Jim Connolly made a film for BBC Newsbeat where he investigated the dark web and the rather new trend of mail order drugs. How easy is it? What goes on? And what can we learn?

We're talking about drugs in the post. As a journalist, Jim was eager to look the headlines and see for himself what's going on with regards to mail order drugs. Is it something that anyone can do, or do you need some degree of specialist knowledge? Let's find

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