Thank God It's Toby Highlights

Everybody proclaims disgust with the political system, yet the system continues to get more disgusting. Is the hard-nosed partisanship in politics today the result of a fl aw in the design of our system of government? Did our forefathers overlook something important when they were writing the Constitution?

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable is a British politician who was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2010 to 2015.

Cable studied Economics at Cambridge and Glasgow, before working as an economic adviser to the Government of Kenya in the 1960s, and for the Commonwealth Secretariat in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also lectured in economics at Glasgow. He later served as Chief Economist for Shell in the 1990s. Initially active in the Labour Party, Cable became a Labour councillor in Glasgow in the 1970s, during which time he also served as a special adviser to then-Trade Secretary John Smith. In 1982, however, he defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party, which later amalgamated with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats.

After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament four times, Cable was elected for Twickenham in 1997. He was quickly appointed the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman and was later elected as Deputy Leader in 2006. Cable resigned from both of these positions in May 2010 after being appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the coalition government. He lost his seat in 2015, although later regained it in 2017. Cable subsequently stood in the leadership election to replace Tim Farron and was elected unopposed.

In May 2019, Cable led the Liberal Democrats to their best national electoral performance since the 2010 election, gaining fifteen seats in the European Parliament election. This followed a campaign in which the party ran on an anti-Brexit platform. He subsequently announced his intention to retire from politics, and stood down as leader on 22 July 2019, upon the election of Jo Swinson; he stood down from Parliament at the 2019 general election.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This book is all about Fera and her wonderful Mama. She passionately tells her story by sharing most of her precious moments with her mama, in playing, sharing, reading, cooking, eating, and learning.

“Mama says we are all special!

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Lopez is an author, educator, and a U.S. Army veteran whose personal experiences during the war in Iraq combined with his love of history and adventure were the inspiration for writing his first novel, Deus Vult, A Tale of the First Crusade. The tale is about one man’s search for truth and the struggles he faces which ultimately test his faith in God.

Trust and faith in God are two values that James believes have gotten him through some of the most difficult times in his life. When he’s not working or writing, James loves to scuba dive and travel to foreign countries to experience new cultures and learn about their history. One of his goals is to someday visit Jerusalem and the Holy Land and walk in those places that for now, exist only in his vivid imagination.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coinciding with the Brit Awards 2022 Musicologist Dr Joe Bennett is celebrating over 40 years of awards 'Song of the Year' category (SOTY) and has looked into how to create a hit song.

As a Professor of Modern Music, Dr Bennett is looking back and analysing songs from past winners and nominees as well as diving into the impact technology has had.

Since the first winner of SOTY in 1982, the structure of songs has gradually progressed. Interestingly by 2021, 50% of the SOTY nominees began with the chorus, which is a vast contrast to their predecessors throughout the 1980s.

As well as the structure the length of tracks has changed too.

By the mid-80s, SOTY nominees' songs were an average length of more than 4m 30s. More recently the average song duration was dramatically reduced in duration to an average of 3m 7s, between 2017-2021.

This is attributed to several factors, including listener preferences, Spotify algorithms and the rise of social media such as TikTok.

However, it's not only the tech that fans listen to music on that has evolved but also the tech behind the track. Findings show that songs that include the latest tech at the time were the most successful.

For artists struggling to land on a song title, one word should do the trick. Short titles have become much more common in recent years, with half of the 2021 nominees having one-word titles - e.g., Lighter, Physical, Rain, Rover, Secrets. Of the 329 nominees, 75 have one-word titles.

So, is it possible to create the 'ultimate song'?

Dr Bennett has teamed up with Mastercard to explore the category across a 40-year period and identify a checklist to follow when creating a hit song.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Search has been obsessed with a question for over 20+ years. The question ‘Why Do We Exist?’ He received an answer to his prayer in one of his most atypical states. This book documents how one man resolved his existential crisis and answered most of his existential questions.

Why faith in God and faith in science are not mutually exclusive?

Why are there so many different religions in different cultures?

If God exists, why does she/he not come down and show himself/herself?

Why are there so many inconsistencies between the bible, other religious texts, and scientific theories like the big bang theory and evolution?

If God is all-powerful, why did he/she bother with evolution?

The author answers all these questions with a simple, elegant theory. He supports his theory through religious, scientific, analytical, and philosophical reviews.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ArcDreamer has been writing stories singe age 10 and has been nagged by relatives that it's not a good thing to do but is nonetheless pursuing the writing career.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margaret Kerry is an American actress, author, motivational speaker, radio host, and performance model, best known for her 1953 work as the model for Tinker Bell in the Disney animated feature film, Peter Pan.

Kerry answered an audition call during the planning stages of the film. The audition, supervised by Disney animator Marc Davis, required her to pantomime the motions that would eventually be animated as Tinker Bell, such as preening in a mirror at her feet. She won the audition and spent the next six months at the Disney Studios on a mostly empty soundstage pantomiming the role on film. The studios provided props as well, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as well as a pair of giant scissors, later used in the scene in which Tinker Bell became trapped in a jewellery box.

Kerry also provided the basis (movements and voice) of the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon scenes.

Since Disney released the film at about the time Marilyn Monroe had begun to make an impact, an urban legend immediately sprung up attributing the role to her.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mad Hen House offer a variety of content ranging from, bi-weekly podcasts, game design tutorials in the "Doug teaches" series, game development, comedic parodies. They have just finished "Attack on Gossip" and are now working on "The Walking Barbeque", as well as let's plays.

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The battle for family time away from the glare of smartphones and gadgets is not getting any easier. 

New research released today shows that just 1 in 5 families (22%) have taken steps to banish digital devices from the dinner table. 

The study by Vodafone found that trying to negotiate screen-free time is a significant source of tension in the home with  61% of parents saying that getting children to switch off their devices is the biggest cause of disagreement in their household.  

Surprisingly, more than half (53%) of the parents polled admitted they had bribed their child to put their device away. The most common inducements included offering snacks or promises of a later bedtime.  Some had even resorted to offering cash incentives.  

With families collectively spending 31 hours a day looking at TVs, laptops, tablets, online games and phones, parents say that on average they have two disagreements every day about getting their kids to disconnect. 

While the majority of parents (93%) agree that technology is important for a child's development, they also believe that digital downtime is important for family relationships with 83% saying would like to have more time away from screens as a family. 

Over half (55%) said they had imposed family rules on screen time, including not allowing their child to take a mobile phone to school. However, three-quarters (77%) said their child did not always abide by the rules. What's more, 62% of parents admitted they had been caught out for breaking their own rules. 

The research has been released to mark the launch of Vodafone Pro Broadband with Alexa, featuring the exclusive 'Dinnertime' skill which allows families to activate 30 minutes of Wi-Fi free digital downtime - using just a voice command. 

Highlights from Toby's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.