The Family Tree

Dave talks to his mum, June Hoy, about her experiences running an adventure playground in the seventies and about how she remembers Mark Sullivan. He also asks both his parents The Big Questions.

The Family Tree's Cuttings discuss the real issues raised in the show with special guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts. They are also a space to platform listener information. If you know anything about what happened to Mark, you can call 0203 290 0592. Please be aware that your message may be played on the show.

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June Hoy: Quiet Canvas

Peter Pickering

If you've been listening to the first half of Season 1 of The Family Tree, you'll have heard podcast producer Dave Pickering investigating Mark Sullivan's mysterious disappearance by having conversations with his family. In Episode 6 everything changed. If you haven't heard the story so far, you might want to listen to the past episodes of the show before clicking play on this teaser, as it contains spoilers and suggests where this revelation might take Dave and what kind of answers he has uncovered so far.

Mark Sullivan, who went missing 15 years ago, has been found dead. His body still has the arm he should have lost in a car accident and seems to have died eight years before he disappeared. Dave has found out that Mark isn't who everyone thought he was. Well, almost everyone. It seems that Reverend Beech knew more about this than he let on in the beginning...

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

This week, we take a breath to process last week's revelations and try to get to know Mark. This conversation continues on from the one in Episode 1, in which Dave talks to his dad and Tony, and they read through Mark's letters and talk about his relationship with Peter.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.*

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*Last week, Dave finally got some answers, and this episode contains spoilers. We recommend starting at the beginning of the series to enjoy the full experience of the show.

Since Beech's revelation, questions about humanity have been playing heavily on Dave's mind. In this week's Cutting, he asks his guests the big questions: 'What does it mean to be human?' and 'What is Consciousness?' In this episode, you'll hear voices from both past and future Cuttings.

The Family Tree's Cuttings discuss the real issues raised in the show with special guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts. They are also a space to platform listener information. If you know anything about what happened to Mark, you can call 0203 290 0592. Please be aware that your message may be played on the show.

Find our Guests!

Helen Zaltzman: The Allusionist, Answer Me This!

Martin Zaltz Austwick: The Sound of the Ladies, Song by Song, Global Lab, Brain Train

Andre Radmall and Azariah France-Williams: The ShapeShifters

Sonja Todd: Erwin (a comic about Erwin Blumenfeld)

Charlie Phillips: The Guardian, Article about PopCo

Jackie Hagan: Some People Have Too Many Legs

Samantha Asamadu: Media Diversified, The Feminist Filmmaker, twitter

Musa Okwonga: twitter

Alix Fox: Close Encounters podcast, The Modern Mann podcast

Girl on the Net: Twitter, books

Zoe Prosser & Gary Blake: Zoe & Gary on Getting Better Acquainted

Rusty Quill: The Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast, Rusty Quill Twitter

Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness: The Truth is out There, Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Dave on Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Chillpak Hollywood Hour Twitter, The Lady Killers

Joanna Yates: Spark London

Kevin Allison: RISK!

Sez Thomasin: Twitter

CN Lester: Twitter, Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us, music

Before their scheduled meeting, Reverend Beech leaves a message for Dave asking him to meet him at St James' Park. There are "one or two things it might be useful for you to see," he says. In this episode, Dave finally gets some answers.*

*If you're new to The Family Tree, we suggest going back to Episode 1 before you listen to this. From here on, there'll be spoilers you can't unknow!

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

Today's Cutting comes in two parts. After hearing Nathan's concerns about the conflict between live action role play and table top gaming, Dave investigates this issue with the table top role-playing gamers from The Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast and LARPers, Zoe Prosser and Gary Blake. In the second half of the show, Dave focuses on some of Nathan's other interests and speaks to the makers of the documentary, The Truth Is Out There, Dean Haglund (from The X-Files) and Phil Leirness, about conspiracy theories and other-worldly views.

The Family Tree's Cuttings discuss the real issues raised in the show with special guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts. They are also a space to showcase listener theories about the mystery. If you have a theory about what happened to Mark, you can call 0203 290 0592. Please be aware that your message may be played on the show.

Find our Guests!

Zoe Prosser & Gary Blake: Zoe & Gary on Getting Better Acquainted

Rusty Quill: The Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast, Rusty Quill Twitter

Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness: The Truth is out There, Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Dave on Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Chillpak Hollywood Hour Twitter, The Lady Killers

After his previous two conversations, Dave's pleased to find that Mark's second son, Nathan, is much more willing to talk about his father's disappearance than his other children. Back in the Sullivan family home, Dave discovers that Nathan has some interesting theories about what might have happened to Mark.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

Having personal conversations in public is always a risky business, but Dave is particularly aware that his guests this week were under sixteen. With Melissa and Melanie's well-being at the front of his mind, he reaches out for guidance and advice. In this week's Cutting, Dave explores issues of privacy, sharing your private life publically, navigating the internet as a young person, and sex and education. He talks to journalist, broadcaster and sex educator, Alix Fox; writer and sex blogger, Girl on the Net, and podcasters Biz Ellis and Theresa Thorn from One Bad Mother.

The Family Tree's Cuttings discuss the real issues raised in the show with special guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts. They are also a space to showcase listener theories about the mystery. If you have a theory about what happened to Mark, you can call 0203 290 0592. Please be aware that your message may be played on the show.

Find our Guests!

Alix Fox: Close Encounters podcast, The Modern Mann podcast

Girl on the Net: Twitter, books

Biz Ellis & Theresa Thorn: One Bad Mother podcast, One Bad Mother Twitter

Also mentioned: Brook, BISH

Dave thought it was awkward speaking to Ben, but it turns out that was nothing compared with speaking to Mark's teenage daughters, Melissa and Melanie. Nervously sitting down with the twins in the family home, Dave didn't expect it to be easy, but he was surprised to find they were less happy about giving an interview than he'd been led to believe.

The Family Tree is a magical realist drama about family, belonging, change and identity.

Picking up on some of the themes of this week's episode of The Family Tree, Dave speaks to founder of Media Diversified, Samantha Asamadu; Nikesh Shukla, editor of the brilliant state-of-the-nation essay collection, The Good Immigrant and poet and journalist, Musa Okwonga about issues around representation and lived experience in fiction, drama and the media.

The Family Tree's Cuttings discuss the real issues raised in the show with special guests from podcasting, journalism and the arts. They are also a space to showcase listener theories about the mystery. If you have a theory about what happened to Mark, you can call 0203 290 0592. Please be aware that your message may be played on the show.

Find our Guests!

Samantha Asamadu: Media Diversified, The Feminist Filmmaker, twitter

Nikesh Shukla: The Good Immigrant , twitter

Musa Okwonga: twitter