The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

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Delighted to welcome prolific Children's Author & Editor Steve Cole to The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing' for his story of Distinction & Genius.

With over 150 titles and book series to his name including the hugely successful UK Children's Books Top 10 list  "Astrosaurs" and also "Young Bond", as the natural successor to Charlie Higson as invited by the Ian Fleming Foundation to continue the series: "The name's Cole - Steve Cole" (see what I'm doing there?!) 

With lovely Oliver Postgate (Narrator of "Bagpuss" & "The Clangers") vocal tones to match.  Despite having 150 titles to his name, hear how "prevarication is still his super power!" in hitting the housework hard as deadline's approach "like Doodlebugs humming overhead!" 

A very enjoyable conversation indeed!

More about Steve Cole:

Steve Cole is a fascinating, multifaceted, deadline-driven character: a slow worker but a fast talker! The author of literally dozens of different books, who claims that “procrastination is part of the process.”

He is someone who turns to Salsa to unlock his Writer’s Block and plays in a 30 years’ old band called ‘Faces Fall’ to express another aspect of his bubbling creativity.  A self-confessed pedant who has been ‘riddled with hernias’ most of his life and the occasional attack of repetitive strain injury. (Is there any psychosomatic connection there one has to wonder?)

Steve Cole is someone with a lively mind and a truly encyclopaedic knowledge of Dr Who, who attributes his story-telling success to his English teacher, Mr Hall and a lot of his professional success to the Dr Who legend, Terence Dicks - who honoured him with a dedication!

Also in Steve’s inspirational trio is Charles M. Schultz, creator of one of the world’s most popular and longest running cartoon strips - Peanuts. (Good grief, what a talent!) 
Marvel comics and the Incredible Hulk also come in for honourable mentions.

“We are all stories in the end. Make it a good one” - these are Steve’s choice of words to live by. 

Now he tells good stories for the Ian Fleming Foundation and entertains children in schools in interactive communication sessions. The Young Bond is now created by an old pro - if that doesn’t sound too Ageist?

One, two, three, one, two - over to you, maestro!

Reg Starkey Editor, UK Health Triangle Magazine

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Delighted to be welcoming the very talented Ghost writer & Biographer James Hogg to The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius 

I first came across James via his wonderful Twitter feed @JamesAHogg2 

James Hogg is a biographer, ghostwriter and collaborator who specialises in sport and entertainment.

Born in the Yorkshire Dales, he began his writing career whilst working for the Yorkshire County Cricket Club where he spent several years masquerading as the club’s Commercial Manager. In between failed attempts at securing sponsors and smoking with Brian Close, James wrote two acclaimed biographies whilst at Headingley. The first, ‘What’s the Bleeding Time?’ discloses the life and times of the actor and naturalist James Robertson Justice and features a foreword by H.R.H The Duke of Edinburgh. The second, ‘Little Ern: The Authorised Biography of Ernie Wise’, was a collaboration with the writer of Hellraisers, Robert Sellers, as was James’s next book, ‘Hello Darlings! The Authorised Biography of Kenny Everett’. James left Headingley in 2012, after which the club began to flourish both on and off the pitch.

James lives in Yorkshire with his wife and two children. 

More about James Hogg: 

James Hogg is an extraordinary man. He does not attract conventional labels. He says he is someone who writes. But he does not see himself as a Writer! And he is not a Reader, either. He does not have a Social Media Presence, apart from a tiny corner on Twitter.

He does not have a slick website selling his significant skills as a wordsmith and original ideas man. He has absolutely no ambition to write a single word of fiction. Instead he applies his considerable imagination to facts and helps others to tell their stories in a voice that sounds like theirs, not his. 

He is a contrary but not confrontational North Yorkshireman, who is good at making enough money to sustain his unconventional lifestyle. This includes regular trips to Brazil and Gran Canaria to get his words down against the deadline.

James Hogg was born in Coverdale. His parents were involved in horses and horse racing. It did not appeal to him. He left school at 15, with no academic qualifications. He left home at 17, borrowing £30 to cover the coach to London and still have a few quid spare for emergencies. 

He immediately got a job as a Bell Boy at the Cumberland Hotel, doubling his basic wages with freelance services in support of visitors from the Middle East. When a career in the hotel business held no more appeal to him, he moved to the Theatre under the guidance of the legendary William Ingrey. Then he tried Sales. Then Cricket.

Sooner or later, his indiscreet sense of humour tended to get him fired. Now, at last, he feels at home, working entirely for himself, on behalf of his wife and two teenage sons. James Hogg still fears going skint and so he is reluctant to replace his 10 year old Ford Focus with something perhaps with more appropriate optics for someone who in his own modest way has helped immortalise everyone from Kenny Everett to Torvill and Dean, from Brian Blessed to Bernard Cribbins. From Ernie Wise to Richard Briers to Gunther Steiner, as well as Timothy West and Prunella Scales - to name the most famous. 

He is not a Ghost for Hire. He is a charming wheeler dealer, a grafter, a collaborative co-writer who is inspired by good drummers and particular cartoonists. He is a plain speaker and a fast talker. And if he occasionally calls a spade a ‘bloody shovel’, who cares? James Hogg doesn’t.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

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Thanks for listening! 

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Please welcome to 'The Clearing' Performance Poet Toby Thompson. Toby was passed the 'Golden Baton' to be my Guest by Egg Theatre Director Kate Cross MBE, who I interviewed recently for "The Good Listening To Show" LIVE at the Theatre Royal Bath.

Toby is a thoughtful, thought-provoking & enigmatic 'observer' of life, with a unique cadence and a silky tone.  His poetry displays his delight in life's uncertainties & ambiguities.  His uniquely rhythmic and musical style is lyrical, beguiling, playful & poignant. Toby also performs 2 of his wonderful poems as part of this interview: "Spinning Plates" & "Tears".

You can find out more about Toby at https://tobythompson.net/
And you Watch/Listen to Toby's interview here: https://vimeo.com/806790863


BEAUTIFUL INSPIRING WORDSMITHERY
Toby Thompson is a writer and performer of thoughts and feelings.  Not just his own, but somehow yours too.  His poetry displays his delight in life’s uncertainties and absurdities and his uniquely rhythmic and musical style is lyrical, beguiling, playful and poignant.

"...a wonderful gift for language, a deep sensibility and a penetrating sense of perspective."

Sir Ken Robinson.  Renowned Educationalist and Creativity Expert

More about Toby Thompson: Toby Thompson is the indirect descendant of the 19th Century Liberal Prime Minister, Wiliam Ewart Gladstone.

Today Toby himself is a truly extraordinary contemporary creative talent. A distinguished performance poet by profession, with a love of music on the side - an articulate and passionately vocal wordsmith whose distinctive voice expresses the brilliant words that his complicated brain has put together in unique new sequences and surprising new rhymes and rhythms.

Even traditionally written poetry benefits from being lifted from the black type on the white page and read aloud by someone, who understands what the poet originally had in mind. That’s true whether you’re talking about the plays of William Shakespeare or the popular poetry of Roger McGough.

With Toby Thompson, he rehearses his own original poems repeatedly in his head, until he’s happy with them, then remembers them and only when satisfied, will he express them directly and distinctively to a live audience in a theatre - or alternatively record them on a video for posterity.

In his primary school, the teachers called young Toby ‘the observer’. To this day he finds inspiration in strange places, everywhere, in conversations, in audio recordings, in football commentaries, as well as in contemplating impermanence and vastness. He acknowledges the wisdom of Jung: “That which you most need will be found where you least want to look.”

Now the mature Toby escapes the solitary challenge of slow creative ‘writing’ by substituting the solitary challenge of creative cooking.

The mature nomadic Toby Thompson is into Breathing, Qi Gong, Meditation, Music, Silence and Yoga.

He was recommended and passed the 'Golden Baton' by Kate Cross MBE, Director & Curator of the Egg Theatre in Bath. This turned out to be a totally brilliant recommendation.  Hear for yourself, here...

"The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius" Facebook Group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

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Thanks for listening! 

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Layer upon layer, story upon story. Seldom has so much been packed into a conversation as is packed into this one here with Robin Ince. 

Occasionally it unravels briefly but mostly it is an exhilarating roller coaster ride of ideas and opinions and tributes to people, who may be famous or otherwise. What they have in common is the individual impression they have made on the impressionable mind of Robin Ince. 

He is an ‘open book’, who confesses to having had a ‘noisy head’ all his life. Only in the last three years, since he accepted a diagnosis of ADHD, has the anxiety become more understandable and therefore more acceptable. 

Robin’s public persona, as a comedian and as a writer, provides him with permission to express his frequently weird thoughts whenever he wants. He feels under less pressure nowadays to normalise his behaviour than say if he were a civil servant. 

He can accept his ‘haywire mind’. He accepts his lack of physical dexterity. He knows he is not ‘socially adept’. He suggests that ‘unbearable social values’ may be the root cause of many people’s feelings of nervousness, insecurity and anxiety. 

In days gone by, Robin could be stopped in his tracks by the critical voices in his head and the melancholy they brought with them. Now he recognises them for what they are, he feels safer. He has more energy to appreciate each passing moment. 

Robin is shaped and inspired by famous names like Alexei Sayle, Kurt Vonnegut, Barry Crimmins and Paula Rego. But also by people totally unknown to the general public, like Jamie ‘the autistic stranger’ or the 24 year old, who cried at a book-signing but found comfort in what he had to say…

Robin is characterised by curiosity and compassion. His odd-couple relationship with Professor Brian Cox in ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage’, is grounded in mutual respect for their differences in expertise and style, while being held together by their sense of wonder at everything which surrounds them. 

Robin admits to being silent when seeing a therapist whose training discouraged her from prompting him. Naturally, he feels he probably talks too fast and too much. He knows he goes off on too many tangents. Robin is hypersensitive as well as hyperactive! He means you no harm. 

He just wants you to share his enthusiasm and be glad you crossed each other’s path.
Love and kindness, courtesy and compassion. Joie de vivre! 

As Kurt Vonnegut himself once put it, in one of his novels: “Godammit, you’ve got to be kind!”

Then the road to personal peace really can be paved with good intentions.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Proud and delighted to welcome BACK for a second row past - with the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean for his 'Clearing', Scottish Actor Cal MacAninch, here to describe his Epic Quest and the profound lessons-learned from having just rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in a Crew of 5, as part of "Atlantic Body & Soul" for the Talisker Whisker Atlantic Challenge.

A story of Distinction & Genius indeed: Massive waves, sleep deprivation, pain, flying fish and hallucinations akimbo to name but some of what was experienced during an epic quest of 39 days and gargantuan proportions.

Cal MacaAninch is a wonderful & versatile Scottish Actor and now an Atlantic Rowing Superhero & Legend to boot (or to boat - see what I'm doing there?!)

More about Cal: 

Whatever Cal MacAninch has achieved as an actor - and the body of his work is impressive - he now has a rare achievement indeed to add, as a rower. Cal has just rowed the Atlantic! And this is no mean achievement - for almost 40 days, Cal and the other 4 crew members set about this extraordinary journey in consecutive 2 hour shifts, 24/7. The effects of daily sleep deprivation and almost endless, constantly painful physical exercise are virtually unimaginable.
 
Fortunately for us, Cal MacAninch has an actor’s memory and a wonderful way with with words. This podcast focuses relentlessly on his one truly epic and almost certainly life-changing experience. 

Cal tells us about the constant need for calories and hydration, up to 6000 every day and endless refreshment. Yet the impact still left everyone in a state that Cal describes as ‘breakdown’ and in his case, the witness of numerous totally lifelike hallucinations. 

The whole journey was undertaken to raise money for two chosen charities whose primary purpose is to improve mental health care for young people - but the crew’s own mental health was severely tested in the process! Cal is now debriefing his personal experience to a leading neurological scientist in Scotland. 

He acknowledges that it was was an ordeal but one that changed him - for the better! It left him he believes, with a better perspective: a more tolerant attitude, a kinder man, a better listener. 

Hear it all here for yourself. It is a truly extraordinary story - and it’s all true! Harrowing though it is at times, Cal MacAninch tells it calmly and quietly but with a refreshing brand of candour and his own uniquely authentic Scottish sincerity.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Ladies n' Genminminmin (er, min...) please welcome Kate Cross (MBE) Director of The Egg Theatre at Bath Theatre Royal in the inaugural 'History in the Making' 1st ever LIVE Theatre Show recording of "The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius" with simultaneous streaming to Facebook & YouTube.

Behind every smile, there’s a story! Kate Cross was awarded her MBE for services to Children’s Theatre at the Egg in Bath. The same stage that presented an award-winning production of "The Little Mermaid",  today hosted the first ever theatrical version of the ‘Good Listening to Show’ and podcast, recorded here live for a UK Health Radio audience of 1.3 million regular listeners + the possibility of reaching some of the 700 million podcast listeners now linked to UKHR by leading platforms around the world!

Slightly worrying then that Kate Cross claims not to enjoy either formal interviews, nor even to answering questions?! On the basis of her articulate performance today, that feeling must be nothing more than a self-limiting belief, unsubstantiated by any obvious facts!

Perhaps it goes back to her private school days, in the Shires, which were certainly not the happiest days of Kate’s young life? In her words: ‘It was not an Enid Blyton experience!’ Perhaps it is part of her perceived - or real! - need to prove herself, as a civilised feminist, worthy of her own good fortune, on a daily basis? Certainly, when Kate was summoned to see the Director of the Bath Theatre Royal, Danny Moor, in her early days in her new role, her first thought was that she must have done something wrong!

It was a wonderful surprise instead when she was told that the Board was considering the possibility of tripling her budget - but first they needed to be advised what she would do with the funds, if and when they became available? In answer to this very challenging question, Kate immediately said: ‘Buy the cinema about to become available  and convert it into a theatre, committing the space entirely to offering children excellent quality theatrical entertainment.’ The Board endorsed the idea almost instantaneously and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Kate claims that many of her best ideas come to her when she is travelling by train. As the scenery glides by, the ideas just keep popping up, apparently! Kate’s mother married when she was 21 and cultivated Kate’s core hard-work ethic. (Her own daughter is now 21 and takes an entirely opposite view! But that’s ok with Kate.)

If Kate’s integrity is inspired by her mother, her entrepreneurial approach to risk-taking most probably comes directly from her father. For Kate, how you deal with failures shapes you as much as how you choose to diet! Cooking is perhaps a surprisingly good form of relaxation for Kate, a ‘defragging’ experience, as she describes it. 

She offers three of the mantras that help through her day:
“Fine isn’t good enough.”
“Well, whatever, it’s only a play.”
“It’s ok because no one’s marking our homework.”

Kate acknowledges the paradoxical contradictions contained within these three statements. She is happy down the pub, having a laugh with her colleagues. Happier still sharing lots of good ideas with a few nice, bright people. Kate Cross deserves her MBE every bit as much as the Beatles!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

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In the second experiment of "The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius" going LIVE as a Theatre Show, please welcome Theatre Royal Bath Pantomime legend Jon Monie, who joined me in front of a live audience, complete with Q&A and simultaneous streaming as we recorded to Facebook & YouTube.

Jon is an award-winning actor and writer. He is also a regular improviser in INSTANT WIT and an occasional table!

Monie by name but certainly not moany by nature. Jon  claims to have inherited wit from his father and anxiety from his mother. That analysis by itself reveals his quirky sense of humour. He was educated at King Edward’s school in Bath, which in those days specialised in producing excellent middle class professional material - doctors, lawyers, accountants - rather than architects, actors or writers. The school’s attitude and facilities have changed a lot since then. Jon studied drama and found a second family in amateur dramatics. 

Unhappy as a teenager, he sought solace and creative satisfaction in a company called ‘Musical Youth’. He then started a promising career in regional television, not as an actor but as a popular presenter. 

His popularity earned Jon an invitation to Pantomime, so when the tide turned against regional TV, Jon had cultivated a new career on stage - acting and writing, inspired and guided by the legendary Chris Harris. You could say that from that point onwards, Jon never looked back. But there is a reflective side to Jon Monie, too. He recalls his own mental health issues and the help he received from an anonymous female therapist - who, ironically, he was originally highly unwilling to see. At the lighter end of the spectrum, Jon joyfully recalls collecting pictures of himself with a range of animal lilos while on holiday with his husband, Dean. 

To this day, Jon’s idea of heaven is lying peacefully on a plain blue lilo, in a private pool, with headphones on, listening to 12 minute tracks from Genesis in their hey days - the 1970s. Music soothes his savage breast! Jon has also been a backing singer, more than once, for that popular West Country group, the Worsels! 

In the real world, Jon is fascinated by the buttons that would confront him in, say, a recording studio or in an aircraft cockpit. And on the subject of buttons, he also acknowledges that in Panto, the character Buttons suffers resignedly with unrequited love for Cinderella. Jon Monie has a romantic side too, it seems!

At its best, Panto is tri-generational - in other words, it appeals to children, their parents and their grandparents. Popular TV likewise. Jon’s rubbery face and jiggly eyes mean that while he may not be a contender for the next James Bond, he has massive tri-generational potential.

Paul Eddington, who was  so brilliant in ‘Yes, Minister,’ shares Jon’s Hippocratic lifetime ambition: “Do no harm.”

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Full steam ahead! Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) please welcome the delightful Montana Hoeren, Head of Brand at Hornby Hobbies, to tell us all about exciting new TV Times coming down the track, with the launch of Series 2 of the ever popular TV Series "Hornby: A Model World"

Hornby's story of "Distinction & Genius" has been bringing pleasure and delight to families everywhere for generations, spanning an extraordinary 120 year history which all began in Liverpool with Hornby's  great grandfather Frank Hornby in 1901. 

The 2nd series of the "Hornby: A Model World" comprises of 11 new 1 hour episodes going behind the scenes at Hornby, Britain's best loved model making company, to reveal 'how they do it': How they go about shrinking mighty trains, planes & automobiles to create a new generation of miniature masterpieces in the worlds of Airfix, Corgi , Scalextric & Hornby. 

With Hornby train set superfans including Pete Waterman & Jules Holland.

Montana is here to tell us all about it...

More about Montana:

This is a fascinating mix of young Montana Hoerem and iconic English Hornby evolution. Montana Hoerem is a working writer, who has now enjoyed a good 8 years with the 100 year old Hornby group, rising to a leadership role as Head of Brand. 

Her enthusiasm is infectious. Her knowledge is impressive. Her optimism is persuasive. Her smiling voice is a constant tonic! And she has her own family back story, too. Her mother was born in Montana, hence her name. Her father returned to Australia before Montana was born. Don’t worry - Montana has not just survived, she has thrived. 

She has an MA in Creative Writing and she is totally committed to the opportunity of lifelong learning. Was it not Albert Einstein who suggested that the two essential elements for a great life are love and work? Montana loves her work, loves her family and her colleagues. She loves words. She loves running. She loves ideas. She also loves cake! All kinds of cake! 

Montana is heard here promoting a new 11 episode series on TV that takes the viewer behind the scenes at the Hornby headquarters in Margate and introduces some of the company’s most celebrated customers. including Pete Waterman and Jules Holland. 

At Hornby, there is now an excellent portfolio of other heritage brands, including Airfix, Humbril and Scalextric. How delighted the original founder, Frank Hornby, would be to see how his original high quality model railway idea has grown broader and better than he could have possibly imagined. Now it is even trending on TikTok! It is becoming much more of a family hobby, involving imaginative layout, scenery and realism, rather than a predominantly solitary activity. 

100 years young, Hornby Is offering 21st century miniature enthusiasts a brilliant opportunity to relax with a rewarding nostalgic escape into a private world, accompanied by other family members or friends. Montana makes the case simply and eloquently in her own youthful yet distinctive style. 

Time to climb aboard? Certainly!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Delighted to welcome the playful, warm & wonderful natural Storyteller Saikat Ahamed to The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius, recorded as Facebook LIVE (click on the Group link above to watch)
The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius The adventure continues!

Saikat Ahamed is a UK based Actor, writer & poet of Bangladeshi descent based in Bristol. He has just finished a 6 month stint in the London West End Production of "Life of Pi" and locally, here in Bristol, he is most famous for having played Tinkerbell (in  a pink Tu-Tu!) in the Bristol Old Vic Production of "Peter Pan", directed by renowned theatre director Sally Cookson.

He was born in Surrey to Bangladeshi parents Hashi and Masud, and grew up in Birmingham, where he attended King Edwards School.

After studying a degree in Journalism at Cardiff University, he went on to train at The Actors Company under David Harris and John Jones.​ In 2006, having won the BBC Norman Beaton Fellowship, Saikat moved to Bristol with his family. ​Since then, Saikat has starred in theatre, film, TV and radio as well as working as a writer for stage and radio too.

Saikat developed his first play, Corala, with Birmingham Rep and his first radio drama, Telling Tales, was commissioned by the BBC in 2011 and aired on the BBC Asian Network. Initially conceived as a piece of ‘Asian storytelling’, Saikat subsequently wrote a play concerned with young people in a pupil referral unit and a teacher who uses the power of stories he grew up with to connect with them.

His first theatre pieces were solo shows; The Tiger and The Moustache completed a successful national tour in 2014 and Strictly Balti, commissioned by Travelling Light Theatre Company, played the Edinburgh Festival Fringe followed by a national tour in 2015 and Alchemy Festival at The Southbank Centre in 2016 and Tara Theatre and The Oxford Festival of the Arts in 2017.

He recently completed writing a new show concerned with difficult conversations about race. Book Club had a Research and Development week (January 2020) with a group of actors and creatives at Bristol Old Vic and was supported by Arts Council England.
He also worked as writer in the room on a new Christmas show, Three Kings for Travelling Light Theatre Company.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) absolutely thrilled & delighted to welcome UK Athletics Legend & Champion Roger Black MBE to the Good Listening To Show, for a classic bit of comedy & synergy! Allow me to explain! 

Literally 2 days after I had had the idea of "passing the Golden Baton" within my podcast structure, I had Roger Black in my Clearing, where I could award him AT LAST with Olympic Gold, having only managed to win Silver the 1st time in the 4x100 M Relay race, overtaken as he was, back in the day, by the Usain Bolt of his day, USA Olympic Legend Michael Jordan!

So here to receive his Golden Baton - at last - is Roger Black MBE!

More about Roger Black:

Roger Black’s athletic career almost never got started - twice! The first occasion was a medical check aged 11, at school, that revealed a potentially dangerous heart condition - a leaky valve. Even though there were no previous symptoms, the powers that be  took him off all games immediately. 

The next occasion came with his A level results. Roger needed three Bs to secure his place at university. What he got was an A in biology, a B in chemistry and a D in maths. Without ever realising it at the time, that D delayed him ever starting his journey to become a doctor, yet created the opportunity to explore another path completely - as a potentially world-class athlete. The doctors were now happy to let him do this, if that was what he wanted. It was! 

He ran competitively for his county and when he went into serious training, he was competing internationally within two months. Roger started running with Chris Akabusi and he believes his colleague’s speed helped him to run faster. This is a life lesson for Roger: if you want to improve your personal performance, surround yourself with the best possible people in that field so that you have to raise your game in order  to keep up with them. As they say of racehorses, any horse looks fast running past bushes! 

In Roger’s trophy cabinet you will find gold medals for Europe and the World and a Silver medal in the Olympics on the last possible occasion for him for it. No mean achievement for a lad with a leaky heart valve! Other achievements include winning Celebrity Master Mind and acquiring Daley Thompson as a fan of his guitar playing! Music and nature mean a lot to Roger Black as he moves purposefully towards the end of his sixth decade. 

Moving is a key issue as we get older, says Roger. “If you’re in the Olympics, the date of the final is always in sharp focus. But if you’re no longer in a competitive situation, you need to redefine your Why?” You need to focus on what you can control and make the most of every day. Exercise is freely available to everyone. Its benefits are beyond question. “Give it a go!” That is the advice from this exceptional human being, motivator, music lover, speaker, husband and father. Solid gold here. Make sure you take your share!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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