The guest for the 30th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast was Stephen Noon.

Stephen works for Yes Scotland and is also doing a PhD in European Law.

Stephen has consistently called for positivity in the campaign, notwithstanding the onslaught that the Yes campaign has faced. I asked him why.

We also talked about why Yes Scotland is winning in two out of three of the main pillars of the discussion.

Can we try to force more fairness into the debate? We had a word about that too.

Finally, we got round to talking about Scotland and the EU. Will we be forced to join the Euro? Will there be problems joining? How does that compare with somewhere like Catalonia?

Hope you enjoy...

LINKS
http://stephennoon.blogspot.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/StephenNoon
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
http://www.scottishconstitutionalfutures.org/OpinionandAnalysis/ViewBlogPost/tabid/1767/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/852/David-Edward-Scotland-and-the-European-Union.aspx

The 4th 60 Seconds For A New Scotland was sent in by Keir Liddle.

https://twitter.com/endless_psych

For the 32nd episode of the For A' That podcast, Andrew and I were joined by Juliet Swann who is a feminist and environmentalist whohappens to work for the Electoral Reform Society.

She also did a turn for the Women For Indy Voices project this week.

We talked about the interesting work that this society has been doing and the Democracy Max initiative. How can we improve our democracy, regardless of a Yes or No vote. We know what the usual commentators think, but what have the public been telling the electoral reform society.

What about the William McIlvanney statement this week? Was it notable in and of itself or was the coverage it received more worthy of analysis?

The wacky world of Willie Rennie's logic gets a quick look in and we also talk about the possibilities provided by beard ownership.

The 3rd 60 Seconds For A New Scotland was sent in by Paula MacNicol.

https://twitter.com/pollymacnicol

For the 31st episode of the For A’ That podcast, Andrew and I were joined by journalist Peter Geoghegan.

On the menu this week was the crowd-funded poll commissioned by Wings Over Scotland and conducted by Panelbase that many in the media seem intent on ignoring.

We chewed over the ramifications of some of the results.

We also thought it worthwhile to discuss Michael Kelly’s article in the Scotsman, in which I felt he was exhibiting first class kamikaze politics – Andrew and Peter weren’t so sure of that, but they were reasonably sure about Kelly.

We discussed how Peter felt about the article in the Huffington Post that caused a little discussion this week. We tried to explain the point to Andrew, who hadn’t read it. This proved problematic as we weren’t actually sure what her point was.

Andrew and I also revealed our history of scandalous confrontations with Children’s TV.

The 2nd 60 Seconds For A New Scotland was sent in by Debra Torrance.
https://twitter.com/FewArePict

Ivan McKee is a businessman and a member of Business For Scotland and he is the guest for the 29th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast.

In our conversation we talked about what advantages there will be for business in an independent Scotland and what the disadvantages of having to go through London are.

We also talked about the origins of the Business for Scotland group itself and how it is quickly growing in strength.

What would be the benefits of setting up an oil fund? How should it be managed?

The Scandinavian model is often cited in the Scottish Independence debate. Would business run away from Scotland if such a model is introduced. Ivan doesn't think so.

Which lobbying group do Business For Scotland support the broad aims of? I bet it isn't one you'd be thinking of.

We even threw in a bit about who stands to lose money if Scotland becomes independent.

If you'd like to donate to help the podcasts along, please look on the right of this page..
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/

LINKS
http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/

Here is the first episode of 60 Seconds For A New Scotland.

This one was sent in by John Cooke https://twitter.com/JohnPMCooke .

Please go to the link below to find out how you can submit yours.

http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/60-seconds-for-a-new-scotland/

For episode 30 of the For A' That podcast I was joined by former Scottish Socialist Party MSP and member of Women For Indy, Carolyn Leckie and New Statesman contributor and co-editor of Bella Caledonia, James Maxwell. Andrew wasn't with us as he had some wetlands to vex.

Our discussion started with the accusations this week that all is not as it seems with Labour For Indy. Is it a front group, is the hand of the SNP behind it? Carolyn and Jamie seemed to feel the whole story says more about our media than it does about the group itself.

We moved on to the Unions and their reticence to get involved officially so far.

Salmond's interview on Russia Today provoked a little discussion, and not just about what he actually said.

We discussed the form of democracy Scotland should take after Indy. For example, should there be further referendums on issues like monarchy and currency? Should the parliament be unicameral or bicameral. If there is a second chamber, how could that be organised?

Finally, we spoke about James' recent article in which he suggested that aside from damaging (or not) the Yes campaign, the campaign of Better Together is just generally damaging.

For the 28th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast I spoke with Paul Larkin.

Paul is a writer who has made the Amazon bestseller list and is very well-known amongst those of us who support Celtic and is one of the mainstays of Hail Hail media, the Celtic fans very own channel.

For many people however, he'll be something new on the menu.

We had a very open conversation indeed. It took in the problems that many of the Celtic support have with the SNP, the kinds of conversation Paul is having with the supporters when he speaks to them, positive/negative campaigning and the detachment between people and politicians up and down the UK.

We also got on to his time in New York and what people think about Scotland there and why there has historically been a negative attitude from some Celtic supporters toward the Scottish national team.

Finally, we had a word about Paul's upcoming book, in which he promises there will be some serious revelations about who pulls what strings in Scotland.

LINKS
http://www.thefrontofthebus.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
https://twitter.com/paullarkin74

http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell