The Scottish Independence Podcast

For the 128th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast, I went to Wee Ginger Dug Mansions to speak with the writer that also happens to live there, Paul Kavanagh.

Paul has been one of the most insightful, strident and funniest people writing about the Scottish Independence debate for a number of years. He started this at his blog but now writes for The National newspaper and in other places too.

We talked about why Paul thinks that even in this moment of general stramash, the time to start campaigning is now.

Paul lived in Spain for a number of years and has some knowledge of the political situation there and explained why Spain, contrary to the reports we hear, will not stop an Independent Scotland entering the EU, and is in fact making conciliatory noises about it.

We also got onto how and when Indyref 2 is going to arrive.

All that and more, hope you enjoy.

As a final aside, this episode also features a new quiet voice form introduction, given that at the moment of recording it (10 minutes ago), I am/was staying with a friend and I didn't want to wake his kids up.

Just listen.

What do you know about the 45? Not the 45% of people who voted yes, I mean the events of 1745.

We've almost been conditioned to believe that a gang of highlanders/catholics (referred to as Bare-arsed Banditti) were led on a fools' errand by an effete Italian buffoon and that the whole thing ended in a sort of Scottish civil war at Culloden.

As happens so often in history, the well-worn narrative that we all know doesn't really get to the heart of the matter.

To get a better picture of the events of 1745 I spoke with Maggie Craig, who is the author of two books on the subject. Firstly she wrote Damn Rebel Bitches, about the women of the 45, and then she followed that up with Bare-arsed Banditti, about the men of the 45.

I think after this half hour you'll have changed your views on those events.

Hope you enjoy…

LINKS
http://www.maggiecraig.co.uk/index.html
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/CraigMaggie
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell

We all remember the people we met, campaigned, and often made friends with during the referendum campaign. However, were the people we met representative of the campaigners as a whole? Who were they all? If the Telegraph were to be believed then the whole campaign was just that one muscular guy in a kilt with his top off, as that seemed to be the only photo they used for the entire process.Was that really the case?

Dr Iain Black of Heriot-Watt University, and also of Yes Edinburgh North & Leith, has conducted research with almost 1000 people who campaigned in the referendum to find out not just who the people were (age, gender, class, ethnicity), but also what people did and why they did it.

Furthermore, which groups enjoyed it more? Who did people think were more effective - local groups or the official Yes campaign?

The results of the study give some great insights into these questions and more.

Hope you enjoy it...

For the 125th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast on Monday past I spoke with the filmmaker known to us all only as Phantom Power.

His films are definitely some of the best independently produced content out there and include The Bigger The Lie with Prof John Robertson, which documents BBC bias in the run up the referendum, The Gallery of Rogues - The Art of Satire in the Scottish Independence Referendum with Greg Moodie, and there are many more on his channel, including one with a certain podcaster person.

I asked him what inspires him to make his films and more.

Hope you enjoy…

LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGVfektAXlCjoMy70ftQBkA/videos
https://twitter.com/PhantomPower14
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell

For the 124th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast on Monday past I spoke with Simone Charlesworth. Simone blogs at Mewsing Out Loud. https://mewsingoutloud.wordpress.com/posts/

We talked about her experience coming up from England to Scotland and trying to get up to speed with Scottish politics as quickly as possible. After she got up to speed, she got involved in things on the Yes side.

Simone also talked about how working with Labour councils down south may or may not differ greatly from those you find in Scotland.

She has a very enlightening point (actually a few) about why she feels the exact opposite of the cringe.

How would someone who takes an interest in politics describe the differences between the media in England and that in Scotland?

Finally, Simone also had a brilliant line about Jim Murphy, and I managed to sneak in two lines from comedy shows. Bonus points to any listener who catches them..

Hope you enjoy...

LINKS
https://mewsingoutloud.wordpress.com/posts/
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/cee4cat
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell

For the 123rd episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast I spoke with Craig Murray.

Craig is a former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan, a post which he resigned in protest over what he saw as the collusion of the UK government in torture.

In his career he has also held Foreign Office positions in the EU and Africa, and wrote Murder In Samarkand.

He is now a human rights campaigner and also campaigned very vocally for a Yes vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum. Now that the referendum has passed, Craig feels no one is making the case for independence forcefully enough, and that was the main focus of our discussion, but we also took in the wider scene around the world.

Hope you enjoy…

For the 122nd episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast I invited writer, poet, teacher and activist Robert Somynne to come on and talk about his experience of coming up from down south and getting involved in the referendum campaign...on the Yes side.

We also talked about how the Indyref may have shaken things up in a way that the current Holyrood election might not, about the future prospects for Indy, the EU ref, how important cultural confidence is for Scotland, the Trump situation and more.

Hope you enjoy…

LINKS

http://robertsomynne.blogspot.co.uk/
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/RobertJSomynne
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell

For the 121st episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast I invited Shaun Milne to come on and talk about his new site, the North British News, the only news that can save you from the clutches of the vile cybernats.

As well as finding out the inspiration for the new site and what goes into making the animations, we also chatted about some of the people around the Scottish political scene that ensure that a satirist like Shaun never has much trouble finding material.

Hope you enjoy…

For the 120th episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast I invited Jack Foster, one of the filmmakers behind the documentary Scotland Yet, and in more recent times one of the organisers of NewsShaft to come on and talk about the beginning and unfortunate demise of the NewsShaft project.

We also discussed some of the things that go into producing alternative media that sometimes go unseen. Another topic we got into is the current state of both mainstream and alternative media in Scotland.

Should the various alternative media sources in Scotland help each other more, or is it just a nice sounding idea that can't really go anywhere? And what to make of some of the more hysterical stories that are showing up at the moment? There is all that and more...

Hope you enjoy…

LINKS
http://newsshaft.com/
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/jackfostr
https://twitter.com/mgreenwell