these weird isles

Many in the UK seek comfort in the past, whether the Celtic twilight of Camelot, or pride in the innovations of the Victorian era. But peel away the fantasies and we're left with little - just overcooked roast beef and roundabouts. This is a rant about our obsession with the past - and obsessions in general, whether these are my own, or those of the nostalgic British public.

The East Riding of Yorkshire, where, after leaving the sunny landscapes of California, Bradford born artist David Hockney returned to live and paint. Hockney's art challenges how we perceive the world, some of his photographic collages are almost cubist, as this podcast is, fragmentary, lacking a straight chronology. Your mind does not think in simple, ordered steps. Your eyes and your mind are constantly moving. Hockney wants to reflect that. I can only try and use a similar method to describe him and what he does.

Through an entrance decorated with foliated faces and soot-shrouded beasts into a great room in which there is a five hundred year old whale bone, an orchestra, a composer, a chaos pendulum and several green men.

The cul-de-sac, at least in the UK, is very different from the dead end street. It is a haven and closer to paradise than you would imagine.

Cathedrals dominate the skylines of many British cities. Their development took place over a period of over 1000 years and represent one of the most astonishing artistic and technical achievements of western Europe.

Kinder Scout, a mountain plateau in Derbyshire, UK, where, in 1932 a mass trespass drew attention to the cause of the right to roam.

Is there a link between anti-depressant use and deprivation? Why does Blackpool have the most anti-depressant use in the UK? What is the matter with us? Is it Big Pharma or something else?

The first in a series of occasional episodes in which I attempt to find some of this weird isles' hidden green men.

Remembering an afternoon in Camberwell spent with artist Tom Phillips, admiring his Humament, his Cloopseend, not to mention his Hairy Balls.

The Isle of Skye, home of the Talisker whisky distillery and controversial psychiatrist and writer, Iain McGilchrist. Featuring the pithy analytical mind of my neighbour Lofty Hazelhurst.