This year Colorado is expected to generate $125 million in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales. In the first full year of legalization Colorado homicide rates have dropped by 24% . Medically, the (preliminary) research is in: while cannabis has been shown to have deleterious effects on developing minds , it has also been proven to treat a whole host of medical conditions . Dr. Adam Winstock Still, many people remain staunchly opposed to legalization. In the United States, where pot is still i...
Dec 24, 2015•1 hr 10 min
Monk on the run in 14th Century England has more to worry about than building himself a time machine to get out of 14th Century England. Obviously kidding about the sci-fi bit because this is Barry Unsworth. The book is the time machine. The moral of the story is less story, more moral. Photo Douglas R Witt Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separates th...
Dec 18, 2015•26 min
Hartmann and Fibitch arrived in England as refugees on the Kindertransport and then they had had wives and children and those children had families and – what was the point of this story again? Served (saved?) with a side of Sebald (how can you not) plus the flavour of Rushforth, which is the name of an author. Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separate...
Dec 01, 2015•26 min
The BBC – the world’s oldest and biggest public service broadcaster – appears to have a serious ethics problem. That’s the devastating conclusion from this edition of The DEBRIEFER. How else could you explain the plight of bestselling author and screenwriter M.R. Hall , whose THE CORONER series of books bears a striking similarity to the BBC’s a new television series entitled – somewhat unimaginatively – THE CORONER . Listeners to THE DEBRIEFER will be familiar with horrific accounts of rapaciou...
Nov 27, 2015•25 min
To mark National Poetry Day, Garry’s guest tonight is one of the brightest and most brilliant of British poets – Salena Godden . Funny, poignant, outrageous and guileless, Salena is every inch a successful 21st century poet. Includes selections from her anthology Fishing In The Aftermath featuring the immortal My Tits Are More Feminist Than Your Tits ( the world premiere exclusive to GBH!), A Letter To An Air Stewardess Found In The Back Of Seat 67 as well as Salena reading from her autobiograph...
Oct 12, 2015
Strong female artists have been a part of pop and rock since the beginning: incredible singers from Etta James and Janice Joplin to Adele and Paramore’s Hayley Williams have wowed the world with their talent. But for many it’s been an uphill battle, fighting exploitation and ingrained attitudes. Joining Garry tonight to discuss this fraught subject are three very different performers – Dominique Olliver , Danie Cox and Kristina Oberzan . Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garr...
Oct 08, 2015
Mancunian Steve Diggle is the guitarist and singer songwriter with the Buzzcocks … the seminal punk band who infiltrated the charts with brilliant, infectious songs such as ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t)’, ‘Promises’ and ‘Harmony In My Head’ – back at a time when punk really did want to subvert mainstream music. Tonight’s show is a tour-de-force of punks on tour. The Buzzcocks opened for the Sex Pistols at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, performed at the 100 Club punk festi...
Oct 07, 2015
The real life murder mystery of a CBS reporter is foreground and backdrop for a modern day high school student trying to figure out why the wrong man was put down. Also a love story. Salonic. Picture: George Laoutaris Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separates the smoking from the singeworthy, looking at the pleasures (and pains) of reading, the craft ...
Oct 02, 2015•26 min
"When more than 90% of ever-married women in Egypt -- including my mother and all but one of her six sisters -- have had their genitals cut in the name of modesty, then surely we must all blaspheme... to hell with political correctness." So wrote tonight's guest, Egyptian journalist and women's right's activist Mona Eltahawy in her explosive Foreign Policy magazine article Why Do They Hate Us? -- "us" being women and "they" being Arab men. Her rage was fueled by personal experience: in November ...
Sep 27, 2015•1 hr 10 min
Pinneberg is the Little Man; What Now is what everyone is asking at the outset of the Depression, when this novel is set. Fallada’s novel is about the piece by piece destruction of a young man by forces that are both incomprehensibly great and pathetically familiar, from the collapse of the world economy to the failure of basic decency. I’m overwhelmed just writing this ditty. But that’s what you get when you read Hans Fallada. Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent d...
Sep 06, 2015•26 min
Garry’s guest tonight Patti Boulaye shot to fame on ITV’s talent show New Faces . But hers is not a normal showbiz story. Nigerian-born Patti lived through one of the worst genocides of the 20th century, growing up during the horrific Biafran civil war where one million people died either in fighting or from famine. Patti emigrated to London at 16, where she became an actress by accident… and a star through her pure talent. On tonight’s GBH, you’ll have an intimate encounter with a huge star… wh...
Sep 01, 2015
Lawks a-mercy! Whatever would we do without Florida? Florida principal tries to quietly ban book to appease Christians -- sets off sh*tstorm instead The ‘Real’ Cookie Lyons Sues ‘Empire’ For $300 Million, Claiming Fox Series Is Based on Her Life Why do introverted writers have to schmooze? Alleged serial killer threatens to sue TV judge over book Follow ups: Millions for murder? Charlie Hebdo has an interesting problem Yahoo employee admits leak to author, settles suit Download the show as mp3 f...
Aug 24, 2015•25 min
Medical intern sent by boss to spy on a painter named of Strauch. What the intern finds is the gaping wound of Lower Austria, which may or may not stand in for the entire world. Extremely bleak. Extremely funny. Basically, extreme in all senses. Photo: Florin Draghici Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separates the smoking from the singeworthy, looking ...
Aug 13, 2015•26 min
Some new research, anecdotal but telling, suggests that female writers have a much tougher time getting their book proposals into agents’ hands than male authors do. What’s the truth behind this? Plus all the latest news from the crazy/weird nexus where publishing meets the law… Homme de Plume: What I Learned Sending My Novel Out Under a Male Name Hamilton Ends Deal with SMP Claiming Lack of Support Florida Parents Try to Ban Books With Characters That Pray to Non-Christian God Freelancers of th...
Aug 09, 2015•25 min
How are you going to vote in the forthcoming Euro-referendum? Conventional wisdom says that if you’re on the political right wing, you’ll probably vote against staying in the EU, and if you’re to the left, you’ll probably vote in favour of staying. Well, Garry’s guest tonight, Brian Denny of the RMT Union, has got some mind-opening surprises in store for you. “The EU means fascism at home”, says Brian, “and war abroad.” So he’s in Nigel Farage’s camp, then? By no means. UKIP comes across as psyc...
Aug 08, 2015
LITOPIA AFTER DARK is back! And in typical style, our first guest for the new season spent four nights in a freezing cave in Tora Bora interviewing none other than Osama bin Laden. How’s that for openers? But that’s far from Abdel Bari Atwan ’s only claim to fame. Born in Gaza, he is one of the world’s leading authorities on al-Qa’ida. Indeed, he wrote the definite book on the subject – The Secret History of al-Qa’ida . At a moment when the West seems poised for yet more intervention in a deeply...
Aug 01, 2015•1 hr 20 min
If you can remember the nineteen eighties... you probably weren’t there. Barry Cain was – and he’s got 27 incredible issues of Flexipop magazine to prove it! It was a publishing phenomenon. Launched in 1980 by Barry and Tim Lott, every issue came with a flexible music disc. Flexipop was an overnight success rapidly reaching sales of more than 100,000... but it only lasted for 27 issues before it folded in 1983. Why? Get out your flares and big hair extensions... tonight, we’re gonna party like i...
Jul 31, 2015
Spare parts make up the engine of this rickety ride from here to there. One solipsistic young man from England leads friends and acquaintances to Crimea, and for some reason they follow him. With allusions to Nicholson Baker and Peter Carey, this episode also features a drop from Masterchef Australia, which is what I’m into these days. The plating was not successful. Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy...
Jul 24, 2015•26 min
There is only one Steven Berkoff . Perhaps there’s only room for one. What happens when an enfant terrible of the British theatre grows up? They become Steven Berkoff, that’s what. Prepare yourself for an encounter like no other. Bad boy Berkoff is every bit as bad as you’ve heard, and then some. But in this searingly honest encounter with Garry, he bares the soul of a great actor. “Great actors are stupid ” he spits out, contemptuously. Typical Berkoff. Uncensored, unrestrained, unleashed. The ...
Jul 24, 2015
Links to stories mentioned in this show... A Gronking To Remember Suit Gets Strange While Amazon Argues Liability Would Chill Speech And Art Mom’s Story Of Raising ‘Princess Boy’ Facing Library Censorship - Gay Star News Florida Man, Accused Of Terrorism Based On Book Collection, Set Free - The Intercept Brussels Tries To Ban Selfies At Tourist Landmarks; Need Permission To Photograph Eiffel Tower? Europe Is Not Banning Tourist Photos Of The London Eye, Says Eu Blog Follow-ups: Appeals Court Uph...
Jul 10, 2015•25 min
Links mentioned in the show: After 800 years, Britain finally asks: Do we need a written constitution? Amazon is going to start paying authors according to how many pages people read Authors Guild Announces 'Fair Contract' Initiative Simply Read Books Faces Complaints of Late Payments, Breached Contracts SCOTUS rules in favor of man convicted of posting threatening messages on Facebook Follow ups: Sirius Beats Fla. Case Over Pre-1972 Songs Brian Williams to Stay at NBC, but Not as News Anchor 'G...
Jul 10, 2015•25 min
A history of one aspect of the Nazi genocide is brought to present day Parisian suburbs via a massacre in an Algerian village. Extremism, integration, ghettos, religion – all the elements are refashioned to their new context. A memorably good book by an excellent writer and thinker. Fresh. Photo - John Perivolaris Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separ...
Jul 02, 2015•26 min
From The Two Ronnies to Blackadder …from Benny Hill to Marty Feldman… the golden years of British television comedy produced some of the funniest shows and larger-than-life characters the world has ever seen. Garry’s guest tonight COLIN EDMONDS has dominated British television comedy writing for four decades – and he knew them all… the stars, the monsters, the legends and the lunatics! Click to buy from Amazon If names such as Les Dawson, Lilly Savage, Paul Daniels, Julian Clary, Barbara Windsor...
Jun 24, 2015
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Jun 08, 2015•26 min
Can’t seem to shake the memoirs thing . . . This time it’s James Joyce writing about himself as the character Stephen Dedalus, a precocious, self-regarding artiste who one day is destined to become James Joyce. Not necessary. Photo by ☰☵ Michele M. F. Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separates the smoking from the singeworthy, looking at the pleasures ...
May 15, 2015•26 min
Random House told it should pay to quote Joseph Goebbels in biography Hugo award nominees withdraw amid 'Puppygate' storm Charlie Hebdo Honor Sparks Controversy Amazon sued over Gronking book cover photo Screenwriter SLAPPs Down Libel-in-Fiction Claim 'Huge inequality' in writer earnings Journalists face increasing dangers Courtney Love Is Sued by Co-Writer of Her Memoir Follow ups: Disney Beats 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Copyright Lawsuit Photo of Gronk by Megan Asbeck >>>>>>&...
May 15, 2015•25 min
Garry is joined in the studio by the award-winning stand-up comedian John Moloney (twice won Best Live Performer at the London Comedy Festival) whose four-part Radio 4 series The John Moloney Show kicks off on Tuesday 12th May. Influenced by Les Dawson, Dave Allen, The Jam and West Ham United, John’s stand-up comedy is a finely crafted blend of wordplay, one-liners and cat molesting. His radio producer says that observing him at work is “like watching a masterclass unfold. He’s like a conductor ...
May 10, 2015
Garry’s guest tonight is Terry Alderton , one of Britain’s most exciting comedians and a man Frank Skinner dubbed “a flipping genius”… only he didn’t say flipping. Famous for his roles in TV hits such as EastEnders and London’s Burning , Terry’s first love was Southend United Football Club – he played in goal for their youth team – but the stage was where he really scored. Terry’s gift for mimicry made him a rising star in what we used to call old school mainstream comedy. But his originality an...
Apr 27, 2015
Author David Lodge stars as his thinly disguised protagonist, Old Man Bates, who is entering retirement, uselessness, and, worst of all, permanent deafness, in this tragi-comi-tragic tale of David Lodge, starring as his protagonist. Largely good. Picture by clogsilk >>> Download the mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes >>> From recent débuts to classics, fiction to non-fiction, memoirs, philosophy, science, history and journalism, Burning Books separates the smoking from the singeworth...
Apr 24, 2015•26 min
In the early 80s, Britain’s pubs and clubs were full of angry, funny, working class poets inspired by punk, reggae and protest. This brave new wave of radical wordsmiths made folk heroes of Seething Wells, Garry Johnson, Ginger John, Attila The Stockbroker, Porky the Poet and one of Garry’s guests today Tim Wells – all of whom will be celebrated next month at the British Library’s Taking Liberties event, ‘ Ranting poets, 'zines & Angry Kids of the ’80s ’. Tim is also the founding editor of p...
Apr 20, 2015
