A Voice in a Van: Recent Episodes
Andrew
Me, The Man in the Van, talking about stuff. In a van. What sort of stuff? Mostly books, the outdoors, food, drink, board gaming, and van life.
In which the team recount, in a state of mild euphoria, their adventures in the Western Isles. Featuring Rosalie Fry's 'Child of the Western Isles', Slavoj Zizek's 'Christian Atheism: How to be a Real Materialist', and an unmissable opportunity to pay homage to a 1970s hot dog advert. This may just have been the flu caps.
The team bring you the Story So Far as they trundle up through Dumfries and Galloway en route to the Outer Hebrides. We discuss, among other unmissable segments concerning deciding whether to book a pitch with and without an awning: Christiane Ritter's 'A Woman in the Polar Night', Alasdair Gray's 'Ten Tales Tall & True', the Ways of Wigtown, a satisfying sea swim, Five Kingdoms brewery, and the importance of a well-crisped frill around the edges of fried black pudding.
The team enjoy an overnighter outside Cambridge. Join us as we reflect on fantasies high and low, Lucy M. Boston, C.L. Moore, and the geometry of the Scotch egg. We're Goblincore for life.
The team break their journey to Hay-on-Wye to explore Cirencester. Amidst the winter sorrowing, we discuss 'The Book of Silence' by Sara Maitland, 'Winters in the World' by Eleanor Parker, 'The History of Magic' by Chris Gosden, and 'Sonic Life' by Thurston Moore. Join us as we explore the cuts and courtyards of Cirencester to seek out art supplies, enjoy Corinium Ales, visit The Hop Kettle's brewery tap, and the odd tapas or seven. Seven's an odd number, right?
The team fit in a cheeky late-season break in Lyme Regis. Featuring Dorothy Richardson's 'Pilgrimage', Franz Kafka's 'The Trial', the delights of the upmarket pub 'fish finger' sandwich, Lyme Regis brewery, and owls -- lots of owls. It's a hoot! I'll get my coat.
The team sweat it out on Cornwall's Lizard and Roseland peninsulas. Also: Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn, James Knowlson's Damned To Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett, Natalie Hayes's Stone Blind, Restoration Games's Unmatched, Cornish Cream Tea ice cream, orchids, a lot of local beer, and some cracking seafood.
Are we 'van-dals'? The team describe their anti-clockwise journey around the North Coast 500 and reflect on the impact the route has had on the Highlands. Also: Kate Rew's 'The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook', and Slavoj Žižek's 'Event: A Philosophical Journey Through a Concept'
We're back in the New Forest with an Outdoor Revolution awning, a Thule bike rack, Dorthe Nors 'A Line in The World', G.W.F. Hegel's 'Phenomenology of Spirit', Paul Kildea's 'Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century', tikka paneer Rogan Josh, and Flack's Double Drop.
'D' spends her first-ever night under canvas as we explore Skipton and its surroundings. Yarndale 2022, a plethora of micropubs, and top-notch cooked breakfasts feature, along with Alison Light's 'Mrs Woolf and the Servants' and Patrick Leigh Fermor's 'A Time of Gifts'. CONTENT WARNING: please be aware that this episode features frequent uses of the phrase 'super-dinky'. No, we don't know where that came from either.
We're in Dorset on the 'REDACTED Coast' with A History of the World in Twelve Maps' by Jerry Brotton, 'Authority and Freedom' by Jed Perl, cider, unexpected rappelling, and sheep that baa 'way-hay', 'help!', and 'AAARGH'. All life is here, and much of it is wearing a fleece.
The canny and uncanny landscapes of Clara Vyvyan's travel writing and Helen de Guerry Simpson's weird psychogeography frame an unexpectedly Australian-themed episode. Big landscapes (walking the south west coast of the Isle of Wight), big barbie breakfasts (we try out the Cadac Grillo Chef 40), and a couple of tinnies (well, bottles of Goddards. And not for breakfast).
Of badgers, beers, and books. It's all wild! Plus: Annabel Abbs 'Windswept: Walking in the Footsteps of Remarkable Women', and Olga Tokarczuk's 'Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead' and 'Flights'.
Not so much no shoes, no shirt, no dice as no loos, no showers, woodlice. Plus: Rebecca Solnit's 'A Field Guide to Getting Lost', and the irresistible allure of arch miserablist Thomas Bernhard.
Virago Modern Classics, St Mars of the Desert beers, Porta Potties and pea fritters: this episode really does have it all.
Introducing A Voice in a Van: a podcast full of books, descriptions of and sounds from wherever we find ourselves in the great outdoors, as well as food, drink, boardgaming, and reflections on holidaying in a camper van.