Yarn | A Story Podcast

[History documentary]   Pablo De Miguel tells the little known story of how Turkish diplomats saved the lives of 1,000 refugees during the Spanish Civil War’s longest siege. It involves espionage, international negotiations and murder but above all else it's a story about the will to survive and fight to get home. Pablo's research website: zurbano21.com Special thanks to Martin and Sofía. -- Clips taken from: British Pathé films British Movietone While at War (2019) The Spanish Civil War (1983) The Spanish Earth (1937) Music: Epidemic Sound --- Full episode transcript available here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/escape-from-madrid-the-untold-story-of-how-turkish-diplomats-saved-the-lives-of-a-thousand-cadf2f156e4b --- Yarn is produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. X: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Sports documentary] In 2007 the legendary Scottish track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy set out to break the 1km time trial world record. The record and then only sub one minute 1km time was set by Hoy's longtime rival; Arnaud Tournant. Hoy was determined to go sub one minute himself and even more determined to snatch the record away from the French cyclist. Hoy embarked on a journey to the most remote cycling venue on the planet; The Alto Irpavi Velodrome, high in the Bolivian Andes. The fastest track on earth. Hoy's attempt pushed the boundaries of what his body could take. Throw in the very real risks of altitude sickness, a shoestring budget, an extremely tight deadline, unpredictable weather conditions, malfunctioning airplanes, some very curious locals and join us as we revisit the circus atmosphere that surrounded Chris Hoy when he became the highest cyclist in the world. To help us along with this story we talk to kilo track cyclist; Eamonn Byrne and to an expert in high altitude training; Nick Hart. Featuring original music score by Drembot. References: Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain’s Track Cycling Revolution - Richard Moore (Author). Chris Hoy: The Autobiography of Britain's most successful ever olympian - Sir Chris Hoy (Author). Arnaud Tournant: le phénomène - Pascal Sergent (Author). Eamonn Byrne is a coach at blacklinecoaching.com Nick Hart is a performance specialist at altitudecentre.com --- Full episode transcript available here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-26-the-highest-cyclist-in-the-world-78333e6b3fd1 --- Yarn is produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

As an extra bonus here are 3 complete music tracks that our composer Drembot created for the episode "The Highest Cyclist in the World". Enjoy the tracks in full and uninterrupted. You can get more of Drembot's music on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5PjdfdGAzsxgAX3GFuMWR4?si=uYMGzZWFQJyaF0YwwhlQxQ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Audio drama collection] We've released 25 and a bit stories for Yarn. To celebrate we're going to take a look back in this omnibus episode. Lately most of our episodes have been documentaries so I decided to dig out some of our fiction stories and pull them together into a neat bingable collection for your listening pleasure. I've selected 4 stories and recorded new introductions for each. Enjoy!  New episodes coming soon. --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Documentary] "I had no contact with this man. All I ever said was hello to him. It's stalking. And it builds and builds." These are the words of my mother, Eileen Byrne. She’s going to recount her ordeal with a stalker.  I was just a kid at the time. I knew very little about it, until lately when she started talking about the incident. It was a recent Irish news story that triggered her memory. The murder of Aisling Murphy in broad daylight, sparked a national conversation not just about violence against women but also about the level of harassment and intimidation women are forced to endure on a daily basis. Aisling’s murder added fuel to a prominent campaign to make stalking a criminal offence in Ireland. For more information about this campaign see Stalking.ie Full episode transcript here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-25-the-stalker-3399f983ff0 --- Yarn is produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Special Interview] On Day 6 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine I talked to an old friend of the podcast, our tour guide from the Chernobyl episode. He talks about the Russian takeover of the Chernobyl exclusion zone and what it's like to be staying put in Kyiv during the invasion. If you would like to support Ukrainian refugees and aid organisations working in Ukraine or get protest information here is some information: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ways-to-help-ukraine-conflict/ If you would like to donate directly to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defenсe of Ukraine you can use the details here: https://war.ukraine.ua/donate/ If you would like to support our friend specifically from this episode please email me and I will pass on his payment details. Any contribution size is very welcome.  Produced by John Roche Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Documentary] Inside stories from the jury room. I wanted to see inside this secretive world and get a sense of what it feels like to serve. I talked to 7 former jurors about their 7 separate trials. I also talked to a practicing criminal law barrister for his thoughts on the jury system. We’ll explore the selection process, the characters in the courtroom and the atmosphere in the deliberation room. Then we'll do a deep dive into a few cases and hear them told from a juror's perspective in their own words. --- Thanks to Barrister Seamus Clarke SC --- Produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Deep Dive Interview]  The Oklahoma City bombing of 1995… The 2011 Norway attacks… The 2016 Nice truck attack… The 2019 Christcurch, New Zealand shootings…  What do all these attacks have in common? They were all formulated, planned and executed by a single individual.  The popular fear of lone actor attacks is that they are completely unpredictable and so almost impossible to prevent. We speak to Dr. Francis O’Connor, an expert on lone actor radicalisation. Dr. O’connor and his colleagues have been funded by the EU Commission to research lone actor attacks.  They have collected what they think is the largest dataset of lone actor attacks and attackers in the western world dating from 1990 until the present.  Full Episode transcript available here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-22-lone-actor-errorism-e651ee20d569 ---  Dr. O'Connor's book is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Insurgency-Popular-Support-Turkey/dp/1108838502  ---  Produced and edited by John Roche  ---  Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Documentary] We visit the Mezhyhirya estate in the Ukraine. The vast estate covers over 340 acres. That’s just shy of the area of Monaco. The glamorous and opulent principality has a lot in common with Mezhyirya. Except Monaco is home to 38,000 people. Mezhyhirya was most recently home to just one family. This is the story of the former president of Ukraine - Victor Yanukovych. His mafia style cartel, nick named ‘the family’, his extravagant lifestyle and the construction of his monument to greed - The Mezhyhirya palace and estate. Now known as the world’s only 'Museum of Corruption'. --- Produced and edited by John Roche --- Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod --- Full transcript available here: https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-21-the-secret-palace-fb2440c68a01 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[3-part documentary] Episode 3 of 3 - Darkest before the dawn.    1900s - 2000s    In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability.    In episode three things start with one of modern history's darkest ideas, Eugenics. We explore its prevalence, especially in America and some of its most famous proponents. Then we jump over to Post WW2 Britain and we uncover how wars not only created Disabled people but how post war periods also led to infrastructure and programmes that helped people with disabilities.    We will confront the horrific conditions Disabled residents of institutions were forced to live in and see how the era of the big institution eventually came to an end. We'll intersect with the Civil Rights movement and see how it inspired the Parent's movement, which led to the Independent Living movement and the fight for Human Rights for people with Disabilities.    Written and narrated by John Roche.     -    Full episode transcript available here:  https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475   -    Sources  Short  history of disability By Dr Robert Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2qgVhmH88  MN Department of Administration - Council on Development Disabilities https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html  World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability  Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/  History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics  PBS https://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html  United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner https://www.ohchr.org/  Dr. William Bronston, Willowbrook Memorial Lecture https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5f/willowbrook-bronston-memorial.html  Welcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/works  IWM Archive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock  RTE Archive https://www.rte.ie/archives/  The Times Archive https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-walking-aids-5232vx5n9j0  Special Olympics https://www.specialolympics.org  JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/3288457?seq=1  IPC https://www.paralympic.org/  Greek Gods info https://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/hephaestus/  YouTube --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[3-part documentary] Episode 2 of 3 Two Steps Forward. One Step Back.   1500s - 1800s  In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability.  In episode two we will see how the aftermath of the Reformation effected people with disabilities. We look at the Elizabethan Poor Laws and the Poor houses many Disabled people ended up in. We enter the massive institutions that were created for people with disabilities, including the infamous Bedlam Asylum and we explore the age of Enlightenment and beyond, when philosophers and physicians attempted to understand, classify and cue mental and physical disability.      -   Full episode transcript available here:  https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/disability-a-parallel-history-ad51c7673cdb   Sources   Short history of disability By Dr Robert Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2qgVhmH88  MN Department of Administration - Council on Development Disabilities https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html  World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability  Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/  History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics  PBS https://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html  United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner https://www.ohchr.org/  Dr. William Bronston, Willowbrook Memorial Lecture https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5f/willowbrook-bronston-memorial.html  Welcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/works  IWM Archive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock  RTE Archive https://www.rte.ie/archives/  The Times Archive https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-walking-aids-5232vx5n9j0  Special Olympics https://www.specialolympics.org  JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/3288457?seq=1  IPC https://www.paralympic.org/  Greek Gods info https://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/hephaestus/  YouTube --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[3-part documentary] Episode 1 of 3 - Parallel Worlds.  Prehistory - 1400s  In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability.  The story of Disability runs in parallel with the story of humanity itself and like the story of humanity, some of it isn’t pretty. It involves murder, neglect, segregation and sterilisation but it’s also a story of innovation, determination and love.  In episode one I define what a disability is before diving into the past. I start with the Neanderthals, checking in with the Egyptians, the Celts, the Ancient Romans and I also highlight the effect organised Religion has on the perception of people with a disability.  Written and narrated by John Roche.  -  Full episode transcript available here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/disability-a-parallel-history-316bf348cfd2  -  Sources  Short history of disability By Dr Robert Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2qgVhmH88 MN Department of Administration - Council on Development Disabilities https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/ History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics PBS https://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner https://www.ohchr.org/ Dr. William Bronston, Willowbrook Memorial Lecture https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5f/willowbrook-bronston-memorial.html Welcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/works IWM Archive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock RTE Archive https://www.rte.ie/archives/ The Times Archive https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-walking-aids-5232vx5n9j0 Special Olympics https://www.specialolympics.org JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/3288457?seq=1 IPC https://www.paralympic.org/ Greek Gods info https://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/hephaestus/ YouTube --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Two part Docu-drama]  Episode 2 of 2 This is the true story of Hermann Goertz. The Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland. Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goertz’s eyes we learn about the attitudes of normal people towards the new Irish Free State, the uncomfortable truths people dealt with after a vicious civil war and how Dublin during the ‘Emergency’ became a centre of covert espionage.  Start with episode 1 here: https://anchor.fm/yarnstorypod/episodes/Yarn-19--How-Not-to-be-a-Spy---Episode-1-eg3jgg/a-a2j9gkpProduced and edited by John Roche  ---  Transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-19-how-not-to-be-a-spy-part-ii-9f4d39f14c0a  ---  Comments and feedback very welcome!  Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod  --- Written and narrated by John Roche With Liam Murphy as Goertz and the voices of Hazel Fahy, 
Dermot Tobin, Niall Ó Siadhail, 
Daithi Mac Suibhne, Mary Looby
, Alan Nuzum and Dermot Byrne Special thanks to Dermot Tobin, Lucy Nuzum and Ciaran Dunphy --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Two part Docu-drama]  Episode 1 of 2 This is the true story of Hermann Goertz. The Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland. Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goertz’s eyes we learn about the attitudes of normal people towards the new Irish Free State, the uncomfortable truths people dealt with after a vicious civil war and how Dublin during the ‘Emergency’ became a centre of covert espionage.  Continue to episode two here: https://anchor.fm/yarnstorypod/episodes/Yarn-19--How-Not-to-be-a-Spy---Episode-2-eg3jgb/a-a2j9gko ---  Transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-19-how-not-to-be-a-spy-a3b4fd48b17e  ----  Comments and feedback very welcome!  Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.  Twitter: @YarnStoryPod  ---  Written and narrated by John Roche With Liam Murphy as Goertz and the voices of Hazel Fahy, 
Dermot Tobin, Niall Ó Siadhail, 
 Daithi Mac Suibhne, Mary Looby
, Alan Nuzum and Dermot Byrne.  Special thanks to Dermot Tobin, Lucy Nuzum and Ciaran Dunphy --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Documentary]  My friend Dermot has a stammer. He’s had one as long as I’ve known him. Like most people I didn’t take much notice of it. After all, everyone stumbles over words sometimes don’t they? Whats the big deal? I certainly didn’t think about what was happening behind the stammer. The thoughts, the anxiety and all the tricks being employed under the surface of what most would consider a minor blip in someone's speech. In this documentary Dermot tells us about the secret war he waged every time he spoke.  Produced and edited by John Roche  ---  Comments and feedback very welcome!  Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod  --- --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[A travel and history documentary]  It’s October 2019 and we're visiting the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Ukraine. We'll spend two days exploring the zone with a small group of tourists and a guide and we'll stay overnight inside the exclusion zone, in Chernobyl’s only functioning hotel. This year the exclusion zone has received a surge in visitors following the popular HBO TV drama series starring Jared Harris. That series took an in-depth look into what exactly happened the night of the disaster and the events in the immediate aftermath.  In this podcast we will focus much more on the zone as it is today, its most intriguing sites and its recently declassified secret origin. So come with us as we explore what was once, the most dangerous place on earth.  -  Written and produced by John Roche.  Music score and sound mixing by Drembot.  Very special thanks to our tour guide*  -  Comments and feedback very welcome!  *For information about the guide and tour company we used contact us here: Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. Twitter: @YarnStoryPod  -  Also if you liked the music from this episode, our composer Drembot has a new album available now on  Spotify: Adult Lessons by Drembot: https://open.spotify.com/album/2taNob1ckNSK1rVOYQMoGE?si=uDNAeyt8RwyaJj1oAphSow  @iamdrembot  Full transcript for this episode available here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-17-chernobyl-29f8616a8221 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Documentary]  On patrol with a drug recognition expert. I went on a ride along with a police officer who's specialty is to determine if drivers are impaired by drugs.  Thanks to The Ulster Town Police department.  Website cover illustration by Stephen Morton. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[A true crime documentary]  Modern piracy and the hijacking of the Petro Ranger. - You probably don’t think of pirates as wearing expensive suits and working in high rise office buildings. In the 90’s the biggest pirates of South East Asia were impossible to tell apart from high powered business people. It was hard to tell them apart because they could be both. This is the true story of one of the most sophisticated pirate syndicates in South East Asia and its mythic leader Mister Wong.  The syndicate was run like a business. They had assets, employees, customers, lawyers and accountants but they operated outside the law and in secret with little regard for human life. Locals called their activity Blak Bisnis…  -  Written by John Roche.  Music score and mixing by Drembot.  -  Full transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-15-blak-bisnis-682db21ef576  -  Bibliography:  Books The Brutal Seas: Organised Crime at Work. Stewart, Douglas. Piracy, Maritime Terrorism and Securing the Malacca Straits (Iias/Iseas Series on Maritime Issues and Piracy in Asia). Ong-Webb, Graham Gerard. Piracy in Southeast Asia (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History). Ted Biggs. Petro-pirates: The Hijacking of the Petro Ranger. Peter Corris with Ken Blyth. Pirates in Paradise: A Modern History of Southeast Asia’s Maritime Marauders. Stefan Eklöf.  Articles Dead men tell no tales www.economist.com Mr Wong: Pirate or law-abiding citizen www.andreasharsono.net The Most Dangerous Waters in the World time.com Pirates' Strategies and Countermeasures in the South China Sea www.theepochtimes.com  -  Comments and feedback very welcome!  Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[A deep dive interview]  "I treated it like it was my best friend but in fact it was my worst enemy".  A sober alcoholic tells his son just what it was that made him drink the way he did.  Produced by Dermot Tobin, John Roche and Pearse O'Caoimh.  Music by Drembot.  -  Comments and feedback very welcome!  Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message

[Introduction]  Whether we're spinning yarns or unraveling them, Yarn is what you could call- a storytelling playground. We’re in our 3rd year of bringing you original stories. In that time we’ve released over 20 episodes, we’ve been featured in the guardian, won a best podcast award, appeared on WPEZ radio in Chicago And been selected for the UK audio drama festival. Each of episodes is in a different style and genre . Documentaries… Short stories… Interviews… and dramas…. Our stories feature atmosheric sound design, great voice acting talent and original music scores. Dive in and see what you get. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yarnstorypod/message