Tangent Calling

We're back!And we have a wonderful new episode to celebrate.We chat to the legendary Patrick Duff (singer/songwriter, former frontman of Strangelove) about homeless busking on the streets of Bristol, trying (and succeeding?) to summon John Lennon's ghost in Abbey Road studios, a night of debauchery at a local Chinese restaurant and much, much more.Buy Patrick's excellent new book here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/the-singer-by-patrick-duff

Mark Stewart returns to talk about his new album VS, as well as the city of Bristol and its music and supernatural phenomena. We also chat about noise music, its history and Bristol's relationship with the genre. Buy the album: https://emergencyhearts.bandcamp.com/album/vsMark's website: https://www.markstewartmusic.com

Sol & Richard chat to Rhian Graham, one of the Colston 4, her partner Luke and historian and author Mark Steeds about the whole experience of toppling the statue, the trial and the aftermath following their acquittal. Buy Mark's book: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/new-from-wulfstan-to-colston-severing-the-sinews-of-slavery-in-bristol

We chat to Bristol Radical History Group members and co-authors of the fantastic book From Wulfstan To Colston: Severing The Sinews Of Slavery In Bristol, Mark Steeds and Roger Ball, about the Colston 4 verdict. They talk about how they contributed to the defence case, their reaction the verdict, some history of Colston and what the man was like and the horrific conditions of his slave trade, as well as some discussion of the merchant venturers and what Bristol should do now moving forward from this.

Clive Stevens returns for the fifth and final instalment of his series where he breaks down the central ideas of his fantastic book, After The Revolution, which you can buy from our website here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracyIn this episode, Clive talks about proportional representation, Marvin Rees' leadership, the great white whale of the Bristol stadium and much more. 

Bristol author extraordinaire Mike Manson joins the pod to chat about his new book Manson's Bristol Miscellany and his search for the 'soul of the city'. We interrogate Mike on what exactly this soul is and where might it be found, whilst also offering our own muddled theories.Buy Mike's new book Bristol Miscellany here, the perfect Christmas gift for every proud Bristolian.https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/mansons-bristol-miscellany-pre-order-signed-copies

Richard and Sol chat to Phil Shepherd and Victoria Forbes Adam about their wonderful and inspiring book Bath Arts Workshop, based on the eccentric community of creatives who erupted a scene of counterculture upon Bath in the 70s. 

Clive Stevens return for the fourth instalment of his series where he breaks down the central ideas of his fantastic book After The Revolution, which you can buy from our website here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracyThis episode deals with the notion of 'fairness' in society and politics.

Richard and Sol chat to Mark Stewart, lead vocalist of the legendary Bristol post-punk band The Pop Group, about the new Y in Dub album. Mark takes us on a musical odyssey through his own personal history with dub music to its influence on The Pop Group, as well as the history of the band and their experimental production style. Additional Music by Sol Wilkinson.

Sol, Richard and Mark Steeds tell each other 3 more spooky tales of Bristol's most haunted spots, but which are true and which are false?

Continuing our series of bite-sized lectures with Clive Stevens, divulging the ideas and theories in his book After The Revolution, today we discuss markets, their impact on third-parties and the need for regulations.Buy Clive's book! : https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy 

Sol and Richard talk to Gerry King about his excellent new book Come Back To Me Then Go Away, which is now available on the Tangent books website. Go get yourself a copy here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/come-back-to-me-then-go-awayTogether we discuss the mysterious literary genre of autofiction, to which Gerry's book belongs, alongside chats about Gerry's literary influences, lockdown struggles, thoughts on and experience with drug writing, reverence for Andy Warhol and much, much more!

Clive Stevens returns to talk about affordable housing and land ownership. We recorded this episode in the midst of a thunderstorm, so apologies for any sounds of thunder, rain and lightning (if you can hear lightning). Also, I mention Clive will discuss public transport in this episode but that will actually be in a future discussion with Clive.Buy Clive's book! : https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy

Local government is broken. But Clive Stevens knows how to fix it.Stevens combines a lifetime of skills drawn from business, academia, local activism, parenting and politics to present a forensic, engaging analysis as to how and why political decisions are made.After spending five years as a Bristol City Councillor, he lifts the lid off city and national democracy and discovers some golden nuggets and rotten apples to help guide voters, activists and policy makers.After The Revolution is the result of this study and details Clive’s use of the term “The Mathematics Of Power” in precise detail to explain how politics works and democracy doesn’t.It’s an amusing and yet sad, ground-breaking and meticulous study of how we can both rescue our democracy and increase the country’s wealth.In this first instalment of a series of discussions with Clive, Sol and Richard talk to the author about his theory of the Maths of Power - what it means, how he developed it, how we can see it manifest today and how we may be able to escape it.Get Clive's book, After The Revolution, for yourself here.

Here is the nice bitesized second part of our conversation with the lovely folks over at the I'm Scum: An Idlescast podcast.Enjoy!

We're back and we're ready to do it all over again!This is part one of our interview with I'm Scum: An Idlescast.We chat about everything from San Diego to what inspired Haley and Russ to start a podcast all about IDLES to the Quiz of Bristle!Make sure to play the Quiz of Bristle at home and let us know what your score is via our twitter!

We chat to Mark Steeds, historian and co-author of From Wulfstan to Colston: Severing the Sinews of Slavery in Bristol, about ten of Bristol's most radical, trailblazing and under appreciated abolitionists from history.Get the book here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/new-from-wulfstan-to-colston-severing-the-sinews-of-slavery-in-bristol

Sol and Richard conclude their discussion and analysis of Massive Attack's astonishing debut album Blue Lines.Get yourself a copy of Melissa Chemam's Massive Attack: Out Of The Comfort Zone here. 

Sol and Richard discuss the first half of Massive Attack's visionary and unparalleled debut album, Blue Lines. This year marks the album's 30th anniversary, the exact anniversary was a few weeks ago. The reason we took so long to get round to this episode is because we are - as Daddy G says of the band - lazy Bristol twats.Get yourself a copy of Melissa Chemam's Massive Attack: Out Of The Comfort Zone for the the full story: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/massive-attack-out-of-the-comfort-zone

Richard and Sol discuss the life and career of the man, the myth, the Bristolian: Banksy.Our coveted Banksy cards are back in stock with limited edition new designs available! Get 'em before you have to pay £400 on Ebay for 'em. https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop?category=Banksy+Cards