Episodios

  • 210: Stephen Willoughby

    210: Stephen Willoughby
    Jul 28 2025
    My guest this week is Stephen Willoughby, who studied Theology at Lampeter between 1984 and 1987. After university, Stephen’s path took a technical turn – he became a computer operator and later completed an MSc in Computer Science at Aberystwyth, a journey that reflects a broadening of Stephen’s skills.

    Stephen now works in quality assurance and holds a PhD in a related field. Originally from Orpington in Kent, he now lives in Derbyshire.

    Stephen has had a lifelong passion for radio, sparked on his 7th birthday when he received his first radio set. He was captivated early on by classical music and Radio 3, but it was Radio 2 in the 1980s that gave him a window into the wider world. He's steeped in the station's history and recalls listening to Alan Dell on Sunday afternoons, including the public reaction when there was talk of Dell leaving the airwaves.

    We discuss the magic of live radio, the days when Radios 1 and 2 shared the FM frequency, and the role of DJs like David Hamilton—who used to include the pop charts in his Tuesday afternoon Radio 2 shows.

    Stephen also shares which stations he listens to today, including Boom Radio, and reflects on whether he’s more of a looking back or a forward-looking person.
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    42 m
  • 209: Cameron Tucker

    209: Cameron Tucker
    Feb 6 2025
    My guest this week is Cameron Tucker, Head of News and Content at KMTV.

    Cam and I begin by chatting about the BFI-funded series Generation Why that we both worked on in which we made sure young people from across the UK were fully represented. We find out why the series has been so transformational, and has helped us look beyond the world we know.

    We talk about how the world is both bigger and smaller, and we find out about Cameron’s love of travel. He was born in Manhattan but grew up in Hong Kong where his grandfather was a policeman. We chat about hybrid identities and one’s place in the world, including in the context of sport.

    Cameron talks about the records e.g. photos that he has from those days, and about his new role as a father.

    We discuss the importance of connection and the relationships we have with childhood friends, and how we continue from where we left off when we meet them, as well as the way places evolve.

    We then move on to reflect on the role of nostalgia in a changing world. Cam also talks about the role that music has played in his life, e.g. how he grew up listening to the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting.

    We find out how Cam ended up with KMTV in Kent, after previously working as a junior reporter in Hong Kong. He did work experience too during his degree in East Anglia. He has also done a great deal of freelancing, and has been at KMTV for seven years.

    We talk about the infamous ‘pot plant story’ when Cam was doing a report which appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show in the US.

    Cameron talks about the role of negative experiences and the impact on nostalgia and answers it in relation to a wonderful Anthony Hopkins anecdote.

    Then, at the end of the interview, we talk about the role of authenticity in the way we project ourselves in broadcasting, and we find out whether Cameron is a looking back or a looking forward type of person.
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    58 m
  • 208: Harry Bowles

    208: Harry Bowles
    Dec 30 2024
    It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet fellow podcaster Harry Bowles. Harry has been running his Nerds Against Normality over the last few months.

    We talk about how the podcast has evolved, and the reason for looking at the relevant algorithms. We find out about its reach, the prime time for podcasts and the right time to send them out. We find out what the format is for each podcast which will e.g. include a review of a film, and we discuss whether a film can be ruined by the way the film is dissected.

    We discuss too the concept of secret screenings and the films that Harry is looking forward to watching over Christmas, including Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

    We find out why Sonic is so important to him, with Sonic the mascot of Megadrive consuls. We find out how Harry’s love of gaming is now his main job selling retro video games. Covid kickstarted this adventure, and he gave up his secure job for the video game world, and he extols the virtues.

    Harry talks about why video games were his escapism when growing up, and how it led to him doing art. He even learned to read through Final Fantasy.

    We talk about the way gaming is so big, the role of obsession and what happens when we are told not to play the things we love.

    Then, at the end of the interview, we find out about Harry and Stacey’s Dragonball Z-themed wedding.
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    43 m
  • 207: Mark Stay

    207: Mark Stay
    Dec 16 2024
    It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet screenwriter, author and award-winning podcaster Mark Stay.

    We begin by talking about Herne Bay and its cultural dynamics and learn that Mark has always been drawn to creativity, with Star Wars playing a formative influence. His teachers encouraged him, and Mark discusses the importance of reaching out to people in the know, and the time Mark bottled it when a director once rang him. We chat about what happens when you interact with ‘famous people’ and we find out why it’s the people two thirds up the ladder who can be the most useful.

    We discover why Mark gave up on acting and prefers writing, and we learn that Mark is a fan of Mike Leigh. We also hear about the three short films that Mark made and that he has written a full length screenplay.

    While learning his craft, Mark would make the most of every spare minute to write, and we find out what keeps Mark going, as well as why one can only run one’s own race, and Mark talks about the importance of resilience and persistence. Mark also gives advice on the best strategies with, say, writing a novel.

    Mark has kept a diary since 2006, and we learn that his diaries and books are handwritten and then subsequently typed up.

    We talk about the Witches of Woodville books which Mark says are a cross between Dad’s Army and Bedknobs and Broomsticks set during the Battle of Britain with a trio of bickering witches. They are grounded in reality.

    We also learn whether Mark’s younger self would be surprised to discover what he is doing now, and how one can start out as an author in one’s 50s. We learn why there is no such thing as an overnight success.

    We discuss the art of self-mythologizing and we find out why Mark is so wary of nostalgia, seeing it as a slippery slope towards fascism. Things weren’t actually better in the past.

    Then, at the end of the interview Mark explains why he believes things are getting better and how it is important to live in the now and to have the imagination to look forward.
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    53 m
  • 206: Numi Gildert

    206: Numi Gildert
    Nov 23 2024
    My guest this week is Numi Gildert who is the cohost with Rob Wills of the Drivetime show on KMFM. Numi has a robotics engineering background (including a PhD) and always loved consuming radio when she was young. She grew up in Macclesfield and listened to Silk FM, and later enjoyed Chris Moyles on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show when she was nine.

    Numi reveals that she always had a flair for performance and had pragmatic parents who worked in the corporate world. Numi loved science and anything Japanese including anime and manga. We find out how she then got into robotics, leading to her studying electronic engineering at York where she also presented on student radio.

    We talk about the value of live radio vs. the value of editing and how radio is better suited to her as a person. We learn too about Numi’s podcast and its focus on women in engineering and technology, and how there are more career opportunities for women in engineering now than there were in previous generations.

    We also talk about how education has changed over the years. Numi did some teaching while doing her PhD, and Numi discusses why her doctorate had its traumatic moments.

    We discuss the way we had to embrace new technology due to lockdown, and Numi tells us which of her teachers or lecturers she is still in touch with. We also reflect on how education is a long term process, and Numi explains why it is important to confront one’s mistakes.

    We discuss the skill of presenting a show on the radio, especially when things go wrong, and we find out what sort of music Numi enjoyed listening to when she was young. She presented Radio 1 Dance in the early hours of the morning some years ago, where she would play the music her parents used to enjoy.

    We reflect on the importance of having a wider sense of the music that is out there, rather than stick to just one genre, and at the end of the interview we discover whether Numi is a looking back or a looking forward type of person and why, in her own words, it is good to have a slightly delusional dream.
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    56 m
  • 205: David Cloake

    205: David Cloake
    Nov 11 2024
    David Cloake is a former professional DJ whom I have had the great pleasure to know since working at Cabin FM. We learn about David’s career in radio, beginning with a chat about the pre-digital radio world. We find out how David got into radio, starting at Southern Sound, about the advice he received from other presenters, and how he received elocution lessons.

    David’s first full time radio gig was at Northants Radio where he did the Drivetime show, and we learn that David followed a traditional route. We discuss the changes that came about after the mid-90s and how deregulation is the cornerstone of change as it enabled ownership to be more businesslike. We also learn about what community radio is able to provide.

    We find out that David wanted to be a radio presenter from a young age, and how the people who have influenced David include Richard Allinson and Terry Wogan (and we hear a wonderful Wogan anecdote).

    We discuss the differences between live and pre-recorded radio and the importance of the one to one style, and about the evolution of radio and the role of personalities and the importance of brand, where either presenters are the style or the presenters have to fit the style. This leads us to discuss the shelf life of radio presenters and how this impacted David personally, including how brutal his own demise was at Severn Sound.

    David talks about how this was a life lesson. He now works in emergency and disaster management where his is a senior management professional and consultant who specialises in emergency and crisis management, business continuity management, risk management and broader business planning consultancy. He is the founder of Foresight Solutions.

    David credits Steve Ralph for encouraging him to join Cabin FM, and we learn that David also volunteers at Herne Bay Football Club.

    David gives his thoughts on nostalgia and how he prefers reflection to nostalgia. We find whether David still has recordings of his old radio shows from the 80s and 90s, and we discuss mental health and the importance of not trying to seek revenge on what people did to you in the past.

    Then, at the end of the interview, we find out whether David is a looking back or a looking forward sort of person, and why one can shape a future more than one can shape a past.
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    1 h y 3 m
  • 204: Max Barrett

    204: Max Barrett
    Nov 1 2024
    My guest this week is Max Barrett, who works as a sales and marketing manager at his family business in sustainability, helping design engineers make more sustainable decisions. Max has a filmmaking background and broadcast journalism, too, and has previously presented film reviews on BBC Radio Kent, and we talk about the way we keep archives of our film reviews.

    Max grew up in Kent, and has lived in Canterbury since he was 16. There is also a South Wales connection as his mother is from Swansea. We learn that Wales and Medway are gravitational pulls for him, and we find out how Max’s interests in sustainability began.

    Max is also involved with pool tournaments, and we find out how sustainability, artwork and snooker also play a big role in his life. He has even hosted murder mystery parties that he has written himself.

    Max studied film production at Canterbury Christ Church University and he speaks about how collaborative his tutors were.

    We also learn about Max’s passion for Lego animation when he was in school, and we find out about the Rising Star award he received at a film festival, as well as a film about dementia which he made at the height of the pandemic.

    We learn that he would love to make a feature film in the spirit of Jim Jarmusch and that Max made a buddy movie a few years ago when he was at university on his phone. He explains how it became a diary of his time at university and has an important legacy dimension. It may go public when Max retires!

    We also discuss the out of date elements in the film Dodgeball and about our perceptions of time, and we learn how his younger self was crazily ambitious.

    At the end of the interview we find out how Max is a looking back or a looking forward type of person depending on the time of day.
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    50 m
  • 203: Yvonne Howard

    203: Yvonne Howard
    Oct 20 2024
    This week's guest is Yvonne Howard, an educationalist, creative practitioner, and artist-writer. Yvonne grew up in Leeds in a challenging environment and turned to writing to process the events from those days. Yvonne left school at 15 with no qualifications. She returned to education in her late 20s, building into her first degree personal experiences on diversity and exclusion issues. She then worked in conflict resolution, adult education and community relations in east London.

    I first met Yvonne in the 1990s when she was studying for a British Academy-funded PhD in Lampeter on mediation, social inclusion and community cohesion. Yvonne worked extensively in equity, diversity, group dynamics and interpersonal communication.

    More recently, Yvonne's Diversitree.Wales won an award for its representation of nature, art, photos, and poems in Wales. She also appeared on Dare to Dance with Amy Dowden. Yvonne is readying a book for publication in 2025.

    We talk about how a return to education later in life as an access student impacted her perspective, especially when it centred on aspects of lived experience. We discuss how Yvonne’s background subsequently influenced her students, encouraging them to follow their dreams and return to education. We discuss how art can be a creative tool for transformation and provide moments of escape when faced with difficult realities.

    We explore autobiography, journal writing, and the pros and cons of returning to places of oppression from the past. We talk about processing personal insecurities, self-help, overcoming personal fears, and the power of positive thinking in educational and professional journeys. We discuss the evolution in education over the years in terms of how we fit into a mould, and the benefits of a neurodivergent perspective on the world. We talk about how the belief and understanding of a teacher from 40 years ago resonated with Yvonne when she contacted him again shortly before he passed away.

    We also learn about Yvonne’s involvement with community interest groups in Wales, including the Women’s Institute, mental health advocacy groups, and organisations associated with diversity and inclusion.

    Then, at the end of the interview, we find out whether Yvonne considers herself to be a looking back or a looking forward type of person, and the way past, present and future interrelate.
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    55 m
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