This month on The Allender Calendar I'm talking to the fantastic stand-up comedian Celya AB about Crushing, the 2019 album by Julia Jacklin. We had a great chat about music in general, and vulnerability in performance, specifically relating to Celya's last show Of All People.

Through the course of our conversation we ask the big questions like: Are people adicted to vulnerability cigarettes? Should we move Christmas? And what's the best brown noise playlist to listen to on a plane?

Celya is taking her new show We Must Stop Meeting Like This on tour around the UK later this year. Dates are on her website:

https://www.celya-ab.com/

'Body' by Julia Jacklin:

https://youtu.be/ktvJ2PiBgtQ?si=oZI51zwoF-c721M8

I play an Allender Band tune at the end of the show which you can stream/download here:

https://robinallender.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-grip-of-light

If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee!

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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This month on The Allender Calendar I chat to the Northern Irish writer Wendy Erskine about her 2025 novel The Benefactors.

The novel's central incident is the sexual assault of a teenage girl, Misty, at a party. The novel follows Misty, the boys involved in the assault, and their families – and also expands out to include countless other voices, some of whom are linked to the story and some who aren't. This polyphonic approach both deepens our understanding of the central characters and captures how gossip spreads through the community.

The Benefactors is Wendy's first novel. She has previously published two outstanding collections of short stories: Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022).

Wendy also guested on Your Own Personal Beatles back in 2021:

https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/wendy-erskines-personal-beatles/id1523996711?i=1000542363739

If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar, I'm chatting to the author Ben Pester about his debut novel The Expansion Project. Part corporate satire, part Lynchian dreamscape, The Expansion Project explores loss, parenthood, grief, and the ways in which identity and meaning are being distorted as technology takes over our lives. It's also very funny!

We talked about balancing creativity with a day job, finding joy and humour in office work, and some key influences (including Gormenghast and The Unconsoled).

You can buy The Expansion Project here:

https://granta.com/products/the-expansion-project/

And Ben's fantastic collection of short stories Am I in the Right Place? is available here:

https://www.boilerhouse.press/product-page/am-i-in-the-right-place-by-ben-pester

If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

Interview in The London Magazine:

https://thelondonmagazine.org/interview-the-expansion-project-an-interview-with-ben-pester/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.