Show Notes
Summary Dr. Jess Venner on Pompeii, the ordinary people history forgot, and why resilience is a better story than disaster. Jess Venner grew up in Hainault on the end of the Central Line, at a school in special measures, having never heard of classics. She is now a research fellow at Oxford, and her book The Lost Voices of Pompeii reconstructs the final day of seven ordinary Pompeiians: a pub landlord, a female entrepreneur, a slave. Not emperors or generals, but the people the ancient world made deliberately invisible. She got there by quitting her marketing job overnight, funding her own sabbatical from savings, and doing a master's on her lunch breaks in instalments. Her method is critical fabulation: take the material evidence as far as it will go, apply common sense, and stop the moment it runs out. This is one of the most enjoyable conversations the show has had, from how a book idea actually arrives, to a disaster porn argument that lands hard, to the Hampton Court visitors who said they never thought a place like that was for them. Chapters(00:00) Cold open: resilience, and something she couldn't believe she'd found(01:00) Hainault, a marketing degree, the overnight resignation(03:00) The Devil Wears Prada, discovering Rome, a master's on lunch breaks(06:00) Access, classics, and the prejudice that perpetuates(07:00) Oxford, and The Lost Voices of Pompeii(09:00) Critical fabulation: reconstructing the invisible(11:00) Petronas the slave and the fish scales in the market(18:00) The forum, Vesuvius, and a calling(20:00) Nine visits in a year and the felt-tip map(22:00) Euxinus, the phoenix, and rebuilding after the earthquake(24:00) Julia Felix: female entrepreneur after the earthquake(26:00) An educational platform for people who weren't invited in(27:00) AI as a tool, not a replacement(29:00) Disaster porn and why we are trained to seek it(31:00) Humanising disaster: friends, family, dogs, and the refugees nobody mentions(34:00) Who painted the picture? Whose stories get told(35:00) Treasure hunting, smashed frescoes, and what got thrown away(37:00) The Leverhulme fellowship, and sitting on information like Smaug(40:00) Hampton Court: "I didn't think this place was for me"(42:00) Tactile memory, and why we never dream of our phones "I wanted to tell a story of resilience and innovation in Pompeii, and show it differently." - Dr. Jess Venner About the GuestDr. Jess Venner is an ancient historian and archaeologist, and a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at Oxford University. Her book The Lost Voices of Pompeii reconstructs the final day of seven ordinary Pompeiians using the method of critical fabulation. She studied at Birkbeck and the University of Birmingham, spent a year at the British School at Rome, and specialises in urban agriculture and ordinary life in Pompeii. Her channel Life In The Past Lane has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across TikTok and Instagram. Listen ElsewhereAPPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/storyco/id1886770413YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryCoPodcastLINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/storycopod CreditsStoryCo is a TellTale Industries production. Host: James Kirkham. Guest: Dr. Jess Venner. Producer: Jago Lee. Assistant Producer: Nelly Batt. Editor: Nelly Batt. Recorded at TYX Studios, King's Cross. Theme: Doubt Point. Special thanks: Craig Heptinstall, Jack Freegard, Thailah Newton, Isa Gibson.
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David McKelvey on contract killers, corrupt police, and why he believes two men are in prison for murders they did not commit. Episode Overview In 2008, David McKelvey was interviewing an informant at Ilford Police Station when the man began describing a contract on three people. McKelvey was one of them. A known contract killer was parked outside with a machine gun at that moment. When he reported it, his own force investigated him instead. He was cleared, the Met apologized in writing, and he used the compensation to start two businesses. He now runs TMI, Britain’s leading private prosecution firm, and My Local Bobby, which operates across 47 central London beats. He also believes Michael Steele and Jack Whomes did not commit the Rettendon murders. He spent five years investigating it, found two significant witnesses, and sent the material to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. They won’t speak to him. This is a conversation about what happens when the institution you served turns against you. The opening story is one of the best this show has had. The Rettendon section is genuinely unsettling. And the 94% drop in pickpocketing in three months on his Leicester Square beat is the most concrete proof of concept in any episode this series. Chapters (00:00) Cold open: contract killer outside the station, machine gun, get Paul off the streets (01:00) Intro: 60 commendations, contract on his life, cleared and compensated (02:00) Tell me a story: the informant, the contract, the call (03:00) How an organized crime gang used Professional Standards against him (04:00) Suicide attempts, apology from the commissioner, years to understand (05:00) The same group, the same tactic, decades of destroying investigating teams (07:00) The police are not going to help you (08:00) Corruption at the highest level (10:00) Why he joined: a nightclub, a beating, a decision the next morning (11:00) Stoke Newington and the minor stuff that matters (12:00) My Local Bobby: 47 beats, Dixon of Dock Green reinvented (13:00) Two minutes to a burglary (14:00) 94% drop in pickpocketing in three months (16:00) Sky documentaries and telling the fuller story (17:00) The Rettendon murders: December 1995 (18:00) Leah Betts and why Rettendon was everywhere (19:00) Darren Nicholls and how McKelvey got skin in the game (20:00) Six and a half years later: certain they’re guilty, then certain they’re not (21:00) 124 undisclosed crates and the corruption inquiries behind the case (22:00) Two witnesses and the door that opened (23:00) The CCRC won’t speak to them (24:00) The establishment will cover things up (25:00) Officers who’ve never rolled around with a drunk (27:00) MOJ admits crime will rise from early releases (29:00) Tech, WhatsApp, and how murder convictions are built now (37:00) Kids on electric bikes and what the data misses “If you actually put it into a film, people would say you’ve made it up. You’ve got to get to the truth. You can’t get to justice unless you uncover the truth.” — David McKelvey About the Guest David McKelvey is a former Detective Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police with over 60 commendations. He is founder of TMI, a private prosecution firm, and My Local Bobby, which operates beat policing across 47 locations in central London. He has worked with Sky on documentary investigations into the Rettendon murders and other high-profile cases. Listen Elsewhere APPLE : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/storyco/id1886770413 YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@StoryCoPodcast LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/storycopod Credits StoryCo is a TellTale Industries production. Host: James Kirkham. Guest: David McKelvey. Producer: Nelly Batt. Editor: Nelly Batt. Executive Producer: Jago Lee. Recorded at TYX Studios, King’s Cross. Theme: Doubt Point. Special thanks: Craig Heptinstall, Jack Freegard.
Mobeen Azhar on the BBC's coverage of Palestine, why identity politics gives him the 'ick', and 20 years of stories nobody else would touch. Episode Overview Mobeen Azhar grew up in Huddersfield, the son of a bus driver whose appointment television was Newsnight and The Cook Report. He has spent 20 years at the BBC making documentaries nobody else would commission: Taliban drug raids in Karachi, British ISIS recruits, Johnny Kitagawa’s pop empire, heroin in his own hometown. The last one got him death threats and a BBC studio evacuation at 11pm.He has won a BAFTA, an RTS Award, and a Grierson. In this conversation he says things about the BBC he admits he would not have said 18 months ago: that it bends over backwards for the Daily Mail; that its Palestine coverage has propagated a distorted view of impartiality; and that for the whole of 2024, when a Palestinian appeared on screen, the first question was always the same. He also explains why he sees everything through class rather than identity, and what it means that a documentary he made in Japan changed the country’s laws. Chapters 00:00 Cold open: Taliban alarm system, metal bars on a Karachi rooftop 01:00 Intro: BAFTA, Grierson, 20 years of stories nobody else would touch02:00 Tell me a story: police raid, arrests, the sound that meant run 04:00 Not danger for its own sake: stories that are truly revealing 07:00 Huddersfield, a bus driver father, Newsnight at 10:30, Roger Cook 10:00 Law degree, no direction, and the penny dropping at university 11:00 The school shut down two years after he left: 30 GCSEs in a year group of hundreds12:00 Hometown: heroin, class A importation, death threats 13:00 BBC studio evacuated at 11pm after a threat called in14:00 Pakistani, Muslim, gay, Yorkshireman: identity versus class 15:00 Everything through the lens of class: one group with power, one without 16:00 America, Obama, Trump, and the mask finally slipping17:00 The ICC, Israel, and what America’s anger is really about 18:00 Why identity politics misses the point: inequality over representation 19:00 The BBC: vision and leadership and what the new DG needs to do21:00 The BBC bending over backwards for the Daily Mail and The Telegraph 22:00 Palestine: factual accuracy versus a weird illusion of balance 23:00 20,000 children. Intent and result. And still the BBC hesitates. 24:00 YouTube’s MacTaggart speech: a monopoly, and you might earn some ad money 26:00 GB News algorithms and content that radicalizes researchers27:00 Regulation: Wild West versus public service 30:00 What has gone wrong for young men 32:00 Baroness Kidron and tech legislation in the Lords 34:00 How he finds stories: access, trust, being the person in the room 36:00 Japan: Johnny Kitagawa, the open secret, and laws that changed39:00 Four Emmys and a son who shifted a country’s news cycle 41:00 What drives him: people who would otherwise run the other way About StoryCo StoryCo is a podcast about the business of story and storytelling, hosted by James Kirkham. New episodes every week from TellTale Industries.About the GuestMobeen Azhar is a BAFTA, RTS, and Grierson Award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist at the BBC. His films include Hometown, which investigated heroin importation in Huddersfield, and a documentary on Johnny Kitagawa’s pop empire that prompted changes to Japanese law. He has reported for PBS Frontline and Panorama from conflict zones across Asia.
Why does "Make America Great Again" beat "Stronger Together"? John Yorke, Mark Borkowski and Misha Glenny on why political slogans work, and why the best ones are really stories. Three StoryCo guests look at political communication through the lens of narrative. They argue that a good slogan tells a complete story in a handful of words, with a clear protagonist, antagonist and goal, and that emotion matters more than argument. The conversation moves from Trump and Starmer to Take Back Control, James Graham's Channel 4 drama Brexit: The Uncivil War, and a film about a referendum campaign in Chile that won by selling hope rather than policy. These are the guests' views. Hear the full StoryCo interviews on the StoryCo feed. Follow the show so you don't miss Season 2, and find us on Instagram: @StoryCoPodcast Chapters: 00:00 Are we destined for leaders who are reality TV stars? 02:01 What makes a political story work? 03:12 Why "Make America Great Again" beats "Stronger Together" 05:14 Soundbites for the Reels age 05:51 "Take Back Control": a slogan in one scene 06:58 Chile's referendum campaign and the power of positivity Host: James Kirkham Guests: John Yorke, Mark Borkowski, Misha Glenny Producer: Nelly Batt Editor: Nelly Batt Executive Producer: Jago Lee Special thanks: Craig Heptinstall and Jack Freegard
Why can't Britain investigate its own monarchy? Andrew Lownie has spent a decade trying to find out, and what he has uncovered explains why so much stays hidden. Lownie sets out the position of the royal family as he sees it: exempt from freedom of information laws, beyond parliamentary scrutiny, with opaque finances, sealed wills and no register of their business activities. He argues that a culture of deference and secrecy has left the institution exposed to foreign intelligence services and shielded from the questions any other powerful body would face. In this conversation, Lownie explains why he believes the monarchy has lost its moral authority, why the police and the establishment may let the story go quiet, why he does not trust the line that no one is above the law, and how he thinks Parliament and public pressure could close the royal exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act. These are his views and his claims. Hear both of Andrew's full StoryCo interviews on the StoryCo feed. Follow the show so you don't miss Season 2, and find us on Instagram: @StoryCoPodcast Chapters: 00:00 Why can't Britain investigate its own monarchy? 00:30 Is the monarchy a security vulnerability? 01:10 Trust, privilege and lost moral authority 02:24 Misconduct in public office: a very high bar 03:27 Can the establishment shut the story down? 06:02 "No one is above the law": does Lownie believe it? 07:46 Why the establishment survives 08:40 Can Parliament close the Freedom of Information exemptions? 10:10 What can the public actually do? Host: James Kirkham Guest: Andrew Lownie Producer: Nelly Batt Editor: Nelly Batt Executive Producer: Jago Lee Special thanks: Craig Heptinstall and Jack Freegard
Four experts, four different reasons not to panic about AI. Dr Julia Shaw argues that the risks we focus on, like "AI psychosis", are vanishingly rare, and that free access to a listening ear at 3am has probably saved more lives than it's harmed. Psychotherapist Kathleen Saxton agrees AI has a role in mental health, but only as a guide toward proper, qualified human help. Film director Mike Figgis isn't worried about AI's creative output: as far as he's concerned, it's about as clever as Hollywood, which isn't saying much. And media commentator Richard Welsh reframes AI entirely, not as something alien, but as our own collective intelligence, repackaged. From the StoryCo episodes featuring Dr Julia Shaw, Kathleen Saxton, Mike Figgis and Richard Welsh.