This week Eoghan is joined by historian Andrew Dowling to discuss yesterday's historic Catalan election, which saw a definitive end to the decade long push for independence known as the procés. For the first time since 2012, the pro-independence parties failed to secure a majority of seats in the new parliament. As the Socialists secured historic g…

This week Alan is joined by culture critic and researcher Anita Fuentes to discuss Spanish celebrities and politics. Should celebrities use their platforms to stand up for injustices like the genocide in Palestine and a recent revival in the Spanish MeToo movement? Furthermore, Rosalia is often claimed to have a progressive image, but is she? From …

Join Professor Sweet as he concludes this primer for a more global humanity with the letter Z. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

After announcing last Wednesday that he was considering stepping down as Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez revealed this morning he was staying in the job so to fight for "the democratic renewal" of the country. In a move straight out of his favourite TV series Baron Noir, he has orchestrated another theatrical gesture or 'golpe de efecto' so a…

Join Professor Sweet for the latest Napkin Scribble! Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

This week Eoghan is joined by journalist Ben Wray to discuss last night's Basque elections, which saw historic gains for pro-independentist left EH Bildu - with the new Basque parliament being the most nationalist in 40 years. But Ben argues that this does not mean that independence is any closer but in fact the results reinforces Pedro Sanchez's c…

Join Professor Sweet for the letter X in this primer for a more global humanity. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

Join Professor Sweet for the letter W as he reflects on being a more Wateca kind of human. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

This week Eoghan and new co-host Catherine Howley talk to Richard Baxell about his new book 'Forged in Spain' which vividly recounts the lives of the extraordinary men and women who left their families and friends across Britain to risk their lives in the Spanish Civil War. Richard is a historian and former Research Fellow at the London School of E…

Join Professor Sweet as he scribbles out his thoughts on the letter V and our need to be a more verbolten human. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message…

This week's guest is Paul Preston, one of the foremost historians of the Spanish Civil War. Eoghan talked to Paul about his new book 'Perfidious Albion', which is out today from Clapton Press and which turns the spotlight on Britain’s crucial but often overlooked involvement in the war. Preston argues that the country's policy of non-intervention w…

Join Dr. Sweet for the letter U as he scribbles out his thoughts on what it means to be an Ubuntu human. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity. ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

What does it mean to be a Terroir human? Join Dr. Sweet for the letter T! Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

Eoghan is joined by Christopher James Evans to discuss his new book 'Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao', which is out this month. It looks at Athletic's century long history and the development of its Basque-only footballing philosphy, which makes it stand out as a unique among the great clubs in world football. Please consider s…

Join Professor Sweet as he talks about the importance of one of his favorite Spanish words Sobemesa Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

Yesterday's Portuguese general election saw a surge in support for the far-right Chega party, which tripled its vote share from six to eighteen percent while the governing Socialist Party saw a steep fall in support. To analyse the results, Eoghan is joined by journalist Joana Ramiro - whose work has appeared in The New Statesman, The Guardian and …

This week's episode features the letter R for Ressourcement. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book ⁠⁠, Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

We are now at the letter Q in this primer for a more global humanity! Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book, ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

This week on Sobremesa podcast we are discussing this month’s 85th anniversary of La Retirada, which saw 500,000 people flee Catalunya and into France as Franco's fascist forces occupied Barcelona. Eoghan speaks to graduate war historian and podcast host Uma Arruga i López about La Retirada and and the experience of Spanish Republicans as exiles in…

What is it to live as a Pentecost? Join Professor Sweet for P in his alphabet for a more global humanity. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

Find out what it means to be an Ostranenie human as Dr. Sweet continues with his primer for a more common humanity. Make sure you pick up Dr. Sweet's latest book ⁠⁠Jesus Human Primer For a More Common Humanity --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message…

Aaron Shulman joins Alan to discuss his book The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War. Here he explores Spain's chaotic 20th century via the lense of the larger-than-fiction Panero family. They discuss the cult classic documentary El desencanto (1976), which po…

Join Professor Sweet as he takes us to Japan as we learn how to be a more Natsukashii human. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/napkinscribbles/message

Eric Calderwood, Associate Professor of Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois, joins Alan to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives of al-Andalus (Harvard University Press). They talk about how various groups such as feminists, Palestinians and directors making Ramadan soap-operas are all turning to the m…

This week Eoghan is joined by Bécquer Seguín to talk about his new book 'The Op-Ed Novel'. The book examines how many of Spain's most renowned writers over the last thirty years have combined novel writing with publishing regular op-ed columns in El País. As Almudena Grandes, Javier Cercas, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Fernando Aramburu and Javier Marías …