Best Ceylon Podcasts (2024)

1
Notes on The Jungle, Max de Silva 31:54

4M ago31:54

31:54

The Jungle The Work of an Unknown Author Edited by Max de Silva 2020 A Dedication Whether or not the original text of The Jungle included a dedication can, sadly, only be a matter of random speculation given the passage of so many hundreds of years, but for my own part I would like to dedicate my contribution in its publication, the Preface and Not…

1
The Jungle, edited by Max de Silva 1:51:47

4M ago1:51:47

1:51:47

The Jungle The Work of an Unknown Author Edited by Max de Silva, 2020 I secrets Nothing yet does the jungle give, however long you wait or watch; it is eternal, it does not age. Its appearance is scarcely a hint of all that is hidden - tight-lipped, dark green; ceaselessly undisturbed, untouched, unconcerned even; indifferent to what begins where, …

1
My Missing Sapphire Tiara 12:33

6M ago12:33

12:33

My Missing Sapphire Tiara, Friday, 10th December It was Mr Wijeratne from the Water Board who brought the missing tiara to mind when he called on us this morning, his beaming presence foretelling progress in our fixed line water connection. He is a generous, positive fellow, little given to jewellery – except for this fingers. These more than make …

1
Chinta 9:15

6M ago9:15

9:15

Chinta, 13th of November, 2023 Today is the saddest of days, for Chinta has died. The inexorable world will not stop its spin around the sun, nor Sri Lanka pause to knows this. Even in our little town of Galagedera the news will affect just a few. But here on the estate, we all stop, deeply shocked, barely knowing how to react, or what to do next. …

1
Keeping it Real with a Real CSI – Kate Bendelow (Part 2) 20:32

7M ago20:32

20:32

Back in the year 2000 and until late 2015 a new fictional television show about how crimes are solved blazed onto our screens. It so captured the imagination that every man and his dog believed, after watching the episodes, they had the tools and expertise to solve crimes. The show? CSI of course. But here to separate the fact from the fiction is K…

1
Keeping it Real with a Real CSI – Kate Bendelow (Part 1) 30:12

7M ago30:12

30:12

Back in the year 2000 and until late 2015 a new fictional television show about how crimes are solved blazed onto our screens. It so captured the imagination that every man and his dog believed, after watching the episodes, they had the tools and expertise to solve crimes. The show? CSI of course. But here to separate the fact from the fiction is K…

1
A Very Unsisterly Love – Catherine Kinrade 12:49

7M ago12:49

12:49

Fairy tales. Cinderella. Wicked Stepmothers and Evil Stepsisters. It’s one thing if your stepsister treats you mean but quite another when your own flesh and blood sister wants you dead. In this episode of Behind The Yellow Tape J.A. Lovelock finds out why Catherine Kinrade would want her sister dead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho…

1
They Know Not What They Do - Michelle Inniss 36:28

8M ago36:28

36:28

Concluding her series on knife crime and its effects and impact on families and the wider community, J.A. Lovelock catches up with award-winning playwright and author Michelle Inniss to talk about her new play in development They Know Not What They Do. A play whose central theme deals with forgiveness after the murder of a loved one, and the part i…

1
The Final Stage 28:22

8M ago28:22

28:22

What happens to the rest of Nellie and Liz's lives and why is their story important?By Adrien Behn

1
Stage Nine: Father Time Outdone By A Woman 1:08:28

9M ago1:08:28

1:08:28

January 20th-26th: Both women rush closer to the finish line. Liz heads west on her tumultuous ride across the Atlantic while Nellie moves east on high speed trains across the country. And after months of calculation, there is finally a winner to this race.By Adrien Behn

1
From One Mother to Another - Yvvette Edwards 29:57

9M ago29:57

29:57

Continuing her series on knife crime and its effects, J.A. Lovelock catches up with author Yvvette Edwards, whose teenage stepson, was the victim of a random non-fatal knife attack in 2009. Yvvette’s latest novel, The Mother, is largely based on that real-life experience where she explores the devastating impact of knife crime on a family and how t…

1
Stage Eight: Elizabeth Bisland is Turned Around, Mislead, and Lost in Europe 1:09:22

9M ago1:09:22

1:09:22

January 15th-19th: Elizabeth Bisland travels through Europe to try to catch the fastest steamship to get her back to New York in under 80 days. But every steamship bails in the last minute; she gets confusing information, and is stuck in a thunderstorm of all storms as she grasps for her last bits of sanity and good temper.…

1
Stage Seven, Part Two: Elizabeth Bisland Cuts Through Ceylon and the Middle East 53:57

9M ago53:57

53:57

December 30th- January 9th: Elizabeth Bisland had not felt the pressure of the race until now. She starts to feel the pace of the race pick up and the faster it goes by her the less she wants it to end. But she feels a great shift in herself as she explores the oldest civilizations in the world.By Adrien Behn

1
Stage Seven, Part One: Nellie Bly Falls in Love with Japan 52:56

9M ago52:56

52:56

December 30th- January 8th: Nellie Bly rings in the New Year on a steamship headed to Yokohama. And something happens to Nellie when she arrives in Japan. For the first time, she doesn't want to rush through this country. Japan seduces her and Nellie wishes she could pause the race to enjoy this enchanting country.…

1
A Mother’s Anguish – Michelle McPhillips (Part 2) 20:36

9M ago20:36

20:36

On the 25 th of February 2017 Michelle Phillips’s life changed forever. It was the day her 28-year-old son, Jonathan McPhillips was fatally stabbed while acting as a peacemaker in a brawl outside Islington Town Hall, in north London. In an emotional recollection she tells J.A. Lovelock what really happened and how she copes with her loss. Learn mor…

1
Announcement! 1:16

9M ago1:16

1:16

Announcement!

1
Stage, Six Part 2: Elizabeth Bisland Is Homesick in Singapore 31:52

10M ago31:52

31:52

December 20th-25th: Elizabeth Bisland is deliciously indulgent in Malaysia. But even in all the beauty of the tropics, she can't help feeling homesick as she sits on the thousands of miles from home.By Adrien Behn

1
Stage Six, Part 1: Nellie Bly Gets Turned Around in Hong Kong 55:48

10M ago55:48

55:48

December 19th-December 25th: Nellie Bly surpasses her halfway point, but bad luck and worse news meet her at every corner. She suffers through a monsoon, receives aggressive unwanted male attention, is rescheduled again, all before learning that another woman is in the race against time as well... Nellie takes charge and has an unforgettable Christ…

1
A Mother’s Anguish – Michelle McPhillips (Part 1) 26:45

10M ago26:45

26:45

On the 25th of February 2017 Michelle Phillips’s life changed forever. It was the day her 28-year-old son, Jonathan McPhillips was fatally stabbed while acting as a peacemaker in a brawl outside Islington Town Hall, in north London. In an emotional recollection she tells J.A. Lovelock what really happened and how she copes with her loss. Learn more…

1
Stage Five, Part Two: Elizabeth Bisland's Pleasure Trip in Hong Kong 38:52

10M ago38:52

38:52

December 13th- 18th: Thirty-one days out from New York, Elizabeth Bisland arrives in Hong Kong. She is lucky because she has friends in Hong Kong who show her the best parts of the city. She hikes mountains, explores markets, and indulges in every pleasure. Something shifts in Elizabeth Bisland, and she starts wishing that she could stay longer in …

1
Stage Five, Part 1: Nellie Bly Hits Her Halfway Point in Singapore 38:41

10M ago38:41

38:41

December 13th- 16th: Nellie Bly is anxious as her steamship crosses through the Bay of Bengal and the Straits of Malacca to make up for lost time. In these few days, she does make progress. She touches down in two ports in Malaysia: Penang and Singapore. While in Singapore, she analyzes how different cultures express the human experiences in vastly…

1
Stage Four, Part Two: Nellie Bly is Stranded in Ceylon 42:17

10M ago42:17

42:17

December 8th- 12th: The same days that Elizabeth Bisland is falling in love with Japan, Nellie Bly is having a hard time being present in Ceylon. The fates have intervened, and Nellie’s plans get turned upside down. What will Nellie Bly do now that the unexpected has happened, and will she ever get off the paradisiacal island of Ceylon?…

1
Stage Four, Part 1: Elizabeth Bisland Falls in Love with Japan 49:03

10M ago49:03

49:03

December 8th-12th: After 16 days at sea, Elizabeth Bisland finally sees land again. She explores the land of the rising sun and does everything she can in her short amount of time there. Elizabeth gets the first taste of how exhilarating falling in love with a country can be...and she starts to see this whole race differently.…

1
Stage Three: Nellie Bly Summersaults through the Middle East 1:03:28

10M ago1:03:28

1:03:28

November 25th- December 2nd: Nellie Bly sails through the Mediterranean, cuts through the Suez Canal, sails through the Red Sea and makes it to the Indian Ocean. She stops in Egypt and Yemen and explores the Middle East. Now that she is in the middle of it all, she sees both sides to travel, all of the beautiful and ugly parts of it.…

1
Douglas Dunn. Love Poem. 1:00

11M ago1:00

1:00

I live in you, you live in me; We are two gardens haunted by each other. Sometimes I cannot find you there, There is only the swing creaking, that you have just left, Or your favourite book beside the sundial. The Ceylon Press currently produces three podcast shows. 1. The Jungle Diaries (www.theceylonpress.com/thejunglediariespodcast) 2. The Histo…

1
Douglas Dunn. Kaleidoscope. 1:33

11M ago1:33

1:33

To climb these stairs again, bearing a tray, Might be to find you pillowed with your books, Your inventories listing gowns and frocks As if preparing for a holiday. Or, turning from the landing, I might find My presence watched through your kaleidoscope, A symmetry of husbands, each redesigned In lovely forms of foresight, prayer and hope. I climb …

1
Politics & The Art of Family 10:27

11M ago10:27

10:27

Politics – and the art of family. Monday, 25th September 2023. “Spaghetti,” barked a planter friend, describing Sri Lankan politics. “Noodles. A ball of coir, all entangled. A roll of barbed wire. “ He was on roll himself here. “Pepper vine, “ he finally ventured: “all entangled but makes you sneeze too.” Politics was front of mind today. The count…

1
Reverend John Selby Watson aka The Stockwell Murderer 13:31

11M ago13:31

13:31

In this episode of Behind The Yellow Tape, J.A. Lovelock considers the case of Reverend John Selby Watson, a man of the cloth who bludgeoned his wife of thirty plus years to death. Will this ‘man of God’ meet his maker via the hangman’s noose, or will divine intervention come to his aid? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice…

1
Stage Two: Nellie Bly Eurotreks from England to Italy 1:03:55

11M ago1:03:55

1:03:55

November 22nd-November 25th: While Elizabeth Bisland leaves America, Nellie Bly makes contact with her first country. She arrives in England and is informed by reporters, who escort her, that Jules Vern, the author of the fictional A Race Around the World would like to meet her. Is going to a small town in France worth the detour to meet this famou…

1
Stage One: Elizabeth Bisland Takes on The Great American Road Trip 1:06:18

11M ago1:06:18

1:06:18

November 14th- 21st: Elizabeth Bisland begrudgingly takes a trip across America. In this episode, we travel the northern route of the Great American road trip from New York to California. Over these 4000 miles, we stop in Chicago, pass through the Midwest, interact with Native American women, and explore San Francisco’s Chinatown. As Elizabeth Bisl…

1
12. The Final Curtain 10:47

11M ago10:47

10:47

21 CE – 66 CE “By blood a king, in heart a clown.” Alfred Lord Tennyson King Amandagamani Abhaya's ascent to the throne in 21 CE was both fair and orderly. Even so, the dynastic DNA had long before morphed into a penchant for regicide, and in 30 CE this fatal habit was to reappear, heralding the dynasty’s final moments – ones that not even the most…

1
11. Deadly Love 5:31

11M ago5:31

5:31

77 BCE – 21 CE “Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” Back When We Were Grownups, Anne Tyler It took over barely 40 years for the penultimate Vijayan kings to lay out the full and final road to oblivion, years that made the mafia tales of the Prohibition era or a Shakespearean tragedy appear tame.…

1
10. Musical Chairs 8:06

11M ago8:06

8:06

103 BCE – 77 BCE “And then there were none” Agatha Christie With the murder of Khallata Naga, the Anuradhapuran Kingdom made the leap to regularizing regicide as if it was no more unusual than brushing one’s teeth. Valagamba – the rightful heir and son of King Saddha Tissa – had first to defeat and kill Kammaharattaka, Khallata Naga’s nemesis, befo…

1
9. Rise and Fall 6:15

11M ago6:15

6:15

161 BCE – 103 BCE “There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” Adam Smith For a glorious, albeit extended moment, it seems as if the Vijayan good times had returned. Dutugemunu's nature, clear from his early childhood, was naturally geared to dominate, take control, and direct. Not for nothing does island history remember him as “the great”. Certai…

1
8. The Just King 6:28

11M ago6:28

6:28

205 BCE – 161 BCE “The sword of justice has no scabbard.” Antione De Riveral Invaders are rarely liked and often forgotten. But the 44 year reign of the Tamil king, Ellalan, merits much more than a modest footnote in the island’s story. Unlike almost all other conquerors before or since, Ellalan cherished his kingdom as much as any man might his ow…

1
7. Line of Attack 6:19

11M ago6:19

6:19

367 BCE – 205 BCE “What goes up must come down” Isaac Newton The death of Sri Lanka’s visionary king, Devanampiya Tissa, ushered in a period of unnerving calm. All seemed fine with the state – and yet something, somewhere, was going fatally wrong, leaving it wide open to invasion. If there was a serious shortcoming in the reign of Devanampiya Tissa…

1
William Blake. The Tyger. 1:58

11M ago1:58

1:58

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat. W…

1
William Blake. From "Milton". 1:41

11M ago1:41

1:41

And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! …

1
John Betjeman. A Subaltern's Love Song. 3:21

11M ago3:21

3:21

Miss J.Hunter Dunn, Miss J.Hunter Dunn, Furnish'd and burnish'd by Aldershot sun, What strenuous singles we played after tea, We in the tournament - you against me! Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy, The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy, With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won, I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn …

1
John Betjeman. How To Get On In Society. 1:32

11M ago1:32

1:32

Phone for the fish knives, Norman As cook is a little unnerved; You kiddies have crumpled the serviettes And I must have things daintily served. Are the requisites all in the toilet? The frills round the cutlets can wait Till the girl has replenished the cruets And switched on the logs in the grate. It's ever so close in the lounge dear, But the ve…

1
John Betjeman. Song of a Nightclub Proprietress. 1:59

11M ago1:59

1:59

I walked into the nightclub in the morning, there was Kummel on the handle of the door, the ashtrays were unemptied, The cleaning unattempted, And a squashed tomato sandwich on the floor. I pulled aside the thick magenta curtains So Regency, so Regency, my dear And a host of little spiders Ran a race across the ciders To a box of baby 'pollies by t…

1
John Betjeman. In Westminster Abbey. 2:26

11M ago2:26

2:26

Let me take this other glove off As the vox humana swells, And the beauteous fields of Eden Bask beneath the Abbey bells. Here, where England's statesmen lie, Listen to a lady's cry. Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans, Spare their women for Thy Sake, And if that is not too easy We will pardon Thy Mistake. But, gracious Lord, whate'er shall be, Don'…

1
John Betjeman. Slough. 2:19

11M ago2:19

2:19

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough It isn't fit for humans now, There isn't grass to graze a cow Swarm over, Death! Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens Those air-conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans Tinned minds, tinned breath. Mess up the mess they call a town — A house for ninety-seven down And…

1
John Betjeman. Inexpensive Progress. 2:30

11M ago2:30

2:30

Encase your legs in nylons, Bestride your hills with pylons O age without a soul; Away with gentle willows And all the elmy billows That through your valleys roll. Let's say goodbye to hedges And roads with grassy edges And winding country lanes; Let all things travel faster Where motor car is master Till only Speed remains. Destroy the ancient inn…

1
John Betjeman. The Olympic Girl. 2:02

11M ago2:02

2:02

The sort of girl I like to see Smiles down from her great height at me. She stands in strong, athletic pose And wrinkles her retroussé nose. Is it distaste that makes her frown, So furious and freckled, down On an unhealthy worm like me? Or am I what she likes to see? I do not know, though much I care, xxxxxxxx…..would I were (Forgive me, shade of …

1
John Betjeman. Indoor Games near Newbury. 3:19

11M ago3:19

3:19

In among the silver birches, Winding ways of tarmac wander And the signs to Bussock Bottom, Tussock Wood and Windy Break. Gabled lodges, tile-hung churches Catch the lights of our Lagonda As we drive to Wendy’s party, Lemon curd and Christmas cake Rich the makes of motor whirring Past the pine plantation purring Come up Hupmobile Delage. Short the …

1
John Betjeman. Middlesex. 2:22

11M ago2:22

2:22

Gaily into Ruislip Gardens Runs the red electric train, With a thousand Ta's and Pardon's Daintily alights Elaine; Hurries down the concrete station With a frown of concentration, Out into the outskirt's edges Where a few surviving hedges Keep alive our lost Elysium - rural Middlesex again. Well cut Windsmoor flapping lightly, Jacqmar scarf of mauv…

1
John Betjeman. Late Flowering Lust. 1:56

11M ago1:56

1:56

My head is bald, my breath is bad, Unshaven is my chin, I have not now the joys I had When I was young in sin. I run my fingers down your dress With brandy-certain aim And you respond to my caress And maybe feel the same. But I've a picture of my own On this reunion night, Wherein two skeletons are shewn To hold each other tight; Dark sockets look …

1
John Betjeman. Upper Lambourne. 1:51

11M ago1:51

1:51

Up the ash tree climbs the ivy, Up the ivy climbs the sun, With a twenty-thousand pattering, Has a valley breeze begun, Feathery ash, neglected elder, Shift the shade and make it run - Shift the shade toward the nettles, And the nettles set it free, To streak the stained Carrara headstone, Where, in nineteen-twenty-three, He who trained a hundred w…

1
John Betjeman. Hunter Trials. 2:01

11M ago2:01

2:01

It’s awf’lly bad luck on Diana, Her ponies have swallowed their bits; She fished down their throats with a spanner And frightened them all into fits. So now she’s attempting to borrow. Do lend her some bits Mummy, do; I’ll lend her my own for to-morrow, But to-day I‘ll be wanting them too. Just look at Prunella on Guzzle, The wizardest pony on eart…

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