For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to double bassist and returning guest Roberto Cassani to hear all about the album Pictish Spaghetti which he has made with guitarist Graeme Stephen, and which is out now on Brooklyn label 577 Records. Roberto talks about collaborating with Graeme and how that came about, the dynamic of the double bas…

For the latest podcast Ali spoke to writer and musician Carrie Marshall to talk about her latest book Small Town Joy, which is published by 404 Ink. A widely-published writer, including the critically-acclaimed memoir Carrie Kills A Man, Carrie is also a musician with indie rock band Unquiet Mind, and Small Town Joy is an inquiry into the ways LGBT…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to Fraser Scott who is the director of The Gray Plays, a concert reading of four short plays by Alasdair Gray, which will be at Oran Mor on the 4th May. Fraser talks about the project, the book that inspired it, who is involved (including some well-kent names), and breaks down each of the four plays …

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer Craig A. Smith to hear all about his new novel The River, which is out now with Into Books. Craig explains the full title of The River: A Path Of Least Resistance, why this was a story he wanted to tell, having a picture of the story in his head and the way it developed, the central charact…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to Ann Campbell who is the Festival Director of the Dunoon Film Festival which moves to Spring this year, and runs between 24th - 27th April. Ann talks about the history of the festival and the importance of the local community. She also explains her own role before breaking down this year's programm…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke once again to Jess Orr, the Associate Programmer for the Paisley Book Festival, to learn all about this year's programme - and what a programme it is. Jess explains this year's theme 'The Lives We Live' as well as breaking down the various strands of the festival which include 'Life's Fundamentals', …

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to musician and writer Katy Lironi to talk all about her memoir Matilda In The Middle, which is available now, published with Into Books. Katy gives an overview of the book, talks about the title, breaks down the subtitle of 'family, music and mayhem' and how those three aspects work together to tell…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with writer Ewan Morrison to talk about his latest novel For Emma, which is published on the 25th March with Leamington Books. Ewan gives an overview of the novel before talking about Robert Louis Stevenson, his choice of quotations which are the book's epigraph, the structure of the novel, the c…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with writer Karen Campbell to talk about her latest novel This Bright Life, which will be published later this month with Canongate Books. Karen gives a synopsis of the novel before breaking down the three central characters of Gerard, Margaret and Claire and their role in events, why it had to b…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Show Ali spoke to writer and academic Esa Aldegheri to talk about There She Goes: New Travel Writing by Women, an anthology of travel tales which celebrates the stories of women for which Esa is the editor, and which will be published by Saraband Books on 6th March. Esa explains how this anthology came about, includin…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with writer Chris McQueer who was last a guest back in 2018. Since then Chris has been working on his debut novel which is now with us in the form of Hermit, published with Wildfire Books on the 27th February. Chris gives a synopsis of Hermit before explaining how the novel has changed in terms o…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali caught up with previous guest, Saltire Prize shortlisted author David F. Ross to hear all about his new novel The Weekenders which is published on the 27th February with Orenda Books. David gave a brief synopsis before talking about why this was a book he wanted write, the structure of the novel, the vario…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! popdcast Ali spoke to writer Allan Gaw to talk about his debut novel The Silent House Of Sleep, which is the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert series, all to be published with Polygon Books. The Silent House Of Sleep won the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut Prize last year, and Allan talks about first being on the sho…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up once again with Dawn Taylor, the Artistic Director & CEO at MANIPULATE Arts, to learn all about this year's MANIPULATE Festival which runs from 12th - 15th February. Now in its 18th year the festival promises something for everyone, and Dawn gives us an overview of the programme, a bit of history…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to singer-songwriter and author James Yorkston to talk about his latest novel, Tommy The Bruce - which is published by Oldcastle Books. James gave a brief synopsis, before explaining why this was a story he wanted to tell, why the small-town setting is crucial, creating the central character of Tommy…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to musician Clare Stewart who is a founding member, and artistic director, of the vocal ensemble APOLLO5 to talk about their new album 'Anam'. 'Anam' means 'soul' in Gaelic, and Clare talks about the strong Celtic theme which underpins the album, which features new arrangements of folk songs, pagan t…

For the first Scots Whay Hae! Podcast of 2025 Ali caught up with writer and journalist Peter Mohan to talk about his book 'Cheers, Govanhill', in the appropriate setting of Queen's Park Cafe (which features numerous times). The two talk about the origins of the book and the blog which it's taken from, how it started, and how it developed, the histo…

For the latest SWH! podcast, and the last of our Best of 2024 pods for this year, Ali is joined once more by our longest serving contributor, Chris Ward, to talk all things film, or at least to talk about their films of the year. (Unfortunately fellow film pod regular Wesley Shearer couldn't do this year, but he let us know his films of the year as…

For our latest roundup of 2024 we look at the year in music, with Ali joined once again by musician and righteous supporter of Scottish music, Gefahrgeist's Fiona Liddell. As is now customary, they each pick 10 tracks to discuss which have left their mark over the last 12 months. As ever, they could easily have picked many, many, more examples from…

As is traditional, the first of our Best of 2024 podcasts is all about books, when once again Ali is joined by Publishing Scotland's Vikki Reilly to talk about the standouts of the year, and to give a heads up as to what's coming in 2025. The two talk fantastic fiction, non-fiction, plenty of prose, and even a little poetry. There's food, drink, cr…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to restauranteur and writer Carina Contini about her new book The Contini Cookbook, published by Birlinn Books. Carina runs a number of well-regarded establishments in Edinburgh with husband Victor, including Contini George Street, and the cookbook captures the ethos not only of what they do, but who…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with journalist, critic, and presenter Fergus Morgan to talk about the excellent podcast A History of Scottish Drama in Six Plays, which you can get in all the usual places. Scottish drama doesn't get the coverage it deserves, but Fergus's podcast goes some way to right that situation. He talks a…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer and journalist Alan Taylor to talk about this latest book, Edinburgh: The Autobiography, which is published with Birlinn Books. Following on from 2016's Glasgow: The Autobiography, Alan talks about why the time was right for Edinburgh to get similar treatment (its publication coincides with…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! Podcast Ali spoke to Jenna Gordon, who is the editorial director for Verve Books, to talk about all things independent publishing, and much more. Jenna talks all about Verve Books, how it started, and how it's going, including what we can look forward to in terms of publications coming in the new year. She also breaks…

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to returning guest, the crime writer Denzil Meyrick to hear all about the latest novel in the Inspector Frank Grasby series, The Christmas Stocking Murders. An appearance by Denzil on the podcast has quickly become a sign that Christmas is on the way, and it was great to catch up with him and hear ab…