Neil Oliver: News, Interviews, History

Latest Episodes:

63. Auld Lang Syne & Robert Burns, Dumfries Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

In this episode we travel with Neil around the world with the words of Robert Burns, a poet and lyricist whose work has touch millions and directly helped to shape Neil’s own life.

Robert Burns was born in Ayr, lived in Dumfries and went on to be the national bard of Scotland. His brilliant body of work stretches from Auld Lang Syne to his famous epic poem, Tam o’ Shanter – work that continues still to bring people together. With his genius for words he has managed to exert an influence and make the world a better place.

To help support this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

Neil’s Patreon site is pack full of history, comment and current affairs

Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter - https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en

YouTube Channel is at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g

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

62. The Birth of the Industrial Revolution, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Neil takes us to age simmering with the steadily building heat of technological change and advance. We stride across a landscape of great beauty, full of the things needed to kick start a profound transformation; the natural energy of powerful rivers, land rich with minerals, coal and iron ore. Here in Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire a heady mix of human ingenuity, innovation and the commercial drive of entrepreneurs, built a bridge of mesmerising beauty which was forged in the first fires of a coming Industrial revolution that would transform the whole world!

To help support this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

Neil’s Patreon site is pack full of history, comment and current affairs

Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter - https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en

YouTube Channel is at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g

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

61. Isaac Newton & Weighing the World - Schiehallion, Perthshire Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Neil takes us to the top of one of Scotland’s most beautiful mountains – Schiehallion in Perthshire.

Following in the footsteps of Isaac Newton and a group of intrepid C18th scientists we set off to the wonderful wilds of Rannoch moor to measure the weight of the world.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history, current affairs and a whole lot more sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

60. General James Wolfe and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

In this episode Neil climbs the hill to the Royal Observatory and finds himself at the centre of time & place.

Henry VIII’s hunting lodge where he kept his mistress of the moment once stood here. Then in 1675 Christopher Wren was commissioned to build the Royal Observatory in this spot, a building that stood at the forefront of astronomy and mapping for centuries. It’s here that the prime meridian bisects the planet and a legendary soldier, General James Woolfe, looks out over one of the greatest cities in the world and through thousands of years of history.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history, current affairs and a whole lot more sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

59. Sat on a Volcano! Edinburgh Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast Neil enters a city fizzing with new idea. In the late C18th and early C19th Edinburgh was the beating heart at the centre of what many people have called the Scottish Enlightenment. The intellectual thinking generated here was recognised around the world with men and women of genius said to be on every street with new ways of thinking bussing around every part of the city.

It was here, inspired by the city’s physical location - sat on a volcano - that James Hutton developed revolutionary ideas about how the world was created. Ideas that went counter the accepted thinking of the day. Hutton became known as the father of geology and was one of the first thinkers to contemplate deep time and confront us with our insignificance in the face of eternity.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history, current affairs and a whole lot more sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

58. Captain Cook Sets Sail, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

This week we’re setting sail on a legendary voyage of exploration with the greatest navigator ever to come out of the British Isles - Captain James Cook.

We follow James from the beginning of his adventure, when he leaves his job as a grocers lad in Staithes and travels to the hauntingly beautiful port of Whitby to pursue his dreams of a life a sea. It’s here, as a merchant seaman transporting coal up and down the eastern seaboard that he learns his trade. His ambition, dedication and yearning for adventure drive him to sign up and join the Royal Navy where he soon rises through the ranks to become captain of the valiant vessel, HMS Endeavour. Aboard the ship he would make famous he sets off on a number of extraordinary voyages of discovery that would help shape the future of the British Isles and the direction this great seafaring nation would present to the world.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history, current affairs and a whole lot more sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

57. Captain Cook - Where Dreams Are Made, Yorkshire Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, it’s 1745 and we’re walking along the cobbled streets of a busy, bustling fishing port, off to buy groceries from a young lad named James Cook.

Staring out at the sea every day from his shop window in Staithes, North Yorkshire the teenage grocers boy, James Cook, dreamt of future that would take him around the world. Staithes is a striking fishing port, filled with beautiful clear light, sharp air and constantly changing weather. It’s full of picturesque higgledy-piggledy houses and has the power to buoy the spirits of anyone who visits. This is the place where Britain’s legendary explorer, who would go on to help shape the future of the British Isles, fell in love with boats and the sea.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history, current affairs and a whole lot more sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

56. The Jacobites Last Stand, Culloden Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast I’m taking you to a place that’s part of my ‘origin myth’, it’s a location that witnessed a bloody and brutal battle which is famous around the world. As a wee lad, it was here, that I discovered many of my ancestors from Clan Cameron were killed and buried. This realisation clicked a switch in my young brain and I realised that if I was connected to this part of history then I was connected to every part of it.

The build-up to this battle begins less than a year before when Bonnie Prince Charlie, the dashing young pretender, lands on the Scottish island of Eriskay, striding onto the bloody historical stage. He raises his standard and builds an army around himself, determined to claim the British crown by force. On 16th April 1746, on the beautiful moorland of Culloden his Jacobite army fought what would prove to be the last pitched battle ever to take palce on British soil – the Battle of Culloden.

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history and current affairs every week sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

55. England & Scotland United! St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast we’re walking down the aisle with a couple who fought like cat and dog for years, but are now about to be joined in union.

The Act of Union came into force in 1707 and England and Scotland were finally brought together by the pen and not the sword. The independent parliaments of Scotland & England were united and a prosperous new beginning was promised, but as the Act that would legally bring them together was signed the bells of St Gilles’ Cathedral, on Edinburgh’s royal mile, rang out with the mournful lament, ‘Why am I so sad on this my wedding day?’

To help support this podcast and get exclusive access to new videos packed with history and current affairs every week sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

54. The Pitchfork Rebellion, Somerset. May 31, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast we’re landing in Lyme Regis with a swashbuckling Duke who is determined to be the King.

Charles II’s eldest illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, lands in the west country with a small army of soldiers intent on deposing his catholic uncle, King James II.

The duke’s uprising gains momentum and his army swells to around 8000 strong. Because the majority of the Duke’s new raw recruits are agricultural worker, rather than trained soldiers, it becomes known as the pitchfork rebellion.

The Duke’s and the King’s army meet at Sedgemoor in what is the last battle of any note ever fought on English soil.

https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver

The series Instagram account is – Neil Oliver Love Letter

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

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