This new book is terrific - its a revelation.

Catherine has studied texts written around the same time as the writings we know as the gospels.

Some of these ancient documents tell the story of the bible characters we are familiar with in a totally different way.

Listen to Catherine talk about her research and you will be surprised ..... probably very surprised!!

Ashley Mullinger is a commercial fisherman.

She used to work in an office but found it dull and stressful. She decided to go on a half day fishing trip with a couple of her friends just to make a change.

The friends sort of liked it but Ashley REALLY liked it and now does it as a full time job. She is so good at it she was awarded the title of 'Fisherman of the Year'.

In this conversation she explains her passion for the life and her fears for the future of the whole commercial fishing industry.

There is an article in the Culture section of The Sunday Times about father and daughter Michael and Rebecca Frayn.

Rebecca is a farmer and environmental activist and writer who lives in the north of Ibiza.

Her new novel 'Lost in Ibiza' is coincidentally, about a young environmental activist who travels to Ibiza to meet her biological father for the very first time.

It's a story of family drama, but it is also the story of a paradise island under threat.

A great holiday read!

Eric Bibb remembers his introduction into music via his dad Leon and the musical luminaries who visited the family home.

Paul Robeson was his Godather, and a very young Bob Dylan gave him some sound advice.

Now 72 Eric is still touring, playing, and writing songs. He is one of lifes gentlemen!

This novel is set in the 1960s with a backdrop of The Beatles and other music of the time.

It tells the story of Daisy Shoemaker who is 15 in 1964. She was born into a fundamentalist Mormon community on the US - Canada border.

In a ceremony called Placement she is given as a teenage wife to a much older man. She finds this intolerable and runs away.

The church official who makes the decisions is known as Bishop and he assures his followers that he has a direct line to God. Amazingly they believe him.

It's a gripping and enraging read. It's fiction but events like the book describes are still happening today. The fundamentalist cult is vey much alive and well.

There is a Netflix documentary about the group .. Keep Sweet : Pray and Obey.

This brand new book examines the astonishing extent of American ownership in UK business.

Whether you are interested in 'taking back control' or how much of our day to day financial transactions happen via the US, you will find this fascinating and possibly horrifying.

Sunken Lands is about a journey through flooded kingdoms and lost worlds.

Gareth tells of places he has visited to see history and extrapolates forward to imagine the world we are leaving for future generations.

There is anger, poetry, myth .... and David Bowie.

In the spring of 2024 clashes driven by different religious beliefs and identities seem frighteningly threatening.

Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford. From his academic standpoint he charts the evolution of religion in all its many guises and forms.

Does the professor's analysis explain the enduring but shrinking appeal of non logical beliefs?