Twisting the Tale Episodes

Trailer: Twisting the Tale - English language and history podcast

A short two minute introduction to Twisting the Tale with Kevin and Martin. Who are we and what is the podcast about?

REMEMBER THAT EACH EPISODE HAS A CORRESPONDING COMPREHENSION EXERCISE IN "Twisting the language" 

RELATED DOCUMENTS AND TRANSCRIPTS OF READINGS ARE HERE: "Twistingthetale transcripts"

Episode 1. 1900ish. Literature. Elementary, my dear Watson

This first episode looks at some of the literature (books, newspapers, poems...) around at the beginning of 1900. We'll briefly ponder the Generación del 98 in Spain before a special guest appearance of Shelock Holmes and Dr Watson to finish.

Episode 2 . 1900ish. Film. From Nickelodeon to James Bond

This second episode explores the invention of cinema around about 1900 and takes us from France to New York to Hollywood (where Spanish actors and writers were present from the beginning) and finally to the longest running film franchise...James Bond. A secret agent who has gradually (maybe unwillingly) moved with the times since the early 1960s! Thanks to the students at E.O.I. Alarcon de Pozuelo for their accompaniment for my version of Billie Eilish's "No time to die"

Episode 3. 1900ish. Women. The fight for the right to vote.

The twentieth century could be described as " the century of women". This episode follows the British suffragette movement, both the non-violent and the violent factions that, literally, fought for their right to vote. We'll also mull over the "boda del siglo" in Spain in 1906 between Alfonso XIII and Ena, Queen Victoria's grand-daughter. An intriguingly contrasting couple... And a song to finish. Thank you to the students of E.O.I. Boadilla del Monte for accompanying me on Nancy Sinatra's feisty "These boots are made for walking". 

Episode 4. 1900ish. Food, drink and a trip to Jerez 

While King Edward VII was eating copiously and fish and chip shops were starting to pop up all over Great Britain, on the other side of the Atlantic a new healthy approach to food and drink was emerging under the auspices of Mr Kellogg and John Sith Pemberton , the inventor of Coca Cola while other innovations from trattorias to cafeterias or from candy bars to hotdogs were appearing. Back in Spain we consider the extraordinary Anglo-Spanish relationship surrounding sherry (jerez).

Episode 5. 1900ish. Inventions and other electrifying tales 

The telephone, the radio and a host of electrical devices were appearing in the U.S.A. From electric washing machines to elctric fidges and vacuum cleaners, it's hard to imagine what life was like before these new inventions. But some dislike the bright lights of Broadway and others will suffer from the darker side of electricity as we see in this episode. There's time for a quick look at Leonardo Torres Quevedo, the brilliant mathemetician and inventor from Cantabria before we finish with a look at ...ladies frocks.

Episode 6. 1900ish. Christmas. Victoria, Dickens and La Cabalgata 

A Christmas special that considers the importance of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) in shaping what we now call a "traditional" Christmas with the tree, brandy, cards, games etc before we look at Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" from 1843 and it's contribution to the "festive spirit" and finally a heart-felt tribute  to the wonderful Spanish tradition of "La Cabalgata"...or "Three Kings Cavalcade" as it is known in one peculiar part of the world...

Episode 7. 1900ish. Transport. Steamships and Trains 

Our first episode of 2024 is the first of two episodes about transport in 1900. We start with a look at steamships and trains in the U.K., Spain and in North America. Our musings take us from the steamers that used to cross from Santander to Cuba, to the nicknames of some of the popular railway lines in the U.K. (many now closed, sadly). Literary contributions come from Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Episode 8. 1900ish. Transport II. Cars and planes

The much awaited sequel to the first episode on transport in 1900 takes a look at cars and aeroplanes. Both are connected with the U.S.A. We'll consider the first driving manuals before some excerpts from the E.M. Forster novel "Howard's End" that involves various scenes with cars. Next we ponder the Wright brother's extraordinary contribution to the twentieth century and a look at some other names and places associated with early aviation... including Spain and Cantabria.

Episode 9. 1900ish. National parks and explorers

1872 saw the creation of the world's first national park at Yellowstone. We'll start out from Yogi bear's neck of the woods and move onto The Peak District and the Picos de Europa national parks. We'll muse on the Victorian age of exploration and it's influence on literature before considering the extraordinary figure of Gertrude Bell and her exploration of the Middle East. 

Episode 10. 1900ish. Out and about. Theatre, music and art

1900 is a great time for going out and about on the town in London, New York or Paris. Theatre is experiencing a new golden age with new state of the art theatres and an incredible variety of options, including plays by one of the greatest playwrights, Oscar Wilde. While music in all its forms is on offer a new invention , the gramophone is revolutionizing music.. We'll have a listen to one of the hits of 1900. Finally Picasso is just getting started with cubism and we'll consider the contribution of one of his contempraries Maria Blanchard from Santander.

Episode 11. 1900ish. Science. Fact and fiction

In 1900 "science" has come of age. Darwin's theory of evolution has revolutionised society's view of itself while progress is being made in the world of physics with Einstein's theory of relativity and discoveries about the atomic world. Meanwhile the world of medicine is moving ahead in leaps and bounds including the contribution by Santiago Ramón y Cajal on neuroscience. Science fiction literature is also coming of age with works from Jules Verne, H.G.Wells and a littel known Edward Bulwer-Lytton!

Episode 12. 1900ish. Sport. It's all kicking off...

By the end of the 19th century many of the sports we take for granted today are getting underway. This is a whirlwind look at the Modern Olympics, tennis, cycling, golf, cricket, rugby, baseball, American football and basketball before a long and over-leisurely look at the biggest sport of them all..football. Some childhood memories, football in Spain and a fascinating look at the early origins of women's football should be enough for even the fittest of our listeners. Listen out for The Beatles at the end!

Episode 13. 1900ish. Animals. Tales with tails.

Towards the end of the 19th century with growing urban middle class the relationship between humans and animals is changing. Victorians believed that pets could be educational for young children and a new age of dog and cat shows emerged alongside all sorts of accessories for "pets". Naturally literature reflects this new vision of animals in an industrial society with many fantastic books emerging from Beatrix Potter's "Tales of Peter Rabbit" to Jack London's gritty "Call of the wild" both published in 1903.

Episode 14. 1900ish. Sex...matters.

The 19th century ended with extremely conservative views with regard to sexual behaviour but that was all about to change radically with the turn of the century. This episode explores some of the literature both scientific and fictional that emerged around this time...very often from courageous female writers such as Colette, Gertrude Stein or Virginia Woolf. Alfonso XIII is back again and there's a fascinating story from Galicia about Elisa and Marcela.

Episode 15. 1900ish. La E.O.I. and English classes.

Around 1900 with the imperial domination of Great Britain and Ireland and the rise in the economic and political power of the U.S.A. it was inevitable that English would become the most important language globally. This episode follows the early years of teaching and learning English as a foreign language, with a special focus on the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas system in Spain. Most of the episode is dedicated to the first guest on the podcast series, Paul Viggers, who finished his English teaching career at the EOI in Santander after an interesting trajectory involving experiences not only in Santander, Bilbao and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria but also Sudan and Ecuador.

Episode 16. 1900ish. Slavery. Then and now.

By 1900 all the European countries had abolished slavery, Spain being the last to remove it from Cuba (officially) in 1886. Nonetheless with echoes of the U.S civil war from the 1860s still reverberating and a new fashion for African colonies as exemplified by the Berlin conference in 1884 the issue of slavery still lingered. It's fascinating to look at some of the literature from the 19th century and reflect on our current fascination with the legacy of slavery today, as it seems to be more present than ever.

Episode 17. 1900ish. Rich versus poor.

In 1900 the rise of the tycoon was well established with the likes of Rockefeller, Jay Gould, Carnegie and the first "billionaire" Henry Ford accumulating vast amounts of welath through their entrepreneurial activity at a time when the U.S.A. had become the biggest economy. On the flip side the contrast with the "slum" conditions in big industrial cities was evermore starker. The episode explores some literary contributions to comprehend the scale of the squalor many lived in before considering the first steps towards a "welfare state".

Episode 18. 1900ish. Tourism... Viva España.

The final episode of this season of podcasts finishes on a sunny note as the tourist season gets underway in Spain. The nineteenth century had already seen the emergence of many of the facets of toursim that we take for granted today. Transport, package holidays, guide -books and souvenirs. For the first time in history growing numbers of workers in the industrial nations had time and money on their hands. Tourism for the masses was born. Appropriately we finish in Spain and Santander to consider what a tourist might find if arriving in 1900. Thanks for listening to our series.