ships

Fry’s English Delights

September 2nd, 2008 by Russell Davies

Blimey. This is our 300th post. That feels like a little milestone to me. And this is probably an appropriate programme. In many way’s it’s exactly what you’d expect; Stephen Fry is twinkly, arch and clever, various linguistic and maritime experts are interesting and scholarly about the naval and oceanic metaphors that soak the English language. It’s good stuff, but it’s a little predictable. And then, from nowhere, you get Mrs Constantinou, the owner of a Greek removals business, explaining the origins of the word metaphor and it becomes the best radio you’ve listened to for ages. Hurrah. MP3 here.

Presenter: Stephen Fry
Producer: Nick Baker
Production Company: Testbed
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Listen: [MP3]

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The Cape Horners

February 14th, 2008 by Dan Hill

You wouldn’t expect much direct connection between South Australia and Finland perhaps, save the odd bit of migration. Yet this edition of Hindsight tells tall tales of the tall ships that sailed between the top and bottom of the world (or vice versa, depending on your point of view.) The ‘windjammers’ carried grain from Cape Victoria up to the Aland Islands and to keep the journey economically viable, they raced via Cape Horn, perhaps the most dangerous waterway in the world.

Running as late as 1949, when steam ships finally took over, the tall sailing ships were manned by young Australians often with little or no experience of sailing at all, never mind racing up and down such a precarious route. So lash yourself to the mast and hold tight for memories of majestic ships heaving through giant waves in freezing seas, and some pig blood pancakes.

Hindsight: The Cape Horners (mp3)

Producer: Franz Docherty and Belinda Bradley
Production Company: ABC Radio National
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Listen: [MP3]

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