| I’d like to tell you a story about Zahra, who looks like any other teenager in her black jeans and hoodie but has been through extraordinary things. She crossed the Channel at dawn on Christmas Day on an overloaded rubber dinghy, risking her life one last time for a chance of safety at the end of a seven thousand mile journey. Listening to her, I was struck by the similarity with those ancient, epic folk tales in which a hero has to travel vast distances and overcome monsters and perils to find hope. She asked me to tell her story and this is an attempt to do so in a way that explores how humans like Zahra, who have been demonised by certain politicians, are not alien or other. They are us. You can listen to Zahra’s story here or on Spotify, Apple, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. Each episode of Can We Talk? is me telling a story into your ears about an encounter with a remarkable person and thinking about what it teaches us. I wrote and recorded this before the invasion of Ukraine created another huge wave of forced migration, but the truths are the same for those fleeing that desperate situation. I hope you’ll listen and let me know what you think. The organisation that supports Zahra is Kent Refugee Action Network. Please support them. The DEC Ukraine Appeal is also a good way to help. The image shows my son Josh on Calais beach next to the Banksy image of a child with a suitcase looking out to sea with a telescope, watched by a vulture. |
Can We Talk?
Hello! I just want to let you know this week’s new short story is just up on all podcast platforms and it’s about love, ubuntu and why the great Desmond Tutu yelled in terror because he thought I was trying to kill him.
I made it so you could listen, so I’ll be thrilled if you do. Let me know.
Spotify, Apple, Acast or wherever you get your pods.
Or download directly from here
There’s no charge. This is for love. If you like it and you don’t mind, could you rate the episode and maybe post a little review? It really helps. Thank you!
Cole x
Launch Day
I keep thinking there should be a minor royal handy with a champagne bottle to break against my stern. Or is it bow? Anyway, it’s launch day for my short story podcast Can We Talk?
| You can hear it on Spotify, Apple, Acast and wherever you get your podcasts. I’d love to know what you make of it. The first two episodes are about meeting Scarlett Johansson and Tiger Woods.Click the links to listen. They’re also about our human longing for connection, like the rest of this series of short stories reflecting on encounters with remarkable people. Next week is Desmond Tutu and there will be one a week including Nelson Mandela, the Queen and a refugee called Zahra. Please do listen. I would be hugely grateful if you could rate the podcast, post a review or share it with your friends, because it all helps to spread the word. Thank you, Cole PS: The podcast is free. It’s produced by Emily Jeffery with sound design by Andy Dartington and is brought to you by Hodder Faith. Thanks. |
Can We Talk?
| Can We Talk? is my new short story podcast about some of the remarkable people I have encountered in my working life and what I think we can learn from them about how to live. Phew, that was a long sentence. More details below. It’s also a genuine question, because this is the first in a series of very personal posts in which I’d like to set out some of the things that are going on with me, share thoughts and ideas and pictures and songs and clips and see if it any of it resonates with you. If it does, even if it winds you up, let me know, and next time I’ll share that too, if you like. So, let’s start with the short story podcast which is being launched on February 8th and will be on Spotify, Apple, Acast and wherever you usually get these things. Subscribe now and you’ll get episodes one and two as soon as they drop. The first is about Scarlett Johansson and how a quick chat with a publicist in tow turned into a long and pretty deep conversation in a hotel bar in Manhattan that went on for hours and had me wondering what on Earth was going on. The vain male chimp chattering in my brain had all sortsof ideas but he was wrong again, as usual, and the reality turned out to be much more interesting. Others in series one include Tiger Woods, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Queen and a refugee called Zahra who crossed the Channel on an overloaded rubber dinghy early one Christmas morning. I love the way David Sedaris tells stories, and while I would not dare claim to be that accomplished or funny, these pieces are inspired by what he does. They are are intimate reflections on what it was like to be with that person at that time and what the encounter says about our longing to connect, with each other and with ourselves, with the natural world and with the divine, if we believe in that. |
| Listen to the trailer |
| You can hear a chat about interviewing, journalism, connection and the time Desmond Tutu thought I was trying to kill him in this interview with Ed Thornton of the Church Times. And me and Charlotte Sibtain are back on Radio 4 at the moment as The Wedding Detectives, so if you fancy a bit of social history sleuthing that uncovers tragedy, scandal and romance, give that a go. If you signed up for the music by the way, thank you for your patience! I’ll be singing and telling stories with The Light Keepers at Printers Playhouse in Eastbourne on February 4th and you would be most welcome. Here we are singing a song about Beachy Head in the lantern room of the Belle Tout lighthouse before Covid. That is the setting for The Light Keeper novel, copies of which remain in the wild. What have you been watching, listening to or reading? I love Ted Lasso, the warmest, wisest, wittiest comedy on the telly for years. It’s a sitcom about blokes in football that isn’t really about the blokes or the football. The Mermaid of Black Conch is a wonderful book, mesmerising and profound. And thank you to my son Jacob for introducing me to The Weather Station, who make gorgeous, mysterious music. What do you recommend? Also, while I’m asking questions, I wonder who is the most remarkable person you have ever met? They don’t have to be famous or infamous, just have made an impact on you personally. Maybe it’s your Mum. Maybe it’s the milkman, I don’t know, but I would be really interested to hear. Get in touch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or by email and I’ll pass your wisdom and stories on as part of the short story podcast Can WeTalk? It’s good to talk, as Bob Hoskins used to say in a telephone company ad when I was a nipper, but you’re far too young for that. Love and strength and may your day have some joy in it, Cole x |
Love and the Changing of the Seasons
If like me you’ve been taking your offspring to university, sending them to school for the first time or saying goodbye to people you love in other ways, for good or just for now, I wish you all the love and strength you need and offer this Pause For Thought, which was originally written for the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 and can be heard here.
I’m not good at transitions. The changing of the seasons, the end of summer, saying goodbye to people, getting out of the bath, getting out of bed. There’s something in me that finds it hard to settle in a new situation, or leave it once I’ve settled, even when I know it’s right and I have somewhere to go.
And one of the hardest transitions I have faced in my adult life was as a parent saying goodbye to my first born when he went to university.
I tried to think of something to say to express what I felt, but it was too hard,
so I made a ham-fisted attempt at marking the moment, by asking if I could read from one of our shared books, Winnie The Pooh.
The two of us lying on the bed like we used to, my son Jake feeling all mixed up, a bit sad but mostly excited. A big 18-year-old, probably thinking: “This is a bit weird.”
And me with my heart breaking, trying not to show it.
Here’s what I read:
“Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in the enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing.”
Oh, I was a hot mess after that, while he went off and played Fifa or something.
And here we are again: as sons and daughters go off to school or college, and the summer fades. The change of any season is unsettling even when there are new joys to be found.
The autumn has great beauty, I’m told.
And my relationship with my son has changed into something adult, new and lovely, although long distance.
The Bible says nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that’s comforting, but I find it hard to understand in the abstract, until I look for examples in my own life, because it also says we are made in God’s image.
And I think AA Milne was on to something, whether it comes to leaving a place or a season or letting a child or a loved one go.
I think if you’ve got the memory, and the story to tell, and the love that was shared between you, then nobody can ever take that away.