Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

This week, we step into the ‘undiscovered country’ — and explore the one subject we so often avoid: death. But rather than dwelling in darkness, this episode asks a more vital question: what can mortality teach us about how to live?

Kevin is joined by social historian and bereavement counsellor Dr Molly Conisbee, author of No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality. Together they explore how death was once woven into everyday domestic life — cared for at home, ritualised by communities, marked visibly through mourning dress and shared customs. From Victorian mourning warehouses, to Irish wakes, Jamaican Nine Nights, and the rise of the death-positive movement, Molly reflects on what we’ve lost as death moved behind hospital doors — and how reclaiming conversation, ritual, and radical acceptance might liberate us in the present.

To balance the existential weight, Archie McAlpine returns with a fresh Neuro Nugget on the science of laughter. What actually happens in the brain when we laugh? Why is it contagious? And in an age of caution and cancellation, how do we protect humour as a force for bonding, healing and social synchronisation? This is laughter under the microscope — and a timely reminder that humour is medicine.

Then, we pop to the local for a quick Pub Quiz, raising a glass to the incomparable Catherine O’Hara. From Home Alone to Best in Show and Schitt’s Creek, we test your knowledge of one of comedy’s greats.

Finally, Audio Archives opens the vault once more. In this unsettling tale from an early smart home, we meet Tristan and the ever-listening Iris. What begins as weather checks and chicken cooking queries spirals into something more revealing — a story of birthday cake, Drake playlists, and the uncomfortable truth that being truly heard might mean being truly seen.

So wherever you are on this strange and splendid rollercoaster of life, there’s always room for you in The Big Smoke.

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Pub Quiz: Catherine O’Hara the Great — Answers

1. At a funeral parlour
2. ‘God Loves a Terrier’
3. Soap opera actress

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Links

⚱️ No Ordinary Deaths by Molly Conisbee

🧠 Archie McAlpine — Neuro Nuggets

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro and Show Menu

(02:24) Dr Molly Conisbee Interview

(50:24) Archie’s Neuro Nuggets: Laughter

(57:53) Pub Quiz: Catherine O’Hara The Great

(1:00:23) Audio Archives: Hey, Iris

(1:15:19) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Original Music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Audio Archives: ‘Hey, Iris’ written by Aidan Parker and performed by Matthew Nicholson and Cait Roddam Jones

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

Tonight, we look up. But also down, and within! This episode is all about the stars — not just what they are, but what they’ve meant to us across time. From ancient myths and shared human stories to cutting-edge space science, Starspotting explores how looking skyward can reconnect us to something far greater than ourselves.

We begin our mission with planetary scientist, space educator, and Saturn super-fan Dr Sheila Kanani. Drawing on her book The Starspotter’s Guide, Sheila guides us through Saturn’s rings, its extraordinary moons, black holes, alien life, and the deep links between science, mythology, and imagination. From the Cassini mission to the shared star stories told by ancient cultures thousands of miles apart, this conversation reminds us that astronomy has always been a human pursuit.

When the city lights pull us back down to Earth, we head to the River Thames to meet our resident Mudlark Sean Clark. On the foreshore near Blackfriars, Sean shares one of his most remarkable finds yet: a near-complete medieval floor tile dating back over 700 years, bearing the unmistakable Three Lions of England. From royal symbolism to the strange objects history leaves behind, it’s a reminder that even the smallest discoveries can carry enormous stories.

After a good lark by the river, we pop into the local for a pint — and a Pub Quiz. This round: Aliens in Pop Culture. From Depression-era sci-fi panic to Hollywood classics, it’s a quickfire test of your extraterrestrial expertise.

And finally, we return to the skies with poet Rishi Rian, who delivers Cabin Crew, Prepare for Landing — a surreal, funny, and quietly devastating meditation on mental health, modern distraction, and what happens when empathy runs wild at 30,000 feet.

So whether you’re stargazing, mudlarking, or simply trying to stay present on the journey — settle in, look up, and join us once again in The Big Smoke.

1) The War of the Worlds — Answer: H. G. Wells The legendary 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds was based on the novel by H. G. Wells — not to be confused with its director and narrator, Orson Welles.

2) Mars Attacks! — Answer: “We come in peace.” In Mars Attacks!, the Martians’ repeated cry of “Ack! Ack! Ack!” is translated in the film as “We come in peace” — a hilariously ironic message given that they are actively destroying everything in sight.

3) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — Answer: Reese’s Pieces In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott uses Reese’s Pieces to lure E.T. into his home. Fun fact: the filmmakers originally approached Mars (makers of M&M’s), who declined the product placement — a decision that reportedly led to a major sales boost for Reese’s Pieces after the film’s release.

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Links

🪐 Learn more about Sheila Kanani

🔭 Order The Starspotter’s Guide

🦁 Learn more about Sean Clark

🪙 2026 Mudlarking events

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro and Show Menu

(02:26) Dr Sheila Kanani Interview

(48:28) Sean Clark the Mudlark’s Latest Find

(55:20) Pub Quiz: Aliens in Pop Culture

(57:04) Cabin Crew, Prepare for Landing by Rishi Rian

(1:05:47) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Original Music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

‘Cabin Crew, Prepare for Landing’ written and performed by Rishi Rian

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

Tonight, we explore music, movement, and a little misfiring magic — three very different ways humans try to make sense of the world.

We begin with music, and a deceptively simple question: what, actually, is it? Kevin is joined by director, writer and composer Bill Barclay to discuss What Music Is, a project that draws together music, neuroscience and astrophysics. From the ancient idea of the “music of the spheres” to planetary orbits and harmonic relationships, the conversation explores why music exists in every culture, why it can feel deeply right in a chaotic world, and how listening — especially to live music — is the brain-spa we all need.

When the bells ring out across The Big Smoke, we head to our local village hall to check out what's pinned to the Parish Noticeboard. Today, we turn our attention to Parkrun. From its beginnings in Bushy Park to its sprint across the globe, we explore how a free, weekly 5K became a quiet cultural phenomenon.

And finally, as the fog rolls back in, we head back to our audio-stage where two apprentice magicians arrive from the Xander Eldrick Institute to complete their final examination. The Strange Brothers attempt to perform spectacular illusions on an audio-only podcast, with predictably strange results. What follows is a brand new comedy segment for 2026, where a bit of editing and imagination result in some real magic.

So listen closely, fire up those neural networks, and join us once again in The Big Smoke.

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Links

🎵 Learn more about Bill Barclay and ‘What Music Is’

🏃🏻‍♂️ Learn more about Park Run

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(01:54) Bill Barclay Interview

(46:31) Parish Notices: Park Run

(54:13) The Strange Brothers

(01:04:05) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Original music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Trappist – 1 audio clip by Shawn Feeney

Parish Notices written by Adam Wright

The Strange Brothers written and performed by Jamie Sandersfield and Matthew Nicholson