heretics.

In the second episode of our Halloween trilogy, Dr. Sohom Das explains what really went on in the minds of Swedish twin sisters Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, who terrified motorists, before one of them killed a man. Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final installment of the three Halloween Specials, Dr. Sohom Das takes us into the mind of the Broadmoor Cannibal, Peter Bryan. Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s back! It’s part 2 with podcaster and evolutionary sex expert Dr. Chris Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn and Civilized to Death. He writes all about the way societal expectations have been encroaching on our natural ways of doing things, particularly sex, but much much more. Today, we’ll be looking at the human penis, and comparing it to those of other monkeys and such things. Sign up on Apple VIP or http://patreon.com/andrewgold for the half-hour bonus chat. Chris Ryan links: https://chrisryanphd.com/category/tangentially-speaking/ Tangentially Speaking podcast: https://podfollow.com/566908883 Sex at Dawn book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships/dp/1491512407 Civilized to Death book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilized-Death-What-Lost-Modernity/dp/1451659105 https://twitter.com/ThatChrisRyan https://www.instagram.com/thatchrisryan Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I have one of the biggest names to ever grace the stage of this podcast, in the form of Chris Ryan. Chris is known for many things, but is perhaps most notable for his book Sex at Dawn, which he co-wrote with his partner Cacilda Jethá. It challenges the conventional views on sex by diving deep into our ancestors’ history. It provides a fascinating look at hunter gatherers, and what we were once like. Chris Ryan links: https://chrisryanphd.com/category/tangentially-speaking/ Tangentially Speaking podcast: https://podfollow.com/566908883 Sex at Dawn book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships/dp/1491512407 Civilized to Death book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilized-Death-What-Lost-Modernity/dp/1451659105 https://twitter.com/ThatChrisRyan https://www.instagram.com/thatchrisryan Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I met acclaimed philosopher Julian Baggini in Bristol for a coffee upon first arriving in the city, and it was a pleasure. Julian is a member of the Bristol Humanist Society, where I’ll be doing a talk about journalist from a humanist perspective on the first of November…so it was great to chat about all things philosophical, and I thought wow, he’d make for a really wonderful podcast guest. He didn't disappoint. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Julian Baggini links: Life: A User's Manual: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Users-Manual-Philosophy-Eventuality/dp/1529104521 https://twitter.com/JulianBaggini https://www.julianbaggini.com/ Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Calvey is known as the Black Widow, because all of her lovers ended up dead or in prison. Wikipedia has her down as an armed robber and murderer, and while she contests the latter, she did spend 18 years in Holloway Prison alongside such notorious serial killers as Myra Hindley and Rose West – names that strike fear into the hearts of most Brits who hear them – but people all the same that Linda had to share living spaces with, even giving Hindley a slap, before later having to do her hair. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Linda Calvey links: The Black Widow: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Widow-Crimes-Linda-Calvey/dp/0755310365 The Locksmith (out now in paperback): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Locksmith-bravest-voice-fiction-Martina/dp/1787397556/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’ve been determined to find someone who could explain TIME in a really digestible and easy to understand way, as though I’m a child. That man is Colin Stuart, whose book Time: Ten Things You Should Know is out now in all the usual places. I devoured it in just a few days, which would seem like the blink of an eye to someone standing near a black hole. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Colin Stuart links: Time: 10 Things You Should Know: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Things-You-Should-Know/dp/1841884928 https://twitter.com/skyponderer https://www.colinstuart.net Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show is the real gene Jeanie, as David Bowie would put it, Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden. Not only does she go by Paige, but her book The Genetic Lottery is a real page turner. See what I did there? The book, which is out now, is causing controversy for its focus – or Paige’s focus – on the effects DNA has on equality. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. And sign up with my sponsor ISSUU on http://issuu.com/podcast with promo code: EDGE. Dr. Harden links: The Genetic Lottery: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190808/the-genetic-lottery https://twitter.com/kph3k New Yorker Article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/can-progressives-be-convinced-that-genetics-matters Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show is the wonderful Dr. Sohom Das, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist whose job involves dealing with mentally ill and dangerous criminals. As well as a leading figure in British psychiatry, Dr. Das is becoming something of an online star, his YouTube channel A Psych for Sore Minds fast attracting subscribers, so do check that out. He creates very professional videos in which he discusses all sorts of psychiatric disorders and expands upon true crime stories. Listen to the bonus episode with Dr. Sohom Das by signing up on Apple VIP area or http://patreon.com/andrewgold. Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Williamson from Modern Wisdom podcast joins me today on On the Edge with Andrew Gold to discuss everything from his time on Love Island to interviewing Jordan Peterson. Hear our full bonus segment on http://patreon.com/andrewgold And get 15% off a MasterClass membership by going to http://masterclass.com/edge. Chris Williamson links: Modern Wisdom YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaH-gZIVC432YRjNVvnyCA Modern Wisdom audio podcast: https://podfollow.com/1347973549 Twitter: https://twitter.com/chriswillx Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_williamson_embracing_your_weirdness Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greeting us on today’s episode of On the Edge with Andrew Gold is former crime boss and ecstasy smuggler Shaun Attwood. Hear the full bonus segment on http://patreon.com/andrewgold Born to a middle-class household in the northwest of England, Shaun became a stock market genius as a teenager, starting at just 14 years old, before he became hooked by the rave scene that swept through the country. Ecstasy was a huge part of that, and before he knew it, Shaun was dealing. In fact, he smuggled around £10 million of E between 1997 and 2002. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, he went to America and set up the Attwood Enterprise. There, he worked alongside top players in the mafia, competing with Sammy the Bull from the Gambino crime family. You might say he was living life to the fullest, but what comes up must come down, and Shaun was arrested at his apartment after ten witnesses came forward. At one point, he was facing 200 years in prison, and Shaun contemplated suicide, before it was reduced to nine. He served six years of his sentence in the prison with the highest death rate in America. While there, he turned to reading – over 1,000 books - and learned a lot about life, and the kind of person he wanted to be. His story featured on an episode of Banged Up Abroad. Shaun Attwood Links: YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/derickatt Who Killed Epstein book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Killed-Epstein-Prince-Andrew-Clinton-ebook/dp/B093QK1GS1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/shaunattwood Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaunattwood Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Storr has been gaining a reputation as one of the foremost non-fiction writers in the UK over the past few years, starting with his exploration of people with extreme beliefs in his book Heretics. His phenomenal follow-up Selfie about how the West became so self-obsessed and individualistic put him in the big leagues of journalistic writers. He then wrote the Science of Storytelling, which is supposed to be brilliant, but I’ve not had the chance to read yet – and today we’re here to talk about his latest book – The Status Game. Listen to the 30-minute bonus episode on Apple Subscriptions or on http://patreon.com/andrewgold and the Patreon app. Will Storr links: The Status Game: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Status-Game-Will-Storr/dp/0008354634/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+status+game&qid=1629382267&sr=8-1 https://twitter.com/wstorr Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Ian Leslie discusses how to argue better from his book Conflicted. We discuss the Wright Brothers, relationship scientists and much more. --- Thanks to my sponsor ExpressVPN. For an extra 3 months free with a subscription, and to be able to watch shows in different countries, go to expressvpn.com/edge. Get the ads-free early-access episodes, as well as the bonus extra episode each week by subbing on Apple Subscriptions or going to patreon.com/andrewgold --- Ian Leslie Links: Buy the book Conflicted: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conflicted-Arguments-Tearing-Apart-Together/dp/0571346944 Read Ian's substack, The Ruffian: https://ianleslie.substack.com Follow Ian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrianleslie Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we've got Kerry Daynes, a famous forensic psychologist who has worked in prisons and police stations with some of the most dangerous or sometimes misunderstood criminals and patients. One such patient stabbed her with a kebab skewer. Let's take a trip inside dangerous minds. -- Thanks to my sponsors, digital publishing platform Issuu, and Express VPN, for watching shows in different countries. Go to http://issuu.com/podcast and use the promo code EDGE on a premium account. Get three months free on your VPN at http://expressvpn.com/edge -- Kerry Daynes Links What Lies Buried: A forensic psychologist's true stories of madness, the bad and the misunderstood by Kerry Daynes is published by Endeavour, 19th of August 2021, www.octopusbooks.co.uk Link Tree to Amazon and Waterstones - https://linktr.ee/KerryDaynes http://twitter.com/kerrydaynes Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former scientologist Chris Shelton talks about his time in the cult of scientology and exposes the truth about Tom Cruise and David Miscavige. Thanks to my sponsor, MasterClass. Go to http://masterclass.com/edge to get 15% off a membership - check it out, it's a really cool platform for self-improvement! Get the bonus interview by signing up to http://patreon.com/andrewgold or joining Apple Subscriptions or YouTube Membership. --- Chris Shelton Links: Chris' full channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF326xyA0QHI7Z5xAwKQDJg Chris' clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpENFJv6TpF-2FB8bgqT2-Q Scientology: A to Xenu: https://www.amazon.com/Scientology-Xenu-Insiders-Guide-About/dp/1522879323/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=scientology+a+to+xenu&qid=1627406758&sr=8-2 --- Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My dear listeners, I'm posting one of my weekly bonus episodes - which are typically behind a pay wall. It's just that this one with John McWhorter was too darn good not to share with the wider public as a full release. Now that I've gotten my membership channels all up to date and functioning, I wanted to include it to show you the kind of thing you can be getting each week, if you become a member. Sign up through one of the below options: Patreon: http://patreon.com/andrewgold Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/on-the-edge-with-andrew-gold/id1515932214 YouTube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3aiQJmnJ8wamobGcsBz6Ww/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re taking a walk down the corridors of the world’s strictest school. Of course, I’m talking metaphorically, because if we were walking down the corridors of Michaela, a school in Brent, north London, we’d have to be dead silent. That’s how headmistress and founder, Katharine Birbalsingh likes it, and given the exceptional results of the children – many of whom come from inner-city poverty – who am I to argue with it? Katharine Birbalsingh Links: https://twitter.com/Miss_Snuffy Michaela: The Power of Culture: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Teachers-Take-Katharine-Birbalsingh/dp/191290621X Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ex-scientologist Jon Atack exposes the cult of scientology, talking about everything from Tom Cruise and Mao Zedong to free will and the difference between religion and cult. Jon Atack Links: YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI4tcSMV2kEh3BooY_XFSYQ/featured Poetry Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9HjRxCl6L-FkUp9qBybNGg Opening Our Minds book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/opening-minds-manipulation-influence-brainwashing/dp/0997109637 Let's Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-sell-these-people-Piece/dp/1482023032 Scientology: the Cult of Greed book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SCIENTOLOGY-Cult-Greed-Jon-Atack/dp/150549012X Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Leeds was hit by a car when he was 20, flipping over its roof, crushing the vehicle and landing on his head. Remarkably, he had few physical signs of trauma, so was released from hospital, before being taken back in later to remove a blood clot on his brain. On his return home, he found he didn’t recognise home, or the people around him who were apparently his family. In fact, he’d pretty much lost all memory of anything from before the accident. Moreover, he developed face blindness, meaning he is unable to tell people apart from their faces. Sign up for the 21-min bonus part: patreon.com/andrewgold Apple Subscriptions YouTube Memberships Get discounts with my promo code: expressvpn.com/edge masterclass.com/edge Thomas Leeds Links: https://twitter.com/thomasleeds https://www.instagram.com/thomasleedsbooks Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. James Fallon is renowned for his work in psychopathy. But a chance occurrence led him to realise something dark about his own family history...and the brain scans concurred... Listen to the bonus segment: http://patreon.com/andrewgold https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewGold1/membership Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Dr. James Fallon Links: The Psychopath Inside book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychopath-Inside-Neuroscientists-Personal-Journey/dp/1591846005 https://twitter.com/jameshfallon Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://medium.com/@andrewgold1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

today on the show is Angela Maxwell, who walked 20,000 miles or 32,000 kilometres around the entire globe. It took her the best part of six years to do so, and she learned about as much about life as is humanly possible. She’s just back now – having overcome all sorts of adversity on the trip - she suffered from sunburn blisters and heatstroke in the Australian desert and dengue fever in Vietnam. Things hit a real low point, when a man broke into her tent in Mongolia, and raped her. We’ll discuss those moments, as much as the myriad positive interactions and experiences. She, better than most of us, has experienced the limits of life, so I’m honoured that she’s here to share that experience with all of us. Angela Maxwell Links: https://twitter.com/angelamariemax https://www.instagram.com/angelamariemaxwell https://www.shewalkstheearth.com Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leading linguistics professor at Columbia University John McWhorter talks about his brilliant book Nine Nasty Words, and the origin of swearing. Why are some words profane, and others not? How has it changed over time, and what will the unmentionable words of the future be? John McWhorter Links: Nine Nasty Words: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nine-Nasty-Words-English-Forever/dp/0593188799 https://twitter.com/JohnHMcWhorter Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest, James Bloodworth, is an intrepid journalist who went undercover to work in an Amazon warehouse and expose the torrid conditions within. His acclaimed book Hired details his journey back into the working classes from which he came for six months, also working as an Uber driver and a care worker in impoverished parts of the UK for the book. James Bloodworth Links: Hired book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hired-Months-Undercover-Low-Wage-Britain/dp/1786490161 https://twitter.com/j_bloodworth https://www.instagram.com/james.bloodworth Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top barrister Chris Daw QC talks about how more and more people are being incarcerated with tougher sentences. Being tough on crime is a vote winner – it appeals to our primal urges as well as our sense of schadenfreude – there but for the grace of god go I - punish them! But there’s sufficient evidence that such tough sentences and appalling prison conditions in the US and the UK in particular lead to more crime, making the world a less safe place for you and your family. Thanks to today's sponsor, VPN Express - sign up with a discount on https://vpnexpress.com/edge Buy Chris' book and subscribe/follow him here: Chris Daw QC Links: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Justice-Trial-Radical-Solutions-Breaking/dp/1472977882 https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisDawQC https://twitter.com/crimlawuk Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary Cliffe is one of the 800 survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of former football coach and paedophilic serial offender Barry Bennell. Bennell terrorised children in the late 80s and 90s, while working with the children coming through the youth academies of Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and later, Stoke City. Despite suspicions and complaints made about Bennell, he was allowed to continue in his depravity, staying at the homes of the children’s families. His actions quickly turned what should have been a dream for young kids looking to become footballers into a nightmare. Follow Gary on: https://twitter.com/garycliffe1 Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olivia Jackson is one of the most talented and impressive people I’ve had on the show. She is a South African Muay Thai champion, kickboxer and stunt performer who has worked on huge films like Guardians of the Galaxy. But something happened to Olivia back in 2015 that would change everything for her life going forward. Find Olivia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviathebandit Get your free beer on me here: http://beer52.com/edge Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I talk to Professor Sue Black about how she helped to save Bletchley Park, the home of the codebreakers during the Second World War. She tells some fabulous stories about the people who worked there, and also talks about meeting the Queen and Stephen Fry, and her own tough upbringing, before becoming a celebrated professor at the University of Durham. Sue Black Links: Buy Saving Bletchley Park: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saving-Bletchley-Park-socialmedia-codebreakers/dp/1908717920 https://twitter.com/Dr_Black https://www.instagram.com/realdrblack/ https://www.facebook.com/RealDrBlack Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet Coche Inciarte, the most marvellous and loveliest man, who tells me about what it was like to survive a plane crash and live for 72 days in the most awful conditions imaginable. Eventually, he and his friends had to resort to desperate measures. It's a captivating story of human survival. Thanks to sound recordist and editor Gonzalo Kaplanski for doing the English voice-over. Find his photography and video work here: https://gonkaplanski.myportfolio.com/ And thank you to the book's brilliant translator John Guiver. You can buy his and Coche's book, Memories of the Andes, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memories-Andes-Jos%C3%A9-Coche-Inciarte/dp/1913166333 Also thanks very much to Esther Harris at the Bookollective and Katharine Smith at Heddon Publishing for helping to make this happen. On the Edge with Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British journalist Jenny Kleeman - a mix of Louis Theroux and Margaret Atwood - talks to the On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast about the near-future of sex, food, birth and death, with some startling, worrying and fascinating science. Get the bonus content on my YouTube and Patreon pages (links below). --- Jenny Kleeman Links: https://twitter.com/jennykleeman https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Robots-Vegan-Meat-Adventures/dp/1509894888 On the Edge with Andrew Gold Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode with Philip Nitschke (Dr. Death) is really controversial, because it's with the first doctor to perform an assisted suicide in Australia. He has some interesting things to say, but listener discretion is advised. Get the bonus content on my YouTube and Patreon pages (links below). Thanks to the episode's sponsor, the language-learning app Babbel. Sign up using my promo code of EDGE on http://babbel.co.uk/play. --- Philip Nitschke Links: https://twitter.com/philipnitschke https://www.exitinternational.net/ Andrew Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I asked self-confessed psychopath M.E. Thomas (Confessions of a Sociopath) to celebrate my 50th episode with me. Things get heated! Thanks to the episode's sponsor, the language-learning app Babbel. Sign up using my promo code of EDGE on http://babbel.co.uk/play. ME Thomas Links: Psychopathy Is YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbzIdxoEI7Y&ab_channel=PsychopathyIs Twitter: https://twitter.com/sociopathworld Confessions of a Sociopath: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307956644/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN Andrew Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madeleine Black told her story in her book Unbroken, which is now also a podcast. At just 13, she was led drunk to a bedroom in a vacant flat in London by two American 17-year-olds, who raped her. Thanks to the episode's sponsor, the language-learning app Babbel. Sign up using my promo code of EDGE on http://babbel.co.uk/play. Madeleine Links: Unbroken Podcast: https://podfollow.com/1534721507 Unbroken Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbroken-Journey-Shattered-Violence-Survival/dp/1786062763 https://twitter.com/madblack65 https://instagram.com/madblack65 Andrew Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Naama Kates is an actress and musician best known for her work with extremists and incels. An incel is an involuntary celibate: men who feel they're physically or mentally too unattractive for women. While many of these men are depressed or lonely, when they come together through online communities, things can get toxic. Naama Links: Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/incel/id1469915971 https://twitter.com/naamakates Andrew Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Thanks to the episode's sponsor, the language-learning app Babbel. Sign up using my promo code of EDGE on http://babbel.co.uk/play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I’m talking to Telegraph journalist Cara McGoogan, the host and journalist behind acclaimed podcast Bed of Lies. [By the way, join me in an old 90's-style chat room Thursday 8pm GMT (it's free, and you don't have to sign up): https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb] The series follows the lives of several fairly innocuous and harmless Left-Wing activists in the 80s, 90s and 2000s who fell in love, married and, on occasion, had children with men they had met on the activist scene. They would then go together to marches and rallies against things like animal cruelty or climate change, and other typically socially Leftist causes. It later emerged that the men they had met were undercover police agents acting as spies. Imagine finding out that the love of your life, the father of your children and the person you trusted more than anyone else in the world – that’s all one person by the way, not three - had been living a lie. Cara Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/cjmcgoogan Telegraph Page: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/cara-mcgoogan/ Bed of Lies: https://podfollow.com/1537575625 Andrew Links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Cara talks to me about her investigation and how it got started, what it was like for these women to have the rug pulled out from under them, having to start again alone. We look at a few individual stories, and chat about the police officers and their motivations in ruining the lives of these women. They spent years pretending to support Left-Wing causes, but had actually been secretly laughing at their partners’ views for years and reporting back to the police. We look at the nature of secret-keeping and what that can do to a person, and hear about how some agents came down with PTSD. We talk about literature a bit and the kind of books, like Russian literature, where there are so many names and nicknames and it’s hard to keep track of the characters. That happens at times in the podcast too - but Cara is very good at reminding us who is who - and the stories are enough to give us an overall sense of what happened to many different women over a number of years. More Cara facts – she is currently writing a coming of age love story about a couple torn apart by depression and addiction, set in the hedonistic world of music. She also has a new podcast about secrets and corruption set to come out later in the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, are you ready for part 2 of my super long interview with the glorious Sadia Hameed. If you haven’t yet heard part 1, it was just a couple of weeks ago, when Sadia told us about how social services in the UK actually helped her family to kidnap her when she was 15, and move her to Pakistan, where they starved and tortured her. They suspected her of sleeping with a white man. She later became a spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, although she is no longer involved with them, instead working with cases of domestic abuse. Join us free in the chat room on Thursday at 8pm UK time. You don't have to sign up or download anything - and can use a fake name if you want, to hurl abuse at me! ;) : https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb Sadia Links https://twitter.com/sadia936 http://instagram.com/sadia936 Four Freedoms YouTube Andrew Links http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com This second part is very different. She continues talking a little about her personal situation, and the men who demanded their feet be washed by their wives or sisters…and she speaks beautifully about her long-term partner Jack and a woman called Linda who wanted to adopt her as an adult. After the horrors of the previous episode, it’s a relief to be able to discuss the lights of her life. We then go on to chat about a lot of different things. Having discovered who she is outside of her religious upbringing, Sadia has become worn out by some of the identity politics going on today, and speaks passionately about everything from feminism to trans movements…and she’s got some controversial opinions to share, including the notion that Pakistan has a high rate of trans because parents are so scared of having a gay child. When she criticises some trans people, I hope it’s not lost on any listeners that she first makes an impassioned defence of the majority of trans people who have suffered incalculable harm and, as she says, need and deserve all our support. Only after making that point, does she go on to critique what she perceives to be a faction of people who use their attained victimhood attack and silence others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I’ve got one of the smartest and most interesting people I’ve ever met on the podcast in the form of Jesse Morton, a former jihadist who now counters violent extremism with his organisation Parallel Networks. Jesse has done some pretty terrible things – he was a Far-Left extremist who became the most prominent white American Jihadist and a recruiter for al-Qaeda. He was also responsible for threatening the South Park creators and forcing them at the last minute to censor their image of the Prophet. Jesse Links: https://twitter.com/_jessemorton https://twitter.com/lighttuponlight http://pnetworks.org/ Andrew Gold Links: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgold.me I was going to put this out earlier, but thought it was a perfect follow-up to last week’s episode with David Robson on the The Intelligence Trap, because Jesse is an example of how an incredibly clever person can make huge mistakes. Of course, we are all part the sum of our experiences, and Jesse was abused by his mother as a child. Jesse talks about how a history of childhood trauma and a victim mentality can be a dangerous thing. Jesse earlier spent time in prison and was in solitary confinement for a year, while reading up in the library on all sorts of fundamentalist material that strengthened his convictions. He has such a long and rich story, so at times, I just wanted to sit back and listen, occasionally steering the conversation this way or that. He’s an intense and cerebral man, and talks with absolute honesty about what he did and why he did it. Takes us into the life of a street preacher and a jihadi whose bomb designs were used by terrorists at the Boston Marathon. It may suit our ideology of good and bad to think of terrorists as either stupid or morally bankrupt, but Jesse talks about the far more nuanced and intricate traits and at play. Those who are highly intelligent but very unsuccessful, he says, try to tear down the world as it is, and rebuild it to suit their talents or purposes, a world where ‘everybody recognises my greatness’. His work focuses on getting inside the minds of the top extremists, and denouncing violence to them. To understand everything about Jesse, we’ll start with his early life and family, before moving onto his beliefs and his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Science writer David Robson talks about his book, The Intelligence Trap. It’s a brilliantly written and researched book about how the cleverest people in the world…are often the ones who make the biggest mistakes. Which is why I never make any errors! Join me on at 8pm GMT Thursday 18th March 2021 in a free chat room (no sign up etc needed!): https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb David Robson Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-robson-5761791b twitter.com/d_a_robson Buy The Intelligence Trap https://davidrobson.me/ Andrew Gold Links: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgold.me I really learned a lot from the book. It seems that the more intelligent among us – if we define intelligence by IQ and proficiency in certain subjects – are so smart that they’re able to create convincing arguments as to why their beliefs must be correct. It's why some clever people are proponents of flat earth theory, astrology or just basic religious beliefs. David tells some fascinating stories about Einstein and Sherlock writer Arthur Conan Doyle, and talks about how we can focus more on things like wisdom and curiosity to prevent the intelligence trap. We speak about how to argue with someone who has opposing views to us without getting heated or emotional. We look at examining our own cognitive biases, chat about the grisly end to the life of Socrates and think about the pictures of fairies with drawing pins in their navels that Arthur Conan Doyle mistook – using his famed powers of deduction – for belly buttons – showing fairies are born and give birth. David studied maths at Cambridge University, and has written for the BBC, New Scientist, The Atlantic and many other top publications. His book has been acclaimed, and when I mentioned it on Twitter the other day, one of my favourite writers, Will Storr, tweeted his own admiration for it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us at 7pm on Thursday March 11th 2021 here (it's free, and you don't have to sign up): https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb Today, I’m speaking with Sadia Hameed, a former spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain who has a quite remarkable story to tell. She holds some strong and damning views, and has a knack for getting them across in a way that is both persuasive and, often, comical. Having grown up in England, Sadia was tricked in her teens into moving to Pakistan, where she was abused, starved and tortured, while her family out there tried to work out whether she had slept with a white man. Sadia Links https://twitter.com/sadia936 http://instagram.com/sadia936 Four Freedoms YouTube Andrew Links http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Sadia isn’t just the sum of her experiences. She’s also outspoken on issues such as women’s rights and human rights, while, as you might expect, damning of religious extremism, with a particular focus on Islam. She can’t talk too much about the work she does, but it involves domestic abuse that is often hidden in religion’s guise of righteousness. She talks about what it was actually like to be so hungry that she thought she might die, and gives us an insight into the last few decades in the history of the UK’s south Asian immigration. It appears that what angers her more than anything is a recurring theme on this podcast - the refusal of social justice warriors to look in some of the most obvious places. Like Yasmine Mohammed, who was on the podcast a few weeks ago, Sadia shakes with rage at so-called progressives who appear to move heaven and earth to help a young white girl in trouble; but who think it’s fine for a young brown girl to be tortured, raped and forced to marry. Most shockingly, she tells of a social services translator who actually warned her parents they should lock her up and send her away before she’s of age. We got on so well in fact, that we ended up speaking for hours. So, I’ve done something I’ve never done on the show which is to split this into two parts, this being the first. And the bonus content for Patrons will be at the end of the second one, which will come out in a couple of weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come to my old-fashioned chatroom on Thursday at 8pm GMT (noon in California): https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb. It's free and no need to sign up! Hello, and welcome to another episode of On the Edge with Andrew Gold. Today, I’m talking – well actually I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago – to comedian Andrew Doyle, who has just released his new book Free Speech. It’s a modern manifesto on why free speech is so important, and how even extremely offensive speech should be protected. Andrew Doyle Links: https://twitter.com/andrewdoyle_com https://twitter.com/TitaniaMcGrath https://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Speech-Why-Matters/dp/034913538X Andrew Gold Links: http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok It’s a really beautifully written essay, which draws on the history of free speech and how it is being eroded from all sides bit by bit. We’re all aware that history seems to go in cycles and you never know when you’re next going to be under some sort of authoritarian regime. According to Andrew, it rarely comes from the place you expect it, and he believes we’re very much at risk right now from the censors on the Left, although he is politically Left himself. In his book and on the podcast, Andrew speaks of former essays, such as John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty in 1859, and John Milton’s 1644 Areopagitica. Andrew was also a teacher and writers about all sorts of things, but you may know him as both the creator of fictional angry news reporter Jonathan Pie – although he is not the actor who plays him – and fictional twitter profile Titania McGrath. Titania is a fake creation who tweets to parody the beliefs and actions of critical race theorists or virtue signallers. Her Twitter bio reads: Activist. Healer. Radical intersectionalist poet. Nonwhite. Ecosexual. Pronouns: variable. Selfless and brave. Buy my books. Today, we are going to talk mostly about Andrew and his book. On the day I spoke to him, he had just come under a barrage of abuse from his critics, because he had blocked some of them in anticipation of the book. They believed it was ironic for an author a book on free speech to block those who opposed the book – and Andrew countered that, if they believed that, they had a poor understanding of free speech. Part of free speech is not having to listen to someone. We speak about the pressure of getting all that flack all the time on Twitter – people accusing him of absolutely every form of bigotry. I ask him what it’s like to be a gay man being accused so often of homophobia. And we talk freely about free speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joshua Baker is simply one of the most impressive journalists out there working today. -- Join me on Discord Chat Room, free and you don't need to sign up, just follow this link at 8pm GMT on Thursday 25th Feb 2021: https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb -- You may know him for his current podcast series with the BBC, I’m Not a Monster, or his related documentary Return from ISIS. The two follow his attempts to track down and understand Samantha, the woman who took her family to live with ISIS in Syria. If you’ve not yet listened to I’m Not a Monster, do give it a go, it’s incredible from the start. Listening to the first episode, I was walking in the snow in Berlin and it was -15C, and I stayed out longer in such extreme conditions, so I could reach the end of the first episode, that’s how riveting it is. Joshua Links I'm not a Monster Podcast: https://podfollow.com/1540251892 https://www.instagram.com/joshbakerfilm https://www.twitter.com/joshbakerfilm Andrew Links http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://patreon.com/andrewgold http://andrewgoldpodcast.com It begins by explaining minute by minute what it was like for Joshua to be attacked and bombed by ISIS, fracturing his back in an explosion that destroyed that left nothing of an entire street. Then, we hear audio footage of a young American boy being taught to assemble and use a suicide bomb. The kid explains how he would lure American soldiers by asking for help, before pulling the string. Now, I didn’t want to go into too much detail, because I want you to be able to listen to this full podcast without real spoilers, and to be able to then fully enjoy I’m Not a Monster afterwards. I was fascinated by Joshua from a journalistic point of view, because the one thing I always said was that I’ll do anything, and I’ve done stuff over the years in dangerous places – but I would never go near ISIS or anyone who might behead me. It’s just not worth the gain, so we talk a lot in this one about his experience literally being blown up by ISIS and surviving by the skin of his teeth – and then what it means to be doing this kind of journalism. That said, we do talk a bit towards end about the characters in the series, so I’ll give you a little run down without any spoilers, all stuff you know from the beginning of episode one. Sam is an American mother who took her kids to Syria, and wants to come back. She claims she was tricked into going there by her husband Moussa, but Joshua doesn’t entirely trust her, as her story doesn’t always check out. Joshua does track down a woman called Tsuad who was bought as a slave by Sam and Moussa during their time in Syria – and Tsuad speaks nicely about Sam, so I ask Joshua about that at the end. There is about nine minutes of bonus chat in this episode for patrons – get that on patreon.com/andrewgold. I’ll try to get Josh to come to my weekly Discord chat room event, they’ve been great so far – just find the link in the show notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Brooks is the co-founder of the California Innocence Project, which is a non-profit that is part of the California Western School of Law in San Diego. Catch me (plus maybe Justin) on Discord on Thursday 11th Feb at 8pm GMT (Noon in California). Here's the link: https://discord.gg/RWH7fs6ygb Justin Links: http://twitter.com/justinobrooks http://instagram.com/justinobrooks https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Public-Figure/Justin-Brooks-160642841283018/ http://californiainnocenceproject.org Andrew Links: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://facebook.com/ontheedgewithandrewgold http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://patreon.com/andrewgold - for bonus content! They do the most remarkable work, which is to provide pro-bono legal services to exonerate wrongly convicted inmates. I can’t think of much worse than being put in prison for decades, no hope of parole, when you didn’t even commit the crime for which you’re there. It’s a horrible thought that in all probability, there are thousands of people in this situation. So, Justin is one of those people I’m so happy exist. Justin was recently played by actor Greg Kinnear in the movie Brian Banks about its namesake former American footballer who was wrongfully convicted of rape. We talk about the movie and what it was like being shadowed by a famous movie star, as well as some of the heartbreaking cases and the problems with our legal system. We talk as well about the racial inequality in the US, which is an important topic, especially given that this coming Saturday the 20th February is World Day of Social Justice. I’ve added a little over ten minutes of bonus content for my Patrons. In it, we talk about silly things like accents, and Justin’s family in Derby and Liverpool, as well as some serious stuff relating to race, impartial news channels and some differences between the UK and the US. Find that on Patreon.com/andrewgold. There’s even a teaser for the bonus material in the outro. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nikole Mitchell recently made headlines around the world, when she went from being a Baptist pastor to an OnlyFans stripper, often posing nude for her paying subscribers for photos and also helping them with life coaching. Today, she talks to me about what it was like growing up in a religious Southern Baptist community, how she spent many frustrated years celibate, before taking the plunge and waking up as a new convert to the religion of sexy photos. Come chat to us on Discord on Thursday 11th Feb at 8pm GMT (Noon CA, 3pm NY, 9pm Germany and ... very early in Australia - sorry!). Free to use, so pop by and just say hi, it'll be my first time on it. Here's the link: https://discord.gg/ztymPF4S5G Nikole Links: https://nikolemitchell.com/ OnlyFans.com/nikolemitchell https://www.facebook.com/nikole.s.mitchell/ https://twitter.com/MitchellNikole https://www.instagram.com/mitchellnikole Andrew Links: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com http://facebook.com/ontheedgewithandrewgold I’ve added a new feature to Patreon.com/andrewgold for bonus content, so additional moments that wouldn’t usually make the cut, often as we’re saying hello or goodbye on the Zoom call. Today, I’ll include the small bonus section, it’s only one minute today but will be longer in future episodes. Just so you know what it’ll be like, so stay after the end for that. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nimko Ali is on the show today to talk about Female Genital Mutilation or FGM. I planned this episode to appear now, as I saw it’s International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6th, and it’s something I wanted learn about. I’d often heard about FGM but didn’t actually know all that much about it. Was it a religious custom or a cultural tradition, or simply a barbaric act carried out on girls by some patriarchal groups. It appears to be the latter. Nimko Links: Book - What we're told not to talk about: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rude-There-Such-Thing-Over-Sharing/dp/024129262X Five Foundation: https://www.thefivefoundation.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NimkoAli Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nimkoali/ Andrew Links: Patreon.com/andrewgold twitter.com/andrewgold_ok instagram.com/andrewgold_ok facebook.com/ontheedgewithandrewgold In any case, Nimko is of Somali heritage and was herself cut as a child. She is the co-founder of the Five Foundation, so make sure to get on there and donate, share and support however you can to help to end FGM. She also has a prestigious OBE, was named in the BBC’s 100 Women, won Red Magazine’s Woman of the Year and won the International Women’s Rights Award at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. I read and loved her book What We’re Told Not To Talk About – link in the show notes. Split into categories labelled periods, orgasms, pregnancy and menopause, it collects haunting and inspirational stories from women around the world. It goes into intense and surprisingly vivid, or disgusting, detail, which is one of the book’s strengths, it’s a lot of fun to read and I found myself both laughing and crying. We discuss what it was like for Nimko to be cut, and how it affects her life today. And although this is a very serious topic, Nimko is able to talk at times with humour. So, we delve into her previous fancy for English football player Michael Owen and her current interest in Conservative politician Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is a bit of a dark horse to say the least. If you get to the end, Nimko tells the men listening how they can get in touch with her to ask her on a date, because she hasn’t been with someone seriously for five years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is quite possibly the most bad-ass, to borrow an American expression and pronunciation, person I’ve had on the podcast. Professor Sue Black is a distinguished forensic anthropologist and dame from Inverness, Scotland. She’ll explain exactly what that is, but she is the President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and a leading professor at Lancaster University. As an expert in human anatomy, she took two tours of Iraq, worked on the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification of bodies operation, and speaks of how she waded through piles of melted dead corpses in Kosovo. Anecdote after anecdote, she had me absolutely floored, and appreciative that there are people like her doing the work they do, because I sure as hell couldn’t, and we couldn’t function as a society with them. Sue Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/profsueblack Written in Bone book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Written-Bone-hidden-stories-behind-ebook/dp/B084KJBPZB Andrew Links: Twitter: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok Instagram: http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok Video clips: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 Join my Patreon: http://patreon.com/andrewgold Later, she became known for her vein pattern analysis, where she found that no two hands appear to have the same pattern of veins, as well as marks, wrinkles and folds. This helped her prove the identity of a father whose hands were caught on film as he molested his daughter. The research has continued and helped to catch many other child sex offenders. I was fascinated to get inside the mind – briefly, at least – with a person who is regularly confronted with the horrors of child sex abuse material and mutilated bodies from murders and wars. I wanted to know how such images change a person and their outlook on life and death, their relationship with their daughter, their views on humanity. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, and welcome to an episode of On the Edge with Andrew Gold with today’s guest, award-winning science author and TV presenter Dr. Stuart Farrimond, who’ll be talking about how to live the perfect day, from your sleep and your coffee in the morning, to your work habits and commutes, and your exercise and evening routine. Stuart Links Buy the Science of Living Book (UK): https://amzn.to/2XjVmRu Buy the Live Your Best Life Book (N America): https://amzn.to/3boCHMu Surviving Terminal Cancer by Ben Williams: https://www.survivingterminalcancer.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDoctorStu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realdoctorstu/?hl=en Andrew Links Support the show on patreon.com/andrewgold Follow me on Twitter.com/andrewgold_ok Follow me on Instagram.com/andrewgold_ok See podcast video clips on Youtube.com/andrewgold1 Stuart is talking about the themes of his book, The Science of Living: 219 reasons to rethink your daily routine. In the US and probably Canada, it’s known as Live your Best Life – link in the show notes. It’s a gorgeous book, really beautifully designed, and would make for a wonderful present for someone. Each page has a question, such as Why is waking up so hard, why do I have bad breath when I wake up, will skipping breakfast make me fat, will wearing a coat indoors mean I’m colder when I go out and is my phone ruining my sex life. Each question and page is adorned with lovely images and graphs that are really accessible and easy, even for someone of my limited neural capacities. We have a fun and interesting chat. Things do get a little heavier in the final third of today’s episode, as Stuart talks about undergoing surgery for a brain tumour. He speaks emotionally but also informatively about the subject and provides some inspirational pearls of wisdom to end on. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m delighted to welcome onto the show the pre-eminent human rights activist and ex-Muslim Yasmine Mohammed. She’s the creator of the #FreeFromHijab hashtag and the founder of the Free Hearts Free Minds organisation that helps ex-Muslims transition out of Islam, a little like what Episode 3’s guest Emily Green does for Orthodox Jews. Links to her website, as well as her book Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam and her social media pages, in the show notes. Yasmine Links: Free Hearts Free Minds Organisation: www.freeheartsfreeminds.com Yas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YasMohammedxx Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam: https://www.waterstones.com/book/unveiled/yasmine-mohammed/9781999240530 Andrew Links: Twitter: http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok Patreon: http://patreon.com/andrewgold Insta: http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok Website: http://andrewgoldpodcast.com As you’ll hear, I mention Hasidic Judaism and Catholicism a few times in the discussion, partly as a reminder that the podcast isn’t picking on Islam in particular. We’ve already done episodes with former members of the Hasidic Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Westboro Baptist Church. And yet, Yasmine will point out a few places where Islam is unique, not only its own characteristics, but how it is perceived and, in her mind, given a free ride, by the liberal western media. Yasmine is a Canadian professor and member of the Center for Inquiry, who has also been interviewed by esteemed speakers Seth Andrews and Sam Harris, who we talk about a lot towards the end of the interview. She talks about how her personal story runs parallel to that of modern Islam, in that things were more secular, and then got a whole lot more religious and oppressive very suddenly. She was forced to marry an al-Qaeda operative, before fleeing with their daughter, something unimaginably awful for most of us. We talk about the situation of Australian ex-Muslim Zara Kay, who has been arrested in Tanzania. We’ll speak about why eminent writer Salman Rushdie got the Fatwah – which was a religious call to have him killed – and why he was singled out for that treatment. Also, at the end, we have a funny chat about Hugh Grant and Fargo that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the conversation, but stay after the de de de de at the end, as I’ll play those couple of minutes as part of the outro. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To start off 2021 on the On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast, we’ve got scientist Dr. Andrew Steele to talk about living forever, and how we might cure ageing in the coming decades and centuries. What better way to start the year? Although, if it’s anything like 2020, you may not want to live forever. Anyway, Andrew’s new book Ageless has just come out – get it on andrewsteele.co.uk/ageless. It made for a fascinating read – I was up all night hoping to find the answers, because I’ve always loved the idea of staying young and living forever – many of us like that concept, while others don’t, and we’ll discuss why. What I would say…most of you listen to this on audio-only, but if you’re ever going to check out the YouTube page, this is the time to do it, because Andrew’s video is absolutely gorgeous, shot with a pair of top-of-the-range cameras. It makes such a difference editing something so lovely. So just Google YouTube On the Edge with Andrew Gold or type youtube.com/andrewgold1 to find it – do subscribe to the channel while you’re there. And subscribe to Andrew Steele’s page, youtube.com/drandrewsteele, where you’ll find incredible 4k beautifully shot science videos explaining things in a way that makes sense … even to idiots like me! In today’s episode, we talk about why people are so hostile to the idea of living forever – why it’s always portrayed as a negative, selfish and unattractive thing, while death seems to be a positive, heroic and noble thing. We look at tortoises, jellyfish and worms, gene therapy (not Levi’s), and how we might overcome such potential immortality issues as overpopulation and a poor/rich divide. We talk about whether it’s possible to die of a broken heart and whether women will be able to have babies at much older ages, and we discuss something called cell senescence, which is when cells in our body stop dividing (apparently they normally divide, but when they stop dividing, that’s a big part of what we’d call ageing). And we look at how we ourselves might extend our lives and live into the coming millennia. Next week’s episode is with Canadian ex-Muslim human rights activist Yasmine Mohammed. Andrew Steele Links: Buy Ageless: andrewsteele.co.uk/ageless Twitter: https://twitter.com/statto Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAndrewSteele YouTube: youtube.com/drandrewsteele See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Knight is an atheist who has made a name for himself online and in the media as both a friend of comedian Ricky Gervais, and an outspoken critic of woke culture and critical race theory. The host of the Godless Spellchecker podcast, which goes by the Knight Tube on YouTube. Do check out his podcast, he’s had some really big names on it, including Douglas Murray and Sam Harris to Ricky Gervais and…well, me. The lucky so-and-so. I was on his podcast just a couple weeks ago, so do check it out. We talk about how Ricky – who is a hero of mine – first approached Stephen (link to his Twitter) to come on his podcasts, which makes for a really great story. We also go into the problems with religion, and we talk a lot about class, which is particularly funny and strange in the UK. Stephen is from a working class background in Manchester, and believes that if anything does make us unequal, it is class rather than race or gender. But even so, he wouldn’t want to play that card, as he prefers to judge people as individuals. I have to respect that my listeners come from a range of backgrounds and viewpoints. This discussion might put some of you off at first, but do stick with it – I don’t think we are that disrespectful to woke culture or religions, and maybe we’ll find some common ground. This podcast came at the opportune moment – just this week, prominent write Julie Burchill had her book about the problems with woke cancel culture…cancelled after she joked about Islam online. And a school in the US is being sued after trying to force white students to publicly recognize their innate racism and privilege, threatening them with failing grades, if they refused to comply. Where does this end, according to Stephen? Well, some pretty dark places. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we come to the end of a year most of us would be keen to forget, I thought it was time to have a look at…time. Today on the show, I’ve got physicist Julian Barbour, who has a new theory about the Big Bang and time, which he elucidates in his latest book, The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time. This one gets a little more complex than a typical episode of On the Edge with Andrew Gold, so I’m going to break down a few things I think I’ve learned. Firstly, Julian (official website) posits that the old Newtonian view of time is not entirely right, because it puts us inside a box. Thinking outside the box, Julian believes time is not necessarily a thing on a map like some of us thought…the only thing that time is, is a series of changing shapes of the universe. To differentiate between the past and the future, it’s just a case of seeing things like atoms and particles becoming less simple and structured, until complex things like us are able to exist. One of the most amazing parts of Julian’s theory however, is that time goes back to the Big Bang – and then goes the other way. So before the Big Bang is just another timeline going in the other direction. Bit weird, right? I always edit down the interviews a fair bit to make them quick and accessible, so I’ve lost some of Julian’s most intriguing – yet complex – material, so if you are interested in more, make sure to get hold of the Janus Point: A New Theory of Time on Amazon. There, you’ll get to the real thermodynamics and theories and historical stuff. Many of you are going to be fascinated, and I’m proud to have such a remarkable mind on the show. Others of you might find it difficult – I would suggest you stay with it, because we do go into other fun things like aliens, what happens at the end of time, whether it’d be good to live forever, and whether we have free will (or are things all decided for us) in the latter part. If you enjoy the show, please take a look at my Patreon website and consider signing up to a tier. It takes SO much time to get this ready each week, and I appreciate the support a lot. Lots of cool benefits too! Here's that link again, patreon.com/andrewgold See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m honoured to be joined today by one of the UK’s most impressive speakers and mental health advocates in the form of Jonny Benjamin MBE, who made headlines after sparking a national campaign called Find Mike – with the goal of tracking down the man who talked him down from a bridge. Jonny talks candidly about his own experience with schizoaffective disorder, which has led to him hearing a voice in his head that used to take on the form of an angel, before becoming the devil. He’s passionate about mental health and how we all need to talk more openly, and you can find the charity he founded, Beyond, on wearebeyond.org.uk. He’s also created a mental health festival for schools called Now and Beyond. Jonny also tells me how his relatively conservative Jewish upbringing made it harder to talk about his issues, while also feeling he had to keep his homosexuality secret. We also spoke about fellow schizophrenia sufferer Elyn Saks, whose Ted Talk you can find here. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, both andrewgold_ok, and have a browse of the different perks you can get from a membership on patreon.com/andrewgold --- Episode sponsored by the wonderful Pink Moon Interiors, they really make some great stuff that I've personally visited. Check out and follow their instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/pinkmoon_interiors/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices