Yarn | A Story Podcast

[Two part Docu-drama]

Episode 2 of 2
This is the true story of Hermann Goertz. The Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland. Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goertz’s eyes we learn about the attitudes of normal people towards the new Irish Free State, the uncomfortable truths people dealt with after a vicious civil war and how Dublin during the ‘Emergency’ became a centre of covert espionage.

Start with episode 1 here: https://anchor.fm/yarnstorypod/episodes/Yarn-19--How-Not-to-be-a-Spy---Episode-1-eg3jgg/a-a2j9gkpProduced and edited by John Roche

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Transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-19-how-not-to-be-a-spy-part-ii-9f4d39f14c0a

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Comments and feedback very welcome!

Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.
Twitter: @YarnStoryPod

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Written and narrated by John Roche With Liam Murphy as Goertz and the voices of Hazel Fahy, Dermot Tobin, Niall Ó Siadhail, Daithi Mac Suibhne, Mary Looby , Alan Nuzum and Dermot Byrne Special thanks to Dermot Tobin, Lucy Nuzum and Ciaran Dunphy

In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability. 

The story of Disability runs in parallel with the story of humanity itself and like the story of humanity, some of it isn’t pretty. It involves murder, neglect, segregation and sterilisation but it’s also a story of innovation, determination and love. 

Attitudes to disability today are very much products of its history. If we want to understand current practices, stereotypes and infrastructure around disability we have to revisit its past. It’s also very much a personal history to me. I’ve got Cerebral Palsy, so in telling this story I might drop in a couple of my own first hand experiences too.  

This 3-part Yarn Miniseries: Disability, A Parallel History will release every Monday for the next 3 weeks. Subscribe to this feed for episode notifications.

[Documentary]

We visit the Mezhyhirya estate in the Ukraine.

The vast estate covers over 340 acres. That’s just shy of the area of Monaco. The glamorous and opulent principality has a lot in common with Mezhyirya. Except Monaco is home to 38,000 people. Mezhyhirya was most recently home to just one family.

This is the story of the former president of Ukraine - Victor Yanukovych.

His mafia style cartel, nick named ‘the family’, his extravagant lifestyle and the construction of his monument to greed - The Mezhyhirya palace and estate. Now known as the world’s only 'Museum of Corruption'.

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Produced and edited by John Roche

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Comments and feedback very welcome!

Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.

Twitter: @YarnStoryPod

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Full transcript available here:

https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-21-the-secret-palace-fb2440c68a01

[Introduction]

Whether we're spinning yarns or unraveling them, Yarn is what you could call- a storytelling playground. We’re in our 3rd year of bringing you original stories. In that time we’ve released over 20 episodes, we’ve been featured in the guardian, won a best podcast award, appeared on WPEZ radio in Chicago And been selected for the UK audio drama festival. Each of episodes is in a different style and genre . Documentaries... Short stories... Interviews... and dramas.... Our stories feature atmosheric sound design, great voice acting talent and original music scores. Dive in and see what you get.

[3-part documentary]

Episode 3 of 3 - Darkest before the dawn.

1900s - 2000s

In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability.

In episode three things start with one of modern history's darkest ideas, Eugenics. We explore its prevalence, especially in America and some of its most famous proponents. Then we jump over to Post WW2 Britain and we uncover how wars not only created Disabled people but how post war periods also led to infrastructure and programmes that helped people with disabilities.

We will confront the horrific conditions Disabled residents of institutions were forced to live in and see how the era of the big institution eventually came to an end. We'll intersect with the Civil Rights movement and see how it inspired the Parent's movement, which led to the Independent Living movement and the fight for Human Rights for people with Disabilities.

Written and narrated by John Roche.

Full episode transcript available here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475

Sources

Short history of disability By Dr Robert Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2qgVhmH88 MN Department of Administration - Council on Development Disabilities https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/ History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics PBS https://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner https://www.ohchr.org/ Dr. William Bronston, Willowbrook Memorial Lecture https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5f/willowbrook-bronston-memorial.html Welcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/works IWM Archive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock RTE Archive https://www.rte.ie/archives/ The Times Archive https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-walking-aids-5232vx5n9j0 Special Olympics https://www.specialolympics.org JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/3288457?seq=1 IPC https://www.paralympic.org/ Greek Gods info https://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/hephaestus/ YouTube