Angels of the North

Episode 5 of 'Grim Up North? A Podcast about the North, from the North'

Hello friends and subscribers!

Just wanted to draw your attention to the latest episode of ‘Grim Up North?’ the podcast about the politics, culture, and society of the North of England, that I co-host with the poet and photographer Adrian Scott.

In this month’s episode, Adrian and I discuss the role of religion in the formation of the character and society in the North. We took a road trip/pilgrimage to the Laing Gallery in Newcastle to see the exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Here’s a clip from our interview with the museum’s chief curator Julie Milne:

Given that we were in North East England, we had to visit the Angel of the North, as you can see from Adrian’s fabulous photograph. We spoke to people there about its significance.

We also discussed the impact of Methodism on the North, its early influence on the Labour Party, angels in Bradford, and the eighteenth century Methodist lay preachers who fought the Devil back and forth across the North:

All this and more, and you don’t need to be religious to give it a listen!

You can check out the whole episode here on Podbean, or on most other streaming platforms.