Ophira has a story for you — one about Frank Evans, the 81-year-old Salford-born matador who now splits his time between Seville and Worsley like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Yes, that’s right: matador. While the city proudly boasts of luring the BBC up north, appearing behind the Smiths in That Photo, and producing Paul Scholes’ right foot — somehow, Frank slips through the net. But this is a man who traded Eccles cakes for cape work, and against all odds became one of the only Brits to ever rise to bullfighting’s top tier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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14:07
Pyramid scheme
Jack tells the story of his trip to the newly-built Royal Nawaab, the multi-story curry house which has been built in Stockport’s iconic glass pyramid on the Valley of the Kings. But while Mahmood Hussain, the curry maestro with a “strongman’s slab of tache resting on his top lip”, hopes his £15 million renovation will pay off, has he considered the ancient pharaoh's curse which has been said to hang over the valley… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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15:05
The folk dancers who refuse to stop blacking up
Our writer Ophira Gottlieb tells the story of the Britannia Coconut Dancers of Bacup, in Lancashire. For over a century the troupe of morris dancers has performed up and down the town’s streets dressed in knitted jumpers, candy-striped kilts, and painted completely black. “I worked in a pub just outside Manchester,” Ophira remembers, “many of the customers felt the practice was racist and badly outdated, but just as many disagreed.” On Easter weekend, Ophira finally met these dancers. Nicknamed the “Coconutters”, Ophira set out to understand why they hold a practice that many find so offensive so close to their hearts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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10:39
A new Manchester industry: pit stops for delivery riders
In the first of our new series of audio storytelling, Jack tells the story of how the new bike repair shops that have sprung up to offer rapid repairs to Manchester’s legions of delivery riders. “Some Mill stories are the result of months of work and research and planning, and some are born out of necessity,” Jack says, “The story I’m about to tell you was the latter.” But while the story itself was written to replace another story that fell through, it became a reader-favourite, offering an insight into a hidden world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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13:08
What really caused the Royal Exchange's cancelled show?
Late last year, when the Royal Exchange Theatre was forced to cancel its production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the media fallout became one long nightmare. Stef O'Driscoll, the play’s director, accused the theatre of censorship, and its chief executive Stephen Freeman eventually stood down. But there are two sides to every story - over the last month, insiders at the Royal Exchange have been telling us they've been uncomfortable with the narrative that the play's director was censored for a rap about Palestine, and that they feel the theatre was the victim of a "witch hunt". In this week's episode, Mollie and Jack take you inside our reporting and reveal what really caused the theatre to cancel the entire run of its long-anticipated autumn production.Recommendations:A midsummer’s nightmare: What really caused the Royal Exchange’s cancelled show? The Mill Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you live in Greater Manchester, this is the podcast for you. Every week, we tackle a big story in the city region or interview a key figure who provides some new insight into the issues that are shaping this par of the world. It's all produced by the team at The Mill, whose award-winning journalism has won national acclaim and which specialises in in-depth reporting that digs a few levels deeper than regular news. To find out more about The Mill, visit manchestermill.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
South Africa