Neil Oliver Podcast

Ep99 The Tower of London In this episode we’re scaling the walls of one of the most famous fortresses in the whole of the British Isles – the Tower of London. Almost a thousand years old this beautifully kept Roya palace is now spic and span, and surrounded by the steel and glass of a thriving modern metropolis. But for centuries it was a place to dread. Packed to the rafters with history, this week Neil digs down to find the awful secrets that have been buried beneath the floorboards!  To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverNew Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Neil takes us to meet a great mind; a scientist whose work laid some of the foundations that have helped shape the world we live in. James Clerk Maxwell grew up surround by the soft rounded hills, lochs and handsome woodland in Dumfries and Galloway. From his country upbringing and a slow start at school he went on to dazzle on the scientific stage.Einstein and the scientists that followed all pay tribute to the great beauty of Maxwell’s mathematics, his theorems, and the ground-breaking work he did showing that electricity, light and magnetism were all covered by the same fundamental and natural laws. Without him the world wouldn’t be as it is today. To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverNew Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode a wave of devolution sweeps across the United Kingdom creating assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales and a new parliament in Scotland.In 1999 as the balance of power across the whole of the British Isles starts to shift, the foundations are laid to cement a new age in Scotland. At the end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile work begins on an ambitious building, which will herald Scotland’s move to devolution. Built with oak, sycamore, stainless steel and Caithness stone the finished design for Scotland’s new Parliament Building is celebrated, loved and loathed in equal measure.To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=enContact details: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode the countdown begins; will it be the dawn of a second coming or herald chaos and catastrophe? This week, as the dials turn and the 9s mutate to 0s the new millennium arrives and we’re standing in a landmark building designed by one of the world’s great architects. What does this building tell us about Britain? Hope you’ve got your streamers!To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverNew Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Neil comes face to face with the exploits of the Solomon Brown lifeboat crew. With a hurricane battering the Cornish coast, 8 men set sail from Penlee Lifeboat Station in an attempt to save the passengers and crew of the Union Star.As the Union Star was being violently tossed ever closer towards deadly rocks a helicopter rescue pilot witnessed the bravery of the Solomon Brown crew as they attempted to rescue everyone aboard the Union Star – the helicopter pilot described what he saw and the lifeboat men as, ‘truly the greatest eight men I have ever seen’.   To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 In this episode Neil takes us along one of London’s most celebrated and infamous streets, the place that became a byword for the British Press - Fleet Street. We’re in the midst of the pounding heart of the city with gossip, scandal, exposes and politics ringing in our ears – we’re at St Brides Church on Fleet Street.Named after the river Fleet upon which it was built. In the C16th Wynkyn de Worde and his printing press set up shop on Fleet Street, and the foundations of a tradition were laid.In 1702 the capital’s first newspaper, the Daily Courant, was published as the street developed from printing books to newspapers. As the penny-press’s popularity skyrocketed a torrent of words started flowing down Fleet Street as the nation’s obsession with news was fed. To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Neil takes us to a set of three tiny spellbinding islands, shimmering with crystal clear water and pristine white sand – his ultimate desert island. This is the place he escapes to in his imagination when he needs to get away from the pressures of the world.In the C17th smugglers made one of the islands their secret hideaway. Another island was home to a self-styled king who swapped gifts with Queen Victoria – a basket woven from seaweed and filled with fresh fish and royal coat made of blue cloth. It’s a place where is still possible to glimpse magic! To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, as the Cold War and the threat of nuclear Armageddon sends a terrifying chill around the world Neil heads to Orford Ness in Suffolk.In the early C20th this isolated shingle spit, tucked away from prying eyes, came to the attention of the military who saw it as the perfect location for secret experiments. It was first used as a training base for the fledgling Royal Airforce during the First World War. Later, work on the radar system that would prove to be so vital for the defence of Britain in WWII was conducted here.The shroud of secrecy, which the military had thrown over this location continued as experiments that would help develop Britain’s first atomic bomb took place in the laboratories here. And in 1967 as Cold War tensions and the threat of nuclear war increased, to counter any Soviet aggression, British and US military scientists started developing a next generation radar system called Operation Cobra Mist. To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we come face to face with a chilling reminder of just how close Hitler came to conquering Britain. During World War 2 he got a toe-hold on British territory when his army captured the Channel Islands – the first time they’d be wrestled from British control in over 1000 years.This week Neil travels to Alderney, one of the islands in the archipelago, to witness the terrifying atrocities carried out by the Nazi occupation force. Here they brought in an army of slave labourers to build defences aimed at keeping out liberation from the British. And the horror meted out to them is a satin on all humanity.To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Operation Overlord is go as Allied troops begin practicing for D-Day.The plans to invade and liberate Europe are drawn up with amphibious landings on 5 beaches in Normandy - Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Hitler's defences are well prepared, ready and determined, so allied training rehearsals are vital, and it's crucial they are as realistic as possible.Neil heads to Slapton Sands in Devon to watch Exercise Tiger unfold - a heady, dangerous mix of live ammunition, miscommunication, German E-boats, secret documents and tragedy. To help support the making of this podcast sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.comhttps://www.patreon.com/neiloliverHistory & Comment - New Videos Every Week Instagram account – Neil Oliver Love Letter https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter/?hl=en Neil Oliver YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVR-SdKxQeTvXtUSPFCL7g Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.