The Allender Calendar

This month on the pod I'm joined by London-based Cardiff-born musician Simon Love! Simon is a superb songwriter with excellent pop smarts, an innate feeling for hooks, and a gift for Ray Davies-esque scene-setting. His lyrics are often very funny (in particular the bridge-burning bitterness of 'Green Man Blues'), but there's a noticeable air of melancholy to his new album The One True Prince of Wales (in exile after abdication), which contains songs about grief, nostalgia, exile and childhood.Simon's album was released on 3 April by Hurrah Musica, and you can buy it here (it's also on the streamers):https://hurrahmusica.bandcamp.com/album/the-one-true-prince-of-walesAnd you can find out more about Simon's previous records here:http://simonlove.org/Follow Simon on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/simonloverules/If you want to support the pod, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I chat to the Northern Irish writer Wendy Erskine about her 2025 novel The Benefactors.The novel's central incident is the sexual assault of a teenage girl, Misty, at a party. The novel follows Misty, the boys involved in the assault, and their families – and also expands out to include countless other voices, some of whom are linked to the story and some who aren't. This polyphonic approach both deepens our understanding of the central characters and captures how gossip spreads through the community.The Benefactors is Wendy's first novel. She has previously published two outstanding collections of short stories: Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022).Wendy also guested on Your Own Personal Beatles back in 2021:https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/wendy-erskines-personal-beatles/id1523996711?i=1000542363739If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I'm joined by the comedian Pierre Novellie to discuss his 2024 book Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things?: A Comedian's Guide to Autism. It's a brilliant, and very funny, book which taught me so much about the condition. We discuss the misunderstandings and misconceptions surrounding autism, as well as Pierre's own experience of his diagnosis (following a heckle at a stand-up gig), and how it helped him to make sense of the way he experiences and interacts with the world.Find out more about Pierre here:https://www.pierrenovellie.com/And you can follow him on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/pierrenovellieAnd Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/pierrenovellie.bsky.socialAnd you can listen to Pierre's interview with John Robins on the How Do You Cope? podcast here:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pierre-novellie-i-wasnt-able-to-get-what-i-wanted-out/id1793829037?i=1000711833374If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I talk to the fabulous writer Rose Ruane. Rose has published two novels, Birding (2024), which was longlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, and This is Yesterday (2019). Rose writes brilliantly and insightfully about female relationships, the legacy of the 90s, and the ways in which we process trauma. If that all sounds a bit heavy, don't worry, she's also extremely funny and very engaging company. I particularly enjoyed our chat about the Manic Street Preachers and the ways in which their music has inspired her.You can find out more about Rose in this interview:https://leslietate.com/2023/05/29/rose-ruane-a-creative-life-story/And you can follow her on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/regretteruane/?hl=enAnd Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/regretteruane.bsky.socialAlso, I briefly mention Rage Against the Machine's radical reading list; you can find that here:https://radicalreads.com/rage-against-the-machine-favorite-books/If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I talk to the novelist Rebecca Watson about her books little scratch (2021) and I Will Crash (2024). We discuss whether Rebecca is an 'experimental' writer, or if her unique fragmentary style is really just the most effective and immediate way of communicating first person consciousness. We talk about how both novels deal with trauma, and how the way she writes is suited to this subject. Sounds a bit heavy, but we also have a good laugh and chat about the merits of Sally Rooney's Intermezzo among other things.Rebecca's website is here:https://www.rebeccawatson.co.uk/And you can find her on Instagram here:https://www.instagram.com/rebeccawhatsun/?hl=enGreat review of little scratch here:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/31/little-scratch-by-rebecca-watson-review-a-daringly-experimental-debutAnd I Will Crash here:https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/03/i-will-crash-by-rebecca-watson-review-a-unique-take-on-sibling-tormentAll music featured in the podcast composed by me. You can listen here:https://robinallender.bandcamp.com/And if you want to support the podcast you can buy me a coffee here:buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I had the great pleasure of talking to the comedian and broadcaster Elis James about our favourite band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Because Elis and I chatted for over two hours I've decided to release this episodes in two parts (both out today!). In Part 1, Elis and I talk about the beginnings of the group and how we first got into them. We then discuss how the band evolved to create the perfect blend of folk, psychedelia and rock on the brilliant run of EPs they released on Ankst between 1994 and 1996 (all collected on the highly recommended album 20). We also talk about what it was like for Elis growing up in Carmarthen (and attending the same school as Gorky's), and about Welsh language music in general.The Gorky's Facebook group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/49120195877/Gorky's Zygotic Archive on Instagram (run by Steve Tamburello):https://www.instagram.com/gorkyszygoticarchive/Gorky's and John Cale playing O, Caroline II:https://youtu.be/jjgrw5oCs38?si=YcLWCOIDBgCS1uR0If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on The Allender Calendar I talk to the incredible writer and council worker Evie King. Evie's book Ashes to Admin: Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer was published in 2023 and is a profound and moving account of her job. Also, for a book about death, it is very funny. Evie writes brilliantly about the bathos and inadvertent comedy of working on funerals alongside complaints about bins and noisy neighbours. Content warning: we do obviously talk about death a lot in this episode, so I appreciate you may not want to listen on your morning commute! But I have to say, part of what makes Ashes to Admin so interesting is the way in which Evie is trying to make death less of a taboo; she hopes to make conversations around death easier, and her commitment to this, and to her job, is truly inspiring.You can find out more about Evie King, including where to buy the book, here:https://linktr.ee/eviekingwritesAnd if you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this month's Allender Calendar I chat to the writer Luke Turner about his book Men at War. Luke's book examines the legacy of the Second World War and shines a light on the real lives of the people who fought in it; their complications, loves, and lusts. We talk about the experiences of gay, bi and transgender soldiers, and discuss contemporary nostalgia and jingoism around the war.More info about Men at War here:https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/luke-turner/men-at-war/9781474618861/And check out Luke's work with The Quietus here:https://thequietus.com/writer/luke-turner/Here is Luke's brilliant first book Out of the Woods:https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/luke-turner/out-of-the-woods/9781474607155/Luke on The Library of Lazy Thinking podcast talking about Patrick Hamilton:https://lazythinking.substack.com/p/luke-turner-on-the-slaves-of-solitudeAnd this month on my regular feature What Have You Been Listening To Recently And What Have You Been Reading Recently Hmm (WHYBLTRAWHYBRRH) I chat about Panda Bear and Lavinia Greenlaw. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month's episode is a bit different! I got together with the American folk musician Sam Amidon to talk about Charles Dickens's last completed novel Our Mutual Friend. Along the way we talk about William Gaddis, Jacques Tati and Kazuo Ishiguro.We also chat about Sam's new album Salt River which is released on 24 January 2025; you can pre-order it here:https://www.roughtrade.com/en-gb/product/sam-amidon/salt-riverAnd Sam is on tour, details below:https://www.samamidon.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Allender Calendar I talk to the journalist Dan Hancox about his new book Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World.Dan's Substack:https://danhancox.substack.com/Buy the book from Verso here:https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3176-multitudes?srsltid=AfmBOoqy2ieOOXaF3SOVrqp665ddddqoHLOSBCYkyOumLc4pJJxWtCBOTownsville by The Necks:https://thenecks2.bandcamp.com/album/townsville'Some of My Best Friends Are Lizards' is on the album Get Your Hopes Down by Landslide Purist:https://landslidepurist.bandcamp.com/album/get-your-hopes-downIll Spectre productions:https://samwisternoff.wixsite.com/illspectreproduction Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of The Allender Calendar, Robin chats to folk musician Olivia Chaney. Olivia's latest album Circus of Desire was released in March 2024:https://oliviachaney.bandcamp.com/album/circus-of-desireOlivia recently performed at the Proms as part of an orchestral celebration of Nick Drake. Here's a video of here playing 'River Man' from 2018:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDxUwFjux4cIan Lynch from Lankum's podcast is called Fire Draw Near; this is the episode about 'Willie o' Winsbury':https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/bonus-episode-willie-owinsbury/id1532286691?i=1000609272537If you stick around until the end of the episode you'll hear what Robin has been reading and listening to recently in a brand new feature called 'what have you been listening to recently and what have you been reading recently'. Here's the Talking Scared podcast episode with Kate Summerscale:https://www.everand.com/podcast/569927604/07-Kate-Summerscale-and-the-Shoplifting-Poltergeist Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.