We continue our exploration of the fascinating and contentious topic of propaganda, using as our basis David Welch’s 2013 book ‘Propaganda: Power & Persuasion.   In Part 2, we look at the propaganda of nationhood and leadership before taking a deep dive into the chapter of the book on war propaganda. Is propaganda good or bad? Or does it just depend on who’s propagating the information? Part 3 will be out in December   We sincerely hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like,...

To round off the year, we present another multi-part series, this time on a fascinating topic that I have come to see as something of an art form. The main material being used is David Welch’s very accessible and even-handed book ‘Propaganda: Power & Persuasion, which accompanied an exhibition on the topic at the British Library in 2013.   Is propaganda good or bad? Or does it just depend on who’s propagating the information? In Part 1, we look at definitions of propaganda, some of the...

We’ve got a special episode for you this time as Antony is joined by 1990s football legend and truth-seeker Matt Le Tissier. The conversation hits on a few topics such as the recent Euro 2024 tournament and some of the problems with the mentality of English football. Antony and Matt then discuss media narratives and the wider agenda regarding sport, especially its propagandistic relationship with national identity.   We sincerely hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share...

To mark Life And Life Only’s half-century, I drove back to my original home town on the day I celebrated another journey round the sun, to share a few personal reminiscences and also muse on nostalgia, memories, socio-economic status and a few other things…   There’s a nice bit of relaxing music to finish today’s episode and an announcement of a rather special guest coming up for LALO 51   I sincerely hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...   Facebook...

And so we bring to an end another podcast series as we conclude our whistle-stop journey through some of the highlights of John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, which is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor and the intelligent layman. The topics and sub-topics this time include spiritual experiences and the various ways of achieving them, being fully alive and awake, death, mortality & aging and the...

We continue our sprawling but hopefully enlightening trawl through John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, which is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor and the intelligent layman. One of the many strengths of the book is how it takes concepts and ideas and shows how they can be adapted to various contexts. Among the topics and sub-topics touched upon in this episode are politics, society and its many...

As the podcast nears its half century, we venture into another multi-parter, this time on John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, the sequel to their ‘Families & How To Survive Them’. As with ‘Families’, this book is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor/expert and the patient/layman.   As is the usual format, Antony picks some interesting parts from the book, reads them out and then expands on some of...

We conclude our discussion centred on W Timothy Gallwey’s book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ by talking about nerves, including citing some famous cases of ‘choking’ in sport, and then engaging in a little fun speculation as to who might win the remaining tennis Grand Slams of this year and beyond, in both the men’s and women’s tours.    We hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...   Facebook...

Darrell & Antony continue their discussion of W Timothy Gallwey’s book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’, which expertly uses that sport as a context to give wider insights into the nature of performance, the mental traps we set for ourselves and how to overcome challenges and be your best self. Although not an easy thing to do, you may find that at least it’s simpler than you think, and the book (and hopefully our discussion) offers many lessons for tennis, sport and life.   We hope you enjoy...

For our first podcast series of 2024, we welcome Darrell Swan to talk about some of the benefits of Life Coaching before we deep dive into the book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ by W Timothy Gallwey. Darrell is a former Life Coachee of Antony’s and also a tennis player with a great interest in sports psychology.   Gallwey’s book expertly uses tennis as a context to give wider insights into the nature of performance, some of the mental traps involved and how to be mindful and let your natural...

And so we finally reach the end of this podcast odyssey with the longest episode of the 4-part series... The main topics here are fame (linking neatly to LALO episode 40) and the interestingly similar trajectory it shares with money in terms of how its escalation affects -or doesn't affect- a person's happiness, and then the granddaddy of all topics- death. There’s also some talk about mindfulness meditation here, offering another callback to a previous LALO episode. Once again Derren Brown...

The next part of this epic journey through Derren Brown’s book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’ and the general topic of happiness takes us further into fate and accepting the downsides of life while finding its way back to some core themes of the book. These include our construction of narratives with little evidence, catastrophising and ‘mind-reading’ (ours, not Derren’s!). We also look at those old enemies anger, fear & guilt, with a little help from our friends...

Antony appeared on ‘Luke’s English podcast’ in April/May this year to profile Life And Life Only, and here is a compilation of the two episodes, which originally went out on video (see links below). The topics discussed by Luke and Antony are the podcast itself, Cats, Titanic, Travelling, English Teaching, Life Coaching, David Blaine, Food & Diet, Films, Conspiracy Theories (including the weaponisation of the phrase), Comedy and Happiness.   I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please...

Inspired by the recent U.S. Open tennis tournament, here’s my take on the grand slam singles finals won by Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, the G.O.A.T. debate and the sport and its culture in general. From here, we look at two things that are inextricably linked to top-level tennis and sport- media and fame. There’s also discussion of a very important argument put forward in the seminal 1974 tennis/sports psychology book, ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’. As well as lauding the impressive...

We continue our foray into the surprisingly complex world of happiness, with extracts from Derren Brown’s 2016 book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’ to guide us through, along with host Antony’s interjections and musings. In this part, we look at a wide range of sub-topics including more on the history of happiness, a look at the Stoics and Marcus Aurelius and their influence on Cognitive-Behavioural and Life Coaching, virtue (signalling), desire, fate, judgement, the...

Happiness seems to be simple to understand, but profound and lasting happiness is actually a complex business, as brilliantly illustrated by Derren Brown in his 2016 book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’. Derren’s 500-page very readable tome forms the basis for this series of episodes on the many aspects of happiness, including its history. After musing on his recent illness and reading some quotes about happiness, Antony reads choice passages from the book and adds his...

This time around, Antony reads two of his short stories, referred to in the title of the episode, and muses on various things, including Chris Ryan and his ‘Tangentially Speaking’ podcast, Thai memories, a surreal Valium-fuelled overnight trip, a wonderful review from a listener, the magic of cats, normies vs truthers and a couple of other things. I don’t always have answers but I’ve got plenty of good questions…   I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share...

David Blaine is known around the world and a magician and illusionist. However, he has also had a parallel life doing endurance stunts, apparently for real without illusion (though some believe otherwise). This episode deals with my personal favourite of these stunts, when he tested the limits of human endurance, both physical and psychological, living in a plexiglass box for 44 days in London in 2003 with only water to sustain him. One of the ironic things about this stunt is that he was...

We complete the reading of Antony's longform essay with the dramatic sinking and its aftermath. Ordinary humans of all levels of means and status fight for their lives against the slow, inevitable creep of death, and after the disaster there's equal measures of genuine humanity and ugly scapegoating   The story of R.M.S. Titanic and its unfortunate fate seems to have everything, both good and bad, in terms of how society views itself, its apparently superior relationship to nature and...

The story of R.M.S. Titanic and its unfortunate fate seems to have everything, both good and bad, in terms of how society views itself, its apparently superior relationship to nature and people’s relationships to their fellow man. This is a historical event but it’s also a story full of drama and human interest, and one that has been subject to constant revision in the 110 years since the ship sank. Antony reads his own longform essay regarding the maiden voyage and sinking of the world's...

In an edited version of what was originally a video podcast (link below), Antony and Luke Thompson dissect the seminal Canadian documentary written by law professor Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Although often run by people with decent intentions, the modern corporation, complete with its legally-determined 'rights of a person', has become a monster that seeks to devour all that stands in its own way while polluting the environment and often ruining lives. You...

Nicnac Marsh has a podcast that delves into his psyche and the challenges of the complex business of existence in an ever-changing and increasingly confusing world. I was delighted to make 2 appearances on his show around this time last year so this latest offering is a compilation of the two. Our talk goes to many different places but there is particular emphasis on creativity and also discussions on how the world might actually work beyond the propaganda and some discussion of John Lennon,...

The BBC, once considered the bastion of fairness in journalism, has in recent times begun to wear its propaganda on its sleeve. Antony attempts to give a fair but critical overview of their recent 'Unvaccinated' documentary and point out both the overt and more subtle propaganda techniques used in a piece of programming whose agenda is clear from the very start.    I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc... Facebook...

Yes Minister, which later became Yes Prime Minister, was a BBC sitcom that ran from the late 1970s to the late 80s. On one level it was an extremely well-scripted and funny comedy, but it also offered a very profound and only slightly exaggerated look at the very interesting but also rather dark and slightly insane way in which we and our lives are governed by those at the top of the power game. Indeed, it seems to get more and more relevant as time goes on, and this podcast explores the...