Podcast Recent Listens and Recommendations

Hello friends:

I've been doing a bit of a deep dive into wargaming and military history podcasts lately, which I listen to either on long walks or at the painting bench.  I thought some of you might be interested in a roundup of listens that I've recently enjoyed and which might be of interest.

Big Lee from Posties' Rejects (of which I'm an honourary member!) offers some wise thoughts about how to get the younger generation into the hobby of wargaming,   As a wargaming vicar, I found this conversation very similar to the debates we have about the greying of the church and where the next generation will come from.  As a grandparent blessed with little ones, I found his suggestions most encouraging

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I'm a great fan of Zack White (@zwhiteHistory), an English PhD student and a tireless online promoter of Napoleonic history - usually on his podcast, The Napoleonicist.    He's an erudite and gracious interviewer, and his guests are usually topshelf.   Recently I had the pleasure of contributing my meagre voice talents to a collage of readers he put together for Voices of Ireland, bringing select letters and diaries of Irish soldiers and civilians to life.   I'm the one with the flat Toronto accent.    Conrad Kinch (@questingvole) has heard me try my Irish accent, but has tactfully kept his silence.

Ken Reilly (@yarkshiregamer) has a podcast featuring those long, free-wheeling conversations that I associate with British wargaming podcasts (aka the late Meeples and Miniatures).   I really enjoyed his conversation with Dr. Chris Brown, a Scottish historian and wargamer.  Chris is funny, acerbic, and very much a character - in other words, a Scot.   I'm currently reading Chris' book Arnhem: Nine Days Battle and while it's not my wargaming area of interest, it is a brilliant piece of military history.   Chris also has a wargaming presence on Facebook - S.P.I.T. Wargames (Stupid Projects in Twenty-eight)  - which is worth checking out.

Speaking of interviews, there's a very good one with Andrew, the host of Firepowergaming, in conversation with Tom Egan (@tomjegan).   Tom is an army officer in the Irish Defence Forces and an ardent wargamer.   In this conversation they talk about gaming as well its applications to Tom's day job which is training junior officers to plan and conduct operations in the field against a variety of threats and challenges.   Not that I'm trying to imitate Irish accents (see above), but Tom's Cork accent has thus far defeated me.  :)

Another interview that I enjoyed recently was between Sean Clark (@GodsOwnScale), host of the God's Own Scale podcast, and Jon Bleasdale, who runs a blog called Grymauch 's Solo Gaming.  I am fond of Sean's podcast, he has an easy, gentle style and is what I call a "down the pub" sort of podcast.  Jon's Grymauch blog is incredibly ambitious and shows a multitude of large 6mm battles in a variety of periods.  I think I could learn something from how Jon does campaigns.

Finally, I want to say how glad I am to have discovered the Old Front Line podcast by Great War historian Paul Reed (@sommecourt).   His depth of knowledge and the way he brings minutiae to life are stellar.  For example, in a discussion of the role of estaiments (small restaurants) in the life of the Tommies, I learned that our slang word "plonk" for cheap wine comes from the soldier's adoption of "vin blanc", which along with cheap beer was the booze on offer at soldier's estaiments - the red wine was for officers and was quite expensive.   Paul's discussion of the Lijssentheok military cemetery is a great example of Paul's erudtion, and covers the development of British military medicine in the Great War, the role of women nurses, railways and transport, soldier's eating and drinking habits, and the layout of military cemeteries.  Top shelf.