Shows
The Family Practice Podcast42. It's Time to Ditch the Spine! | NeuroAge Conversations with Dr. David FletcherIn this inaugural episode of the Neuro Age Conversations, Dr. Tony Ebel sits down with chiropractic legend Dr. David Fletcher to unpack the history, evolution, and explosive relevance of neurologically focused, subluxation-based chiropractic care. Together, they chart the path from chiropractic’s vitalistic roots to today’s practice climate—where nervous system-focused family care isn't just the future... it's the NOW.They break down:The ages and stages of chiropractic and how we got hereHow the nervous system is finally center stage in both science and societyThe fatal flaw of spinal-centric chiropractic communicationWhy today's marketplace is primed...2025-06-1756 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 34: Kill Your Pet Puppy with Tony D.In early 1979, Tony D(rayton) ceased publication of his trailblazing punk fanzine Ripped & Torn, having experienced a seismic shift in his values by the emergence of anarcho-punks Crass on the scene. After nine months traversing Europe and rethinking his “decadence,” he came back to London and started a new fanzine, Kill Your Pet Puppy. Like its predecessor, KYPP proved highly influential, and at times equally controversial, gradually moving away from music coverage over the course of its six issues to become something more…In this, his second appearance on The Fanzine Podcast (check Episode 13 for the Ripped...2025-04-171h 13The Fanzine PodcastEp. 33: What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen with Chris ColemanFor the 33rd installment of the Fanzine Podcast, we welcome Chris Coleman, former editor of at least two important ‘zines from the 1980s post-punk UK Midlands: Stringent Measures and What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen. The first of these zines straddled a vibrant local indie scene that included the likes of Eyeless In Gaza, In Embrace, Attrition, and the Glass Records label (about which Chris put together a special edition) along with Chris’s evident excitement for early U2. What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen, while maintaining the fanzine format, declared itself musically with a first issue feat...2025-03-121h 10
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 32: Search & DestroyIt’s time for a new episode of The Fanzine Podcast, and we start 2025 off with one of the pioneers from the explosion of punk zines in 1977: V. Vale, editor and publisher of San Francisco’s legendary Search & Destroy along with its successor, RE/Search Publications.Now in his late 70s, Vale – who grew up in foster homes in the Midwest and found refuge in public libraries – has been active in the U.S. counterculture pretty much all his life. He attended U.C. Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement of 1964-65, was active on...2025-02-061h 12
Talking About The WhoTony Fletcher – author, musician and Keith Moon biographerTony Fletcher talks about his work with the Rock Academy and the challenge of directing a show dedicated to The Who, recording with his band The Dear Boys, what compelled him to write a Keith Moon biography, trying to separate the myths from the truth, the effect the book had on his well-being, the most surprising thing he learnt while writing the book, his experiences of interviewing Oliver Reed and John Entwistle, and where he ranks Dear Boy/Moon amongst his other work. Plus: on the 60th anniversary of The Who’s first single ‘I Can’t...2025-01-1559 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 31: Restarting an old ZineFor more information, pictures, how to contact the zine editors, and zine updates, visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/relaunching-your-fanzine Most fanzines are not designed to be permanent: their editors grow up, get "proper" jobs, start families, or just grow bored and want to move on. But occasionally, years down the line, fanzine editors come back around and decide to have another go at it. For this episode, we welcome back from Episode 17 Alison B, whose Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor, dedicated to exorcising the addictive demons created through her original zine Bubblegum Slut, has resulted...2024-11-211h 22
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 29 : The Flourishing Litzine SceneFor Episode 29, Tony's guests are Roual Galloway of Spinners, and Derek Steel of Razur Cuts, two of the more prominent among the many Litzines currently flourishing in the UK (and beyond).Litzines – independent zines of literature from outside the mainstream – are surely among the oldest of all forms of fanzines. Depending on your historical perspective, you could even argue that they predate the concept of the fanzine itself, which as noted back on Episode 21, was a word first knowingly used in 1940.Certainly, self-published zines of prose and poetry writing were an important part of t...2024-09-121h 11
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 28: Mick Mercer's PanacheThe first issue of Mick Mercer’s fanzine Panache came out in January 1977, with Iggy Pop on the cover, perfectly poised for the punk/new wave/DIY revolution that was exploding across the UK. Mick kept the zine in print for a further 50+ issues, all the way to 1995, which makes it one of the longest-running, and arguably the most consistently prolific of all the original UK punk-inspired zines. In the decades since, Mick has carried on demonstrating his passion for indie music, comics, and cats, via blogging, radio shows, a Substack column, and his Cat Olympics. Oh, and he’s al...2024-08-011h 22
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 27: Fanzine Lifers Jay Hinman (Fanzine Hemorrhage) & Tim Anstaett (The Offense)Throughout the 1980s, Tim Anstaett ran The Offense, an influential, prolific, jam-packed fanzine out of Columbus, Ohio, where he still lives. In the 1990s, Jay Hinman began the underground zine Superdope fanzine out of Seattle, and after a hiatus, picked back up on zine publishing in the 2010s with Dynamite Hemorrhage, which set its stall with a 68-page debut issue. For the last few years, Jay has also been running the Fanzine Hemorrhage web site and newsletter, offering 200 reflective reviews (so far) of select music fanzines (and occasional magazines) from his enormous personal collection. The Offense is one of...2024-07-031h 16
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 26: Zerox Machine with Matthew WorleyFor show notes, and to see images from Zerox Machine and other books discussed in this episode, please visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/zerox-machine-the-big-book-of-britishAnd, while there, please subscribe to receive regular updates on this and other Tony Fletcher podcasts and writings.https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribeMatthew Worley is Professor of Modern History at the University of Reading, where he is gainfully employed studying punk and post-punk culture. (Yes, it’s a thing these days.) To this end he has just published an arguably definitive new book, the culmination of ma...2024-06-051h 06
Timeless Business and Building StrategiesFrom Interviews to Integration: Fletcher Wimbush on Perfecting Your Hiring ProcessSend us a textEver wondered how to fine-tune your hiring process to find the perfect fit for your team? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Fletcher Wimbush, a veteran hiring consultant from California with a quarter-century of experience. Fletcher traces his journey from learning the ropes of business coaching with his father to taking over the family business and creating proprietary assessment tools. Gain exclusive insights from a professional who has interviewed over 10,000 candidates, and discover how the DISC personality assessment can transform your hiring practices and team dynamics.Unlock the secrets to...2024-05-2940 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 25: When Saturday Comes: 40 Years of Football FanzinesWith Andy Lyons (WSC), Mike Harrison (City Gent), Kevin Whitcher (The Gooner.) For links to and pictures of these fanzines, to post comments, and to read more related writings and podcasts, visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/the-fanzine-podcast-ep-25-40-yearsFor over 40 years now, football fanzines have run parallel to music fanzines in the UK, growing out of the same alternative pop culture as did the punk and new wave zines of the 1970s, as evidenced perhaps by the fact that the best known and longest-running of the non-denominational zines, When Saturday Comes, took its name...2024-05-021h 09
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 24: The Birth of Jamming! and a Fanzines UpdatePlease visit (and subscribe to) tonyfletcher.substack.com for more writings on zines and beyond.In this episode, Tony offers a short update on the Fanzine Podcast's future episodes and some of the activities around the zine scene before using the opportunity of being in the UK for a while to revisit the debut episode of what was then called The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast, "From Classroom To Clubs." The episode was summarised at the time as follows:For this debut episode of The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast, Tony Fletcher connects with three old friends...2024-04-041h 10
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 23: Sniffin' Glue with Mark PerryTo win a copy of the compendium, Sniffin’ Glue and Other Rock’n’Roll Habits, published by Omnibus Press, as mentioned on this episode, please visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/midweek-update-32-sniffin-glue-and - and don't forget to subscribe to the Substack account if you haven't already. Competition ends March 19.Back in 1976, given that there was no other publication dedicated to covering the Ramones or the new bands popping up around London, Mark Perry founded Sniffin’ Glue, the original British punk zine. Barely a year later, after a dozen issues that saw circulation rise from 10 – as in ten, to...2024-02-291h 37
One Step BeyondS2E18: Henk Rogers vs. The WorldIn an earlier life, Henk Rogers brought the computer game Tetris to the world, as you will know if you saw the movie Tetris. Following a near-fatal heart attack in 2005 just after selling a different company for over $100,000,000, he is now bringing his renowned determination, business acumen and innovative thinking to environmentalism. Mission #1: to eliminate our use of carbon-based fuels.For this final episode of Season 2, Henk talks with Tony about why we have to do this, how his home state of Hawai'i is already doing this, how he moved to New York to ensure other...2024-02-231h 12
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 22: Perzines Are Awesome with Liz Mason & Billy McCallLiz Mason and Billy McCall are two of the more prominent U.S. “publishers” of what are affectionately called “perzines,” fanzines as expression of self. Liz publishes or co-publishes Caboose, Cul-de-Sac, Awesome Things and The Most Unwanted Zine and works as manager at Quimby’s bookstore in Chicago, which actively sells ‘zines. Billy puts out Proof I Exist, Behind the Zines, The Difference Between, has published at least three different pocket-sized memoirs, distributes fanzines online, and designed and initially produced the Zine Game. On this episode of The Fanzine Podcast, they join Tony Fletcher to explain the how, why, when, what...2024-02-011h 14
Fabulously Keto175: Tony Royle - Engineering His Heart Attack Recovery [Replay]Tony Royle
Dr Tony Royle PhD is a former electrical engineer and both military and civilian pilot. He flew 3 operational tours on the RAF’s C130 aircraft before joining Virgin Atlantic to fly the Airbus A340 and A330.
Whilst a pilot he pursued a parallel academic career in the sciences and mathematics and is currently an Associate Lecturer with the UK’s Open University tutoring on their MSc Mathematics course.
He is also an Ambassador for the Public Health Collaboration, specialising in the use of the ketogenic diet to prevent and treat disease. He is a...2024-01-181h 27
One Step BeyondS2E17: Everybody Loves Elephants. So How Do We Save Them?It's hard to find someone who doesn't appreciate the elephant, the largest land mammal on earth with the biggest brain, and the longest gestation period, an animal known for its sense of family, its empathy, its memory, and for being damn cuddly to boot. Yet we humans consistently sanction the murder of (primarily African) elephants for (primarily) their ivory, at a rate faster than new elephants are born, and we capture Asian elephants to use for hard labor or so-called "entertainment." Through deforestation and other destructions, we have also decreased their natural habitat in Asia by up to 95%. As...2024-01-041h 03
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 21: NYC's Ira Robbins (Trouser Press) & Jack Rabid (The Big Takeover) The Fanzine Podcast finally gets across the Atlantic, and talks to two of the mainstays of the New York 'zine scene.Ira Robbins started Trouser Press in 1974 as "hopefully the first consumer-oriented, ( inter }national rock fanzine" and went on to produce 96 issues that got up to a 60,000 circulation before calling it a day after exactly 10 years; Trouser Press continued life as a record buyer's guide, a website, and now as a publishing imprint too.Jack Rabid started The Big Takeover in 1980 as a one-page broadsheet devoted to New York punk band The Stimulators b...2023-12-211h 11
Fabulously Keto170: Dr Tony Hampton - Protecting Your NestDr Tony Hampton
Dr. Tony Hampton is a board-certified Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine physician with a focus on helping people reverse the root cause of disease. As the chair of the Society of Metabolic Health practitioners Outreach Committee, he is on a mission to share the healing message that it is possible to reverse the root cause of disease by achieving metabolic health.
He is the author of Fix Your Diet, Fix Your Diabetes and host of Protect Your Nest podcast.
Dr. Hampton is especially passionate about removing barriers to health and e...2023-12-141h 10
One Step BeyondS2E16: 500 5ks in 500 Days, with Jamie KennardTony interviews Catskills resident Jamie Kennard about his recent undertaking of 500 5ks in 500 days – across multiple sporting disciplines, and all of them outdoors – as a means of coping with the loss of his wife Tracy to a particularly rare and brutal cancer at the age of 47. Jamie and Tracy had been together since they were 16, and married for the last 20+ of those 30 years.Compared with her suffering and her fighting spirit, Jamie’s own determination to ski, hike, bike, run, canoe and even surf 5k a day minimum seemed… minimal. On One Step Beyond, he talks of how t...2023-12-071h 07One Step BeyondS2E15: Why We TravelWhy do we travel? Does travel make us happier? Smarter? Braver? Or, given the current climate crisis, why should we travel? What's the difference between a tourist and a traveler? And what's a Digital Nomad and why does that term make some people cringe?These and many other key, core questions are answered by Nathan James Thomas, editor of the Intrepid Times, and author of Travel Your Way and Untethered, and Dr. Andrew Stevenson, a Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of the new book The Psychology of Travel, alongside host Tony Fletcher.2023-11-021h 04
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 19: Postcard from Post-Punk Scotland with Bobby Bluebell & Alastair McKayFor an episode playlist, to see covers and pages of these zines, and for much more about the fanzine culture in general, visit Midweek Update #12: Fanzines are Alive & Kicking Edition.In 1980, in Glasgow, Robert Hodgens started Ten Commandments alongside writer Kirsty McNeil and photographer Robert Scott; after four issues, known now as Bobby Bluebell, Hodgens moved to London with his band The Bluebells and became, briefly a pop star.In 1983, between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Alastair McKay started Alternatives To Valium. It lasted four years until Alastair, who freelanced for Jamming! during this time...2023-10-181h 10One Step BeyondS2E14: Beer Hiking New York and Wine Running EuropeJason Freedman and Philip Vondra are outdoorsy New Yorkers with a book just published entitled Beer Hiking New York: The Tastiest Way to Discover the Empire State.Colin Renton is an outdoorsy Scotsman with a book recently published entitled The Wine Runner: My Year of Hard Yards and Vineyards. Host Tony Fletcher (an outdoorsy half-Scot and half-English Brit who also has USA citizenship) talks with Jason and Colin about the joys travel both near and far, about running and hiking and… you guessed it, about beer and wine.Along the way, the thr...2023-10-051h 11
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 18: Modzines and the Mod Scene with Eddie Piller"No other youth culture or subculture centred on fashion or music, or both, has ever had as many fanzines dedicated to it as the mod revival." So wrote Eddie Piller at the start of his 2918 book Mod Zines (with Steve Rowland) and he should know: as editor and publisher of Extraordinary Sensations, Piller saw his 'zine sell a phenomenal 15,000 copies at its peak in the mid-80s, as many as legendary punk zine Sniffin' Glue had managed a decade earlier.Over the course of an hour-long conversation with The Fanzine Podcast's host, Tony...2023-09-201h 08One Step BeyondS2E13: Pura Vida in Costa Rica?Turtles! Volcanoes! Caiman! Monkeys! Museums! Fumaroles! Scuba Diving! Swimming Holes! And Sunsets! Paula is back as co-host for the first time since the Season 1 finale as she and Tony discuss their recent travel to Costa Rica, not only from an environmental and cultural perspective, but also from their uniquely different personal perspectives. Paula had not traveled outside the USA in 35 years, whereas Tony spent almost a whole year backpacking round the globe only back in 2016. Similarly, Tony is something of an (ageing) adrenalin hound who went scuba diving and running the volcanos, while Paula had reasons t...2023-09-071h 14
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 17: Confessions of an Ex-Zine EditorTen years after she ceased publishing her 2000s rock’n’roll fanzine Bubblegum Slut due to the lifestyle it induced (i.e. drug addiction), Alison B. found herself producing a new zine about her old zine, the lifestyle it induced and the year she spent in limbo before getting clean. That zine is entitled Confessions of an Ex-Zine Editor and it is astonishingly original and entertaining. Partly a “trainwreck memoir” in zine format, it has the benefit of additionally being side-splittingly funny, what with its reviews of old clubs that are now train stations and of snail mail that no longe...2023-08-2357 min
One Step BeyondS2E12: Rock-A-Holic: How Climbing Saved My LifeIn the late 1990s, Michael Dorame was a house music fanatic living in San Francisco, who became addicted to the drugs that kept him dancing all night long in the clubs. After OD'ing twice in three weekends, he found release, relief and redemption in the sport of rock climbing. Now, with producer Aaron Fong and celebrated outdoor sports cinematographer Chris Alstrin, Michael has made a film, Rock-A-Holic, about his story and that of two other former addicts, Ben Polanco and Maureen O'Reilly.On this episode of One Step Beyond, Michael joins host Tony Fletcher to discuss...2023-08-0256 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 16: James Brown & Mark Hodkinson (Attack On Bzag/Untermensch(Sign up at tonyfletcher.substack.com to receive this podcast interview in unedited form.)James Brown and Mark Hodkinson both hail from the Pennine District in Northern England. Both ran fanzines in the 1980s (Attack on Bzag and Untermensch). Both stayed in publishing. Both now have successful memoirs out about their lives in the world of words.Beyond that, their paths have been different. James left Leeds for London, and after 10 successful issues of his fanzine, joined the NME. He then founded Loaded, which was selling 350,000 copies by the time he went to...2023-07-201h 32One Step BeyondS2E11: Travel for Good? with Shafik MeghjiSign up for a free weekly article, links to Tony's other podcasts, writings, music and more at tonyfletcher.substack.com Is Travel Good For The Planet?This question is tackled by our return guest, the environmentally-focused, award-winning travel writer Shafik Meghji. In a conversation that includes the subject of Shafik's recent book, Crossed Off The Map: Travels in Bolivia, and host Tony Fletcher's upcoming journey to Costa Rica, the pair discuss:The difference between travel and tourismThe "brownfield rainforest" at Canvey Wick outside London, and the "temperate rainforests" of WalesWhy Bolivia is "...2023-07-061h 01
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 15: Miki Berenyi & Clare Wadd (Alphabet Soup/Kvatch)In the mid-1980s, before she became known for fronting the band Lush, Miki Berenyi put out five issues of Alphabet Soup fanzine (“It may be crap but it’s only 5p”) alongside her then-bestie and future band-mate, Emma Anderson. Meantime, before she started Sarah Records, Clare Wadd put out multiple issues of Kvatch fanzine. This podcast, hosted by former Jamming! editor Tony Fletcher, marks the first time ANY of the three have ever had a conversation with each other. Over the course of an hour-plus chat the three of them discuss:Why Miki had a photo of Tony o...2023-06-151h 27One Step BeyondS2E10: Driving the Blues Highway and Riding the Soul Train, from Chicago to New OrleansOn this Episode, host Tony Fletcher is in conversation with his old London friend Richard Heard about the latter's recent Great American Road Trip from Chicago to New Orleans, setting out to trace the Story of the American Blues. Covering 1300 miles in 10 days, Richard and his American road partner also visited the Stax Museum of American Soul in Memphis, took in revered Country revue show the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, attended Jazz Fest in New Orleans, traveled through the Robert Johnson Crossroads in Clarksdale, and saw the destruction wrought by a recent tornado in Rolling Rock, Mississippi. As...2023-06-0158 min
The Curmudgeon Rock ReportR.E.M. - Remember Those Guys? (featuring Tony Fletcher)In which The Curmudgeons are joined by renowned author and R.E.M. biographer Tony Fletcher to fondly analyze the band's musical and cultural legacy, 40 years after the album Murmur changed rock expectations forever. We also discuss why one of the best bands in American history doesn't seem to get its due, despite its obvious influence on the sound and shape of today's rock. Tony supplies learned input and dry humor. He also infuses some surprising hope that younger listeners will indeed continue to discover and explore R.E.M.
Check out what Tony Fletcher ha...2023-05-241h 30
Founders ClubRecruiting Real Estate Agents To Your Brokerage Or Team 🔥🏆 | Tony Fletcher On Founders ClubTony Fletcher, our guest for today is a real estate industry vet with 38 years of experience. Connect with Founders Club Host Oliver Graf on Instagram: @OliverGraf360 🔥 Discover the secrets to building an unstoppable real estate team with recruiting expert Tony Fletcher! 🏆 In this exclusive interview on Founders Club, Tony Fletcher, a top Real Estate Trainer and Recruiter, shares his invaluable insights and proven strategies for assembling a high-performing real estate team that dominates the market. Join us as we delve into the mind of Tony Fletcher, where he unveils his tried-and-tested recruiting tips, techniques, and princip...2023-05-171h 04
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 14: Bloody Revolutions with Toxic Grafity's Mike DibollMike Diboll founded, produced and published the leading anarcho-punk fanzine TOXIC GRAFITY, producing six issues between 1978-82 "with various spin-offs." Never your typical band-interview-record-review zine, Toxic Grafity set about "to capture and express the ethos, attitude, aesthetics and politics of anarcho-punk using found images, collages, logos, slogans, ‘rant’, prose, prose-poetry, free verse, and essays." Issue 5 carried with it a flexidisc by Crass, featuring the especially recorded song 'Tribal Ribal Revels' which made that issue one of the best-selling zines of the entire period.After growing disenchantment with the direction of anarcho-punk, Mike withdrew from his close asso...2023-05-1759 min
Hooks & Runs152 - R.E.M.'s Murmur at 40 w/ Tony FletcherTony Fletcher is a rock journalist and author of a dozen books including "Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M.," initially published in 2003 and expanded twice since. He joins us on the podcast this week to discuss R.E.M.'s legendary debut album and "Murmur," released 40 years ago, April 12 and the band's music career, which spanned over 30 years. Fletcher's latest book is "The Best of Jamming!" about his days in his native Great Britain as a fanzine publisher in the 70s and 80s, and we also discussed his travel and lifestyle podcast "One Step Beyond."T...2023-05-1257 min
Zero To Travel PodcastLife-Changing Trips, Interviewing Music Legends, Backpacking the World, and Fostering Transformative Connections with Tony FletcherDo you want to create your own path and build a life around your passions?Today I'm joined by author Tony Fletcher to talk about his experience interviewing music legends and his lessons from backpacking the world.Tony has lived an incredible life, building a career around his passion for writing and music. He's conducted over 1,000 interviews and has written several best-selling biographies of famous musicians like Keith Moon, Wilson Pickett, R.E.M., and The Smiths.In this episode, Tony shares what it was like to run a fanzine at 13 and the...2023-05-091h 54One Step BeyondS2E9: The Rough Guide to Travel Writing with Shafik MeghjiIf you have ever traveled, and if you have ever been able to string a sentence or two together in writing, you have probably thought of becoming a travel writer. After all, who wouldn’t want to get paid to travel? On this episode of One Step Beyond, Shafik Meghji, co-author of 40 travel guidebooks, sole author of the acclaimed new book Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia, and a prolific freelance travel writer for many esteemed print and web publications, pulls the cover off the Guide Book business and tells us how he managed to make a career out...2023-05-0458 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 13: Ripped & Torn with Tony D.Tony D. – Tony Drayton to his parents - was founder, publisher and editor of the archetypal, seminal, influential punk fanzine, Ripped & Torn, which ran from 1976-79. Tony F. – who prefers to go by his full name, Tony Fletcher – was founder, publisher and editor of Jamming, which ran from 1977-86. Remarkably, and despite both being so prominent in the London fanzine scene, the pair had never spoken before setting up this podcast interview. That will explain why this episode runs over an hour long, because there was so much to talk about. Included in the conversation, from Tony D.’s perspecti...2023-03-161h 20One Step BeyondS2E8: What is Fell Running and Why is it Punk Rock?Boff Whalley is an author and musician (you may remember his old band Chumbawamba and their global hit "Tubthumping"),who put "Fell Runner" as occupation on his daughter's birth certificate. Gary Devine is his mate from the Leeds punk scene of the 1980s, who is a former British champion fell runner. "Faster! Louder!" is Boff's new book, all about Gary, and fell running, and punk rock. It is a damn good book, because Boff is a damn good author.Beaming in from the Yorkshire Dales (Boff) and the Swiss Alps (where Gary now lives) to the...2023-03-0257 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 12: Archiving a City's Zine SceneBack in 1980, Alan Rider started a fanzine in Coventry called Adventures in Reality. Over in Southend-on-Sea, Graham Burnett started his own fanzine called New Crimes. Forty years later, independently, without knowing each other, Alan and Graham both felt compelled to document their home city's thriving scene zine - Alan, with Tales from the Ghost Town: The Coventry Punk Fanzine Revolution 1979-1985 - and Graham, with Southend-on-Zine: FIfty Years of Voices and Stories from Southend's Underground and Alternative Press. Tony Fletcher, who started his Jamming! fanzine back in 1977, brought them together for the first time on this Zoom call to...2023-02-1657 minOne Step BeyondS2E7: Building an Intentional CommunityFor this episode, we reconnect with Ric Dragon, originally featured way back on Episode 7 of Season 1, in July 2020, shortly after he had opened Arte Sumapaz, a Centre for the Arts outside of Bogotá, Colombia. That episode focused on Ric’s middle-aged reset, in which he migrated to a new country with a troubled history and had just started this ambitious project. Now that I have been to Arte Sumapaz for an incredible residency myself, it’s time to check back and see how things are progressing.Specifically, what is going on ith the plan to create an In...2023-02-0258 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 11: A History of British ZinesTHE JAMMING! FANZINE PODCAST is back after a year in exile, now as a Podcast for and about all Fanzines, though still hosted by former Jamming! editor/publisher Tony Fletcher. For this first episode of a new series/season, Tony interviews the authors of the excellent new hardbook book, WE PEAKED AT PAPER: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH ZINES, namely Gavin Hogg and Hamish Ironside. Before, after and when they could, even during the pandemic, they traveled the length and breadth of the British Isles to track down editors of fanzines dating back to the science fiction era that...2023-01-2058 minOne Step BeyondS2E6: The Write Way out of PTSDMichael Anthony is the 36-year-old author of the new graphic memoir JUST ANOTHER MEAT-EATING DIRTBAG, published by Street Noise with art by Chai Simone. While Michael describes his new book as essentially a ‘love story’ between two seemingly distinct characters with different outlooks on life and death in the human and animal kingdoms, it draws in part – as did the entirety of his first two books, Mass Casualties and Civilianized – from his experiences serving in the US Army in Iraq in the 2000s and the PTSD he suffered upon release from duty. After penning his way out of his troubles...2023-01-0558 min
One Step BeyondClimbing Kilimanjaro: The 4-part DocumentaryWhat it's like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Your host Tony Fletcher documented his own experiences climbing to the Roof of Africa, as narrated in real time, alongside interviews with fellow climbers and guides, and on-the-mountain 'field' recordings; these were then combined with detailed historical and contextual studio narrative to form a four-part documentary with which One Step Beyond was originally launched. On this special episode, those four parts are edited together for the first time, their repetitive introductions and credits eliminated, and presented as one lengthy but complete documentary that you will hopefully find educational, entertaining, informative and, who...2022-12-212h 08
The Indoor RowerEpisode 7: Interview with Eddie Fletcher - Coach, Consultant & Exercise PhysiologistIn episode 7 of The Indoor Rower, Tony talks to consultant sport and exercise physiologist Eddie Fletcher. Eddie is coach to several World, British and European Indoor rowing champions and record holders (think Graham Benton and James Cracknell). He was the physiologist and indoor rowing advisor to the successful Oxford Women's Boat Race Squad 2013- 2016.Outside of rowing, he is a Wattbike Sport Scientist and works across several sports, triathlon, track and road cycling, rugby union and rugby league, football and other sports as well as with University and Sports Science laboratories and sporting associations around the world. 2022-12-141h 04One Step BeyondS2E5: Colombia's Calling, with Claire YandellClaire Yandell is a 27-yr old traveler and artist who has managed to take her art on her travels and even have it help pay for her travels. She and Tony met in October 2021 at Arte Sumapaz in Colombia (check Episode 7 of One Step Beyond for more about Arte Sumapaz), a country with which Claire fell in love and lived for eighteen months, until just recently. (She intends to return in the New Year of 2023.) In this ‘reunion’ conversation, the American-born Claire tells Tony about her extensive travels since the age of 18, why she abandoned art school, how she fell...2022-12-0657 minOne Step BeyondS2E4: Apply Pressure & Elevate, with the O Positive FestivalThe O Positive Festival, held in Kingston, New York, in early October every year, presents a weekend full of music, art and wellness activities across all genres and disciplines, for all age groups, indoors and outdoors, and all for the price of a donation. But it's behind the scenes that O Positive has the biggest impact. The festival confronts the lack of affordable and free health care amongst the USA's artistic community by exchanging 'The Art of Medicine' for 'The Medicine of Art' by which "underinsured artists and musicians create and perform in exchange for a variety of services...2022-11-1052 minOne Step BeyondS2E3: We Can't Run Away From This, with Damian HallDamian Hall is a British trail runner with several Fastest Known Times to his name, including a famed record-breaking 261-mile run on the UK’s Pennine Way in 2020. A former journalist, he has become equally well known for his environmental activism, qualities that come together in his new book We Can’t Run Away From This: Racing to Improve Running’s Footprint In Our Climate Emergency. In this interview with Tony Fletcher, Damian discusses why our outdoor lifestyle choices - including but not limited to running - are frequently, if unintentionally, bad for the planet, what we can...2022-10-271h 20One Step BeyondS2E2 - Barefoot Hiking, with Ken PosnerKen Posner recently completed the 211-mile John Muir Trail in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains... barefoot from start to finish. On this episode, he takes host Tony Fletcher onto a trail in the more forgiving Shawangunk Mountains of the Hudson Valley to explain, and demonstrate, the benefits of hiking barefoot, on easy trails like this but also on the toughest parts of the John Muir Trail.Ken was previously the guest on Season 1, Episode 15 of One Step Beyond, when he took Tony on a 'bushwack' hike up one of the Catskills peaks, without navigation. Ken's list of...2022-10-131h 14One Step BeyondS2E1 - The Joy of Exercise with Matt FitzgeraldTo get us warmed up on this first episode of our long overdue new series/season, Tony talks to Matt Fitzgerald, an endurance coach, nutritionist and prolific author about physiology and running, the joys of exercise, the ABCs of fitness, and the 80/20 philosophy of training that puts the emphasis on keeping most workouts easy. Matt also explains the pitfall of Superhumanization in regard to East African running dominance, the reality of the Group Effect within sports, how what biologists call Convergent Evolution resulted in the proven 80/20 method, discusses his Coaches of Color program, and talks about his long battle...2022-09-291h 19
One Step BeyondSeason 2 TrailerOne Step Beyond, the podcast all about positively engaging with the world outside our door, is back. Yes, we’ve been away for a full year, but fear not, a new season will be returning to your podcast feed as of the last week of September 2022.What can you expect from the first few episodes? Well, there’s an interview with sports author, endurance coach nutritionist and all-round good guy Matt Fitzgerald on why exercise is fun… We will be talking to record-breaking British fell-runner and accidental climate activist Damian Hall about his new...2022-09-2302 min
MODERN MUSICOLOGY#29 - Tony Fletcher InterviewRob and Alan sit down for a chinwag with Tony Fletcher, author of books like Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend, Perfect Circle: The Story of REM, In the Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett, a memoir called Boy About Town, and his newest, The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories From the Fanzine That Grew Up, 1977 - 1986, and more.
Tony tells us stories about starting a fanzine at age 13, interviewing Paul McCartney, meeting Keith Moon, a compare/contrast of REM and The Smiths, his own band the Dear Boys, and much more. 2022-07-181h 06
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 10: Series 1 Finale with James Endeacott & Tony FletcherWe close out the first Series/Season of the Jamming! Fanzine Podcast with an interview conducted by James Endeacott, for Soho Radio's Morning Glory show, with Jamming! founder Tony Fletcher. The conversation traces the full story of the fanzine that grew up, from schoolboy beginnings to corporate break up. Between them, they discuss The Clash, The Jam, the DIY Records Scene, fanzines, regionalism, Crass, reggae, Smiley Culture, the Rezillos, the Undertones, Billy Bragg, the Dead Kennedys, R.E.M., Robert Wyatt, The Smiths, The Fall, politics, poetry, synth pop, and much much more. James is a former member of...2022-02-1759 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 9: Jamming! Records with Rudi, Zeitgeist & ApocalypseIn the middle of 1981, Jamming! expanded from fanzine to record label. Between that summer and the end of 1982, Jamming! Records released five singles, all of them independent chart hits: two from the band Rudi, three from Zeitgeist, and one by Apocalypse. For this episode of the Jamming! Fanzine Podcast, we have one member from each of those groups: Brian Young from Rudi, Peter “Jaffo” Jervis from Zeitgeist, and Tony Fletcher from Apocalypse (and yes, from Jamming! Records too). The conversation revolves primarily around Rudi and Zeitgeist, about how the groups dealt with being based in the far corners of the...2022-02-031h 05
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 8: Tales from the TrenchesTony Fletcher reunites with Bruce Dessau, Ross Fortune and Paul Davies, each of whom wrote extensively for Jamming! during its commercial heyday, 1984-85, and each of whom went on to further careers in journalism. As much as this is a talk specific to Jamming! magazine, it is very much a conversation about the music and media culture of the time - about how easy it once was to access the artists, about a time when publicists were friends with journalists, a time when alcoholic lubrication was considered par for the course, and about the blurred line between the interviewer...2022-01-131h 05
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 7: The Importance of Being VirginTony Fletcher reunites with musician/composer Jim ‘JG’ Thirlwell, DJ Wendy May, and Dimple Records boss Brian O’Neill, all of whom he first met in the late 1970s when they bought copies of Jamming! off him while they were working behind the counter at the Virgin shops in Oxford Walk, Notting Hill Gate, and Marble Arch respectively. During that thriving post-punk period the entire Virgin chain served as a needed middle ground between the pioneering independents like Rough Trade, Probe and Revolver, and mainstream high street shops WH Smiths and Woolworths. Without the autonomy Virgin granted its record buyers...2021-12-1659 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 6: Morrissey, Frankie, Natalie & BronskiChris Heath is a writer for The Atlantic, GQ and Vanity Fair, and author of several books. Russell Young is a visual artist with a background in music photography, sleeve design and video directing. Both got their professional start with Jamming! in the early 1980s.Thirty-five years after its demise, Russell and Chris joined Jamming!’s former publisher/editor Tony Fletcher in New York City, where all three have lived at one time or another, for a long-overdue reunion. The trio sat down with the new book, The Best of Jamming!, and various back issues, to di...2021-12-021h 02
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 5: The Birth of Creation with Alan McGeeThis episode is a co-production with the Fifty Years of Fun podcast.In Jamming! 13, published in the spring of 1982, a 17-yr old Tony Fletcher wrote an editorial called ‘A Statement.’ Among those to read it was Alan McGee, new to London from Glasgow at the time, who was inspired to start a fanzine and a club night and a label all of his own. That label was Creation Records, home to The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and Oasis, to name but four. Along the way Alan would become a figurehead of the...2021-11-1859 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 4: The Politics of FanzinesTony Fletcher hosts a conversation with three fellow former fanzine editors and Jamming! contributors, Tim Kelly (Revolutionary Suicide/Fanzine of Noise), Janine Booth (Blaze) and Richard Edwards (Cool Notes). Janine and Richard were also active in the 'Ranting Poetry' scene of the 1980s, while Tim toured with D.I.R.T., and played in Flux of Pink Indians and was part of the One Little Indian label that emerged from that band.Their discussion about 1980s alternative culture, conducted across three continents, covers:politics and poetry,fanzines and football,soul music and sexism,animal rights...2021-11-0457 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 3: Image as Virus with Joly of Better BadgesBetween 1976-82, Joly MacFie printed some 40,000,000 badges (pins, in the USA) related to music culture. Along the way his company Better Badges grew from one-man garage operation to a sizeable small business that also printed and distributed dozens of fanzines. That connection started in spring of 1979 when Tony Fletcher stopped hoping for an ad for the 7th issue of Jamming. Joly, having just acquired a brand new table-top litho machine, offered to print Jamming at cost as 'guinea pig'. Joly and Tony's relationship flourished almost all the way to when Better Badges imploded, due to the...2021-10-2155 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 2: Mods and Sods with Mark Bedford, Guy Pratt and Buddy AscottFor this episode, we spin back to 1979, for a lively and laughter-filled conversation with two famous bass players and a drummer: Mark ‘Bedders’ Bedford of Madness, Guy Pratt (then of Speedball) and Brett ‘Buddy’ Ascott (then of The Chords). Together they discuss:the fashion forces that inspired that year’s mod and skinhead revivals;why the former musical movement fizzled out but the latter one gave us the lasting music of 2-Tone Recordsthe influence of punk and the freedom it inspiredwhy the music you listened to in that era defined the clothes that you wore and why gig-going was so dan...2021-10-0759 min
Word In Your EarTony Fletcher and a rock press version of “the Beano Christmas Annual”‘The Best Of Jamming!’ is a powerfully nostalgic collection of extracts from the fanzine Tony launched in 1977 when he was 13, born of the lost age of spraymount, cow gum, Tippex, typewriters and cut-and-paste issues stapled together on the bedroom floor. He looks back at the hand-drawn covers, letters from Paul Weller, cash loans from his Mum, in-office debates (“Can we have American acts on the cover?”) and the magazine’s eight glorious years on the edge of insolvency, a story someone really ought to make into a movie. Copies of Jamming! now fetch £50 on eBay. @tonyfletcher2021-09-2739 minWord In Your EarTony Fletcher and a rock press version of “the Beano Christmas Annual”‘The Best Of Jamming!’ is a powerfully nostalgic collection of extracts from the fanzine Tony launched in 1977 when he was 13, born of the lost age of spraymount, cow gum, Tippex, typewriters and cut-and-paste issues stapled together on the bedroom floor. He looks back at the hand-drawn covers, letters from Paul Weller, cash loans from his Mum, in-office debates (“Can we have American acts on the cover?”) and the magazine’s eight glorious years on the edge of insolvency, a story someone really ought to make into a movie. Copies of Jamming! now fetch £50 on eBay. @tonyfletcher2021-09-2739 minWord In Your EarTony Fletcher and a rock press version of “the Beano Christmas Annual”‘The Best Of Jamming!’ is a powerfully nostalgic collection of extracts from the fanzine Tony launched in 1977 when he was 13, born of the lost age of spraymount, cow gum, Tippex, typewriters and cut-and-paste issues stapled together on the bedroom floor. He looks back at the hand-drawn covers, letters from Paul Weller, cash loans from his Mum, in-office debates (“Can we have American acts on the cover?”) and the magazine’s eight glorious years on the edge of insolvency, a story someone really ought to make into a movie. Copies of Jamming! now fetch £50 on eBay. @tonyfletcher2021-09-2739 min
The Fanzine PodcastEp. 1: From Classroom To ClubsFor this debut episode of The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast, Tony Fletcher connects with three old friends who all played an important part in the Jamming! school days, and each of whom wrote an introductory piece for The Best of Jamming! book. They are Richard Heard, Jeni de Haart and John Matthews, and over the course of a lively group call, they discussthe onset of punk,the birth of Jamming and why John Matthews declined a rolefirst gigs at The Marquee on Wardour Streeta shared love of The JamJamming's eclectic tastes - including The Fall, Scritti Politti, Killing...2021-09-2355 min
One Step BeyondEp. 34: Having a HemorrhageFor this episode, the last in Series 1 of One Step Beyond, we flip the script, and allow regular host Tony Fletcher to be interviewed by guest host Paula Lucas about his recent brain hemorrhage - and how lucky he feels to have fallen into the small percentage of people who get to walk away unscathed. Paula asks the questions surely pounding away in the back of your mind (ouch!), like:How did the hemorrhage come about?Is it true that a hemorrhage manifests as your 'worst headache ever'?Is it true that 'your worst headache ever' is like...2021-09-1656 min
The Fanzine PodcastIntroducing... The Jamming! Fanzine PodcastWelcome to the Jamming! Fanzine podcast hosted by Tony Fletcher. In late 1977, as a schoolkid in South London inspired by the DIY culture of punk, I started a music ‘zine. I had no long-term plan, and certainly no idea that over the next decade, Jamming! would grow to become a national, even international, monthly magazine. And I certainly couldn’t have imagined that in 2021, there would be a full-colour book collecting together what we have called The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86. Its packed with reproduced interveiws, articles, photographs and cartoons, inclu...2021-09-1502 min
One Step BeyondEp. 33: The Day I Met MaccaIt’s not every 17-year old who gets the chance to interview Paul McCartney for three hours, especially at the point, back in early 1982, that Macca had barely been heard from publicly since the assassination of his former Beatles band mate John Lennon on that tragically book-marked day of December 8, 1980. That 17-year old was your One Step Beyond host, Tony Fletcher, and the story you will hear on this Episode, The Day I Met Macca, ties in to two of his ongoing book projects.One is The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine Th...2021-09-0227 min
One Step BeyondEp. 32: Manitous RevisitedFollowing on from Episode 31, Running An Ultra, which featured Mike Siudy, co-Race Director of the Manitou's Revenge ultramarathon in the Catskill Mountains, this episode features a round-table discussion with five people who have all themselves completed at least one Manitou's Revenge, and were all involved in this year's event either as competitors or volunteers. Joining host Tony Fletcher are Sheryl Wheeler, one of the great trail runners in the East but as unpretentious as they come, Max Gruner, Alanna Moss and Benno Rawlinson. The discussion attempts to answer such questions as: What the hell is the...2021-07-2958 min
One Step BeyondEp. 31: Running an UltraHave you ever considered upping your outdoor game to take on an ultra marathon? Or do you consider those who willingly subject themselves to something like Manitou’s Revenge - the 54 mile race through, or rather, up and down the Catskill Mountains, and which One Step Beyond's Tony Fletcher just completed for the second time – to be complete lunatics worthy only of an almost morbid fascination?Either way, this episode is for you. Rather than bore you with his own race account, Tony talks instead with Manitou’s co-director Mike Siudy. They discuss what it takes to run...2021-07-1443 min
One Step BeyondEp. 30: Travel Days and Travel DiariesIn this episode, host Tony Fletcher reads another short story from his Round The World, backpacking trip of 2016 with wife and 11-year old son: A Travel Day, set in Morocco. Doing so inspires him to discuss the definition and purpose of travel, to consider how the joy is to be found in the sum of its parts, not in largely mythical grand epiphanies or supposedly magical destinations. “Great travel experiences are often about the moments in between those destinations. They come from the days where you simply aspire to get from A to B, but as you will hear in...2021-07-0154 min
One Step BeyondEp. 29: Equal Playing Field, second halfIn this second half of our interview with Erin Blankenship, a former professional football player in leagues around the world and the co-founder of Equal Playing Field, we talk more about the initiative’s all-female, full-size pitch, full length football match on top of Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest ever played). We then learn about the challenges and triumphs of its second record-breaking game, the lowest played on earth following a 100km hike down to Jordan’s Dead Sea, 500m below sea level. Erin also talks about how Equal Playing Field supports specific grass roots initiatives for women’s engagement in foo...2021-06-1740 min
One Step BeyondEp. 28: Equal Playing Field, first half.Ever considered arranging an official 90-minute football/soccer match, on a full-size pitch, at 18,746ft/5714 meters above sea level, in the oxygen-starved atmosphere on top of Mt Kilimanjaro? Erin Blankenship did; in 2017, she helped co-ordinate a World Record for the highest altitude match ever played, one in which every participant, from 22 different countries, was female. Erin was born in the USA, grew up in Saudi Arabia, played college soccer in the States, professional football in the UK, in competitive leagues in Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, the US, China, Afghanistan and Jordan, and trained with the US Olympic Te...2021-06-0349 min
One Step BeyondEp. 27: Love Hope Strength with Mike PetersMike Peters is the rare rock star to have an MBE after his name - awarded not for his musical successes with Welsh rock band The Alarm, considerable though they have been, but for his charity work with the Love Hope Strength foundation. That story starts In 1995 when, on the eve of an American tour, Peters was informed that he had Non Hodgkin's Lymphona, or cancer of the blood cells; deciding to push on through the tour, cloak himself in a fighting attitude, and turn down a bone marrow transplant, Peters' disease appeared to right itself...2021-05-131h 03
One Step BeyondEp. 26: You Do Not Need A GuideFor this episode, we revisit India in the form of another short story I wrote about our travels backpacking round the world, with then wife and then 11-year old son, in 2016, for almost the whole year. It’s set in the hills of Karnataka, and it's called You Do Not Need A Guide. This story has been on my mind to read for you for a while now, but I’ve been pushed to move it up the timeline because of the covid crisis convulsing India right now. In the intro to this episode, I talk a li...2021-04-2931 min
One Step BeyondEp. 25: The Anniversary EpisodeOne Step Beyond is one year old, and to celebrate, we revisit some of our best episodes and catch up with the guests, each of whom was invited to answer four questions about how they coped with this past pandemic year and how they are staying optimistic and motivated moving forwards. A dozen of them responded, sending in their recorded replies from five different continents, and over the course of this episode, you’ll hear from authors, runners, painters, adventurers, film-makers, musicians, skiiers, medical volunteers, zen teachers, walkers, travelers, barefooters, minimalists, entrepreneurs, high school teachers, hikers, vegans and, above al...2021-04-151h 14One Step BeyondEp. 24: Saharan SundownFollowing on from Episode 15.5, and the short story "You Don't Believe In God?" I return to our round the world backpacking trip from 2016 and pick up where that last short story left off... In Morocco, disembarking an all-night bus in Merzouga, on the edge of the Sahara.If you enjoy this story, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at:I...2021-03-1838 minOne Step BeyondEp. 23: The Backcountry BugThree years ago, Julie McGuire, a High School English teacher in the South Bronx, came home from work eager to set off on another weekend in the Catskills, only to find her wife waiting to declare the end of their marriage. The sudden announcement threw Julie into a deep depression fueled by days full of self-loathing and nights full of NyQuil; she admits that she lost the will to live.Julie slowly regained her mojo by throwing herself into her love of backcountry skiing - hiking uphill, away from the resorts of the Catskill Mountains, and...2021-03-0454 min
Fifty Years of FunCREATION ARTIFACT 001 - Pastels/Laughing Apple flexi w/guest Tony Fletcher (author, musician, podcaster)OUR FIRST EPISODE!!!!Scott & Matt kick off the first episode of the Creation Records audio fanzine with a discussion of the first of two flexi singles that came with Alan McGee & Jerry Thackray (THE LEGEND)’s pre-Creation fanzines, Communication Blur.In addition to some digging into the flexi & the zine, the boys interview TONY FLETCHER, esteemed author (bios on R.E.M., Keith Moon, Wilson Pickett), who in his fanzine Jamming, wrote a piece on the state of music in 1982 that ended up being a key piece of Creation origin story.Links of no...2021-03-021h 27
One Step BeyondEp. 21: A Winter Day's HikeI live at the gateway to New York’s Catskill Mountains, which I consider my playground. And I’m not the only one. In what seem to be record numbers right now, people run these mountains, they ski these mountains, they bike some of these mountains, they camp out in these mountains, they forage in these mountains, at times they are allowed to hunt in these mountains, but more than anything, they hike these mountains. And on a Sunday in late January, taking on Halcott Mountain for the first time as part of my very long-term plan to merit myse...2021-02-0531 minOne Step BeyondEp. 20: Black Travel MattersAshley Scott is a teacher in Atlanta, GA, who grew up believing that travel was not for people like himself. In his mid-30s, having still never been outside the USA, he established an educational travel program at his school, and began taking female students of color to countries where they could immerse themselves in local culture while having a safe and non-prejudiced experience. Some 40 countries and 5-600 students later, Ashley now also has his own travel company, Abiri Tours, "a Georgia-based travel company striving to make international travel more accessible and affordable for people of color."2021-01-2157 minOne Step BeyondEp 19: Berlin BoundIn this second of a two-parter about New Beginnings for the New Year, I talk to David Watts Barton, a writer, traveler, musician, Burner and all-round optimist who upped and left the USA for Berlin in the middle of the 2020 pandemic year. He talks about how and why he made the move, what makes Berlin so special, and about his ongoing writing projects: Music1967.com, and Japan From Anime to Zen.You can find David and his writings at his web site, DavidWattsBarton.comTony's writings about Burning Man are at...2021-01-1536 minOne Step BeyondEp. 18: Not the Samos It Ever WasOne Step Beyond launches 2021 with a two parter about two people who refused to let the pandemic of 2020 prevent them making planned life changes. In part 1, Adam Fletcher - yes, he is a relation - talks about his volunteer work with asylum seekers on the Greek island of Samos, and why it has inspired him to hang up his career as a touring musician, including lucrative work in a touring Abba tribute band, and go back to college to become a doctor. In an interview conducted from the Island of Samos on New Year's Eve, Adam...2021-01-0745 minOne Step BeyondEp. 17: It's a Wonderful Life... On the RoadIn May 2016, halfway through my 3-person family's year-long backpacking trip around the world, we met the Norths - Phil, Amanda, Sophie and Nate - in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They had left their former Alaska hometown of Kenai behind for good in the fall of 2013. and would not resettle in the States until 2017. On this episode of One Step Beyond, I catch up with the the Norths - in their new hometown of Bellingham, Washington - for the first time in four and a half years. Sophie is now 17, Nate 15, and along with their parents, they talk...2020-12-2457 min
One Step BeyondEp. 16: Travel in the Age of CovidLong term international travel has proven nigh impossible in 2020, and will be well into 2021 as well. But what if you live on the road, what if you are already somewhere else on the planet when lockdown happens. Does it all stop? And if it does stop, where do you find yourself and can you survive there? And if it doesn’t stop, what does that mean, and how is it to travel in the age of covid? What are the challenges, the pitfalls, and hopefully the rewards? I talk with Trevor Warman, the Nomadic Backpacker, who ha...2020-12-1159 min
One Step BeyondEp 15.5 "You Don't Believe in God?"Regular listeners may know that in what I sometimes call the ‘default world’ – the one outside this podcast – I am a writer by trade, and my books have included one published memoir with another to come. And those same regular listeners have probably heard me talking, on a few episodes now, about the trip I took in 2016 with my then wife and our younger, then 11-year old son, whereby we went backpacking round the globe for ten and a half months. Not surprisingly, I wrote about those travels, gradually compiling a series of short stories from our experiences on the road...2020-11-2423 min
One Step BeyondEp. 14: Walking the length of India"If you’re not interested in culture or community, then don’t walk through a country. And if you don’t want to fall in love with humanity, then don’t go to India." (Note: Spotify listeners will notice an out-of-sync narration during parts of this episode. Please listen on another platform if you care and apologies to all listeners for allowing an episode to go out with an editing error!)In 2017, the 70th Anniversary of India’s Independence from Great Britain, self-styled British expeditioner Olie Hunter Smart set off to walk, solo and unsupp...2020-10-3056 min
One Step BeyondEp 14: Walking India, top to bottom"If you’re not interested in culture or community, then don’t walk through a country. And if you don’t want to fall in love with humanity, then don’t go to India."In 2017, the 70th Anniversary of India’s Independence from Great Britain, self-styled British expeditioner Olie Hunter Smart set off to walk, solo and unsupported, the entire length of India and to make a movie about his journey: The Road To Independence. During the course of his 2800 miles/4500km from the Himalaya Mountains of northern Ledakh to the southern sea tip of Kanyakamuri, Olie also...2020-10-2854 minOne Step BeyondEp. 12: Letting Go and Hitting the RoadHey you… Welcome to Episode 12 of One Step Beyond, a fortnightly show about positively engaging with the world outside our door, with host Tony Fletcher.In 2016, Jess Gumkowski and her husband BJ – the ‘YogiTriathletes’ – sold or gave away almost everything they owned, and packed what was left (primarily their triathlon gear and their dog) into a Honda Fit with no fixed destination. 2016 was also the year that I hit the road, with my then wife and then 11-year old younger son, embarking on 10 and a half months of backpacking around the world, freed from the constraints of possess...2020-09-2456 minOne Step BeyondEp. 9: From Kathmandu to VermontHey you… Welcome to Episode 9 of One Step Beyond, a fortnightly show about positively engaging with the world outside our door, with host Tony Fletcher.At the age of 4, Manu Shrestha, along with her two siblings, was found abandoned on the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal, a not uncommon occurrence in a country of devastating poverty, where women generally have little by way of education, opportunity or rights. Manu was taken in by House With Heart, established in the Kathmandu neighborhood of Boudha in 2001 when the late Beverly Bronson took guardianship of two abandoned boys, and which ha...2020-08-0649 minOne Step BeyondEp. 8: Kenya, Enda, and off to the racesHey you… Welcome to Episode 8 of One Step Beyond, a fortnightly show about positively engaging with the world outside our door, with host Tony Fletcher.On this episode, we journey to Kenya, to talk with Nava Osembo, the co-founder and CEo of Enda Sportswear, Africa’s first performance running shoe company and a socially conscious, environmentally friendly, community-based company at that. Then for our local outdoor field recording, we're off to the races for the first time in several months, to find, not surprisingly, that things have changed significantly due to covid. The fun factor, however, has...2020-07-2350 minOne Step BeyondEp. 7: From the Catskills to Colombia (and back)Hey you… Welcome to Episode 7 of One Step Beyond, a fortnightly show about positively engaging with the world outside our door, with host Tony Fletcher.On this episode, we go from the Catskill Mountains to the mountains of Colombia, in South America, with artist Ric Dragon, who gave up a successful business in the USA to pursue a dream of a rebirth abroad, founding an art center outside of Bogotá, Arte Sumapaz. Then we venture back onto the Catskill Mountains with legendary race director and coach Dick Vincent, to discuss trail running. Inevitably, in both stories, Cor...2020-07-0953 minOne Step BeyondEp 6: Into the Wildlife (and beyond)Hey you… Welcome to Episode 6 of One Step Beyond, a fortnightly show about positively engaging with the world outside our door, with your host Tony Fletcher.On this episode, you’ll hear my interview with Carla Rhodes, who turned her own life around a few years ago when she quit drinking and picked up a camera, and is now receiving awards left right and center for her wildlife images while also seeking to make a difference with her photography. I then pick up from where our last episode left off on the running front, discussing how to f...2020-06-2551 minOne Step BeyondEp 5: From Couch To 5k, and Back to KiliHey you... Join author, journalist, broadcaster and music-lover Tony Fletcher, on this new podcast about positively engaging with the world outside our door.EPISODE 5:In December 2019, 52-year old high school teacher Paula Lucas could barely walk up her building’s stairs, due to breathlessness, heart palpitations and other health concerns from being severely overweight. Concerned that she might drop dead in front of her students, she turned vegan before the year was out, and in March, embarked on the From Couch to 5k Program, running for the first time since she was herself at...2020-06-1136 minOne Step BeyondEp. 4: From Kingston to Kilimanjaro part 4Hey you... Join me, Tony Fletcher, on this new podcast about positively engaging with the world outside our door (once we can get back to it!).EPISODE 4:The 4-part mini-series From Kingston to Kilimanjaro wraps up, as our team wrestles with a seemingly endless overnight slog up the side of a volcano, serious attacks of altitude sickness, and a long and desperate slog on the last stretch to the roof of Africa. Do we all make it to the summit? Let's put it this way: there are celebratory dinners and dances at the...2020-05-2840 minOne Step BeyondEp 3. From Kingston to Kilimanjaro Part 3Hey you... Join me, Tony Fletcher, on this new podcast about positively engaging with the world outside our door (once we can get back to it!).EPISODE 3:The 4-part mini-series From Kingston to Kilimanjaro continues, with shrinking glaciers, blistering winds, sudden snow, and a two-hour nap at extreme elevation before an attempt on the Kilimanjaro summit.In August 2019, I set off from Kingston, New York, with four friends and a Tanzanian-born guide, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 ft, or 5895 meters above sea level, Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa...2020-05-2132 min