The Big Smoke Variety Show

Tommy Flowers’ Blue Plaque & Stories You Haven’t Heard: Savitri and Satyavan

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week, we throw open the doors to Variety Week and journey from the secrets hiding behind London’s blue plaques to an ancient tale of love, fate and devotion from the forests of India. First, comedian and blue plaque tour guide Kate Sharp returns with another stop on her delightfully unhinged walking tour of London. This time, Kate leads us to Dollis Hill and the former Post Office Research Station, where we uncover the story of Tommy Flowers, the unsung inventor behind Colossus, the world’s first programmable electronic computer. While Alan Turing may have had the film, the fame and the Benedict Cumberbatch treatment, Tommy Flowers’ achievements stayed top secret for decades. Kate tells the story of the man whose work at Bletchley Park helped decipher encrypted German messages during the Second World War, with historians estimating that the intelligence produced there may have shortened the war by two years and saved millions of lives. Naturally, this being Kate’s Blue Plaque Tour, there are also pigeons, theatrical diversions, a deeply questionable Edinburgh Fringe plug, and a new song from her show that Tommy Flowers may or may not have wanted to hear from the front row… Then, in Stories You Haven’t Heard, actor, writer and storyteller Scott Brooksbank transports us to ancient India for the story of Savitri and Satyavan, a remarkable tale from the Mahabharata. Scott takes us into the forest for a story of prophecy, devotion and impossible resolve, as Savitri chooses Satyavan as her husband despite being warned that he is destined to die exactly one year later. When that day arrives, and Yama, the god of death, comes to claim Satyavan’s soul, Savitri follows him, using wisdom, patience and astonishing courage to outwit death itself. It is a story about love in the face of fate, the choices we make when time is limited, and the extraordinary power of staying beside the person you cannot imagine living without. We’re also trying something new, with episodes now coming to you every single week. So stay tuned next Thursday for more adventurous audio from across The Big Smoke. So whether you’re following a chaotic blue plaque tour, or walking through an ancient forest in pursuit of death itself, remember: there are remarkable stories hiding everywhere, if we take the time to listen — and we’ll keep uncovering them together here in The Big Smoke. — Links 🔵 Tommy Flowers’ Blue Plaque [https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/tommy-flowers/] — Chapters (00:00) Intro & Show Menu (02:02) Blue Plaque Walking Tour: Tommy Flowers (08:28) Stories You Haven’t Heard: Savitri and Satyavan (24:45) Outro — Credits Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett Produced & Edited by Alex Graham Original Music by Giles Terera Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins Blue Plaque Walking Tour written and performed by Kate Sharp Stories You Haven’t Heard written and performed by Scott Brooksbank

Why We Should Love Wasps with Seirian Sumner

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week, we brave the sting and fly into the surprisingly fascinating world of wasps — from Shakespeare and Aristotle to cockroach hunters, paper architects, picnic pests. We explore some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures. Kevin is joined by Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at University College London and author of Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps. Seirian has published more than 80 scientific papers, received numerous awards for her research, and is co-founder of the citizen science initiative The Big Wasp Survey. Together, Kevin and Seirian explore the remarkable lives of wasps, and the myths, stories and misconceptions that have shaped our view of them for centuries. From Aristotle declaring there was “nothing divine” about them, to biblical hornets, Shakespearean insults, and the wonderfully ridiculous 1959 film The Wasp Woman, they look at why wasps have spent so long as the villains of the insect world. But this conversation also reveals a very different side to them. Seirian explains how parasitoid wasps inspired Darwin’s doubts about creation, how emerald jewel wasps can effectively lead a cockroach to its underground tomb, and how bee wolves use antibiotics, waterproofing and even fungicidal gases to keep their prey safe for their young. Along the way, we learn why most wasps are nothing like the yellowjackets that bother us at picnics, why the adults are essentially vegetarians, how a simple “wasp offering” might save your summer barbecue, and why these much-maligned insects may have an important role to play in pollination, pest control, medicine, sustainable farming and even future food systems. Kevin and Seirian also travel beyond the usual Western view of wasps, exploring traditional wasp-keeping in Nagaland, India, where communities farm hornets and other wasps for food, drawing on generations of ecological knowledge and a far more tolerant relationship with these remarkable creatures. We’re also trying something new, with episodes now coming to you every week. Join us next Thursday for the next stop on Kate Sharpe’s Blue Plaque Tour and a special tale from the Mahabharata told by Scott Brooksbank in Stories You Haven’t Heard. So whether you’re guarding your picnic, watching a wasp at work in the garden, or wondering whether the insect world’s great villains might actually deserve a second chance, remember: every creature has a hidden story, and sometimes the thing we fear most is simply the thing we haven’t understood yet — just as we keep discovering here in The Big Smoke. — Links 🐝 Seirian Sumner [http://www.sumnerlab.co.uk/] 📚 Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps [https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/endless-forms-why-we-should-love-wasps-seirian-sumner?variant=40442510442574] 🍖🍯 Get Involved and Learn More — Wasp Picnic Survey [http://www.sumnerlab.co.uk/wasp-picnic-survey-2025/] 🐝🔍 The Big Wasp Survey [https://www.bigwaspsurvey.org/] — Chapters (00:00) Intro & Show Menu (01:37) Seirian Sumner Interview (55:16) Outro — Credits Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett Produced & Edited by Alex Graham Original Music by Giles Terera Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

The Strange Brothers’ Saw Trick & Underground Loos

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week, we throw open the doors to Variety Week and descend into the wonderfully strange — from apprentice magicians wrestling with the laws of reality to historic London loos wrestling with the laws of plumbing. First, fan-favourite trainee magicians The Strange Brothers return from the Xander Eldrick Institute of Illusion, Divination and, of course, Dance. This time, Salazar Strange and Craig attempt one of magic’s most iconic feats: sawing a man in half. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Then, once the blood has been mopped up and the Wi-Fi re-connected, we head back out into London with Rachel Cole-Wilkin of London Loo Tours. This week, Rachel takes us beneath Covent Garden to explore one of the capital’s most atmospheric public conveniences. Tucked beneath the west side of St Paul’s Church, these underground loos come complete with iron gates, turnstiles, fading grandeur, old-fashioned scales, 1960s byelaws, and a rich aroma that leaves little doubt about what lies below. We’re also trying something new, with episodes now coming to you every single week. So stay tuned next Thursday for more adventurous audio from across The Big Smoke. So whether you’re attempting impossible magic or simply looking for somewhere to spend a penny, remember: there’s always something unexpected waiting beneath the surface — and we’ll keep finding it together here in The Big Smoke. — Links 🚻 London Loo Tours [https://www.lootours.com/] 🍸 Cellar Door [https://cellardoor.london/] 🍷 WC Bars [https://www.wcbars.co.uk/] — Chapters (00:00) Intro & Show Menu (01:55) Strange Brothers (13:13) London Loo Tours (22:43) Outro — Credits Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett Produced & Edited by Alex Graham Original Music by Giles Terera Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins The Strange Brothers written and performed by Jamie Sandersfield and Matthew Nicholson

The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet with Yi-Ling Liu

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week, we log on and step into the complex world of China’s internet, a digital landscape shaped by innovation, censorship, and the ever-shifting boundaries of freedom and control. Kevin is joined by journalist and author Yi-Ling Liu to discuss her new book, The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet. Yi-Ling’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, WIRED, and The New York Review of Books and her book has been named a finalist for the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing. Together, Kevin and Yi-Ling explore the human stories behind one of the most influential digital worlds on the planet. From the Great Firewall and the rise of Chinese social media to hip hop, online censorship, queer communities, tech entrepreneurs, and the strange ‘dance in shackles’ between expression and control. Along the way, Kevin reflects on his own experiences working in China as a theatre director, from touring an English-language production of The Merchant of Venice to directing a Mandarin version of Romeo and Juliet in Beijing. Yi-Ling also shares the personal journey that led her to the book: growing up between Hong Kong and mainland China, encountering censorship for the first time as a teenage intern at China Daily, studying at Yale, reporting on Chinese hip hop in Chengdu. We’re also trying something new, with episodes now coming to you every week. Join us next Thursday for more adventurous audio from across The Big Smoke, including more magical mayhem from fan-favourite apprentice magicians The Strange Brothers, and another wonderfully unexpected trip to the loo with the London Loo Lady. So whether you’re scrolling through your feed, peering behind the firewall, or wondering how much of the internet you truly understand, remember: behind every screen are human stories, invisible boundaries, and people trying to make sense of an increasingly connected world — just as we do here in The Big Smoke. — Links 💻 Yi-Ling Liu [https://www.yi-lingliu.com/] 📕 The Wall Dancers  [https://www.yi-lingliu.com/the-wall-dancers] 📝 Recommended Journalists: Viola Zhou [https://www.violazhou.com/], Sarah Wu [https://x.com/sarah_wu_?lang=en] and Vivian Wang [https://www.nytimes.com/by/vivian-wang] 📚 Recommended Book "I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/465353/i-deliver-parcels-in-beijing-by-anyan-hu/9780241733820]" by Hu Anyan.  — Chapters (00:00) Intro & Show Menu (01:34) Yi-Ling Liu Interview (1:00:09) Outro — Credits Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett Produced & Edited by Alex Graham Original Music by Giles Terera Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Stories You Haven’t Heard: The Hedley Kow & A Recent Mudlark Find

Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show! This week we wander away from the ordinary and into a world of folklore, hidden histories, and strange things waiting to be found — from shapeshifting spirits in the north of England to forgotten objects emerging from the River Thames. First, in a brand new segment, Stories You Haven’t Heard, Kevin takes us to Northumberland for the tale of the Hedley Kow — a mischievous boggart-like trickster said to haunt the village of Hedley. Sometimes appearing as a goblin, a horse or a voice at the window, the Hedley Kow was less a terrifying monster than a deeply annoying force of chaos, delighting in confusion, embarrassment, and a good mocking laugh. Through tales of milkmaids, servant girls, unlucky young lovers, startled midwives, and one wonderfully optimistic old woman who finds a mysterious pot on the road, we explore the curious place these stories hold in our imagination. Are they warnings? Explanations? Entertainment? Or simply a reminder that the world has always felt a little stranger than it first appears? Then we return to the banks of the Thames, where resident Mudlark Sean Clark shares his Latest Find from the foreshore. This time, it’s a beautifully preserved 17th-century trade token, found during a rare low spring tide and untouched for more than 350 years. Marked with the name Paul Badcock, Tower Ditch, 1669, and bearing the image of a ship, the token opens a small but fascinating window into everyday London life near the Tower of London in the late 1600s. With further research planned at the London Archives and Guildhall Library, this tiny halfpenny may still have more of its story to tell. We’re also trying something new, with episodes now coming to you every single week. So stay tuned next Thursday for more adventurous audio from across The Big Smoke. — Chapters (00:00) Intro & Show Menu (01:38) Stories You Haven’t Heard: The Hedley Kow (14:03) Sean Clark the Mudlark’s Latest Find (18:28) Outro — Credits Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett Produced & Edited by Alex Graham Original Music by Giles Terera Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins Stories You Haven’t Heard written and performed by Scott Brooksbank