"We Have Ways" podcast and festival

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Chris C, Sep 19, 2021.

Tags:
  1. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Hi all,

    It's been on my mind to post something about this podcast - We Have Ways of Making You Talk, with Al Murray and James Holland. I have listened to a few episodes, but I am not a financial supporter.

    The interesting bit (aside from the podcast) is that they have styled their patreon supporters as the "Independent Company" and evidently have been encouraging local meetups. And on top of that, for this weekend they put together a free (I think) festival for their supporters in Buckinghamshire with a number of speakers. I'm not sure of all the names of people giving talks, but they got veteran Stan Perry to come and talked with him on stage. Ah, I've found the programme.

    The cynic in me says "Well of course they can afford to put this on, they're asking what I would consider a lot of money for a monthly Patreon donation." But on the other hand I think it's pretty great that they have basically created a club for people who may not know other folks interested in WW2, who they can get together with, and I think this festival looks pretty impressive.

    I don't know, I just thought this is worth a mention on account of it being a new development. I never expected to hear of a festival coming out of a podcast, of all things.

    fest.jpg
     
    CL1 and Ramiles like this.
  2. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    I've listened to a few of the podcasts. Some interesting presenters on the agenda.. and clearly there is a constituency of interest in Second World War matters.

    I think you might find that the cost of entry was £100+ for the weekend.
     
    Chris C and Ramiles like this.
  3. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Oh, was it? I thought it was free for members. Tsk tsk.
     
  4. MongoUK

    MongoUK Junior Member

    £130 for a weekend ticket. Plus £20 for a camping pass.
     
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    You pay that for a festival or the like and drag racing at santa pod for the weekend ticket

    So not a bad price and have a few days out
     
  6. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    I think you had to be a subscriber to be able to apply for a ticket.

    There are a number of good podcasts and YouTube channels to choose from that cover the period in question. Lots of niches to discover, some seem to be set up "to make money", others primarily to share knowledge.

    I've hosted over 20 podcasts myself over the past 18 months and I tip my hat to all those who widen the reach of the memories and stories....selfishly, I particularly enjoyed speaking to Ron G and a number of the older lads... last week it was 98 year old Robbie Robinson, who was awarded the DCM in Italy in October 1944...

    IMG_5177 (2).PNG
     
    Owen, Ramiles and CL1 like this.
  7. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Bexley, please post about your podcast in the Books/Films forum and give us the name so we can have a listen!
     
    bexley84 and MongoUK like this.
  8. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Interesting line-up, don't have time for them, but well done to get that, although I have no idea who is and why they are pushing Hoyer into the role of a serious historian. Mystery.

    All the best

    Andreas
     
  9. MongoUK

    MongoUK Junior Member

    To be fair, all the patreon really gives you is a live stream on a Monday night and a patreon chat, all of the rest of the content is free. They just gave the patreon members first dibs at the tickets, which akin to subscribers for bands getting first dibs at tickets, I thought was ok.

    I find some of the members appear to be very devout to it, I like to watch around others as well, get a different outlook. Big fan of the WW2TV setup with Paul Woodage.

    Plus have plenty of other pods subscribed, although I'm not as into those.
     
    Incredibledisc, bexley84 and Chris C like this.
  10. Gary Tankard

    Gary Tankard Well-Known Member

    I went to 'Warfest' and met up with a fellow forum member there. I do like the podcast - it is very easy going, pretty entertaining although I am not as quite into 'personality cult' that has grown up around some of the people they have on.

    I don't usually go to these military events but I thought this one was a bit different to the usual ones - no militaria stalls, no reenactment battles. I thought the speakers were generally pretty good with the two veterans (Colin Bell, a Mosquito pilot and Stan Perry ex-Sherwood Ranger) and Niklas Frank (Hans Frank's son) being particularly interesting.

    They did have the Garrison Artillery unit there who did demonstrations with a Sexton and 4x25pdrs, anti-tank gun firing with a 2pdr and a 17pdr, and AA firing with a 3.7in. Monty's Men were also there but they are very much a living history unit, not 're-enactment'.. chatting to them I found them very knowledgeable. Richard Fisher was also with them with a couple of Vickers MGs - as expected, very interesting and knowledgeable. There were also plenty of vehicle displays there and the T-34/85, Sherman and Centaur had a run out (together with numerous carriers - I was impressed with how fast they are).
     
    Browno, bexley84 and Chris C like this.
  11. Browno

    Browno Fake news challenger

    I was signed up to the WHW patreon but after losing my bank card and getting it replaced, my payments lapsed and I didn't bother re-joining. I couldn't often attend the, now Monday night, get together and I found it all a bit too shambolic for my liking. I also don't get the fan club thing around certain guests. Absolutely no disrespect intended to any of them but the cheerleading feels a bit "panto" to me.

    The free podcast can be entertaining and is often informative depending on their guests but especially of late a lot of it was self-promotion. I personally have no problem with this. Two self-employed, self-promoters have turned their pub banter into a business during a pandemic when other avenues were closed to them. Good luck to them. If you don't like it no-one is forcing you to listen.

    Over the weekend, some historians on Twitter - academic and amateur - confused the work's jolly/ sales weekend for the WHW team and their writer chums - which the WHW Fest basically was - with a serious history event. Yes, there were veterans and they covered some heavy topics but a lot of speakers were plugging their new books and from what I could see on social media, quite successfully too.

    Don't get me wrong, if I lived in the Midlands I would have gone along too, to see the kit and hear the talks, and I like listening to podcasts when at my allotment rather than watching WW2 YouTube videos so their free twice-weekly podcast content suits me.

    No-one should confuse it for anything other than a bit of fun though, targeted at middle-aged men who made Airfix and Tamiya models in their youth and the WHW team are hitting that target market beautifully.

    Adam
     
    Chris C and CL1 like this.
  12. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Beautiful summary.

    All the best

    Andreas
     
    Browno likes this.
  13. Listy

    Listy Well-Known Member

    Seeing as they talk a lot about the PIAT, that was my plan too. But apparently there's absolutely no way to contact them, unless you're known to the pair. I tried, My publisher tried through official channels. Nada. So its very much a closed club on that score.
    I did consider going down to their show with a copy of my book and handing it to them. But as I'm still at the 'poor as a church mouse' stage of being a historian/writer, I had to do my day job, and couldn't afford the tickets.
     
  14. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Could you not try the bloke who does the pub thingy website or even social media(if you do that sort of thing)
     
  15. Listy

    Listy Well-Known Member

    That was my first attempt... I've emailed them, back when they were small and answered an Email.
     
  16. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Twitter is your best bet. Maybe calling out one of them on their hot takes will get you attention.

    Not that I have ever done that, no siree.

    All the best

    Andreas
     
    Chris C likes this.
  17. Listy

    Listy Well-Known Member

    Tried that as well, but the trouble is I'm too polite to spam and try to turn everything into 'all about me' (like this thread is getting turned into!), and I get the impression that since the Patreon launched they've stopped engaging with people on twitter.

    I wonder, what the cost of contacting Al Murray's agent will be!
     
    Chris C likes this.
  18. Tomkil

    Tomkil Junior Member

    Being pretty much confined to the house for the past few weeks (not tagged I hasten to add) I've been listening to some of the podcasts and have really enjoyed them. The series they did from Arnhem were especially good I thought.

    There was one where they spoke to a Normandy battlefield guide which was particularly interesting - though at one point the guide chap (can't recall his name) told a story about himself and James Holland being approached by someone who asked if they could recommend a good restaurant in the area and the guide chap said something (if I heard him correctly) along the lines of "you've got Lennon and McCartney in front of you and you ask them..." which I thought betrayed a rather inflated sense of his own self-worth if not that of Mr Holland.

    Anyway, to the point. Are there any episodes that anyone would especially recommend?
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2022

Share This Page