panama

Audio: Shetland

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Shetland, a group of about 100 islands, fewer than 20 of them inhabited, in Scotland, 210 km (130 miles) north of the Scottish mainland, at the northern extremity of the United Kingdom, around 340km or 210 miles from Norway. The islands total around 1,500 km2 (or 560 sq mi), making them similar in size to the nearby Faroe Islands [recommend listening to this past episode], American Samoa or Gran Canaria.

Among the settlements on Mainland, the largest island, is Scalloway, a fishing port. Lerwick, also on Mainland, is the islands’ largest town and commercial and administrative centre. The early history of the islands is dominated by the influence of the Vikings, who settled here in the 9th Century. From the 14th century, it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland, and later into the United Kingdom. The climate is generally windy, cloudy and often wet, with rain falling on more than 250 days a year, and average low temperatures a little above 1 °C (34 °F) in winter and around 14 °C (57 °F) in summer.

Shetland is as far north as St Petersburg, Russia, or Anchorage, Alaska, which makes the islands an ideal place to watch the northern lights, or as they’re known locally the ‘mirrie dancers’ while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the “simmer dim”.

We had a guest on the podcast this episode, local writer, tour-guide and podcasters Laurie Goodlad, who can be found on shetlandwithlaurie.com. Thanks to Laurie for her great contributions to helping us understand Shetland, only a fraction of which is included in the episode – if you’ve fallen in love with Shetland, much more can be found in her blog and podcast episodes.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Wexford, Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in Toronto, Canada, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Dublin, Ireland. Our theme music and other stings come from Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella.

Map of Shetland Islands in Scotland by Finlay McWalter on Wikimedia Commons

*A Shetland pony photographed by Ronnie Robertson (CC-BY)*

*The Prince of Wales set off a trend of Fair Isle jumpers, part of a general inter-war Northern Isles boost in knitting and garment industry*

Some further reading material is provided below:

Some websites that give an overview of Shetland history include Historic-UK.com, ShetlandHistory.com, Shetland Museum and Archive‘s site and the article in Britannica
More specifically on archaeology and prehistory, some resources include “Discover the Ancient Secrets of Shetland” (Shetland.org), the 2006 book “Prehistoric and Viking Shetland” by Noel Fojut and our guest Laurie’s podcast episode “A Guide to Shetland’s Archaeology” (among others)
Some details on certain sites can be found elsewhere including the West Voe Midden, Stanydale Temple, Moussa Broch, the Papil Stone, and Jarlshof multi-era site
Jon Dunn, a natural history writer writes about Shetland’s trees, or lack thereof
A brief history of Shetland ponies
Takes on the viking conquest of Shetland from HistoryExplained.org and Shetland.org
BBC “In Our Time” episode on the Orkneyinga Saga, which touches on Shetland (despite focussing on the Earls of the nearby Orkneys); there is no saga specifically about Shetland
Lerwick Town Hall’s Viking-containing stained glass and more information
“How Shetland Became Part of Scotland“
Some details of late Mediaeval history during the transition from Norse to Scottish control is included in the article “‘Lords_of_Norroway’: The Shetland estate of Herdis Thorvaldsdatter” by Frans-Arne H Stylegar and “Some Forgotten Incidents and Personages in the Local History of Shetland” by Gilbert Goudie
Some details on Robert Stewart and Henry Sinclair
Eileen Brooke-Freeman (a placenames expert) writes about ‘hoidie hols’ used to escape press-ganging during the Napoleonic wars and recounts some stories, there is also some oral history recordings on Tobar an Dualchais of people recounting family stories about this time, such as George Morrison (1921-1989); Laurie also has an article on these caves
Shetland Times has an article about Thomas Johnson, ancestor of the author Louis Mackey, who tells the tale of how he was press ganged by Rear Admiral Edward Thornborough and lost his legs in a battle in the Bay of Biscay, and his life after return
Laurie’s take on the origins of the Up Helly Aa Festival, celebrating Shetland’s Viking heritage since the Victorian era
A short film has been made about Johnnie Notions, a jack of all trades who developed inoculations for smallpox
Laurie has an article on the 19th Century land clearances and the crofters’ war
Some resources for young people on Shetland in WW1 and WW2
The story of the ‘Shetland Bus’ in WW2, and BBC retrospective on the first bombs to fall in the UK during WW2 that struck Shetland
Reddit thread on what it’s like living in Shetland today
Laurie’s podcast episode on (and in) Shetland dialect; “Shetland Fir Wirds” is a website that promotes the Shetland dialect, and has lots of information

Music relevant to Shetland includes:

A collection of Shetland music played by Tom Anderson and Violet Tulloch Hand me doon the fiddle, which includes the Radio Shetland tune
Virtuoso fiddle player Willie Hunter (Composer Page on TheSession.org) playing his composition “The Cape Breton Fiddler’s Welcome To Shetland” and “Leaving Lerwick Harbour”
The Jarl Squad of “vikings” singing a traditional “Up Helly Aa” song in a shopping centre, in full guizer costume
Lerwick Brass Band and Squad perform “The Norseman’s Home”

Thanks to all our patrons who support the show. We really appreciate your continued backing of us. If you want to join them, more information is available at www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast

Audio: S1E03 Panama

In this week’s episode of 80 Days, we are talking about Panama, a central American nation most famous its canal that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Located strategically on the tiny isthmus between Central and South America, control of this valuable trade route has been competed for by multiple powers throughout its fascinating history. The country is dominated by a central spine of mountains and hills that forms the continental divide. Today, Panama is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the east, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital, Panama City, is home to nearly half of the country’s 3.9 million people. If you’re unfamiliar with the geography, just imagine the two continents of Central and South America hanging onto one another by a thread – Panama is that thread.

Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach, in Hong Kong, the UK and Ireland, respectively. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle)

Please leave us a review on iTunes, connect with us on Facebook or Twitter or drop us an email if there’s anything you’d like to say.

Some things you might want to read/listen more about:

Archaeological findings at various sites are described in the National Geographic article “‘Golden Chief’ Tomb Treasure Yields Clues to Unnamed Civilisation” by James Owen
The following video on YouTube shows the Ngobe Balseria traditions, including the sport which involves men throwing sticks at the legs of other men, while dressed in women’s clothing:

Some of the early colonists of significance: Rodrigo de Bastidas, who founded the first European settlement on the American mainland; Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who crossed the isthmus.
“The Cimarrons of Sixteenth Century Panama“, an article by Ruth Pike (The Americas, 2007, vol. 64, no. 2, DOI: 10.1353/tam.2007.0161) gives a lot of detail on rebellions by African and African-descended escaped slaves in Panama, inlcuding “el rey negro” Bayano
We mentioned piracy a few times, as in important aspect of trade in the area in the early colonial period. Some well-known pirates who had an impact on Panama were Sir Francis Drake who sacked Nomre de Dios on the Carribean coast of Panama (1572) and the Welsh privateer Captain Henry Morgan who marched across the isthmus and sacked Panama City in 1713. The ruins of the old city are still there and the world remembers Captian Morgan today mostly for the brand of rum named after him!
BBC History has an article on “The Darien Venture” by Dr Mike Ibeji, describing the disasterous exploits of the Company of Scotland expedition, planned by William Paterson, bankrupting much of the country in the process
Richard Halliburton holds the Guinness World Record (from 1928) for lowest toll paid to pass through the Canal due to his low tonnage
The winding history of the Canal construction from the initial Frech attempt by Ferdinand de Lesseps to the intervention of US President Theodore Roosevelt (reknowned for his ‘robust masulinity’) is summarised here (PBS)
This article from PBS’s American Experience website desribes the contributions of militarty doctor William Gorgas to fighting yellow fever and malaria in the Isthmus of Panama as part of the canal works (and essential to its completion)
Notable political figures in Panama’s 20th century history: frequent president and fascist-sympathiser Arnulfo Arias, de facto leader and Maximim Leader of the Panamanian Revolution Brigadier General Omar Torrijos (if you get to make up your own title, make it a good one)
The Stuff You Should Know Podcast has an episode on “How the Panama Canal Works“, which is worth a listen
Trans-Americas Journey’s channel on YouTube has an accelerated video of the entire transit through the Canal, while this timelapse video shows a day of traffic through the Miraflores Locks – they are incredible and the only way to get a sense of the scale of the Canal
Some of the traditional music used in the episode comes from here.
The gruesome torture and murder of Manuel Noreiga’s opponent, nationalist Hugo Spadfora, is detailed in In The Time of Tyrants by R. M. Koster and other places – it is exemplary of the brutality of his regime
The full playlist played to force dictator Manuel Noreiga out of the Papal Nunicature during Operation Just Cause is detailed in the post-operational report, archived in George Washington University’s National Security Archive; an account of the event on the blog No Fear of the Future
Website Fun-With-Words has a history of Panama’s palindromes, in particular: “A Man, a Plan, a Canal – Panama“
“Fiesta” by Alfredito Payne is a cool funky Panamanian song