Podcasts by Excess Baggage

The point and the pleasure of travel from 2012-04-28T10:30

In the last Excess Baggage, John McCarthy talks to three inveterate travellers: Sara Wheeler, who has written on Africa and the Antarctic, explorer Benedict Allen who has travelled in Siberia an...

Africa - Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan from 2012-04-21T10:15

John McCarthy discusses travel to the African countries of Rwanda, Uganda and to the world's newest country, South Sudan. With his guests, doctor Rob Summerhayes, paramedic Franz Opitz and foren...

Lake Titicaca - Manchester, Bolivia - Malaysia from 2012-04-14T11:40

John McCarthy meets the former debutante Meriel Larken who fell in love with Peru and rescued and restored a Victorian steam ship on Lake Titicaca. He is also joined by Chris Smith and Liz Peel ...

Wildlife travel from 2012-04-07T09:45

John McCarthy explores wildlife travel with naturalist and tv presenter, Mark Carwardine, who has spent thirty years travelling around the world to observe and aid conservation of a huge range o...

Iceland from 2012-03-31T09:45

Sandi Toksvig goes to Reykjavik to look at aspects of tourism in Iceland and discovers that the volcanic eruptions and the financial crash there may not have been so bad for the country. As well...

Family Travel from 2012-03-24T11:00

John McCarthy takes a look at family travel with novelist Gill Lewis, who has taken her daughters spotting wildlife both abroad and in Scotland and Cornwall and Ben Hatch who toured Britain with...

Black Prince - Wine trade in Medieval Europe - Lourdes from 2012-03-17T11:00

John McCarthy meets a writer who followed in the 14th century footsteps of the Black Prince through SW France; an historian who has followed a medieval wine trail through Gascony and a novelist ...

Russia - Crimea - Ukraine from 2012-03-10T11:00

Sandi Toksvig discusses the 'Wild East' - Russia - with the BBC's former Moscow correspondent, Martin Sixsmith. Actor Michael Simkins relates his adventures on a rail journey from London to Kiev...

Medics abroad; The Oscars from 2012-03-03T10:45

Sandi Toksvig hears about medical work abroad from Dr Marie Charles who runs an organisation which places volunteer doctors and nurses in developing countries to impart their skills to local med...

Ashoka's India; Undesirable Places from 2012-02-25T10:45

Sandi Toksvig hears about a lost Emperor of India: Ashoka ruled the subcontinent about 2,200 years ago and left many pillars and rocks carved with his edicts. Historian Charles Allen went in sea...

Israel from 2012-02-18T11:00

John McCarthy discusses the diverse attractions of Israel as a destination. It's a land whose tumultuous existence often overshadows a rich, cultural life. The very word 'Israel' is often synony...

Stone - Sacred sites - Crazy River from 2012-02-11T10:50

John McCarthy talks to artist Emily Young about her travels to find stone for her sculpture, to travel writer Martin Symington about his venture in search of Britain's sacred places both ancient...

Antarctica from 2012-02-04T10:40

John McCarthy visits 'The Heart of the Great Alone' an exhibition of polar photography at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace and, before an audience, introduces a discussion of Antarctica wi...

Overland To Mongolia - Wild West - The Calgary Stampede from 2012-01-28T11:10

John McCarthy discusses the 'Wild West' with former documentary film-maker Tim Slessor who has just written a book called 'More than Cowboys'. He is also joined by travel writer, Kieran Meeke, w...

The Occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from 2012-01-21T11:00

John McCarthy looks at the delights and difficulties of visiting the occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank with writer Sarah Irving who has published the first new guide to Pa...

Swimming - Land Art - Sicily from 2012-01-14T11:00

John McCarthy discusses Art and Travel with leading art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon explaining his abiding passion for the raw art of Sicily which has been drawing him back to the island for over...

Hitchhiking veteran - Butterflies - Burma from 2012-01-07T11:15

John McCarthy meets three intrepid women travellers who cross the generations as well as the continents. Naomi Molten is a veteran of many adventures through south-east Asia, India and Afghanist...

England from 2011-12-31T10:32

John McCarthy looks at the changing nature of the traditional attractions of England with historian John Julius Norwich, curator Lucy Worsley and journalist Martin Wainwright. Together they disc...

Christmas Quiz from 2011-12-25T16:30

Peter Curran presents an Excess Baggage special quiz for Christmas from the Radio Theatre with Sandi Toksvig, John McCarthy and their special guests Caroline Quentin and Arthur Smith answering q...

Travel Biography from The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival from 2011-12-24T10:35

John McCarthy discusses travel biography at October's Cheltenham Literature Festival with eminent writers in the field; Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sara Wheeler and Alexander Maitland. Producer: H...

Animal welfare - Plant hunting from 2011-12-17T10:45

John McCarthy meets Phillip Cribb, a botanist and orchid specialist at Kew Gardens who's spent thirty years plant hunting in Western China. Along with Christopher Grey-Wilson, he's just produced...

Historic walks - Fast and slow trains from 2011-12-10T10:45

John McCarthy takes a look at historic walks in the company of archaeologist Bill Bevan who selects Britain's top prehistoric sites best approached by foot and walks webmaster David Stewart who ...

Gambian elections - Nepal - Himalayan rafting from 2011-12-03T11:45

John McCarthy meets scriptwriter Edward Canfor-Dumas who has just returned from Gambia where he was acting as a Commonwealth observer in the recent Presidential elections. He describes how even ...

Storytelling in Japan and Morocco - Coastal Stations from 2011-11-26T11:00

John McCarthy explores storytelling in Japan with charity founder Nicola Grove who visited the country recently to learn about the heritage of folk tales there and in particular the depiction an...

Mitteleuropa - Escape from Hong Kong - A272 from 2011-11-19T10:52

John McCarthy looks at Eastern Europe with broadcaster Dennis Marks who visited many of the places described by the author Joseph Roth who wrote between the wars about the declining years of the...

Panama - North Korea from 2011-11-05T12:10

John McCarthy meets foreign correspondent Nicholas Wood who has turned his hand to running tours of some of the world's politically sensitive spots. They are joined by playwright Sam Holcroft an...

Transoceanic Rowing - Tango from 2011-10-29T10:49

John McCarthy hears about the transoceanic rowing experiences of Roz Savage who has just completed a crossing from Australia to Mauritius making her the first woman to row solo across the Indian...

Congo - Rodrigues from 2011-10-22T10:02

John McCarthy hears about Congo in the early days of independence in the 1960s from Veronica Cecil who had to flee from the civil war with her young family and about the country after it had bec...

Natural Navigation - Snow Shoeing - Borneo Sunbear - Bulgaria from 2011-10-15T10:04

John McCarthy looks at natural navigation with Alison Steadman who has been learning from the adventurer Tristan Gooley how to find and follow directions using only the signs provided by the wea...

Travel Biography from 2011-10-08T14:32

John McCarthy discusses travel biography at the Cheltenham Literature Festival with eminent writers in the field; Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Sara Wheeler and Alexander Maitland.

Producer: H...

Italy from 2011-10-01T10:34

John McCarthy gets a flavour of rural Italy and its food in conversation with writer Tracey Lawson who investigated the surprising longevity of an Italian village's residents by going to live th...

Burma - Egypt - World's longest climb from 2011-09-24T09:35

John McCarthy asks the historian Thant Myint-U, who visits Burma regularly, about the recent political developments there and its role in south east Asia. Thant reflects on the how the country's...

Rowing to the North Pole - Malta - Tidal islands from 2011-09-17T10:20

John McCarthy talks to adventurer Jock Wishart about his recent expedition rowing to the North Pole. He and his team were the first to achieve this feat made possible this year by global warming...

Maine - Tour d'Afrique - Fallowell's travels from 2011-09-10T10:17

John McCarthy introduces businesswoman Alice Morrison who took time off from the recession to ride from Cairo to Cape Town on the Tour d'Afrique cycle race, braving bandits and wildlife for a li...

Bus trip from Brighton to Eastbourne from 2011-09-03T09:45

Sandi Toksvig takes a bus trip along the south coast of England from Brighton to Eastbourne in the company of the listener who suggested it, Veronica Groocock. Together they discover the delight...

Istanbul - Part 2 from 2011-08-27T09:45

Sandi Toksvig in the second of two programmes continues her exploration the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She looks at the its richness ...

Istanbul - Part 1 from 2011-08-20T09:45

Sandi Toksvig in the first of two programmes begins to explore the ancient and modern city of Istanbul which straddles the border between Europe and Asia. She gets an overview of the city from t...

Phoenician ship voyage - The British seaside from 2011-08-13T12:19

Sonia Deol hears about the re-enactment of a historical voyage round Africa from marine explorer Philip Beale. He built a replica of an ancient sailing boat to recreate the Phoenician circumnavi...

Independent countries - Kashmir from 2011-08-06T10:12

Sonia Deol looks at Kashmir with the author Rosie Thomas, who went there to learn about the production of cashmere shawls, and journalist Tim Hannigan who toured the region investigating the mur...

Holy places in Britain, Antarctica from 2011-07-30T10:16

Sandi is joined by Nick Mayhew Smith who has undertaken a pilgrimage to every "holy place" in England, Scotland and Wales. Nick has compiled a travel guide which not only details where sacred tr...

Hawaii - Buskers from 2011-07-23T09:47

Sandi Toksvig is joined by country singer Hank Wangford to hear about life on the ranch with paniolo cowboys in Hawaii. There is music from cellist Li Lu who is accompanied by artist Johan Ander...

South Africa - InterRail from 2011-07-16T10:39

Sandi Toksvig explores Cape Town in the company of two very different experts. Lindsay Johns has family connections to the city and visits regularly. Bryan Tully is a forensic psychologist and h...

Somali Pirates - Montserrat - Languages from 2011-07-09T09:02

Sandi Toksvig meets journalist Colin Freeman who was kidnapped by pirates in Somalia whilst investigating them. He tells Sandi about how the total breakdown of law and order has led to piracy on...

Rites of Passage - Mexico from 2011-07-02T10:07

Sandi Toksvig looks at rites of passage with Anders Ryman who spent seven years photographing the ceremonies associated with key events in human life; birth, coming of age, marriage and death fr...

Cycles from 2011-06-25T10:37

Sandi Toksvig looks at the simplicity and versatility of the bicycle as a travel machine with three very different cyclists. Susie Wheeldon rode 22,000 kilometres around the world, crossing dese...

Catalonia - Cornish Coast from 2011-06-18T10:17

Sandi Toksvig meets novelist Richard Gwyn and translator Peter Bush to discuss Catalonia and its relationship with Spain. She hears how life is changing there, not just in the big city of Barcel...

Greek islands - Ireland by Kayak from 2011-06-04T10:45

John McCarthy talks to travel journalist Harry Bucknall about his journey round the Greek islands which vary from the crowded to the deserted and novelist Meaghan Delahunt reveals her love of Na...

Afghanistan, Libya, Chechnya from 2011-05-28T10:22

John McCarthy talks to three writers who have reported as freelancers from conflict zones. Lucy Morgan Edwards worked in Afghanistan both during and after the Taliban regime as an aid worker, jo...

Australia - Art galleries in Britain&Ireland - Iceland from 2011-05-21T10:35

John McCarthy meets poet and author Lavinia Greenlaw who tells him about the designer William Morris's journeys to Iceland in the 1870s and how what he saw informed his radical socialism. She al...

Nagaland - Kosovo - Skiing in Iran from 2011-05-14T11:09

John McCarthy hears from architectural journalist Jonathan Glancey about the little visited state of Nagaland in north east India. Although concerned with buildings in his profession, Jonathan h...

Liberia - Evacuation - Algeria from 2011-05-07T10:03

John McCarthy looks at Liberia and Sierra Leone with journalist and author Tim Butcher who retraced a journey without maps made by Graham Greene in 1935. The dangers of heat and disease are stil...

30/04/2011 from 2011-04-30T10:57

John McCarthy talks to journalist AA Gill about his travel columns which have taken him from earthquake zones to retirement homes and polar regions to Civil War sites. He also meets novelist Wil...

Northern Ireland from 2011-04-23T09:45

John McCarthy visits Northern Ireland where he stays in two contrasting hotels and hears about different approaches to tourism after the troubles. In Belfast he talks to the owner, the concierge...

Welsh wilderness - Harp around the World - Moonlight from 2011-04-16T09:31

John McCarthy explores the pleasure of moonlight, talks to a musician who travelled the world with her harp and meets someone who spent 5 years in the solitude of a remote Welsh cottage without ...

Walking in Ireland and Spain - Philippines from 2011-04-09T11:15

John McCarthy hears from a bestselling thriller writer about his travels around The Philippines, finds out about a series of new walks in Ireland and talks to someone seeking inspiration from a ...

Nigeria - Newfoundland, Labrador and Montreal, Canada from 2011-04-02T09:30

Sandi Toksvig finds out about Nigeria with actor and director Femi Elufowoju Jr and novelist Christie Watson, and gets under the skin of Montreal and Newfoundland with writer Kathleen Winter. Listen

Morecambe Bay - India from 2011-03-26T11:15

Sandi Toksvig explores Morecambe Bay and the area round about and talks to a travel journalist about her love of India and places to visit near Sheffield. Producer: Chris Wilson.

Australia - Georgia - St Pancras Station, London from 2011-03-19T12:30

Sandi Toksvig finds out about Georgia on the Black Sea with novelist Meg Clothier, hears about a motorbike trip around Australia's Highway 1 with biker and travel writer Geoff Hill and examines ...

Turkey - Harlem from 2011-03-12T10:30

Sandi Toksvig finds out about modern day Harlem in New York and looks at travel in Turkey. She talks to New Yorker Reggie Nadelson about one of the city's most exciting neighbourhoods and to his...

Antarctic and Shackleton centenary expedition to the South Pole - In the footsteps of my Ottoman uncle from 2011-03-05T10:30

Sandi Toksvig explores two very different sides of the Antarctic. One from an expedition cruise ship and the other following the 2008/9 expedition following in the footsteps of Ernest Shackleton...

Syria - The Pennines from 2011-02-26T11:00

John McCarthy explores some ancient monuments and places of interest across Syria. He also hears about the Turkish baths- or Hammams- of Damascus and Aleppo. And travel along the backbone of Eng...

Woods and trees - Iceland and the Scottish Islands from 2011-02-19T10:30

John McCarthy explores British Woodland and meets a fan of travelling in cold landscapes. He hears about ancient woods across the country and about Iceland and the Scottish islands. And he exami...

Colin Thubron Tibet from 2011-02-12T10:30

John McCarthy talks to travel writer Colin Thubron about hiking up a sacred mountain in Tibet and to members of an expedition that explored communities around the Atlantic Ocean's coast, from Af...

Romania, Transylvania - Rowing across the Indian Ocean from 2011-02-05T11:15

John McCarthy explores Romania with William Blacker who lived there for some years and Lucy Mallows who wrote the first travel guide to Transylvania. He also meets Sarah Outen, who rowed 4,000 m...

Russian Road - Hitler Tours from 2011-01-29T10:31

John McCarthy explores the Vladimirka Highway in Russia and talks to the writer who travelled along it from Moscow to Siberia. John also talks to two historians about visiting places associated...

South America 'Wild coast' - Volunteering abroad from 2011-01-22T10:31

John McCarthy explores the wild coasts of Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana in South America and examines the pleasures and pitfalls of travelling and volunteering abroad. Producer: Chris Wilso...

Pit villages - Overland with children across Africa from 2011-01-15T10:35

John McCarthy explores the Great Northern Coalfield in North East England with writer Peter Crookston and meets the young family who travelled 4,000 miles across Africa in 2 months.

Produc...

Lebanon - Paris/Normandy from 2011-01-08T11:15

John McCarthy explores Paris with Independent Newspaper correspondent John Lichfield and The Lebanon with photographer Max Milligan and historian Philip Mansel. Producer Chris Wilson.

Walking in Madeira, Europe and Gambia from 2011-01-01T10:37

John McCarthy talks to the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell about his enthusiasm for hiking in Tasmania and Madeira, glaciologist Richard Sale about long distance walking routes in Europe ...

Travel Quiz from 2010-12-25T11:00

Peter Curran presents an Excess Baggage special quiz for Christmas from the Radio Theatre with John McCarthy and Sandi Toksvig and their special guests, explorer Benedict Allen and comedian Lucy...

Science travelogue - Foreign Commonwealth Office from 2010-12-18T11:30

Anita Anand looks at the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office around the World with the Director of FCO Consular Services Julian Braithwaite. She also talks to Professor Jim Al- Khalili a...

Pilgrimages - Seeing the World My Way from 2010-12-11T11:15

Anita Anand explores pilgrim routes from Canterbury to Kerala and meets Tony Giles, the blind and severely deaf traveller, who has undertaken two solo trips around the world.

Producer Chri...

Tribes, Hebrides, Visitor to Britain from 2010-12-04T11:24

John McCarthy looks at endangered peoples of the world with broadcaster and traveller Piers Gibbon who has stayed with South American tribes and studied their use of plants. This has lead him to...

Human Rights - Patagonia from 2010-11-27T12:02

John McCarthy meets the human rights advocate Bianca Jagger and asks her about a lifetime of travel from her home country of Nicaragua and student protests in the Paris of the sixties to her rec...

Yemen - The Sun from 2010-11-19T18:18

John McCarthy looks at travelling to Yemen. Ginny Hill of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and travel writer Tim Mackintosh-Smith debate the delights and dangers of this ancient land...

Medics abroad and Bridges from 2010-11-13T11:03

John McCarthy meets ophthalmologist Lucy Mathen who runs an organisation performing cataract operations in north east India and Andrew Ready who leads a team transplanting kidneys in Trinidad an...

Syria - Sark from 2010-10-30T11:24

John McCarthy meets Dr Lavinia Byrne who leads tours to the ancient sites of Syria and tour operator Amelia Stewart who has started to offer trips there and talks to them about why the many laye...

Villages, Ordnance Survey and Finland from 2010-10-23T10:37

John McCarthy talks to journalist Clive Aslet about the nature of British villages, how they've changed and whether they have become places to visit rather than to live and work in. He tells Joh...

Kim's India, Apps and Tweets from 2010-10-16T10:29

John McCarthy talks to Doreen Tayler who explored northwest India visiting places featuring in Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim. The trail lead her to places that defied her expectations, from strang...

British Countryside and Tasmania from 2010-10-09T10:21

John McCarthy talks to the chair of The Royal Society for Wildlife Trusts, Michael Allen, about great writing on the British countryside and how the Trusts are encouraging people to get out of t...

Alaska - Zambia - Cycle path to Paris from 2010-10-02T10:26

The actress Imogen Stubbs talks to John McCarthy about why she is drawn to the Alaskan wilderness. Her experiences there with the vast distances, the extreme weather and the danger from encounte...

Hot-air balloons - Wildlife conservation from 2010-09-25T09:30

John McCarthy meets Dani Maimone who was Africa's only female hot-air balloon pilot flying over the Masai Mara giving her passengers a fantastic view of the wildlife below. She tells John of the...

Family History - Paraguay from 2010-09-18T10:21

Sandi Toksvig meets two people who travelled to research their family histories. Television executive Martin Davidson knew his German grandfather must have fought in the Second World War but was...

Places of worship/retreats - The paintings of Sir Winston Churchill from 2010-09-11T09:30

Sandi Toksvig uncovers some interesting English places of worship to visit, finds out why a retreat can be an excellent break and explores some of the locations painted by Sir Winston Churchill ...

The Dark Tourist - Florida from 2010-09-04T11:30

Sandi Toksvig explores deep under the skin of the 'sunshine state' in the company of the former British Vice Consul in Orlando Hugh Hunter, with a Florida postcard from Americana presenter Matt ...