How long does UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer have left? And what is the Chelsea Flower Show? Today’s special guest is Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous, and he can help us with neither of these things.
In this episode we talk about British politics and, yes, the Chelsea Flower Show. But we also discuss the UK’s heat wave, AI, age verification, Eurovision, Edinburgh’s new capybara, rabbits, feral pigs, and King Charles III.
This episode was recorded on 22 May 2026, so make sure to listen to the housekeeping segment for any factual updates.
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Episode Links
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The official website of Scottish Author David F Porteous
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Scottish author of The Wicker Man Preservation Society, Good Witch, and Singular. Read work in progress at dfpiii.com
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[8 May 2026] The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo has welcomed the birth of a lovable capybara, the first to be born in Scotland in 18 years. Keepers are keeping a close eye on the babybara as they are still quite vulnerable at this crucial point in their development.
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[7 May 2026] Farmers in Western Australia have been dealing with a big rodent problem. It's a mouse plague and its the worst one the State has ever seen. With an estimated 8,000 mice living on every hectare of land. You see, mice can breed really quickly. Once a female mouse is six weeks old she can have up to 6 to 10 pups every three weeks. Which can get out of control pretty quickly and even turn into a plague. Parts of South Australia are also experiencing a plague which has become a huge problem for farmers in both states. These critters can munch on crops and spread diseases. The abundance of rodents has also impacted businesses, with one grocery store having to throw out about twenty thousand dollars worth of food. Farmers and the community are doing their best to control the problem using baits. But many say the bait they've been given just isn't strong enough and are calling on the government to strengthen the dosage. Meanwhile others are hoping that the cooler weather might help slow the problem down.
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[20 May 2026] As people sleep in parts of Australia, mice are hidden in their beds biting their fingers, chewing machinery wiring and hoses, destroying grain crops, and rotting in streets.
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[22 May 2026] The 2025 survey of wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park shows a population rise since 2024. It is estimated between 6,476 and 16,411 horses remain in the park.
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The cane toad in Australia is regarded as an exemplary case of an invasive species. Australia's relative isolation prior to European colonisation and the Industrial Revolution, both of which dramatically increased traffic and import of novel species, allowed development of a complex, interdepending system of ecology, but one which provided no natural predators for many of the species subsequently introduced. The sudden inundation of foreign species has led to severe breakdowns in Australian ecology, after overwhelming proliferation of a number of introduced species, for which the continent has no efficient natural predators or parasites, and which displace native species; in some cases, these species are physically destructive to habitat, as well.
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"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" is a cumulative (repetitive, connected poetic lines or song lyrics) children's nursery rhyme or nonsensical song.
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European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were first introduced to Australia in the 18th century with the First Fleet, and later became widespread, because of Thomas Austin. Such wild rabbit populations are a serious mammalian pest and invasive species in Australia causing millions of dollars' worth of damage to crops... Various methods in the 20th century have been attempted to control the Australian rabbit population... The myxoma virus, which causes myxomatosis, was introduced into the rabbit population in the 1950s and had the effect of severely reducing the rabbit population. However, the survivors have since adapted and partially recovered their previous numbers.
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[14 May 2026] Optimal seasonal conditions have led to a boom in feral rabbit numbers along the Victoria-New South Wales border. The rabbits are causing damage on farms, in towns and on sports ovals. Scientists say a new deadly virus release to help suppress numbers is needed, but funding is running out.
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Scott Galloway (born November 3, 1964) is an American academic, author, podcast host, multimillionaire, and entrepreneur. He is a clinical professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business.
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[20 May 2026] A mutant "super pig" population population has spiralled out of control in areas close to the Fukushima nuclear fallout zone.
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[22 May 2026] Today marked England's hottest day of the year so far as the mercury reached 28.4C in Heathrow. Elsewhere, Cardiff recorded a high of 25.8C - making it Wales' warmest day of the year so far too - whereas Belfast and Edinburgh remained at a relatively cool 19C.
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One of the most successful health campaigns in Australia's history was launched in 1981, when a cheerful seagull in board shorts, t-shirt and hat danced his way across our TV screens singing the jingle.
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[17 May 2026] LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER from United Kingdom performed Eins, Zwei, Drei in the Grand Final of Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria.
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[17 May 2026] Look Mum No Computer, aka musician Sam Battle, got one solitary point, ending up in last place.
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[17 May 2026] In a messy and angry way, Labour's tribes have reached a decision - that it's about time a contest to replace Sir Keir Starmer got under way. But there are plenty of choices that still face him - decisions that affect us all, and one vital one that he alone must make.
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[25 May 2026] The UK has recorded its all-time highest May temperature as part of London reached 34.8C on Monday. That provisional figure, recorded in Kew Gardens, also surpassed the hottest bank holiday Monday on record - 33.3C on the August bank holiday in 2019. Wales has also experienced its hottest May day, reaching 32.2C at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire.
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Have I Got News for You (HIGNFY) is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990.
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Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th series. Just a Minute was first transmitted on Radio 4 on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch.
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I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by the host. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of radio and TV panel games, and has been broadcast since on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.
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[21 April 2026] Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords on Monday that the government would table an amendment to its landmark Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill "creating a clear legal requirement for schools" on the matter. The Department for Education (DfE) said the move would give "legal force to what schools are already doing in practice".
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Step aboard a 1950s Australian train journey from Murray Bridge to Adelaide. ? This rare film was directed by pioneering Australian filmmaker Joan Long, capturing everyday life and rail travel in mid-century Australia.
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A dad joke is a joke typically involving a pun, often presented as a one-liner or a question and answer. Generally inoffensive, dad jokes are told with sincere humorous intent or to provoke a negative "groaning" reaction to their overly simplistic humor. Dad jokes are so-called because they are stereotypically thought to be those a father figure would tell to a child.
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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London. Held at Chelsea since 1912, the show is attended by members of the British royal family.
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[28 April 2026] The Alliance that our two Nations have built over the centuries – and for which we are profoundly grateful to the American people – is truly unique.
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His Majesty talks of the shared history and common goals of the UK and the US during his four-day State Visit to America.
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[18 May 2026] It must be a strange job being King. One minute you're facing up to US President Donald Trump in the US Congress. The next you're being introduced to garden gnomes.
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[18 May 2026] Bill Bailey and Alan Titchmarsh paint gnomes for king’s garden at event, in one-off to raise funds for RHS campaign.
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[21 May 2026] King Charles III has been in Newtownards, County Down for engagements on the final day of the royal visit to Northern Ireland. The King visited Ards Allotments, which was founded by Maurice Patton after watching him visit an allotment on the news more than 20 years ago.
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[22 May 2026] King Charles tried his hand at playing the ukulele during a visit to Ards Allotments in Northern Ireland. The King joined a ukulele group at the Men’s Shed plot. Keep watching to see the musical moment.
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