For the latest podcast SWH! was back in Edinburgh to talk to mountaineer, storyteller, and writer, John D. Burns, and the story he has to tell is a fascinating one. He talks about how he first discovered the delights of hillwalking in the Lake District in his youth, his thoughts on how we should treat, view, and interact with nature, why he fell out and then back in love with the hills, the politics of the wild, his forays into poetry, theatre, and stand-up, and so much more. It’s one of the most interesting and informative podcasts yet, and I know you’ll come away with a new view on our landscape, and on life.
John’s first two books, The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, are both bestsellers where John describes his time spent on the hills of Scotland, and the stories accrued over that time, both personal and from fellow hillwalkers and bothy dwellers.
His latest book, Sky Dance, (right) is a novel set in Highlands, and John sets out why he decided to move into fiction, and the importance of telling and sharing stories as a way to understand and respect the land and the creatures who dwell there.
If you are new round these parts there is quite a substantial back-catalogue of podcasts for you to discover. If you aren’t yet a subscriber you can do so, (or simply listen) at iTunes, on Podbean, with Spotify, or by RSS (but you’ll need to have an RSS reader to do so).
You can also download the podcast by clicking on the relevant link to the right of this post, or, if you want it right here, right now, you can listen on SoundCloud…
..or on YouTube:
All of John’s books are published by Vertebrate Publishing.
Thanks to Holyrood 9A in Edinburgh for their hospitality & understanding when we were recording (and their excellent selection of beers).
Coming soon are our Best of 2019 podcasts which will be with you very soon, but in the meantime you can also check out our series of Scottish Opera Podcasts.