Media careers, centenarians, assassination, disasters all feature in my Bandwidth podcast

My conversation with Katie Brewer of Bandwidth is now available. 

We talk about getting into Oxford from an ordinary Manchester primary school, getting into the media and working in radio and television.

Then there are my books: we discuss the secrets of living to 100 and whether, in spite of increased life expectancy and determined scientific research, there remains a limit to human lifespan. There's the history of assassination, and the role of love in the murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand which helped to spark the First World War, plus the continuing mysteries surrounding JFK's death. 

We talked about how disasters happen and how mercilessly they can expose organisational shortcomings.

The podcast is entitled: 'Surviving the Storm: John Withington on Catastrophe, Longevity and the Human Spirit.' You can find it here on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/68HQDGsIC4vKBG6Xsw9up9?si=cefbc5dfc9354602&nd=1&dlsi=29cbb59e41194b1f

And I'm told also on @bandwidthconversations on Instagram & @podcastbwc on Twitter

My Fireworks History: a talk and a quote

Great fun to give a talk to the CSNA, Camden Square Neighbourhood Association, in London last night about my book 'A History of Fireworks' (Reaktion). Told the story of their origins, the ambivalent attitude to the authorities in the UK to Bonfire Night, and in the USA to 4 July, how the technology changed, and their place in art, literature and music, their effect on animals, and much more. Good audience with interesting questions.

Meanwhile, the book's also been quoted in this Encyclopaedia Britannica article https://www.britannica.com/procon/fireworks-debate

The last Gorton by-election

Thursday sees the Gorton by-election in what was the safe Labour seat of Manchester Gorton and Denton. 

I was brought up in Gorton (East Manchester) and I was living there in 1967 at the time of another high profile by-election. (Though the constituency’s boundaries have been changed substantially since then.) 

The sitting MP was Konni Zilliacus, half-Finnish, who had worked for the League of Nations between the wars, was very much on the Labour left, and was dismissed as a ‘crypto-Communist’ by George Orwell. 

In July 1967, he died of leukemia. By the time the by-election was called for November, the Labour government was facing a sterling crisis largely because of Britain’s chronic balance of payments deficit, but Zilliacus had bequeathed his would-be successor Kenneth Marks, a former head teacher, a majority of nearly 8,000, having won more than 60 per cent of the vote at the 1966 general election.

Running for the Conservatives against Marks was Winston Churchill. No, not Britain’s wartime prime minister, but his grandson. Labour suffered an adverse swing of more than 14 per cent, but hung on to win by fewer than 600 votes.

In this week’s Gorton by-election, Labour are defending a majority of more than 12,500. In 2024, Reform was their nearest challenger. Turnout was well below 50 per cent.

 

New Year firework disasters

It now seems that sparklers being carried too close to the ceiling was the cause of the New Year fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.  At least 40 people are thought to have been killed in the blaze in a bar.

Fireworks have been involved in a number of New Year accidents. On the first day of 2001, 350 young people had packed into three cafes in a building in the picturesque Dutch fishing village of Volendam, when sparklers set fire to ceiling decorations that had not been treated with flame retardants. 14 people died. 

One of the deadliest firework accidents ever happened in the run-up to the next New Year celebrations. The narrow streets of the Mesa Redonda shopping area in Peru's capital, Lima, were lined with wood and adobe buildings, and on 29 December 2001, hundreds had flocked there to buy fireworks for New Year.

Many traders were selling, and the ground was covered with gunpowder that had fallen from fireworks being unloaded. Witnesses said the blaze started as one trader was demonstrating his wares. It spread rapidly, destroying five blocks in a few minutes, and killing nearly 300 people. 

For more on firework accidents, see my book A History of Fireworks from their Origins to the Present Day. (Reaktion Books)

Japanese newspaper explores my 'Fireworks' history

I've just been interviewed about my book, A History of Fireworks from their Origins to the Present Day (Reaktion) by the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers. The article focuses on New Year celebrations.  https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASTDK54G1TDKUHBI006M.html

Promo for my history of fireworks talk

Looking forward to talking to members of Boundless.co.uk for civil servants past and present about my book 'A History of Fireworks from their Origins to the Present Day' (Reaktion Books) on Tuesday 11 November at 1900. You can find my promo for the event on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bemoreboundless/?locale=en_GB 

Fireworks: illuminating their mysterious history

Looking forward to talking online about my book A History of Fireworks. From their Origins to the Present Day (Reaktion Books) to the Boundless organisation for civil servants past and present on 11 November. 

I'm going to be talking about their mysterious origins in ancient China and the possibility that they were a by-product of the search for eternal life, how warfare played an important part in their development, how the pope became a major sponsor of displays in Europe, and how their first known appearance in Britain was at an event designed to put an end to the enmities of a 30 years civil war. 

Then there will be the story of how 5 November, Bonfire Night, became a focus for disorder and anti-government protests, how British fireworks conquered the world in Queen Victoria's time, and how they featured at the centre of one of Britain's most famous libel cases involving one of Britain's most celebrated artists.

I will reveal the technological breakthroughs that have transformed fireworks and displays, describe how they have inspired music and literature, reminisce over the rise and fall of famous British manufacturers, and examine the challenges fireworks now face from worries about the environment and the effect they have on animals.

Scroll down this web page to find out more https://www.boundless.co.uk/news-competitions/lifestyle/meet-the-online-storytellers