The Shelley Tasker Show

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com In this lively episode of The Shelley Tasker Show, Mal and I catch up on the week before diving into a wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation with returning guest Dave Lanyon. We chat about everything from Gen Z still living at home and the pressures of modern life, to local community events, family life, and the small joys and frustrations of everyday living. As ever, there’s plenty of humour along the way, but also a real sense of wanting to make sense of the world around us. The heart of the episode is our frank discussion with Dave, who shares his anger and frustration at the way ordinary people are treated by political systems, the media, and those in power. Together, we explore public apathy, fear-based messaging, social division, immigration, war, taxation, banking, education, and the steady erosion of community life. It’s an honest, passionate exchange about why so many people feel powerless, why asking questions matters, and what it means to stand up for what you believe in, even when it puts you at odds with the crowd.

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com On this week’s show, Mr Scott and I began with a lively catch-up on the week, from community projects in Camborne and the joy of telling local people’s stories, to reflections on history, technology and the changing world around us. We talked about the powerful impact ordinary people can have, especially after I visited a church-led food project feeding local children and families, and we also touched on everything from D-Day weather forecasting to concerns around facial recognition, self-service culture and the steady loss of human interaction in everyday life. The heart of the episode was a deeply honest conversation with returning guest Alex about the nature of addiction. Alex shared his personal journey through cannabis and alcohol dependency, his rock-bottom moment, rehab, and the life-changing support he found through 12-step recovery meetings. Together we explored addiction not simply as substance misuse, but as a wider human struggle around control, pain, validation, habit and coping. We discussed sponsorship, gratitude practices, spirituality, self-awareness, boredom, relapse, and the idea that many of us may sit somewhere on the spectrum of addictive behaviour. It was a thoughtful, compassionate and eye-opening discussion about recovery, resilience and what it really means to be supported by other people.

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com In this episode, Scott and I began with a lively catch-up that somehow took in tree pollarding, social media-fuelled politics and the latest protests around small boats, face coverings and the steady creep of facial recognition. We reflected on how quickly public debate is being pushed into ever more polarised camps, touching on immigration, the media narrative, protest movements in Britain and Germany, and the broader concern that division is being used to justify more surveillance and control. We also marked a personal milestone as I looked back on six years of broadcasting. The heart of the show was a fascinating conversation with political commentator and broadcaster Heiko Khoo about Palantir: what it is, where it came from, and why ordinary people should care. Heiko unpacked the company’s deep ties to intelligence, data integration, AI and state power, and we explored the wider implications for privacy, digital identity, mobile phones, social behaviour and the future of human agency. From Speaker’s Corner activism to the dangers of technological dependence, this was a wide-ranging discussion about surveillance, control and whether people can still reclaim real community in an increasingly managed world.

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com On this week’s show, I was joined by my co-host Scott as we caught up on everything from the end of summer and family life to the return of school routines, teenagers, technology and the comforts of autumn. We also reflected on last week’s guest and the importance of having more faith in ourselves, before turning to the evening’s main discussion. The heart of the episode was a thoughtful roundtable with our guests Alex and Patrick on the pros and cons of living in a multicultural society. Together, we explored identity, assimilation, heritage, migration, nationhood, culture, community and the forces that shape social change. It was a lively but good-faith conversation, with different perspectives on whether multiculturalism strengthens society, risks diluting local culture, or simply reflects a reality of human history. Throughout, we kept returning to big questions about belonging, preserving heritage, responsibility, and how communities can live together without losing what makes them distinct.

Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com In this episode, I was joined by my co-host, Mr Scott, for a lively opening chat covering everything from the changing season and homegrown produce to fasting, sleep, cutting back on alcohol, and the curious little habits we all fall into at home. We also shared a few odd facts, listener moments and plenty of laughs before turning to the heart of the programme: a deeply personal and powerful conversation with Melissa Louise. Melissa joined us to share her extraordinary story of being diagnosed with breast cancer, later being told she had stage four cancer and just weeks to live, and yet refusing to give up. She spoke candidly about trauma, mindset, natural healing, fasting, diet, herbs, visualisation and the determination that carried her through paralysis, hospice care and being told she would not recover. We also talked about her concerns around end-of-life medication, the emotional impact of prognosis, and how her experience has inspired her to support others through her Roseway Project. It was an emotional, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting conversation about resilience, belief and finding hope in the darkest of places.