What We Do In The Winter: Conversations with locals from Scottish Islands

Have You Heard? is where the Pod Bible team meet the people behind the podcasts you may not have heard of yet. Today we’re speaking to Alasdair Satchel, who creates one of our favourite podcasts about Scotland, What We Do In The Winter…

What We Do In The Winter is a podcast about the lives of the people of the isles of Mull, Iona, Ulva and Gometra. And as we get towards tourist season for the Scottish Islands, now is a great time to find out more about a show that shares what it’s like to be a resident of these hot destinations.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

In many ways What We Do in the Winter came about through frustration. Mull, Iona, Ulva and the islands around us have such a high footfall of tourists that I felt the real stories of the people of the islands were getting lost in the dominant narrative that has emerged about our islands over the last decades. Our population is just under 3 thousand, but each day in the peak tourist season that many visitors and more come to our shores and spend time here.

Their stories have outbalanced the stories of the local people for so long. Somewhere like London can absorb tourists with ease, significantly outnumbered by the local people, so the stories that London that people know is predominantly organic to that place and not imposed by a tourist lead narrative. Here our population is swamped by the tourists coming in and out, which is obviously vital to so much of our island economies and the sustainability of many lives here, but the stories they tell of our islands and communities outweigh the stories organic to the place by a significant margin. In light of this I wanted to shine a light on the people of our islands and their extraordinary lives. It’s been remarkable to see the connections it’s made all over the world. Real stories of real lives resonate with so many listeners.

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. I was painting our house at the time and I fancied trying something a bit different. His Blueprint for the Apocalypse sequence of episodes about the First World War was really incredible and made me look at that part of history in a very different way from previously.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

I’m greatly influenced by the work of Adam Buxton. When I was 16 I saw Take Over TV, the show he was involved in on Channel 4 back in the 90’s, and that inspired me to start fooling around with video cameras, leading to me making films, which is now what I do for a living. I wasn’t really aware that he was involved in that, but it sort of stuck in the back of my brain for a long time.

Then when I started listening to podcasts I noticed that he had one. I’d always enjoyed the BBC Radio 6 Adam and Joe show, so I thought I’d give that a listen. I’ve been so impressed by his work on his own podcast series and again, my subconscious led me to want to make a podcast, inspired by his work. His presenting style is absolutely wonderful, you get a really strong sense of his personality coming through his work. He’s the device through which you hear the guest.

My presenting style is to try and be more neutral and to take myself out of the equation as much as possible. I try to be the listener and imagine what the audience want to hear, whilst following my own instinct on what’s interesting. I can’t help but keep some absolutely awful jokes in here and there though.

Do you have a dream guest for the podcast?

That’s a really interesting question. I think each guest brings something unexpected to the podcast, so I can’t really say what the dream guest would be like.
I’ve been totally blown away by the things that some people have shared with us. It’s usually the case that the more humble approach that someone has to their life the more remarkable things they have to say that really connect with folk all over the world.

There are celebrities and people in notional positions of power connected with our islands, but their stories are very often quite well known already and it can be hard to break that narrative down into more subtle human connections.

I spoke to Gordon Buchanan the wild life filmmaker a while back and he was brilliant as he said he just wanted to talk about growing up on Mull and not really to go into his professional life. This was exactly what I was hoping for and he gave a really smashing interview which was full of warmth and fun.

In many ways Duncan MacGilp, the first person I spoke to for WWDitW was the dream guest, he had the most remarkable stories of a life very fully lived.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

That people who I approach who say “Och, I’ve got nothing much to say” very often have the best stories to tell. That and there are some very strange ladies in America who really, REALLY like Scottish accents.

Anne MacGregor, Iain Campbell, Jean MacLean and Mabel Canning – Photo by Alasdair Satchel

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Episode 50, where Richard Kellett and I talk about his life, his younger years before he came to the island, his military service in Iraq and how he’s come to work as a paramedic here on Mull is a great starting point. I try to walk a fine line between the past and the present with the podcast and I think Richard’s episode is a good illustration of what I’m trying to do.

Charlotte Mellis’ episode, number 59, is also a really interesting way to step into the podcast as she talks about her parents’ lives and how they came to Mull, and goes into all sorts of interesting details about the arts scene in which she grew up. It’s filled with fascinating and unexpected stories. Then there’s Lucy MacKenzie in episode 4 whose Dad kept the landing orders for the Normandy landings in the downstairs toilet – and reveals her connection to the White Mischief murder in Kenya.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

There’s so much to be found out about in our communities that we now have a film strand and an archive strand to the work. The most recent film was Creel of Stories – Cliabh an t-Seanachais, which documents the story of the fishing communities of the Ross of Mull and Iona. What We Do in the Archives is a collaboration with Mull Museum in Tobermory, where we release archival recordings of talks and conversations with people from the past that have been recorded on cassette and reel to reel tape.

Seeing the connections that the podcasts and films make with people really makes it all worth it.

Listen to What We Do In The Winter on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>