Teacher Joseph Podcast

Podcast 1056: (At the Supermarket Transcript)

Hello, everyone. Welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast.

Well, today I’m in the supermarket and I’m walking around deciding what I’m going to have for dinner. Now, you might think that sounds like quite an easy thing but actually, you know what? For me it’s not the easiest thing in the world. I have to say.

Oh delicious. What’s this? Spicy dough Pepperoni (Pizza). I don’t even know what pepperoni is. That’s sausage, isn’t it? Well, I’m not going to have that. I am supposedly vegetarian.

Let’s see what else they have here. Umm, two beef and vegetable…. Oh, no, no, that’s beef. I don’t want that. What’s this? Loin steaks? No, that’s pork. I’m not going to have that either. Yeah, I’m just looking for something delicious, you know, to have tonight. And I also want to buy some sugar. So that’s why I’m here wandering around.

I’m in one of these frozen food stores where everything is frozen and you might think that sounds a bit strange, but perfectly normal here. Fresh food is hard to come by in a place like this …so…

Oh delicious…. what’s this? Bounty bars…. oh I haven’t them in years… Bounty bars? Yeah, I’m going to have some of those. They’re delicious. It’s basically a chocolate bar. Coconut, covered in chocolate. But really, if if I’m going to have something sweet, I want to have the doughnuts and I’m just eyeing them up as I’m walking around. So let me see where I can find them.

Let’s see. Yeah. So I’m still looking for something else for tonight’s dinner as well. There’s nothing jumping up and hitting me. OK, here’s the chicken frozen food aisle. Everything is in like cabinets, so it’s gonna be easy to peer in. Just to see what they have, let me have a little look.

Yeah, delicious. There’s more pizzas. Ohh, lovely. What’s this? Vegetable pasta bolognese pre packed. Well, that’s kind of tempting, isn’t it? That’s a keeper. Let’s see. Breast fillet, sesame chicken. Well, I could make that at home. I’m looking for something a little bit different, a little bit easier. A snack box. Oh, no….at this rate, I’ll be making something myself. Well, maybe I’ll get some bread anyway, because I’ve not had a proper loaf of bread in a long time, so it’s always nice to have, isn’t it? So let’s see. Yeah, I’ll just take the sliced bread and I’ll carry on looking for my thing for tonight’s dinner.

OK, let me see… chicken chow mein. I love these, these kind of like frozen food shops. OK, it’s not Fresh, but within seconds you could be eating something which is quite good. Oh, delicious. Oh, ham and pineapple pizza. I know that upsets Italian people. Sorry if you’re Italian, but it is very common here.

A four cheese pizza. Yeah, I’ll have that. I mean, I could make one, but today I don’t have time because I’m busy revising for my Gaelic exam which is coming up on Friday and that’s my last exam of the year. Well, last exam of the semester, so….

Oh delicious, I love that… Doctor Ohkter’s pizzas. They’re always nice aren’t they. A bit more pricey as well, I think. I’ll stay with my four cheese pizza, I think.

Yeah, oh delicious. I still haven’t seen the doughnuts. I’m still trying to find them. They must be here somewhere. Let me just have another look. No… I can see biscuits and cakes, but let’s see…. I don’t see doughnuts. I’m gonna try the biscuit aisle because I need to have them. Do you know I was talking to someone last night about Swiss chocolate, and after that I just became really hungry. So I got up so early this morning, determined to disappear and get to the shops, you know?

Right, here’s the biscuit (aisle). Oh delicious. What’s this? Still in the frozen part… Cadburys Dairy Milk, creamy vanilla ice cream. Oh, so these are ice lollies. Oh, lovely. Delicious. I love those. What else do we have here? Oh cheesecake. Ohh strawberry gateau. Oh lovely. I do like a bit of em…. All right, here’s the…. here’s the biscuits. zero… slims no sugar. Oh, no. I don’t want some of those. I’m looking for hardcore doughnuts here. No……. Oh Wagon wheels. So lovely. Ohh Toblerone, how much is that? That’s a bit pricey, but. After talking about Swiss food last night, I’m very tempted. I won’t. I won’t.

Yeah, I don’t see any here. I’m just going to do another quick spin around the shop just to see, but I’m not seeing pre packed doughnuts anywhere. Which is a great pity, cause it’s exactly what..(*I want) they are delicious. Air fry southern fried chicken breast strips. I wouldn’t mind some of those…. Tea, well, I’ve got loads of that. I got a delicious box of tea bags a few days ago. Right, I’m back at the bread part just to see if I can find some doughnuts. Oh yeah, these will do. Croissant with chocolate filling. Well, if you buy enough of them, that will satisfy me, I suppose.

Umm. Yeah, I’m not really seeing what I want though. OK, no worries. Well, I have enough kind of like things to keep me going with the amount of sugar that I’ve got in my basket, sitting happily next to the pizza. And that’s it. Look, delicious. Ma Rayburn sweet pancakes. Well, I can make pancakes myself, so I don’t know why I have to buy them here, but… well, that’s it. So I hope you’ve enjoyed this and. I’ll catch up with you again soon and eh…

Yeah, I’m just going to have another quick spin over to the biscuits and then I’m done.

See you. Bye.

1055 – The Story of Maggie McTaggart

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to another podcast from Teacher Joseph.

Today I want to tell you a story about my ancestor Maggie McTaggart, who lived in south-west Scotland in 1920.

Maggie was just sixteen years old when this story takes place. She came from a lively, hardworking family — one of eleven children. Her father worked long hours in the steelworks, and her mother stayed at home, looking after the younger ones, cooking, cleaning, sewing, and somehow keeping everything running.

Life wasn’t easy for Maggie, but it was full of energy. Their small stone house stood at the edge of the town, close enough to the railway tracks that you could hear the trains rattling past at all hours. Inside, it was always noisy — children shouting, babies crying, pots banging, someone always rushing in or out. But there was warmth too, a sense that no matter how little they had, they had each other.

Maggie herself was bright and full of life. She had a quick smile, a love of singing, and a fierce determination to make the best of whatever came her way. Like many girls her age, she had started working young — not in the mills like some of her friends, but in a small bakery on the high street. Every morning before sunrise, she would tie back her hair, pull on her apron, and walk into town with the smell of fresh bread already filling the air.

The bakery was a busy place, especially in the early hours, and Maggie worked hard. She learned to knead dough quickly, to pack up loaves without squashing them, and to deal with all sorts of customers — from grumpy old men to tired mothers with crying children clinging to their skirts.

But Maggie didn’t mind the hard work. She liked being busy, and she liked knowing she was helping her family. Every Saturday, she handed over most of her wages to her mother, keeping just a few pennies for herself — enough to buy a second-hand book now and then, or a bright ribbon for her hair.

At home, Maggie helped raise her younger brothers and sisters. She mended torn clothes, told bedtime stories, and sometimes even led the whole group in games out in the fields after supper. She had a natural gift for finding joy in small things: the way the sun fell on the river, the sound of the church bells on a Sunday morning, the laughter of her brothers tumbling over each other in the long grass.

Sometimes, in the evenings, when the day’s work was done and the younger ones had finally fallen asleep, Maggie would sit by the window with a book on her lap, dreaming of what life might hold for her. Maybe, one day, she would save enough money to travel — not far, perhaps just to Glasgow or Edinburgh — and see the world beyond the grey streets of her hometown.

But Maggie wasn’t unhappy. She loved her family fiercely, and she loved the life she knew. There was music in her world — real music, played on battered fiddles and old pianos at dances in the village hall. There were friendships that had lasted since childhood, solid and dependable. And there was the deep satisfaction of knowing that, even with so many mouths to feed and so many worries to carry, her family never gave up on hope.

In the spring of 1920, Maggie’s life took a small but important turn. The bakery owner, impressed by her hard work and cheerful manner, offered her an apprenticeship to learn more about the business. It was an unexpected opportunity — and one Maggie seized with both hands. She began learning how to balance the books, manage orders, and even create new recipes.

It wasn’t just about the money, although that helped too. It was about the pride she felt every time a customer smiled and complimented her work. It was about standing a little taller, knowing she was building a future for herself, bit by bit.

That summer, there was a celebration in the town — a fair held in the fields just outside the church. Maggie went with her brothers and sisters, laughing as they ran from stall to stall, their pockets full of sticky sweets. She wore a blue dress her mother had helped her sew and danced late into the evening under the open sky.

When the stars came out, she sat with her friends by the riverbank, her bare feet dangling in the cool water. They spoke about dreams — of travelling, of owning shops or farms, of simply living good lives. Maggie listened, smiling quietly, her heart full. She didn’t know exactly what the future would bring, but for the first time, she believed it could be bright.

Maggie McTaggart never became rich, or famous, or travelled very far from the town where she was born. But she built a life of meaning — full of laughter, kindness, and hard work. She became a pillar of her community, a woman others turned to for help or advice, someone who always had a warm loaf ready for a neighbour in need.

And perhaps that’s the best kind of legacy to leave behind — not one written in grand histories, but in small, steady acts of love that ripple outward long after we’re gone.

Today, when I think of Maggie, I don’t picture tragedy or hardship. I see a bright-eyed girl with a ribbon in her hair, singing as she walks down a dusty road at sunrise, ready to face whatever the day will bring.

Podcast 1054: In the Piazza Shopping Centre – Transcript

Hello, everyone.

Welcome again to another podcast from Teacher Joseph. Today I’m inside the shopping centre and I’m going to describe for you what I can see and what’s here.

OK. So first of all, I’m sitting on some kind of bench, which they have in shopping centres. It’s covered in leather and it’s purple. So it’s a little bit odd…. it’s a little bit odd compared to other things you find in a shopping centre.

Yeah, this one is nice, but a bit impoverished. Not the best place. And they’re playing, they’re playing elevator music. That’s basically music, which you would kind of find in an elevator. It’s instrumental. It sounds a bit bland, not really making a statement of any kind, and it’s obviously very long. It’s not just one track, it’s just kind of hotel lobby music, you know.

What else can I tell you? Well… looking around….I’ve been sitting here for a little while, and now I’ve just stood up waiting to move. Looking around, I can tell you that this is very diverse. Lots of shapes and sizes, lots of different colours, as well as different diverse people. I cannot make assumptions about them of course, by their skin colour, but it certainly is a very diverse shopping centre, especially when I can see and hear different types of people and hear different languages.

The main shop which is inside the shopping centre and open is selling greetings cards. As you know here in the UK we sell greetings cards for absolutely everything. I’m just looking in the window of this shop. Let’s see:

For someone special.

Happy birthday.

We have more here:

Happy divorce.

Happy Father’s Day…which is coming up on the 15th of June.,,,Different from other countries…our Father’s Day is not associated with any religious or Saints day as it is in the Mediterranean Countries and:

Happy day that I met you.

Happy divorce.

Sorry. Your pet died.

Oh, my goodness me. We have cards for absolutely everything. Happy 18. Happy 21. Happy 40th. Wow, I didn’t realise we were such specialists with cards, but clearly we are. This would be a rather depressing shopping centre because the card shop is the only one that’s open. Ohh yeah, many of these shops are closed, some of them completely empty.

And …and in those windows there are signs which say “to let” to let means available to rent and you sometimes see that here outside shops, outside vacant apartments “to let” it means available to rent, there’s also a pop-up shop here. A pop-up shop is a shop that’s here, but it will not be here permanently. It’s only on a temporary basis. So that’s another way that shops can operate within shopping centres, they can just pop up.

I’m now passing a supermarket. It has some lovely pictures of food in the window. But the sign says “closed permanently”. Ohh. And looking in the window. Clearly another “to let” sign. “Please contact this company for further details.”….but it’s being used for seminars by charities, while it’s closed and one says here “experimental noise artist seminar coming soon”. So yeah, no longer a supermarket oh…. photo ID.,,,oh there’s a photo booth here if you want to pay £6 to get your passport photos.

All kinds of instructions on that little photo booth. And yeah, everything’s closed but lots of people inside. Let me just walk here on the outside.

Here we are. Yeah. OK. So now I’m outside and I’m able to see what’s around me. I’m in a town square. As you can probably hear…

And it’s around….. Well, as you can probably hear, it’s quite busy is what I wanted to say. You might be able to hear the clock chiming, which lets me know the time, which is around 3:00 and that’s it….. not a lot else to see or do here unfortunately. But I wanted to share this description with you and now I’m going to buy some doughnuts, have a coffee and relax.

And yeah, very sad about the shopping centre. But these shopping centres, you know, they’re always marketed very well. This one’s called the Piazza, which makes it sound Italian. They always give them Italian names to make them sound glamorous. But once you go inside. Oh, no. Awful.

Well It’s windy, the rain is coming, so I’m going to have a coffee. Bye.

Podcast 1053 – The Cranberries song, “Linger” Transcript

Hello, everyone. Welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast.

Today we are going to talk about the lyrics of a song by The Cranberries, and it’s called Linger, which means something that doesn’t go away. To linger is something which hangs around. To linger is something which is always there, and maybe you want to get rid of it.

1052: Matlock : A New Drama on Amazon Prime (Podcast with script)

https://youtu.be/ERrx1N4SLzI

Matlock Returns: A Clever and Modern Legal Drama

These days, it feels like every old TV show is being brought back. Sometimes, the new versions aren’t very good — they try to copy the original without bringing anything new. But Prime Video’s new Matlock is a pleasant surprise. Instead of just repeating the past, this show offers something thoughtful, engaging, and fresh. It respects the original but speaks clearly to today’s world.