Unlikely Threads

What if the greatest composers in history weren’t refined geniuses in candlelit rooms—but obsessive, scandal‑ridden, unpredictable, tragic figures living on the edge of brilliance and collapse? This episode of Unlikely Threads Andrew and Clive pulls back the velvet curtain and plunges you into a world where genius and madness are never far apart. What begins as a harmless search for a single “interesting fact” for HepFM’s Classic Hour radio show quickly spirals into a labyrinth of wild ambition, personal tragedy, dark rumours and behaviour that borders on the absurd. Follow Clive and Andrew and step inside the lives they never put in the programme notes…

Inspired by the story of David Stirling and the origins ofthe SAS (listen to episode 3), Andrew tumbles into the strange world of Second World War invention, a time where serious people proposed armed bats, pigeon-guided missiles, fakearmies, exploding dogs and aircraft carriers made of ice. Somehow, many of these ideas received funding, testing and official approval. As Clive Hartley and Andrew Wisdom discover, wartime pressure created a brief moment in historywhen the line between genius and madness became surprisingly difficult to see. Welcome to another episode of Unlikely Threads.

This episode of Unlikely Threads begins with a simplechildhood memory: a boy passing a statue in the Lancashire town of Colne. Without realising its significance it sparks a journey into the hidden history of a seemingly ordinary place. Through the lens of the 1878 book The Annals of Colne, the podcast uncovers a rich, often surprising story that mirrorsthe wider sweep of English history. Blending humour with insight, the episode shows how one town can reflect the forces that shaped a nation. If you enjoy uncovering the extraordinary stories hidden in overlooked places, follow Unlikely Threads and join Clive Hartley and Andrew Wisdom as they keep chasing the footnotes that lead somewhere unexpected.

This episode of Unlikely Threads asks a key question:was David Stirling—the man credited with founding the SAS—a brilliant visionary or simply a master of his own myth? Sparked by a modern TV series and two sharply conflicting biographies, the story unravels the gap between legend andreality, inviting you to decide for yourself. The episode traces the fragile beginnings of the SAS, where risky experiments, failed missions and improvisation eventually gave way to daring and highly effective desert raids that changed the nature of modern warfare. But as the story deepens, so doesthe uncertainty. Figures like Paddy Mayne emerge as formidable leaders whose actions on the ground may have mattered more than Stirling’s leadership, raising uncomfortable questions about credit, storytelling and how history chooses its heroes.  So here’s the question: when legend and evidence collide, who do you believe—the myth, or the man? Follow Unlikely Threads to explore the stories behind the reputations, and join us as we chase down another rabbit hole to wherever it leads.

How would you go about selling the Eiffel Tower? More importantly, who on earth would believe you? In this episode of Unlikely Threads, Andrew Wisdom and Clive Hartley descend into the gilded world of Victor Lustig: elegant con man, psychological magician, and possibly the only person in history audacious enough to attempt selling the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal… twice. Along the way: corrupt officials, nervous scrap dealers, luxury Paris hotels, industrial-age ambition, and a masterclass in the dark arts of confidence trickery.

Murder in colonial Kenya during WW2 is our setting for this episode of Unlikely Threads. It is story of British colonial society behaving badly and lifestyle influenced by Altitude, Alcohol and Adultery.