Advertise on podcast: SAHA Conversations

Who was Robert Burns? Join us on a SAHA Conversation with Dr Paul Malgrati and learn more about Scotland’s National Bard and the celebration of his life and works that takes place on his birthday, January 25h. Dr Paul Malgrati is a scholar and poet from France, specialist of modern Scottish literature at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). Paul completed his PhD at the University of St Andrews as well as a two-year post-doctoral contract at the University of Glasgow. His award-winning research led to the publication of his first monograph, Robert Burns and Scottish Cultural Politics. The Bard of Contention. 1914-2014 (EUP, 2023), which explores Burns’s legacy in Scottish national culture, from Victorian unionism to contemporary nationalism. Between 2018 and 2023, Paul has also completed three research projects: ‘Joe Corrie (1894-1968): Miner, Playwright, Activist’ (St Andrews, PI, 2018-19); ‘The Burns Supper in History and Today’ (Glasgow, RA, 2020-22) and ‘The Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation: Creating Digital Futures & Networks’ (Glasgow. RA, 2021-23). Alongside scholarship, Paul is also known as a poet and translator. In 2020, his poetic work was shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize, which led to the publication Poèmes Écossais (Blue Diode Press, 2022): the first collection of poetry in the Scots language by a non-native anglophone. Such Franco-Scottish interests were also developed in Paul’s French translation of Robert Crawford’s Curriculum Violette, published in bilingual edition by Molecular Press in 2021. That same year, Paul also joined the team of Revue Écossaise, the first printed, Francophone magazine about Scotland (which has since developed into a podcast). The episode is also available on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts. If you like this episode, please like, subscribe and share it on your favourite social media platform. You can tag SAHA on Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn and Facebook (Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance).

What does whisky mean to you? Join us on a SAHA conversation with Lisa Maria Feige on whisky, literature, poetry and  representations of Scottishness in the history of Scotland’s national drink Lisa is a PhD Student at the University of Regensburg, the working title of her dissertation is "Freedom an' Whisky gang thegither? Representations of Scottishness in the History of Scotland's National Drink". The episode is also available on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts. If you like this episode, please like, subscribe and share it on your favourite social media platform. You can tag SAHA on Instagram (@SAHA_voice), Bluesky (@sahavoice.bsky.social) LinkedIn and Facebook (Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance)

To mark International Open Access Week, we had the pleasure of having a SAHA Conversation with Dr Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, Associate Head of BMus with a specialism in Historical Musicology at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and a member of the Editorial Board of the Scottish Universities Press (SUP). Scottish Universities Press (SUP) is a fully open access publishing press coordinated by the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) and managed by 20 member libraries on a not-for-profit basis. The SUP model provides a clear and cost-effective route for researchers to make their work freely available to a global audience, extending the impact of research across society and meeting the requirements of funders. SUP delivers a full-service publishing experience with open communication and transparent processes from peer review through to promotion. SUP is community-led and responsive to the needs of the academic community that it serves. You can read more about SUP on their website sup.ac.uk and on the guest blog written by Dominique Walker (available here). Visit rcs.ac.uk from more information on The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland   This episode was recorded on October 9th, 2025, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Happy World Music Day! To mark World Music Day, we had the pleasure of having a SAHA Conversation with Dr Emily Doolittle, a composer, zoomusicologist, and Athenaeum Research Fellow and Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Canadian-born, Scotland-based composer Dr Doolittle grew up in Halifax Nova Scotia and was educated at Dalhousie University, the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague, Indiana University and Princeton University. From 2008-2015 she was Assistant/Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at Cornish College of the Arts. She is currently an Athenaeum Research Fellow and Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Dr Doolittle was awarded a 2016 Opera America Discovery Grant, as well as funding from the Hinrichsen Foundation and the Canada Council of the Arts, for the development of her chamber opera Jan Tait and the Bear, which was premiered by Ensemble Thing, with Alan McHugh, Catherine Backhouse, and Brian McBride, conducted by Tom Butler and directed by Stasi Schaeffer, at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow. Jan Tait and the Bear received further funding from Creative Scotland, the Hope Scott Foundation, and an RCS Athenaeum Award for performance in the Made in Scotland Showcase at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Doolittle is currently collaborating with Greenlight Creative to create an animated video of Jan Tait and the Bear with funding from an RCS Knowledge Exchange grant. In this episode, Dr Doolittle will help us understand the term “zoomusicology”, Jan Tait and the Bear (a 15th-century folktale from the Shetlandic Isle of Fetlar) and so much more.

Welcome to a new episode of SAHA Conversations, a podcast by the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA). In this episode, we will be in conversation with Professor Mario I. Aguilar, Chair of Religion and Politics and  the current director and a founding director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Politics at the University of St Andrews, to talk about the Conclave Professor Aguilar completed a biography of Pope Francis (Pope Francis: His Life and Thought, 2014) that connects with many of his works on the history of the Church in Latin America and Latin American theologies previously published, including: A Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile (9 volumes, 2004–), The History and Politics of Latin American Theology (3 volumes, 2007-2008),  Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez: presencia en la vida de Chile 1907-1999 (2004), and Current Issues on Theology and Religion in Latin America and Africa (2002). His research also includes what is considered to be the largest study of its kind, a ten-year research project conducted between 2007 and 2017 on religion and politics in Tibet. Professor Aguilar is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS, 2013), Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (FRAS, 2012), Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA, 2011), Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (FRAI, 1996) and a member of the UNESCO commission of Scotland.   This episode was recorded on May 7th.

’S e Seachdain na Gàidhlig a th’ ann! Welcome to a new episode of SAHA Conversations, a podcast by the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA). In this episode, we will be in conversation with Professor Rob Dunbar, Chair of Celtic Languages, Literature, History and Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh.  Prior to assuming the Chair of Celtic at Edinburgh in June 2013, Professor Dunbar was Senior Research Professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands, a lecturer then senior lecturer in Law at the University of Glasgow (1995-2004) and reader in Celtic and Law at the University of Aberdeen (2004-2010). In the next 25 minutes, Professor Dunbar will take us on a journey from Canada to Scotland, tell us more about the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 and the creation of BBC Alba, share his favourite Gaelic expression and so much more!

Welcome to a new episode of SAHA Conversations, a podcast by the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance. In this episode, we will be in conversation with Dr Petra Johana Poncarová, a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Glasgow. She serves as secretary of the International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures and is one of the co-directors of Ionad Eòghainn MhicLachlainn | National Centre for Gaelic Translation.  In the next 15 minutes, Dr Poncarová will tell us about her education, her "love story" with Gaelic and her newly published book Derick Thomson and the Gaelic Revival (Edinburgh University Press, 2024) If you like this episode, please like it and share it on your favourite social media platform.

A new SAHA conversation with Leonie Bell, Director of the V&A Dundee. Join us on a journey through the wonders of Scotland's design museum, the must visit Tartan exhibition and so much more.

A new SAHA conversation with Iain Lindsay OBE, former British Ambassador British Ambassador, Adviser to the Bahrain Economic Development Board. Join us for a journey into the world of diplomacy, a fascinating discussion about foreign languages and what it means to be a Scottish person, and diplomat, abroad.

Welcome to a new episode of A SAHA Conversation, a podcast by the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance. In this episode, we will talk with Hazel de Vere, a conservator who has been working for the National Records of Scotland for almost three decades. She is part of the team that works really hard to preserve the Declaration of Arbroath, which is currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland. In this SAHA conversation, Hazel will explain what it means to be a specialist in book and paper conservation, the important work behind preserving the Declaration of Arbroath, the unexpected wonders of the sector, and so much more.

Welcome to a new episode of A SAHA Conversation, a podcast by the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance. In this episode, we will talk with Dr Lindsay Middleton, a food historian who will provide eye opening perspective on the history of food, historical sustainable practices and so much more.

We are delighted to bring you the last podcast episode from our SAHA Conversations series. Our conversation partner is Philip Long OBE FRSE. Philip is Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland. He has an extensive experience in the arts & heritage sectors in Scotland and he is the founding director of V&A Dundee, a landmark museum and cultural institution in Scotland. As usual, Philip has links with several SAHA member institutions. A fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he is also an Honorary Professor of the University of Dundee and an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of St Andrews. Philip has received an OBE for services to culture and heritage in 2020.

We are delighted to bring you another SAHA Conversation. Our guest this week is Amina Shah. Amina is the National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland. She has over 25 years' experience across the library and literature sector, including both public and academic libraries. She was a previous Chief Executive of the Scottish Library and Information Council and Director of Programme at the Scottish Book Trust and is President of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland and Visiting Professor at the School of Creative and Culture Business at Robert Gordon University.  She is a Trustee of StAnza International Poetry Festival, Friends of the National Libraries, the Scottish Library and Information Council and the British Library Advisory Board. Amina has a strong interest in diversity and inclusion and the role libraries, literature and culture play in empowering individuals and communities. As we discuss during our conversation, Amina has spent most of her life amongst books and our talk covers different topics related to books and libraries. The discussion also includes Amina’s reflections on the future of libraries and the various services libraries provide for their communities beyond access to their collections. Resources mentioned: National Library of Scotland A Living Proof: A Climate Story documentary Scotland’s Public Library Strategy 2021-2025 Scottish Library & Information Council

We are delighted to bring you a new SAHA Conversation. Our guest this week is Jane McCulloch. Jane McCulloch is the Consul General of Ireland in Edinburgh, having taken up her post in July 2019. Jane is a career diplomat who has served Ireland at home and abroad for fifteen years. Jane has served abroad as Deputy Head of Mission and Consul at the Embassies of Ireland in Warsaw and Copenhagen, and at home in various roles across the Department of Foreign Affairs, including as Head of Integrity in the Passport Service, in the Humanitarian Unit of Irish Aid, and on State Visits in DFA’s Protocol Division. Before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs, Jane worked in the events industry, delivering major outdoor public events. She graduated from the University of St Andrews in 2002. Our SAHA Conversation includes Jane’s reflections on her career and on the contribution of arts & humanities to international relations. As this conversation was recorded in the first week of February 2022, and St Patrick’s day on March 17th was just around the corner, we also discussed St Patrick’s Day and what it means for Ireland and the Irish diaspora. Resources mentioned: Consulate General of Ireland in Edinburgh Ireland-Scotland Bilateral Review Boyne to Brodgar project The Book of Kells Colmcille - An Naomh Dána (TG4 and BBC Alba documentary) Athbheatha: Colm Cille Ildánach (A celebration of the 1500th anniversary of Colmcille's life through works of art - TG4 documentary) An Irish - Scottish celebration of St Brigid's Day 2021 The 2022 St Brigid's Day event Women’s Voices in Arts & Media (organised by the  Consulates General of Ireland in Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Manchester) Causeway Ireland - Scotland Business Exchange Young Professionals Network

SAHA brings you a new special edition podcast with historical insights into the invasion of Ukraine. Our speakers, drawn from across the Scottish higher education sector, are authorities on the history and culture of the region. In this discussion, grounded in an arts and humanities perspective and independent historical inquiry, the speakers explore contested narratives of the past and what these mean for our understanding of the current conflict. They also discuss the importance of narratives of national identity and why religious, economic, and political legacies still matter if we are to reach greater insight into this complex region and into the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. We would love to hear your thoughts about this podcast – please get in touch with us via the website, Twitter @SAHA_voice - #SAHAInsights, LinkedIn or Facebook. The podcast participants are: Dr Jon Blackwood (podcast host) – Reader and Research Lead, Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University Dr Murray Frame – Interim Dean of the School of Humanities, University of Dundee Professor Robert Frost FRSE – Burnett Fletcher Chair in History, University of Aberdeen Professor Anthony (Tony) Heywood – Chair in History, University of Aberdeen Dr Thomas Marsden – Lecturer in European History, University of Stirling Professor Catherine O’Leary –  Professor of Spanish, University of St Andrews & SAHA Co-chair The full transcript is available on our website. Please find below some of the resources mentioned in this episode and further reading recommendations shared by the guests and Dr Asya Kudlenko: Aleksei Miller, The Ukrainian Question: The Russian Empire and Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century (2003) (freely available) Geoffrey Hosking, Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917 (1998) Mykhailo Hrushevsky, History of Ukraine-Rus’ Robert Frost, The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania vol. 1 The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385 –1569 (2018...