Say no to niches. If you adore pick &amp; mix sweets then you’ll love Five By Five Times, with different but related topics on revolving weekdays, blending creativity, resistance, ageing, neurodivergence, and hope. Sometimes just me, sometimes with special guests.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/10/30/22/0a3aad7c-9295-4c21-9af4-125b9da27be5_5x5___diverging_5.mp3

It’s taken nearly 60 years but finally I’ve accepted my nature as an introverted person, delighted to be alone. I’m no longer furtive about or ashamed of it. And the process, paradoxically, has got me slowly un-hibernating. Being alone is deprogramming in a frantic world. I can rejoin it now that I’m far more myself. Perhaps you can relate to this?

Plot Twist Play 5 | DeWintering

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/10/22/20/69e7c798-95e4-491c-9c51-81f910a47f75_5x5___cymru_5.mp3

Steve Johnson taught at the University of South Wales for many years on outward-facing, employability-focused modules, partnering with external organisations. He also led its &#39;Community of Engagement’ programme, enabling ground-up routes of progression. Now ‘retired’, one of his main interests still lies in finding sustainability models for community radio in Wales. He hosts the Cardiff City Phone In and Creatrium podcast series, and works with award-winning on-demand hospital radio service YYFM. We had a wide-ranging discussion about all this and more.

Cymru Conversations 5 | Steve Johnson

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/10/14/17/611b5a26-dcdc-46dd-8643-75eb08654a92_5x5___bite_5.mp3

The special guest for this episode of The Bite is political writer, podcaster, and all-round good guy Don McGowan. Join us as we talk about resistance and UK politics, podcasting, and whether and how to make use of the free publication platform Substack.

The Bite 5 | Don McGowan

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/10/6/22/48882c00-5c5d-4256-8b75-08acc1a38099_5x5___acorn_5.mp3

Jill Ebsworth is a Canadian and Welsh poet and artist who, like many, experienced many obstacles to creativity until it started breaking free in later life. Join us as we chat about midlife creative renaissance, generational curses, and being enough.

The Acorn 5 | The Muse Appears

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In this episode connected to the Five By Five Times Substack, I peek through the hole of what is unknown through the stone of the known, to explore the myths and meanings of hagstones. Read along here: <a href="https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/h-is-for-hagstone" rel="nofollow">https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/h-is-for-hagstone</a>

Just a Moment 4 | Witching the Wounds

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You’ll know the sublime actor Elizabeth Saunders from IT, Orphan Black, Schitt’s Creek, Mary Kills People, and so much more. And, most recently, from FROM. It’s a delight to have her as the first of many guests on this podcast, not least because we’ve known each other for a very long time. Join us as we chat about the 80s, why we’re not goddesses, Catherine O’Hara, and how we’re coping with diagnoses of neurodivergence later in life. Read more about the latter subject here: <a href="https://plottwistplay.substack.com/" rel="nofollow">https://plottwistplay.substack.com/</a>

Plot Twist Play 4 | Talking ADHD With Elizabeth Saunders

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Why are normal people acting like norms are still the norm? Nice people need to stop expecting that not-nice people will play nicely. Read along and see relevant memes &amp; etc here: <a href="https://takethebite.substack.com/p/disappointed-but-not-surprised" rel="nofollow">https://takethebite.substack.com/p/disappointed-but-not-surprised</a>

The Bite 4 | Disappointed But Not Surprised

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Sometimes you keep circling back to things you’ve given up. This is true of ‘Morning Pages’ for me. I learned of them around 20 years ago by reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Read along with this episode and see its images and links here: <a href="https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/mourning-pages" rel="nofollow">https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/mourning-pages</a>

The Acorn 4 | Mourning Pages

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/12/22/d5c0ed36-1a7a-4c3e-a900-8ecc846b52b2_5x5___enchanting_3.mp3

A love song to a remarkable film. And something I didn’t say and should have: it has a superb screenplay. Read along here: <a href="https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/b-is-for-?" rel="nofollow">https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/b-is-for-?</a>

Just a Moment 3 | Blade Runner 2049

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A bit rambling because *tired*, but looking at how to reframe things so as not to frighten your brain, and some questions you might ask when beginning to explore and reassess your life after the plot twist of neurodivergence awareness.

Plot Twist Play 3 | Asking Questions, Not Making Decisions

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/10/22/4836ab43-7f32-40f9-974d-8413eba70e9e_5x5___cymru_3.mp3

The traditional model of journalism is broken in multiple ways. Here I lay out the case for why hublication and other innovative, inclusive models are desperately needed. Read more here: <a href="https://payhip.com/CymruConversations" rel="nofollow">https://payhip.com/CymruConversations</a>

Cymru Conversations 3 | An Equal Voice for All

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/9/22/83754476-9a75-47a4-837f-47dd9e7ef2fb_5x5___bite_3.mp3

Is the UK Labour Government casually continuing crimes against humanity? Read along here: <a href="https://takethebite.substack.com/p/silent-social-murder-by-the-left" rel="nofollow">https://takethebite.substack.com/p/silent-social-murder-by-the-left</a>

The Bite 3 | Malice Aforethought

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When we reimagine ourselves or bring old imaginings into reality, and grow to feel proud rather than weird, we reinvent what life itself can be. Reinvention, paradoxically, means becoming more yourself. Read along here: <a href="https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/becoming-more-you" rel="nofollow">https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/becoming-more-you</a>

The Acorn 3 | Becoming More You

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/4/22/61b298b5-239b-428e-8b00-e3ebf0562105_5x5___enchanting_2.m4a

Another Small World Story for your delectation, involving firm friends, forest fires, and Farrah Fawcett. Read a long [sort of] here: <a href="https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/h-is-for-hotspots" rel="nofollow">https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/h-is-for-hotspots</a>

Just a Moment 2 | Hotspots

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/4/20/97ebd410-7664-48a4-98a6-ab60703201a5_5x5___diverging_2.m4a

Can we really leave the past behind? Should we? Can the past, in fact, be changed? Talk therapy, going over and over the past, doesn’t work for everyone. But might it be beneficial for people who’ve learned after many years of life that they’re neurodivergent? And if so, how do we approach such reassessment?

Plot Twist Play 2 | Beginning at the Beginning

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/3/22/b6ee9812-2e6f-4b2d-8ee2-39c9d6815251_5x5___cymru_2.mp3

There should be a public inquiry into austerity, which has killed far more people than Covid has in the UK (around 250,000, though that’s likely an undercount. It’s 1 in every 278 people, compared to perhaps 1 in every 65 souls through austerity and other ‘levelling down’. 1 in 65! This episode is an excerpt from Levelling Down: Austerity in Wales, by a community of writers in and of Wales, though it doesn’t just relate to Wales by any means. You can download the book here: <a href="https://payhip.com/CymruConversations" rel="nofollow">https://payhip.com/CymruConversations</a>

Cymru Conversations 2 | Austerity in Wales & the UK

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/2/17/b4a071a1-3ee2-49f2-adbc-b27443d52137_5x5___bite_2.mp3

“We will quietly do whatever we want and they will never know,” said Elon Musk’s four-year-old son to Tucker Carlson. Read along with this episode, and watch some relevant video clips, at <a href="https://takethebite.substack.com/p/anything-can-be-hacked" rel="nofollow">https://takethebite.substack.com/p/anything-can-be-hacked</a>

The Bite 2 | Was the 2024 US Election Stolen?

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/9/1/22/70e9ec98-7a94-4207-8aa1-6d73df3a1613_5x5___acorn_2.mp3

You don’t have to be insane, or French, or a child savant, to be an artist. You just have to enjoy playing with paper, colour, atmosphere, and concepts, and trust the small voice inside that tells you when to stop. Connect the dots you see in the world, fill the empty spaces. Then, if you want, if you dare, throw what you’ve done at the walls of the world outside and see if anything sticks; walls that once you built inside, out of fear. Read this episode here: <a href="https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/art-is-life-life-is-art" rel="nofollow">https://theacornmagazine.substack.com/p/art-is-life-life-is-art</a>

The Acorn 2 | Art is Life, Life is Art

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/8/29/16/4d46ad67-7a32-4a07-b35a-9b0195524358_5x5___enchanting_1.mp3

When the world is full of triggers, what you really need is glimmers. Tune in every Friday for moments of joy and mystery, and sometimes magical guests. Read along with the original article and its illuminating images here: <a href="https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/j-is-for-just-magic" rel="nofollow">https://fivebyfivetimes.substack.com/p/j-is-for-just-magic</a>

Just a Moment 1 | Hunky Dory

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/8/28/21/a91b103c-7f06-4b90-bc54-7c7d1973f60e_5x5___diversifying_1.mp3

If, like me, you’ve been diagnosed or have self-diagnosed as being in some way neurodiverse – especially in midlife and older, though there will be something for all ages here – then you’ve experienced a massive plot twist. I’m beginning to explore and reassess, creatively, my nearly 60 years of life in the light of this knowledge, to help me come to terms with it and adjust my self-esteem accordingly. Join me and others on this journey, and share your own experiences and techniques. Read a shorter version with meme and quote examples at: <a href="https://plottwistplay.substack.com/p/welcome-to-plot-twist" rel="nofollow">https://plottwistplay.substack.com/p/welcome-to-plot-twist</a>

Plot Twist Play 1 | Make Life Make Sense

Say no to niches. If you adore pick & mix sweets then you’ll love Five By Five Times, with different but related topics on revolving weekdays, blending creativity, resistance, ageing, neurodivergence, and hope. Sometimes just me, sometimes with special guests.