Standing Places

A digital campfire for sharing stories about the places that shape us and the search for meaning and belonging in a changing world. Hosted by traveller and storyteller, Ivor Wells.

Part 4: Confessions on a Pristine Toilet 11/14/2026

Part 4: Confessions on a Pristine Toilet In part 4 of my election season journey through Texas I stop at a gas station on the interstate, and I discover a brand so beloved by Texans it’s more like a hilarious cult than a retail chain. ***** You can read all of the articles in full, which include my photography, on my Substack (link below). Don't forget to subscribe for free to hear about my future projects! /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/43748549

Part 3: Rapture via the Gift Shop 11/13/2026

Part 3: Rapture via the Gift Shop In part 3 of my election season journey through Texas I visit the site of a real American apocalypse, where the world really did ended in a fire storm of flames... ...just as it was prophesied in the Bible. ***** You can read all of the articles in full, which include my photography, on my Substack (link below). Don't forget to subscribe for free to hear about my future projects! /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/43748409

Part 2: Greatness Making in America, Again 11/13/2026

Part 2: Greatness Making in America, Again In part 2 of my election season journey through Texas I return to the Reagan-era, when I once met the US President in a church in south Dallas… ...as the world was about to end. ***** You can read all of the articles in full, which include my photography, on my Substack (link below). Don't forget to subscribe for free to hear about my future projects! /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/43748344

Part 1: No Country for Old Actors 11/13/2026

Part 1: No Country for Old Actors This is the first episode in my new series of seven stories from a 2,000-mile road trip across Texas in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election campaign. My journey begins the moment I was mistaken for a Hollywood celebrity by a man with a gun in a ghost town near the US-Mexico border. He wanted to talk to me about all-out war and the end of the world. Pull up a stool and I'll tell you about it... ***** You can read all of the articles in full, which include my photography, on my Substack (link below). Don't forget to subscribe for free to hear about my future projects! /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/43748224

Trailer: An election season journey through Texas 11/13/2026

Trailer: An election season journey through Texas During the final weeks of the US presidential election campaign in 2024, I did a 2,000-mile road trip across Texas. It was my first time back since I lived in Dallas as a kid during the 1980s. What followed was a series of seven travel stories reflecting on the carnival of American politics, and the questions of identity, faith and fear that Americans have long grappled with. And it wasn’t until I arrived in Dallas, picked up a rental and hit the road, that I began to understand just how much of my personal story has been shaped by my long and rather curious relationship with the Lone Star State. You can read the articles in full, which include my photography from the trip on my Substack (link below). Don't forget to subscribe for free to hear about my future projects! /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/43747944

#12: On Island Tides: A journey through the music of Blanco White 04/02/2021

#12: On Island Tides: A journey through the music of Blanco White In this episode we meet the voice and the inspiration behind Blanco White, the stage name of Josh Edwards, a guitarist and singer-songwriter from London. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/18573002

#11: The Cult of the Shining City 10/17/2020

#11: The Cult of the Shining City What is happening to the soul of America? It’s a question the whole world is asking as Americans vote in the most bizarre Presidential election in their history. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/16441619

#10: Poetry to journey by 05/14/2020

#10: Poetry to journey by So we’re all grounded for the foreseeable future. None of us will be travelling the way we used to any time soon. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/14411642

#9: Politics of a Pandemic: A conversation with Dr. Paul G. Buchanan 04/20/2020

#9: Politics of a Pandemic: A conversation with Dr. Paul G. Buchanan How do we navigate a COVID-19 world? What does a global pandemic mean for liberal democracy? And what might a ‘new normal’ look like for the world order? /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/14072135

#8: Coronavirus: Time will come good 04/16/2020

#8: Coronavirus: Time will come good As the UK lockdown is extended it’s hard to know when our lives will return to any sense of normality. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/14009723

#7: Coronavirus: Fighting 'The Rona' 04/02/2020

#7: Coronavirus: Fighting 'The Rona' Since recording my last episode it seems that I contracted the coronavirus. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/13819649

#6: Coronavirus: We're all in this together 03/15/2020

#6: Coronavirus: We're all in this together We're only just starting to accept the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic here in the UK. We've never lived through anything like this in our lifetimes, and everything is about to change dramatically. So how do we stay connected and hopeful, and how do we manage our fear? /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/13555718

#5: Home is where we have 51 per cent of the vote 11/07/2019

#5: Home is where we have 51 per cent of the vote What does it mean to be a global citizen when walls and borders are back in vogue? How do you create a permanent home that’s a sanctuary? And what does permanence and sanctuary even mean when borders are being re-drawn and the ground is shifting beneath your feet? /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/11947403

#4: Finding home again in the aftermath of grief 07/30/2019

#4: Finding home again in the aftermath of grief How do you find home again when you’ve lost the person who was your home? And what does the idea of home even mean in the aftermath of grief? /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/10678793

#3: The citizenship tests of a lapsed Canadian 06/19/2019

#3: The citizenship tests of a lapsed Canadian What does home mean when you've always had a complicated relationship with the country you were born in? /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/10206371

#2: Football, grime music and being English in East 18 05/24/2019

#2: Football, grime music and being English in East 18 Londoners aren't always good at getting to know their neighbours. Sometimes it feels like even the city's suburbs are trying to avoid eye contact. In this episode we go out East to meet Freddie, James and Dan; three Londoners in their mid-20s who grew up in the postcode of East 18. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/9914591

#1: Introducing Standing Places 05/23/2019

#1: Introducing Standing Places Welcome to the first episode of Standing Places; a podcast about identity, belonging and the places we call home. /episode/index/show/standingplaces/id/9747023

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