Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Doing Evil Part 1

Aug 13, 2024

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: A cross to bear, Atheist, Boarding school, Bullying, Chapel, Evil, Host (Christianity), Hypocrisy, Lord, Mass, Rota, Satan, Seven deadly sins, Spit, Tabernacle, Test the waters

Word Count: 3625

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

When Tobias’s parents ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says, ‘Evil.’ There’s just one problem: his parents are devoted Christians! As Tobias does more and more bad things, his parents try to find ways to make him good, until finally there is only one option left…
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Cut Off Your Hair

Jul 9, 2024

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Genre: Romance

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Chew, Get caught on, Loom, Nail, Pharmacist, Scalp, Starve, Suit of armour, Sword, Trapped, Treat someone like

Word Count: 3658

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

An old couple wish for a son and instead have a daughter with long, magical hair. They don’t see the value in it, and sell her off to an old man who keeps her in a tower. Every day, he massages the oil from her hair and sells it. But the girl gets tired of this life, and makes a plan to escape…
Strange Friends (Advanced)

Jul 2, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: “For all the good it will do you”, Altar, Christening, Crumbs, Disposition, Fantasise, Godmother, Kitty, Might as well, Ponder, Savour

Word Count: 1554

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

A cat and a mouse live together as friends, and what strange friends that makes! One day, the cat suggests they store some food for the winter, so they buy a pot of fat and hide it in a church. But while the mouse happily cleans the house, the cat starts to think about the food…
A Visitor from Chilly Bottom

May 14, 2024

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Genre: Comedy

Setting: UK

New Vocabulary: Bonkers, Butler, Captive, Chilly, Colony, Crumbs, Furrow your brow, Poo, Press release, Regurgitate, Royal seal, Spit, Tailcoat, Waddle, Worship

Word Count: 3272

Original Author: Alastair Budge, Ariel Goodbody

A man who has lived in Antarctica all his life visits the UK for the first time. Technically, he is a British citizen, as he grew up on British Antarctic Territory. And he has an important message for the king! It’s just that, the king has no idea who this man is…
Let’s Write a Story Together! with Alastair Budge

May 7, 2024

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Genre: Conversation

Word Count: 5619

Original Author: Alastair Budge, Ariel Goodbody

In this episode, I brainstorm a story with Alastair Budge. We start with the concept of someone from Antarctica moving to London and experiencing culture shock and peculiarities of life in the UK. We come up with cultural references and humorous situations involving misunderstandings about British culture. After this episode, Alastair went off and wrote the story, which I then edited, and next week you’ll be able to hear the recorded version.
A Crooked Old House

Apr 16, 2024

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Genre: Horror

Setting: UK

New Vocabulary: Association, Crooked, Drain (noun), Fern, Hook, Moisture, Plumber, Pretend, Roll, Warp (wood), Zip-line

Word Count: 1753

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

An old man lives in an old house. The house is so old that it has changed shape and many things are broken. Every day, the man must climb up a big hill to get to the kitchen. Lots of people tell him he needs to leave the house, but the old man refuses. But one day, the house makes sure he will never leave.
What Makes a Snake

Mar 19, 2024

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Genre: Drama

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Dread, Drill down, Filing cabinet, Get the memo, Line manager, Minutes, Piss, Scroll (computer), Sexual harassment, Squeeze out, Synergy, Touch base, Urinal

Word Count: 6590

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Sam works in the stupidest department of his company: the ‘Synergy Snakes’. What they’re actually supposed to do, he has no idea, but he’s managed to create a system where he doesn’t have to talk to his co-workers and does as little work as possible. The only problem is, the company is looking to get rid of some people, and Sam’s an easy target…
The Red Book

Jan 16, 2024

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Dive, Keep doing, Leaf, Pile, Push, Run away, Scary, Treasure, Wrap

Word Count: 1821

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Gemma finds a strange red book on her way home from school. She starts reading it, and it is a story about a boy called Nai. In the story, Nai also finds a red book, and when he starts to read it, the story is about Gemma…
How to Teach a Language

Oct 24, 2023

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Genre: Other

Setting: Other

New Vocabulary: Aid, Build upon, CI, Clip chat, Cognate, Command, Crosstalk, Mime, Physical, Story listening, Target language, Word wall

Word Count: 3061

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

In this episode, I explore methods you can use to teach your language to your friend or partner. It builds upon the information in the previous episode How to Learn a Language, so I highly recommend listening to that episode first.
The Path of Pins and Needles

Oct 10, 2023

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Get the better of you, Intestines, Pins and needles, Sense (verb), Sneak, Stray from, Tickle, Wet yourself, Wolf down

Word Count: 2024

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Red loves playing tricks on the adults in her village, so one day her mother sends her to bring bread and milk to her grandmother. On the way, Red meets a strange man, Wolf, who suggests they play a game: he’ll walk the path of pins, she’ll walk the path of needles, and they’ll see who gets to Grandmother’s house first. But when Red arrives, she finds something very different to what she expected.