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Spotlight Shorts: On Air!

Following the success of the launch of our audio archive back in February, we at the SOTHI team are thrilled to announce the premiere episode of our new podcast series ‘Spirit: Discovering the Highlands and Islands’ is out now!

What comes to mind when you think of the Scottish Highlands and Islands? Is it the land? The people? The sights, sounds and smells?

'Spirit: Discovering the Highlands and Islands' is a 4-part podcast series which sets out to explore life across the Highlands and Islands and how the ‘spirit’ of the region comes alive through the eyes of local people across the region. The interviews, conducted last year in partnership with Smartify in communities across the length and breadth of the region, provide a unique snapshot into modern life in the Highlands and Islands.

Each episode is narrated by Peter Knowles, Content and Partnerships Manager at Smartify, who, together with Content Creator & Creative Renato Camilo, met with people across the region to discuss their stories and their thoughts on the ‘spirit’ of the Highlands and Islands. In the first episode of the series, ‘Expectations Vs Reality’, Peter explores how his understanding of the Highlands and Islands has developed and been shaped by local people he has spoken to over the course of the last year. With upcoming episodes featuring around the renowned hospitality of the region, an unforgettable August night at an An Tinne strupag and reconnecting with nature in the Southern Highlands, there is truly something for everyone to enjoy. We asked Peter for his thoughts on the podcast premiere:

While travelling around collecting stories for the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project last year, we realised pretty quickly that the stars of the show were the people we were interviewing. The range of experiences, perspectives, and lives lived they shared with us was nothing short of magical, so we knew we had to do as much with that audio as possible. 

Working with the fabulous High Life Highland team, we came up with the idea of putting together a podcast mini-series: part time capsule of our four trips around the region, and part an attempt to answer that elusive question: just what is the spirit of the Highlands and Islands? 

This project has been an absolute joy to work on, so I’m delighted that the recordings we collected get to have another lease of life through this podcast. I hope people have as much fun meeting everyone involved as we did!

LISTEN NOW

Listen to Spirit: Discovering the Highlands and Islands on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and RSS.com. Stay tuned as more episodes will be released every week throughout the month of June!

EXPLORE THE STORIES OF EXPECTATION VS REALITY