Longtime Ago People

In a world where family connections shape us, stories bridge generations. Many of us carry cherished memories of those who touched our lives, which I think deserve to be shared. Each episode I hope will feature guests recounting touching, funny, and inspiring memories, celebrating the impact these individuals had on their lives. I aim to beautifully remember loved ones, offering listeners nostalgia, warmth, and connection. I am looking for people to reflect on the impact of these relationships.

Longtime Ago People is a history podcast hosted by M I L E S, with 31 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

M I L E S hosts Longtime Ago People, a history show with 31 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #8

  A Man Walks Into a Magic Shop; and Found Jaadugar Jim

  Aug 17, 202629 minS3

  So many magicians, from Ali Bongo to Paul Daniels - Jim 1959 magicians & mentorships/student. When I sit down with Jim, I hear how a random walk into a London magic shop becomes the start of a whole new life. Jim, based in Potters Bar near Barnet in North London, tells me how he goes from "I don't want to entertain the kids" to performing magic for families, care homes, strangers on public transport, and even his own financial services clients. We talk about identity too: Indian roots, childhood in Kenya, a rumoured thread of another heritage, and what it feels like when people decide where you are from just by looking at you. We get into the craft of learning magic in a way that works whether you are curious about close‑up magic or you have only ever watched Paul Daniels on telly. Jim explains how classes, mentorship and joining the Merlin Magical Society help him find his own performance style, why copying is sometimes necessary early on, and how a trick can still be a win even when it goes wrong. He also unpacks the difference between old‑school visual magic and modern, ultra‑slick routines, plus the awkward truth of today's internet: AI and editing have made people suspicious, so live performance matters more than ever. Then the story opens out into COVID time and weekly WhatsApp magic videos to many residents for a year. Zoom shows and adventurous travel in India and Jordan. Jim shares a sharp lesson about cultural context and why the wrong phrase can change a room in seconds, before finishing with a vivid favourite moment involving sealed cans of fizzy drink and a very messy surprise. If you enjoy stories about creativity, community and building confidence later in life, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave us a review. What would you try if you started today? Bits & Bobs Ali Bongo Paul Daniels Send us Fan Mail “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app. https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople Blog: longtimeagopeople.com Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer . Memory is Fragile "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

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  Episode #5

  We Learn Who He Was By The Tales He Told

  Jul 28, 202619 minS3

  Ottelo Mola Benedetti - Mari 1968 grandfather/granddaughter When I sit down with Mari, I begin with the bronze “Indian” head that lived in her family home. It was always described as Native American, and for years she and her cousins believed the story that came with it: their grandfather had once been an Indian, a fighter, a man whose adventures were too vivid to question. That single object becomes our doorway into a much wider family history, stretching from Catalonia and Barcelona back to Italy, and into the places where the record falls silent. As we talk, I find myself drawn to the tension of loving someone who could make you laugh and still leave you with questions you will never fully answer. We trace her grandfather’s path through the Second World War, when he was a young Italian army driver, and then on to a tiny Sardinian town where a chance encounter turned into a romance that reshaped the entire family. There is post‑war survival in a bombed‑out house, improvised heating made from rolled newspaper, and the long, determined grind of migration as work pulled them from Turin to Murcia and eventually to Barcelona. Alongside all of this, we sit with the contradictions: the charm, the dreaming, the smuggled tobacco, and the way a man who could be a difficult husband still fought for his four daughters to study and build careers in a world that did not expect women to. Threaded through the stories is an aching gap, an estranged family line that no one ever reconnects with, and a sense that identity is stitched together from many places at once. We finish with a plan to search for roots in Rome’s Trastevere, and a promise to keep the Native American “Indian” alive as a shared memory. If you enjoy family storytelling, oral history, migration tales and wonderfully messy real‑life character portraits, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave us a review with the one family myth you still carry with you. Send us Fan Mail “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app. https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople Blog: longtimeagopeople.com Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer . Memory is Fragile "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

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  Episode #4

  The Father Behind a 60s & 70s High‑Street Icon

  Jun 25, 202636 minS3

  Bill Sharman - Howard 1955 father/son When I sat down with Howard , I quickly realised that a burger can be a time machine. What starts as a chat about Wimpy on one of the hottest days of the year becomes a walk straight back into post‑war Britain, when “hamburgers” were still a novelty and Wimpy was quietly inventing what we now think of as British fast food. Howard’s dad, Bill Sharman, isn’t just working in restaurants — he’s learning the product from the ground up, shaping standards, and helping to build a franchise model that felt genuinely new on the high street. We get into the details that make business history feel human: where the name Wimpy came from, why quality control mattered more than any secret recipe, and how table service changed the whole feel of eating a burger in town. There are brilliant snapshots of the era, too, celebrity openings, the Savalas brothers drifting through the story, and the strange glamour of international travel when flying felt risky enough that you’d buy life insurance at the airport before boarding. But the conversation soon shifts from brand building to the cost of it. Howard talks about a father who was kind, reserved, and often absent, shaped by wartime service and a generation that rarely showed affection out loud. We talk about retirement, regret, and the danger of life feeling hollow when the work stops. It’s a reminder that behind every iconic brand sits a family living with the consequences of ambition. If you care about UK food culture, franchising, leadership, or simply the human side of building something that lasts, there’s a lot here to take away. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who remembers Wimpy, and tell me what Wimpy brings back for you — a taste, a person, or a moment in time. Bits & Bobs There's a slight bit of mic static (I don't know if it's on my mic or Howard’s mic), but it's okay, it's only for a few minutes. Joe Lyons & Wimpy Wimpy 1966 FIFA World Cup final Savalas brothers Send us Fan Mail “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app. https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople Blog: longtimeagopeople.com Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer . Memory is Fragile "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

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  Episode #3

  One Kung Fu Night and a Life in Practice

  Jun 16, 202626 minS3

  Po, Kan, Lambert, Dai-Sensei & Zhong Ming Fashi - Simon 1960 mentors/student When I sat down with Simon , he told me that everything began with one evening in childhood, three TV channels, and a single kung fu programme. That moment set him on a 52‑year martial arts journey that carried him from the Isle of Wight to Asia, and now to a quieter life in the Philippines, where he still trains every day and runs his school from afar. In our conversation, we explore what he learned under his first sensei, why travel became part of his curriculum, and how training with so many teachers and traditions shaped his ideas about destiny, discipline, and self‑direction. We wander through monastery life in Thailand, Okinawan roots, research trips to China, and the belief that martial arts are ultimately less about winning fights and more about learning how not to fight. A big part of our chat centres on San Shan Gong, Simon’s moving meditation built around the three battles of mind, body, and spirit. We also get wonderfully practical — posture, breath, and why something as simple as “standing” can teach you lessons that stay with you for years, even on a packed tube train. And yes, we talk about martial arts in films and TV: what Hollywood gets wrong, and what still rings true if you look past the myth. If you’re drawn to kung fu philosophy, karate history, meditation, self‑defence mindset, or simply the idea of living with a bit more calm strength, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with someone who trains (or wants to), and tell me the biggest takeaway you’re carrying into your week. Bits & Bobs A caulkhead is a colloquial nickname for a native-born resident of the Isle of Wight Master Po and Master Kan from the 1970s Kung Fu TV series, whose philosophy, depth of skill, and spirituality deeply impacted him. Mike Lambert , his first sensei, was instrumental in his journey and whom he modelled himself after. Higaonna Morio Dai-Sensei , a grandmaster from Okinawa, was his inspiration for five years in America and helped him take karate back to its roots. Zhong Ming Fashi was his Chan Zen meditation master and spiritual leader in China. TV Show Kung Fu The Champions is a British sci-fi, espionage, and adventure TV series The Isle of Wight man who devoted his life to KungFu: Simon Lailey’s decades of martial arts mastery Send us Fan Mail “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app. https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople Blog: longtimeagopeople.com Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer . Memory is Fragile "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

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  Episode #2

  The Vicarage Boy: The Longtime‑Ago‑Person Is Me

  May 11, 202633 minS3

  <p><b>The Vicar - John 1958</b></p><p>father/son</p><p><b>“The Longtime-Ago-Person is Probably Me”</b></p><p>When I sit down with John, I’m taken straight into a childhood that feels almost impossible now. He grew up in a vicarage on the edge of Dartmoor, the kind of place where a boy could walk out after breakfast, vanish for the entire day, and nobody thought to worry — partly because there wasn’t a phone to reach for. As we talk through his own mind map of longtime ago people, the memories return with astonishing clarity: t...

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