What do Cornish miners, the Mayflower, the American Constitution, World War II, and rock ’n’ roll have in common? Cornwall!

In this 7th episode of Ink vs Algorithm, Mookie Spitz has tea with Bert Biscoe—Cornish poet, songwriter, historian, former mayor of Truro, and cultural force of nature—for a sweeping, deeply human conversation about history, language, power, and poetry.

Biscoe dismantles the naive American understanding of Cornwall (not just hens) and rebuilds it as a hidden engine of Western history:
• the Cornish pit stop that supplied the Mayflower and helped shape American governance
• the miners and engineers who powered the Industrial Revolution and modern warfare
• the cultural crossroads where Celtic identity, metal, and maritime trade converged
• the American troops who transformed Cornwall during WWII—bringing jazz, technology, and flush toilets

From there, the discussion turns inward and personal. Biscoe traces his own evolution from rebellious teenage blues guitarist to poet-politician. He explores the uneasy but powerful alliance between art and public service, and why poetry is not a luxury but a tool: a form of pastoral care, persuasion, and meaning-making.

Their chat then draws a sharp line between the art of persuasion and the racket of manipulation. Through Bert’s lens, figures like Barack Obama represent a tradition of rhetorical responsibility—language used to elevate, clarify, and move people toward shared purpose—while politicians such as Donald Trump embody its corrupted twin: speech designed to provoke, dominate, and extract attention rather than understanding. The distinction isn’t partisan, but poetic. One treats language as a civic duty, while the other treats it as a blunt instrument. And the difference, Biscoe argues, determines whether public speech builds societies or corrodes them.

Along the way, you’ll hear:

• Why poets, politicians, priests, and physicians all do versions of the same job
• How language creates influence long after formal power fades
• Why poets don’t belong in garrets—and never really did
• A live poetry reading and an unfiltered look at Biscoe’s daily writing practice
• A sharp critique of literary elitism and creative gatekeeping

Their conversation is part history lesson, part manifesto, part fireside rant, and is rooted in Cornwall, aimed at anyone who cares about words, culture, and how ideas actually move people. If you think poetry is irrelevant, politics is soulless, or history is settled, then this conversation will correct you.

The Poet

Bert Biscoe is a Cornish poet, songwriter, local historian, playwright, and former Mayor of Truro, best known for his work rooted in Cornish identity, language, politics, and cultural activism. A bard of the Cornish Gorsedh with the bardic name Viajor Gans Geryow, he has published several books of verse and prose — including Maudlin’ Pilgrimage, Rebecca (1996), The Dance of the Cornish Air (1996), At a Wedding with Yeats in Turin (2003), Trurra (winner of a Waterstones award at the Holyer an Gof Publishers’ Awards 2012), Words of Granite, On Yer Trolley: Poems Made During Complete Bed Rest! (2008), and White Crusted Eyes: Tales of Par (2009) — and performs widely across Cornwall. A long-time independent councillor on Cornwall Council and later Truro City Council, he’s also chaired local heritage groups, written on Cornish history, and regularly performs poetry and songs that blend local political commentary with folk tradition.

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What happens when a retired logistics expert decides to write a historical murder mystery set at the most politically unstable moment in late-medieval England?

In this episode of Ink vs. Algorithm, Mookie Spitz talks with British author and comics veteran Mark Oldroyd about The Chamberlain’s Gambit, a fast-paced historical novel set in 1484, the final full year of Richard III’s reign and the dying embers of the War of the Roses. The book blends murder, political intrigue, and lived medieval texture—without drowning in costume drama or faux-Shakespearean fluff.

Oldroyd walks through how the novel came to life: choosing a real historical vacuum to insert a fictional detective, grounding the story in real villages and castles that still exist today, and balancing accuracy with narrative momentum. The conversation ranges from Richard III, the Princes in the Tower, and collapsing institutions, to why historical fiction inevitably reflects modern anxieties about power, legitimacy, and populism.

The discussion also tackles a topic writers can’t avoid anymore: AI. Oldroyd is blunt about how he used it—and how he didn’t. No ghostwriting. No plot generation. Just disciplined research assistance and copy-editing, the same way writers once used libraries, index cards, and paid researchers. The result is a novel driven by human judgment, character, and consequence—not algorithmic paste.

They also take a candid look at the writing life after mid-career: finishing the damn book, surviving brutal beta readers, deciding between agents and self-publishing, and building a series without romantic illusions about fame or fortune.

If you care about:

• Historical fiction that actually moves
• Writing craft without mysticism
• AI as a tool, not a crutch
• Power, legitimacy, and why history keeps rhyming

This one’s for you! Turning curious? Mark Oldroyd is currently seeking early readers and reviewers for The Chamberlain’s Gambit.

The Writer

I started collecting comics at age 10 or 11, that's 55 years ago! There were some big gaps for romance and kids... Started again in COVID, and decided to start selling to fund the hobby. Suddenly Comics has been going for about 3 years, with my main selling being on Whatnot and at the London Comic Mart.

During the pandemic I also started producing videos about comics for YouTube, and I have a popular channel with over 2,000 subscribers. Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/@SuddenlyComics

His Novel

The Chamberlain's Gambit is my first novel, a Historical Murder Mystery. In 1484 the War of the Roses have left England scarred and suspicious. When the staunchly Yorkist Lord of Bardfield is found dead with an arrow through his eye, the fragile peace of the region threatens to shatter. Robert Stone, a war weary chamberlain loyal to the Duke of Norfolk, is dispatched to uncover the killer. He expects to find a Lancastrian plot,, but the truth is far more personal, and far more dangerous. The roots of the murder lie decades in the past.

His Contact

Email: mark@suddenlycomics.com
Instagam: @suddenlycomics
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.oldroyd.507
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuddenlyComics

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This episode of The Writers' Pod drops you right into the mix: ideology, apostasy, 9/11, the collapse of the New Atheist movement, and the cultural schizophrenia of post-Trump America — all through the lived experience of Ali A. Rizvi, author of The Atheist Muslim and one of the few writers who actually paid the personal price for blasphemy in the 2010s.

Over a sprawling, brutally candid and uproariously funny conversation, Ali and host Mookie Spitz trace the decade-long arc of Ali’s book: from its birth in the shadow of ISIS and the Charlie Hebdo killings to its strange afterlife in a world drowning in misinformation, outrage porn, and algorithmic noise. Ali explains, without irony, what it meant to grow up secular-minded in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and how 9/11 ripped open the fault line between “Islam the ideology” and “Muslims the people.”

You’ll hear:

• How the book blindsided both sides — the Western right that wanted to criminalize Muslims, and the Western left that infantilized them.
• Why separating humans from their doctrines matters now more than ever.
• How the internet accidentally secularized an entire generation, from Tehran to Karachi to Toronto.
• Why co-opting a religion terrifies fundamentalists more than leaving it.
• Why the atheist movement blew its shot by selling rationality and ignoring meaning.
• How Trump beat the Enlightenment with a story, not an argument.
• Why “making secularism sexy” isn’t optional — it’s survival.
• Why the human brain is (isn't!) a sophisticated LLM.

And of course they can't help themselves, going all the way into the weeds: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, the Muslim ban, Obama’s shockwave election, ISIS fanboys, Woody Allen as the archetype of the secular Jew, Busy Beaver numbers as quasi-religious ecstasy, Denmark cartoons, Middle Eastern censorship, and how long-term memory might be the evolutionary engine behind humanity’s obsession with meaning.

If you want polite NPR babble, this isn’t your show. If you want a raw, historically grounded, intellectually vicious tour through religion, identity, polarization, free speech, and the strange new world where everyone’s shouting but no one knows a damn thing, then welcome to the fifth installment of Ink vs. Algorithm.

The Guest

Ali A. Rizvi is a writer, physician, and musician. He is the author of “The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason," and host of the Unlicensed Therapist podcast, and all-round sh*t disturber.

His Book

His Podcast

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