The end of the world as we know it

Nothing is so beautiful as spring, when weeds in wheels shoot long and lovely and lush. 

The green shoots are even showing in the plush Scottish Independence Podcast studios. After a wintry period of radio silence, we're back with episode 42 of the For A' That podcast, where Michael Greenwell and myself blether about the latest developments in the independence debate with the liveliest voices from the Scottish political scene.  

This week, we were joined by returning guest, Gary Dunion. By day, Gary works for independent MSP Jean Urqhuart in Holyrood. By night, he wears a cape, solves crime -- I understand that he also has some connection to the Scottish Green Party.  Alongside Gary, we were also joined by Vonny Moyes. Vonny burst onto the Scottish blogging scene with this cracking piece for National Collective, arguing that "We may be wee, but we're not stupid." When she isn't agitating for independence, Vonny is comedy editor of The Skinny. 

On the show this week, we take an opportunity to look back at the sad loss of Margo MacDonald. What was her impact? Will we see her like again, and does the Scottish political system really encourage the emergence of idiosyncratic, boisterously-independent characters? Second on the bill of fare, Lord George Robertson's intervention of last week, suggesting that the security of the western world hangs on the shoogly peg that is Scotland's continuing presence in the union. Could Geordie be right? What dark forces are rising anyway? Are the firearms kept in Nicola Sturgeon's personal stash capable of denting the star-forged carapace of the Dalek Emperor? Does Alex Salmond have the pluck personally to throttle the unnameable, unimagible thing in Scotland's basement, or will we have to rely on NATO and EU intervention? Answers on a postcard, please.

As usual, you can listen to the show here, or on iTunes, or download it to your device of choice for later consumption. There are also plenty of other tracks which you can rifle through over at the show's homepage, including Michaels' ScotIndyPod interviews with a range of interesting characters, sharing their thoughts and evolving sentiments on Scotland's constitutional future.