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Michael Palin’s latest adventure sees him exploring one of the most fascinatingly complex and contradictory countries on earth: the Philippines. It’s a popular tourist destination, but also a place of extreme poverty for many. It’s a nation where religious beliefs are strongly held and divorce is illegal, but where political unrest and violence regularly mar everyday life. And, of course, it’s a country still dominated by the legacy of the Marcos family, not least the infamous husband and wife team of Ferdinand and Imelda, whose 21-year rule was dominated by scandal and allegations of corruption.

In the course of Michael’s epic journey he gets to see the Philippines archipelago in all its beauty, variety and many paradoxes. He meets some of the warmest and friendliest people he has ever encountered. And at the very end, he finds himself as close to the Marcos family as it’s possible to get – in a meeting that he never thought possible.

© Michael Palin 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026