Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I'm talking to Powell Ettinger, founder and director of the Small Cruise Ship Collection – covering vessels from eight to 250 people. Most carry 40-100 passengers. River cruising on one of these vessels has many advantagesThis podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Hundreds of flights are being diverted around closed airspace – these are the key impacts, and your rights.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Norway has strict new rules in place to protect polar bears in Svalbard (Spitzbergen) from encroachment by tourists. The government in Oslo says: "It is important for them to be able to search for food, hunt, rest, and take care of their cubs without interference from humans." But my guest today, expedition leader and photographer Paul Goldstein, says the rules go too far.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

24 hours after the heartbreaking loss of Air India flight AI171, my reflections on the tragedy and what investigators will be looking for.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

I am in Palma, where I met up with an English chef who has made a name for himself – and his restaurant. Marc Fosh talks about Mallorca as an island of plenty, with all the ingredients for a feast – including outstanding wine.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

I’m on something of a personal campaign to persuade more people to add a day or two to their trip to visit one of my favourite Portuguese locations – Cascais, the port planted elegantly on the shoreline west of the capital, Lisbon, on what’s known as the Portuguese Riviera. It was settled in turn by Romans, Visigoths and Moors and today the centre of Cascais is an intriguing combination of sun-worn houses, cafés shops and smart hotels – including the Farol, whose sales director is Teresa Saramago.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.