184: James Grindrod

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

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How To Replace A $100,000+ Salary Within 6 MONTHS Through Buying A Small Business w/ Alex Kamenca & Carley Mitus 57:50

52 weeks ago57:50

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57:50

Alex (@alex_kamenca) and Carley (@carleymitus) are both members of our Action Academy Community that purchased TWO small businesses last thursday! Want To Quit Your Job In The Next 6-18 Months Through Buying Commercial Real Estate & Small Businesses? 👔🏝️ Schedule A Free 15 Minute Coaching Call With Our Team Here To Get "Unstuck" Want to know which investment strategy is best for you? Take our Free Asset-Selection Quiz Check Out Our Bestselling Book : From Passive To Passionate : How To Quit Your Job - Grow Your Wealth - And Turn Your Passions Into Profits Want A Free $100k+ Side Hustle Guide ? Follow Me As I Travel & Build: IG @brianluebben ActionAcademy.com…

about a year ago 1:04:16

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My guest this week is James Grindrod who was in Lampeter from 1993-96 where he studied Single Honours History. James talks about the impact of what he did on his life and career, and how learning is not just something that stops when you finish your full time education.
We discuss different lenses of looking at the past, including how we might have once thought that things were ‘getting better’, but that the events of the last decade or so might militate against that way of looking at history.
James talks about always having been a nostalgic person, and we touch on the relationship between Christmas and nostalgia. We talk about the epidemic of loneliness and how people came together during the time of the Second World War, and we reflect on the role played by diary accounts.
We talk about how we live in a world now where every facet of our lives is recorded, no matter how mundane, in contrast to the past, and we focus on the role of ordinary experiences.
James was born and grew up in North London, and he recently re-walked the same streets, and we find out why James doesn’t like change. It turns out that James and I lived in the same room in Lampeter, two years apart.
We talk about what happens when one meets up again with people you haven’t seen for many years, about losing people close to us, the role of life experience, and we talk about the events from childhood we are more liable to remember.
Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why the dichotomy of being a looking back or looking forward type of person is not an attractive one for James.

209 episod

#Society #Religion #Chris Deacy #Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy #University Of Kent #Podcasting Education

184: James Grindrod

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

published about a year ago

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209 episod

#Society #Religion #Chris Deacy #Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy #University Of Kent #Podcasting Education

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209: Cameron Tucker 58:24

12 weeks ago58:24

58:24

My guest this week is Cameron Tucker, Head of News and Content at KMTV. Cam and I begin by chatting about the BFI-funded series Generation Why that we both worked on in which we made sure young people from across the UK were fully represented. We find out why the series has been so transformational, and has helped us look beyond the world we know. We talk about how the world is both bigger and smaller, and we find out about Cameron’s love of travel. He was born in Manhattan but grew up in Hong Kong where his grandfather was a policeman. We chat about hybrid identities and one’s place in the world, including in the context of sport. Cameron talks about the records e.g. photos that he has from those days, and about his new role as a father. We discuss the importance of connection and the relationships we have with childhood friends, and how we continue from where we left off when we meet them, as well as the way places evolve. We then move on to reflect on the role of nostalgia in a changing world. Cam also talks about the role that music has played in his life, e.g. how he grew up listening to the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting . We find out how Cam ended up with KMTV in Kent, after previously working as a junior reporter in Hong Kong. He did work experience too during his degree in East Anglia. He has also done a great deal of freelancing, and has been at KMTV for seven years. We talk about the infamous ‘pot plant story’ when Cam was doing a report which appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show in the US. Cameron talks about the role of negative experiences and the impact on nostalgia and answers it in relation to a wonderful Anthony Hopkins anecdote. Then, at the end of the interview, we talk about the role of authenticity in the way we project ourselves in broadcasting, and we find out whether Cameron is a looking back or a looking forward type of person.…

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208: Harry Bowles 43:02

17 weeks ago43:02

43:02

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet fellow podcaster Harry Bowles. Harry has been running his Nerds Against Normality over the last few months . We talk about how the podcast has evolved, and the reason for looking at the relevant algorithms. We find out about its reach, the prime time for podcasts and the right time to send them out. We find out what the format is for each podcast which will e.g. include a review of a film, and we discuss whether a film can be ruined by the way the film is dissected. We discuss too the concept of secret screenings and the films that Harry is looking forward to watching over Christmas, including Sonic the Hedgehog 3 . We find out why Sonic is so important to him, with Sonic the mascot of Megadrive consuls. We find out how Harry’s love of gaming is now his main job selling retro video games. Covid kickstarted this adventure, and he gave up his secure job for the video game world, and he extols the virtues. Harry talks about why video games were his escapism when growing up, and how it led to him doing art. He even learned to read through Final Fantasy. We talk about the way gaming is so big, the role of obsession and what happens when we are told not to play the things we love. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out about Harry and Stacey’s Dragonball Z- themed wedding.…

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207: Mark Stay 52:35

19 weeks ago52:35

52:35

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet screenwriter, author and award-winning podcaster Mark Stay. We begin by talking about Herne Bay and its cultural dynamics and learn that Mark has always been drawn to creativity, with Star Wars playing a formative influence. His teachers encouraged him, and Mark discusses the importance of reaching out to people in the know, and the time Mark bottled it when a director once rang him. We chat about what happens when you interact with ‘famous people’ and we find out why it’s the people two thirds up the ladder who can be the most useful. We discover why Mark gave up on acting and prefers writing, and we learn that Mark is a fan of Mike Leigh. We also hear about the three short films that Mark made and that he has written a full length screenplay. While learning his craft, Mark would make the most of every spare minute to write, and we find out what keeps Mark going, as well as why one can only run one’s own race, and Mark talks about the importance of resilience and persistence. Mark also gives advice on the best strategies with, say, writing a novel. Mark has kept a diary since 2006, and we learn that his diaries and books are handwritten and then subsequently typed up. We talk about the Witches of Woodville books which Mark says are a cross between Dad’s Army and Bedknobs and Broomsticks set during the Battle of Britain with a trio of bickering witches. They are grounded in reality. We also learn whether Mark’s younger self would be surprised to discover what he is doing now, and how one can start out as an author in one’s 50s. We learn why there is no such thing as an overnight success. We discuss the art of self-mythologizing and we find out why Mark is so wary of nostalgia, seeing it as a slippery slope towards fascism. Things weren’t actually better in the past. Then, at the end of the interview Mark explains why he believes things are getting better and how it is important to live in the now and to have the imagination to look forward.…

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206: Numi Gildert 56:19

22 weeks ago56:19

56:19

My guest this week is Numi Gildert who is the cohost with Rob Wills of the Drivetime show on KMFM. Numi has a robotics engineering background (including a PhD) and always loved consuming radio when she was young. She grew up in Macclesfield and listened to Silk FM, and later enjoyed Chris Moyles on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show when she was nine. Numi reveals that she always had a flair for performance and had pragmatic parents who worked in the corporate world. Numi loved science and anything Japanese including anime and manga. We find out how she then got into robotics, leading to her studying electronic engineering at York where she also presented on student radio. We talk about the value of live radio vs. the value of editing and how radio is better suited to her as a person. We learn too about Numi’s podcast and its focus on women in engineering and technology, and how there are more career opportunities for women in engineering now than there were in previous generations. We also talk about how education has changed over the years. Numi did some teaching while doing her PhD, and Numi discusses why her doctorate had its traumatic moments. We discuss the way we had to embrace new technology due to lockdown, and Numi tells us which of her teachers or lecturers she is still in touch with. We also reflect on how education is a long term process, and Numi explains why it is important to confront one’s mistakes. We discuss the skill of presenting a show on the radio, especially when things go wrong, and we find out what sort of music Numi enjoyed listening to when she was young. She presented Radio 1 Dance in the early hours of the morning some years ago, where she would play the music her parents used to enjoy. We reflect on the importance of having a wider sense of the music that is out there, rather than stick to just one genre, and at the end of the interview we discover whether Numi is a looking back or a looking forward type of person and why, in her own words, it is good to have a slightly delusional dream.…

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205: David Cloake 1:02:31

24 weeks ago1:02:31

1:02:31

David Cloake is a former professional DJ whom I have had the great pleasure to know since working at Cabin FM. We learn about David’s career in radio, beginning with a chat about the pre-digital radio world. We find out how David got into radio, starting at Southern Sound, about the advice he received from other presenters, and how he received elocution lessons. David’s first full time radio gig was at Northants Radio where he did the Drivetime show, and we learn that David followed a traditional route. We discuss the changes that came about after the mid-90s and how deregulation is the cornerstone of change as it enabled ownership to be more businesslike. We also learn about what community radio is able to provide. We find out that David wanted to be a radio presenter from a young age, and how the people who have influenced David include Richard Allinson and Terry Wogan (and we hear a wonderful Wogan anecdote). We discuss the differences between live and pre-recorded radio and the importance of the one to one style, and about the evolution of radio and the role of personalities and the importance of brand, where either presenters are the style or the presenters have to fit the style. This leads us to discuss the shelf life of radio presenters and how this impacted David personally, including how brutal his own demise was at Severn Sound. David talks about how this was a life lesson. He now works in emergency and disaster management where his is a senior management professional and consultant who specialises in emergency and crisis management, business continuity management, risk management and broader business planning consultancy. He is the founder of Foresight Solutions. David credits Steve Ralph for encouraging him to join Cabin FM, and we learn that David also volunteers at Herne Bay Football Club. David gives his thoughts on nostalgia and how he prefers reflection to nostalgia. We find whether David still has recordings of his old radio shows from the 80s and 90s, and we discuss mental health and the importance of not trying to seek revenge on what people did to you in the past. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out whether David is a looking back or a looking forward sort of person, and why one can shape a future more than one can shape a past.…

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204: Max Barrett 49:57

25 weeks ago49:57

49:57

My guest this week is Max Barrett, who works as a sales and marketing manager at his family business in sustainability, helping design engineers make more sustainable decisions. Max has a filmmaking background and broadcast journalism, too, and has previously presented film reviews on BBC Radio Kent, and we talk about the way we keep archives of our film reviews. Max grew up in Kent, and has lived in Canterbury since he was 16. There is also a South Wales connection as his mother is from Swansea. We learn that Wales and Medway are gravitational pulls for him, and we find out how Max’s interests in sustainability began. Max is also involved with pool tournaments, and we find out how sustainability, artwork and snooker also play a big role in his life. He has even hosted murder mystery parties that he has written himself. Max studied film production at Canterbury Christ Church University and he speaks about how collaborative his tutors were. We also learn about Max’s passion for Lego animation when he was in school, and we find out about the Rising Star award he received at a film festival, as well as a film about dementia which he made at the height of the pandemic. We learn that he would love to make a feature film in the spirit of Jim Jarmusch and that Max made a buddy movie a few years ago when he was at university on his phone. He explains how it became a diary of his time at university and has an important legacy dimension. It may go public when Max retires! We also discuss the out of date elements in the film Dodgeball and about our perceptions of time, and we learn how his younger self was crazily ambitious. At the end of the interview we find out how Max is a looking back or a looking forward type of person depending on the time of day.…

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203: Yvonne Howard 55:13

27 weeks ago55:13

55:13

This week's guest is Yvonne Howard, an educationalist, creative practitioner, and artist-writer. Yvonne grew up in Leeds in a challenging environment and turned to writing to process the events from those days. Yvonne left school at 15 with no qualifications. She returned to education in her late 20s, building into her first degree personal experiences on diversity and exclusion issues. She then worked in conflict resolution, adult education and community relations in east London. I first met Yvonne in the 1990s when she was studying for a British Academy-funded PhD in Lampeter on mediation, social inclusion and community cohesion. Yvonne worked extensively in equity, diversity, group dynamics and interpersonal communication. More recently, Yvonne's Diversitree.Wales won an award for its representation of nature, art, photos, and poems in Wales. She also appeared on Dare to Dance with Amy Dowden. Yvonne is readying a book for publication in 2025. We talk about how a return to education later in life as an access student impacted her perspective, especially when it centred on aspects of lived experience. We discuss how Yvonne’s background subsequently influenced her students, encouraging them to follow their dreams and return to education. We discuss how art can be a creative tool for transformation and provide moments of escape when faced with difficult realities. We explore autobiography, journal writing, and the pros and cons of returning to places of oppression from the past. We talk about processing personal insecurities, self-help, overcoming personal fears, and the power of positive thinking in educational and professional journeys. We discuss the evolution in education over the years in terms of how we fit into a mould, and the benefits of a neurodivergent perspective on the world. We talk about how the belief and understanding of a teacher from 40 years ago resonated with Yvonne when she contacted him again shortly before he passed away. We also learn about Yvonne’s involvement with community interest groups in Wales, including the Women’s Institute, mental health advocacy groups, and organisations associated with diversity and inclusion. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out whether Yvonne considers herself to be a looking back or a looking forward type of person, and the way past, present and future interrelate.…

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202: Nina Kuryata 1:15:47

29 weeks ago1:15:47

1:15:47

My guest this week is Nina Kuryata. Nina is a journalist, editor, media consultant and writer who, from 2011-19, was Head of the BBC News Ukrainian Service. I spoke to Nina on Ukrainian Independence Day in August to talk about her first novel Dzvinka ( The Call ) and to learn about what it means to be Ukrainian in the last days of the USSR and to discuss the role of independence. Nina refers to the trauma in not being allowed to be oneself and about how her creative journey has followed through since childhood. She talks about various stereotypes and reflects on why so many people who have read her novel, whose main character always has to prove that she exists, say that the story is about themselves! We talk about what happens when our identity is defined through the lens of someone else, and we learn that Nina’s ancestors are from Poland. She refers to her family background, and what happens when there is a tension between what one’s parents say vs. what the ‘official’ educators are promulgating. Nina refers to what comprises the largest collective trauma for Ukrainians and why her generation are the grandchildren of survivors. We learn why there are monuments to famine and why food and language are so important. We also find out why Nina’s novel amounts to a work of ‘autofiction’ and the reason that she changed the names of negative characters. Nina discusses what she initially thought other people, including those from her home town in the Odessa region, would think of her book and how she initially wrote just a few pages per year. She wasn’t sure if anyone would publish it, only for the publisher to say it would be a best seller. It is now on its second edition, and we find out what Nina’s son, who was aged from 2-17 while the book was being written, makes of it.…

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201: Liù Batchelor 1:11:40

32 weeks ago1:11:40

1:11:40

My guest this week is presenter, video coach and former TEDx curator Liù Batchelor, who refers to the 'wiggly' journey she has been on. She has always felt unclear about what she wanted to do, while at the same time being driven. We talk about the way people see us and whether it encapsulates our own sense of who we are, and Liù speaks about the importance of being present. We also talk about the cringe factor involved when watching our old presenting and why Liù is a ‘learn by doing’ type of person. She can relax more and more now into what she is doing. We reflect too on the types of presenting needed, e.g. at university. We find out about Liù’s childhood and some of the things she thought she might go on to do, e.g. being an interior designer or artist. She did Product Design and Manufacture at Loughborough, and we talk about whether there is an inbuilt thread in all of us that guides us. We learn that film and music didn’t play a great role in her childhood, and we find out about Liù’s mission to provide adults with the space to find what it is they are looking for. We talk about how the ethos in schools in the past was quite different to that of today. We discuss the growth in the way impact plays a role in the importance of a subject or discipline, and Liù reflects on how her life would have turned out if she didn’t have the interests and skill set she has. We talk about how education comes in different forms. We find out about the time just before graduation when Liù suffered a large physical injury, which acted as a stop to her ability to move forward, and we discover why Liù doesn’t have a huge relationship with space and location. Rather, identity is more important. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why Liù, whose original outlet was painting and art, is a looking forward type of person.…

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200: Christina Kim 1:08:52

34 weeks ago1:08:52

1:08:52

My guest this week, for my 200th Nostalgia Interview, is Christina Kim. It was terrific to catch up with Christina, who is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, before I left the University of Kent in July 2024. Christina begins by remembering the visa issues that consumed her time upon arriving at Kent just over a decade ago and how it took a while to work out who everybody was in the School of European Culture and Languages at the time. Christina grew up in Los Angeles and went to university in Boston and was doing a postdoc in Chicago before moving to the UK. Christina discusses how she had not lived outside the US before moving to Canterbury. She has a linguistics, psychology and cognitive science background and we talk about how there are different sides to ourselves that define us in different ways. Christina also discusses the allure of going to another countries and how Canterbury feels very different from California. Christina reflects on growing up in LA and the dimensions with which it is possible to connect with people. In turn, I refer to my experience of walking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002 and how it didn’t relate to the Hollywood of my imagination. Now that Christina lives outside of LA, she can see how it’s perceived, and why people have polarizing opinions of the place, and she remembers trips to different types of cinemas around LA. Christina insightfully discusses how this is her nostalgia now but that she couldn’t have known at the time that she would be nostalgic about this period. We reflect on what nostalgia means in this context. We talk about the possibility of reframing and inserting ourselves back into our pasts, and Christina brings up a particular memory she has relating to The Bodyguard . We talk about the different lenses through which we look at the past, how we interact in different social contexts, whether there is anything we have to prove to others e.g. from our childhood, and whether other people have moved on in the same way we have, and so whether it is healthy to ‘go back’. Then, at the end of the interview, we talk about whether it is possible to be nostalgic about negative experiences and we find out why Christina is more of a looking back than a looking forward type of person.…

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199: Eleni Kapogianni 57:50

36 weeks ago57:50

57:50

My guest this week is Eleni Kapogianni who I have known for about a decade. Eleni lectures in Linguistics at the University of Kent, and we talk about the big role that film (and film dialogue) plays in her research. Storytelling and fiction is a big hobby for Eleni, and we discuss the permeable nature of the work-life balance and find out about her work in pragmatics and discourse analysis, and how discourse is shaped by societal trends. Eleni talks about growing up in a seaside town in Greece and living on her grandparents’ farm. Her parents are both academics, her mother is a Philosophy Professor and her dad’s area is Politics. Eleni was taken to Philosophy conferences at a young age, and we learn that she knew from when she was a child that she wanted to be a teacher. She did her MPhil and PhD in Cambridge before coming to Kent, and Eleni reflects on how different Linguistics conferences are now compared to the Philosophy ones she went to as a child. We talk about filmic representations of our professions and about the role of music and identity. Eleni has always loved radio as a medium. She didn’t have TV when growing up and Eleni reflects on the magical and confessional nature of radio, with a community coming together. And, she talks about the importance to her these days of podcasts. We find out what Eleni’s younger self would think about what she is doing now, and vice versa. We learn that her best friend from when she was young is (and always has been) a sheep herder and that Eleni is the only one from her village who went away. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why Eleni is both a looking back and a looking forward type of person.…

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198: Gabriel Morris 1:00:21

39 weeks ago1:00:21

1:00:21

My guest this week is Gabriel Morris, Video Journalist at KMTV. We begin by talking about our Cardiff connection, and learn that Gabriel, who is originally from Hertfordshire, studied Geography in Liverpool and went into broadcast journalism. We find out where the spark for broadcast journalism came from, having grown up as a child with watching BBC Breakfast News each morning. Like me, Gabriel used to pretend he was reading the news from teletext. We also learn why Gabriel likes to watch himself back, and he gives away one of his tricks of the trade. Gabriel talks about his hospital radio work in Liverpool which he did for nearly two years up until the pandemic, and about the music he played and the on-air puzzles he did with the listeners. He has also done student radio, and he built his own studio in his student bedroom and was involved with ‘mission impossible’ challenges. We learn that he would like one day to return to radio, and we hear Gabriel’s thoughts on zoo radio and find out what happened once when Gabriel left the station without handing in the key. We talk about the intimacy element of radio and the role of podcasts. I explain too why I prefer live radio, and Gabriel talks about why it can work even better when things go wrong. We find out that one of Gabriel’s reports was once picked up by The Sun and Gabriel reflects on how at the age of 15 he had interviewed James Cleverly, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. Then, towards the end of the interview, we discuss whether Gabriel knew what path he was on when he was younger (we find out that his dream job was to be a pilot) and we learn whether he is a looking back or forward type of person and how doing the interview has made him rethink his answer to that question.…

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197: Duncan Woodruff 1:06:00

44 weeks ago1:06:00

1:06:00

My guest this week is actor and stage combat instructor Duncan Woodruff who did a History degree at the University of Kent about fifteen years ago. We learn that Duncan had a plan from when he was at school to go into acting, and that his work in fight directing was more serendipitous. Duncan used to take part in the Dickens Festival Play every year in Broadstairs, and we talk about the relation between the director and the actor and the way actors can interact on a stage in a way they can’t in a film with an audience. Duncan also discusses how the editor can change the way in which the actor comes across. We talk about his film Occupied (Bruce Partleton, 2024) and how it developed from the original short, and discuss the various different components which make it work, and how the audience can play detective. We learn why Duncan is not such a fan of method acting, and we talk about the role of fiction, and we find out about Duncan’s favourite scene from Occupied . We find out why Duncan is a fan of fantasy, in the light of what he was brought up on, and about the specifically Kent connection that inspired his acting bug. Duncan reveals that auditions can be more nervous than doing the job itself, and that sometimes when one is performing on stage mistakes that happen can lead to a better outcome. He relays a story about what happened when an accident took place during Singin’ in the Rain at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre and how it worked to the actor’s advantage. Duncan discusses how the best stories are about us overcoming obstacles, and we hear his thoughts on what happens when actors stop shows to tell audience members off for using their phones, and we find out when it is acceptable to break the fourth wall. Then, towards the end of the interview, we learn what sort of roles Duncan would like to play, and Duncan reflects on what has changed in the industry in recent times, and he refers to the golden age of performing. We also find out at the end why Duncan looks back in order to look forward.…

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196: Sofia Akin 44:41

46 weeks ago44:41

44:41

My guest this week is Sofia Akin, journalist and main anchor at KMTV's Kent Tonight , and (as we learn in the breaking news at the end) who is about to join the BBC as a Broadcast Journalist. We learn that Sofia, who is from West Sussex, started out as a video journalist, and she talks about how no two days are the same. Sofia gives the example of a current story at the time we recorded the podcast regarding the bombshell defection of Natalie Elphicke MP from the Conservatives to Labour. Sofia talks about being one’s own worst critic, the role of feedback, and Sofia discusses her upbringing and her educational journey, and we find out how she got into journalism. Originally, she wanted to be a print journalist but Sofia explains why she especially loves telling a story through TV. Sofia also reveals how quickly one needs to learn in such a short amount of time. We learn that Sofia’s favourite movie is Harry Potter and how she doesn’t get tired of it, and how she also likes to watch films which take her by surprise. We talk about the ‘Sliding Doors’ and ‘what if’ notion, too, and about the way not having breakfast in the morning can impact in unexpected ways on how one’s day unfolds. We find out about the teachers who have inspired her, including Rob Bailey at the University of Kent with whom Sofia went on to work at KMTV, and the experience of reporting from the count in Tunbridge Wells at the local elections. We learn about how Sofia and her peers have been thrown in the deep end due to the quantity of breaking news over recent years, and we discuss the local element to the news in Kent. Then, at the end of the interview, before finding out whether she is a looking back or a looking forward type of person, we have a big reveal – Sofia announces that she is moving to BBC South East in mid-June.…

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195: Andy Richards 1:23:53

49 weeks ago1:23:53

1:23:53

My guest this week is Andy Richards, Channel Director of KMTV. Born in Guernsey in 1982, Andy reveals what it was like to grow up on a small island. The first film he saw was ET and Andy discusses the importance in those days of Blockbuster Video where he worked when he was 18, and we learn about the migration in that era from VHS to DVD. We talk about the success of particular films from those days, such as The Shawshank Redemption , the role played by technology including AI, and we talk about the importance of theatre. Andy also discusses the culture and professions of those who live in the Channel Islands, and how arts and humanities were really important to him. Andy went pretty much as far away as he could to university, studying for a year at the University of Teesside. He had been told he wasn’t university material, and Andy discusses how Middlesbrough was quite a challenging environment, and quite a contrast to Guernsey, and we find out why he ended up transferring to Chichester. Andy talks about his work ethic, what he has learned about himself, and what he learned about the poverty he saw around him, and how he got into journalism. We discover that Andy loved radio but didn’t know he wanted to be a journalist until he became one. Andy talks about an interview that went badly and how the station asked him back and he ended up falling in love with journalism. Andy also reflects on the nature of management, and why he draws on the analogy of the end of 8 Mile in terms of the importance of owning your own mistakes. Andy, who also worked for ITV as an onscreen reporter, reveals who his heroes are, and we find out about the decision he took to finally leave Guernsey and how he ended up running KMTV. Then, towards the end of the interview, I ask Andy whether one can be nostalgic about negative experiences and whether he is a looking back or a looking forward type of person, and Andy ruminates on the future of things at Kent. He discusses how the media world and academia work according to different timescales. And Andy announces an exclusive on my podcast – that Generation Why , a series I made with KMTV and where I am the lead presenter, is going to be screening on ITV.…

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194: Abby Hook 1:09:08

51 weeks ago1:09:08

1:09:08

My guest this week is Abby Hook, Assistant News Editor, journalist and presenter at KMTV where she has been based for the last two years. Abby talks about the demanding nature of journalism and how you have to love it to do it, and we learn that she grew up regularly doing drama. Journalism wasn’t the route Abby thought she would originally follow, and she discusses how much she loves learning, and we find out why Abby doesn’t want people to recognize her for doing just one thing. We talk about the way we present ourselves and the way others will perceive us, and how one gets their personality across when covering a range of stories, as well as about how Abby uses social media as a timeline. Abby grew up in Surrey, and we learn about her wonderful extended family. We find out about the role that confidence plays in her life and how she originally associated journalism with a profession that people hate. We talk about the role of the audience, and how Abby will be recognized in the street, and how her nan keeps up with her by watching her on TV of an evening. We discuss the viewer that we will imagine speaking to when we are on TV, the things that go wrong, and about the notion of being the person who is the ‘centre of attention’, as well as about the role of music and camping growing up, and doing karaoke with her mum which was more nerve-racking than going on TV. Abby talks candidly about the heartbreaking end of a relationship and how much the experience has taught her, what she has learned about herself, the importance of not losing oneself in a relationship, and having a strong sense of self. Then, at the end of the interview, we discuss the concept of ‘it’s meant to be’, and Abby reveals why she is a forward-looking type of person and why she has a fear of failure.…

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193: Paul Badham 57:34

1 year ago57:34

57:34

My guest this week is Professor Paul Badham who for many years was Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Lampeter, where he began his career in 1973. His own father had done an English degree there before studying Theology at Oxford and whose own writings were influential on Paul. We find out how Paul got interested in his seminal research on life after death, which hadn’t been a central plank of his studies beforehand. He mentions Penny Sartori’s work in terms of gathering the relevant evidence and we find out about other students of his who have undertaken research on NDEs and the afterlife, including his Canadian students who worked on the care of the dying which brought about a change of emphasis in Paul’s own work in this area. Paul talks about being a patron of Dignity in Dying and how his work here prompted former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey to change his mind on the topic. We discuss his media appearances and Paul talks about his regret that he has been associated so much with this particular branch of theology when his interests have spanned the wider area of Christian theology, with world religions being of particular interest to him. We talk about his own PhD supervisor John Hick and how he made it respectable to talk about issues around parapsychology but that the work was not always seen in this way. We find out about the funding that was available in the 1990s for students from Turkey to undertake PhDs in the department and we discuss Paul’s stance on the ordination of women and how in many ways he was ahead of his time. We find out where Paul grew up and that his father was a vicar, and Paul reflects on how it feels as though he grew up into a different world in some respects. He did Theology at Oxford which, he reflects, was quite an old fashioned Christianity-centred degree. He talks about how the parameters of the subject and its relationship to Religious Studies was to change over the years. We also find out about the way music has impacted on Paul’s life, and how he first met his wife, Linda, in a choir when they were both at Birmingham, and Paul talks about how music is often one of the triggers for religious experience. We find out also how due to Paul’s health he has turned increasingly to being ‘read to’ via podcasts. Paul also discusses his work on comparing religious experience in Britain and China, and we find out whether Paul, who was ordained, imagined that he would follow an academic or a church career. We learn that at Lampeter Paul wanted to move away from the notion that academic theology should be taught only by believers and that other religions should be taught by atheists who were interested in religious studies. He is proud of how world religions were taught by scholars who were both within and from without the faith traditions concerned. Paul talks about having gone five times to Japan to lecture and about his experience of working across theology and religious studies colleagues at Lampeter. It is all very different from when he arrived in Lampeter as back then everyone was a Christian theologian. I ask Paul if there was a particular golden age from his time at Lampeter, and Paul reveals what his younger self would think about what he went on to do in his life and career. We also find out at the end of the interview whether Paul is a looking back or a looking forward type of person.…

1
192: Henrik Schoenefeldt 57:37

1 year ago57:37

57:37

My guest this week is Henrik Schoenefeldt, Professor of Sustainable Architecture, who has been at the University of Kent since 2011. He was at Cambridge prior to moving to Kent and we learn about the role of sustainability in architecture from an historical perspective, such as from the Victorian era. Henrik grew up in Germany in a former industrial city, a site of industrial heritage, and indeed he grew up in a house on a former industrial site. Henrik reflects on how Covid and Brexit prompted a lot of thinking regarding identity, including his own future in the UK. He’s working on the largest conservation project in the UK at the Palace of Westminster, and reflects on how far what one does in academic work resonates with our interests as teenagers. We find out how the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral became a personal story for Henrik as his grandmother was in Dresden during the bombing. It also links to matters of faith, as Henrik recounts. Henrik discusses how his family did talk about the Second World War and how it shaped their lives, and we talk about the things we once took for granted but which is no longer the prism we would look through, now. We talk about crossing national boundaries and Henrik recounts how he would go on interrail journeys as a teenager, and we see the things we have in common, and how some people today want to go back to those more isolated sovereign units. We discuss why it is that we come back to things, and we learn about his secondment over the last seven and a half years to Parliament. We find out how Henrik got into this project. We learn that the Palace is a treasure trove for the study of the development of environmental technology and design principles. He has direct access to the underground tunnels etc. in the building. Musically, we talk about how Henrik was more interested in the popular culture of a previous age when he was growing up, and how he still listens to The Beatles today, and he is aware of the techno scene from his final days of school. He enjoys going to live classical music. Then, towards the end of the interview, we find out whether Henrik’s younger self would be surprised to see the journey he has taken. We learn that many of his peers at a Steiner school were also interested in the environmental interests he has. And, we find out why Henrik is somebody who looks back in order to look forward.…

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191: Sabrina Mei-Li Smith 59:59

1 year ago59:59

59:59

My guest this week is Sabrina Mei-Li Smith who lectures in Creative Writing at De Montfort University in Leicester. Sabrina has written a novel set in the mid-1990s and some of the research behind her novel is heavily connected to the themes of nostalgia and identity. We learn about the way Sabrina examines themes of race and gender within the accepted narrative that surrounds the rise and demise of Britpop, the emergence of 1994's Criminal Justice Act, and the standardization and neutralization of alternative lifestyles. Sabrina also has an exhibition as a work in progress, which focuses on her novel's research materials. This exhibition consists of archive materials from NME , Melody Maker , and fanzines as a method of communication before the widespread use of the internet. Sabrina talks about the hidden histories of mixed race performers and how we only tend to remember one accepted narrative, and we discuss what has changed over the decades and the fake and distorted memories from those eras, including the extent to which memory is a fallible tool. We talk about the differences between autobiographies and biographies, and the way cover songs encapsulate nostalgia. Sabrina also talks about Walter Benjamin’s collection of arcades in Paris and how until 10 years ago all of the characters in her own writing were white, female and middle class. We learn the reasons for this, and then, at the end of the interview, we discuss how we might still be in the mindset of our teenage selves.…

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190: Sally Bernard 49:11

1 year ago49:11

49:11

My guest this week is Sally Bernard who was a schoolteacher for many years, currently living in Deal, Kent. She originally wanted to run an antique shop but her father played a key role in the career route that she followed. Sally talks about her involvement with Sure Start, and why she disagreed with the late Glenys Kinnock on reading by osmosis. We learn why Sally wanted to be a better teacher than the teachers who had taught her, and Sally also reflects on the nature of the teaching experience. She went to the Open University and worked as a community education officer at an aquarium in Bermuda. Sally discusses growing up in Bristol and looking after international friends from various countries in Europe when she was young. Her father had been a medical officer in Belsen and her mother had been a nurse. We talk about the role that technology plays and how she still sends letters and we find out why New Zealand was such a precious place for Sally and her husband Adrian to live, and how it matched their expectations. We find out why Sally likes revisiting the past and why she doesn’t have any regrets. We also talk about the nature of home and whether she would consider any places more ‘home’ than others. She remembers time off from work when she was living in London to see a very bloody production of Julius Caesar at the Barbican, and we turn to the nature of private education, and why there weren’t many good role models for Sally in her day. The best one was a dance teacher who was fired because she had taught her pupils dances from West Side Story . Then, at the end of the interview we discover why Sally is neither a looking back nor a looking forward type of person.…

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189: Sally Nicholls 59:07

1 year ago59:07

59:07

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet Sally Nicholls who was at Lampeter from 1992-95 where she studied Welsh. Originally from Llantrisant, Sally grew up in the countryside, and she talks about her passion for horse riding, which she even accomplished in India. Sally could have gone to university in Bangor, North Wales, but ended up in Lampeter, a place with which she fell in love. Living in a Welsh speaking community was an extra bonus. We learn that Sally cannot ever remember not speaking Welsh and has been working in the area of Welsh language education since 1996. Sally’s favourite childhood film was The Wizard of Oz and she enjoyed Jason Donovan when she was growing up, and is, to this day, a huge fan of Neil Diamond, whom she has seen perform around the world, including at three venues in America, and nearly saw him in Australia. She has also written to another of her idols, Michael Palin, and we find out why he is the only man who has ever left Sally lost for words, and how she postponed the start of a holiday to Turkey so that she could see him in Cardiff. We find out how Sally got the travel bug, including the three months she spent in Patagonia. It wasn’t the best time to go because it is when Covid hit, and which significantly impacted on what she was able to do while there. Sally talks about the huge differences of experience of dealing with Covid in South America compared with the UK. Sally talks about the positive experiences that can be gleaned from that period, and we talk too about what we think it would have been like in Lampeter if the pandemic had hit then in the 1990s. We also talk about what from Sally’s undergraduate days feels strange from today’s perspective, including the evolution over the years from cash to contactless payments. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out what Sally’s younger self would have thought about the route she has taken, and whether she is a looking back or a looking forward kind of person, and why for Sally it is important to live in the present moment.…

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188: Safeer Khan 1:00:48

1 year ago1:00:48

1:00:48

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interview to meet Safeer Khan. Safeer is Imam at a mosque in Gillingham where he has been based since 2014. He leads the prayers every day and takes classes at the mosque. We learn about the Indian origins of his Ahmadiyya community which has about 35,000 members in the UK. Safeer talks about misunderstandings around caliphs and the role of the mosque as helper for the wider community and the importance of challenging misconceptions. We discuss Islamophobia, and how Safeer tries to combat that, and Safeer recounts confrontations he has experienced with Britain First. We talk about different ways of dealing with violence and what happens when people are fed hate, and why we should never give up on people. We talk about Israel-Gaza and whether it’s a political or a religious war and Safeer recounts his experience of meeting a former IDF officer on Rochester High Street. We talk about whether the conflict in Israel and Gaza will ever end, and the dangers of future generations being radicalized. He talks about the importance of holding our political leaders accountable and why he dislikes politics, and Safeer talks about what Muslims believe, including the different meanings of jihad. He was born in Norway and we find out about Safeer’s own journey to where he is now, including living in Sierra Leone, and why the people from that country, with whom he played football, were spiritually strong. He has also lived and worked in Spain and Pakistan. Safeer reflects on the importance of gratefulness and whether we can be nostalgic for negative experiences and how we can learn from the past. We also discuss whether they can bring people closer to God. Then, at the end of the interview, we learn why Safeer is both a looking back and a looking forward type of person, and how we cannot change the past but can change the future.…

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187: Simon Smith 1:05:44

1 year ago1:05:44

1:05:44

It was a great pleasure for this week’s Nostalgia Interviews podcast to meet Simon Smith who was at Lampeter from 1988-91, where he studied Religious Studies, and then stayed on for the Interfaith Studies MA. Simon worked in a bank for six years before going to university, and we find out why he chose Lampeter of all places, and he reflects on the shape of the department of Theology and Religious in those days. He talks about how he could never have expected to write an essay on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy before embarking on his course. We talk about the perennial question ‘Are you religious?’ and why it is important to study religion without having to subscribe to a particular tradition. Simon explains why he enjoyed the interactive element of MA teaching, and we learn about his work at the Philosophical and Religious Studies Study Centre in Leeds. Simon was born in Chester, moved to Hull and then near Birmingham, and we talk about Simon’s music interests including the blog he writes. He was nine years old when he bought his first single, and we learn that his mother had the Light Programme on during the day when he was very young. His father was a BP tanker driver and Simon remembers once picking out a jukebox single while on one of the journeys. We find out too about Simon’s radio memories including John Peel’s shows, and listening to the charts on Tuesday lunchtimes when he would write down the Top 40 as it was being broadcast and would then share it with his friends at school. It was the centre of the week. Simon also used to create his own charts. Simon shares his thoughts on the music press and seeing John Peel and Gary Numan on Top of the Pops , and hearing the news of the death of John Lennon on Radio 1. We discuss the role of cultural memories and the death of cultural icons, as well as the seminal role played by Miles Davis and seeing The Damned perform on The Old Grey Whistle Test. We talk about quasi-memories and whether we can remember the memories of other people, and at the end of the interview Simon discusses the ways in which bad and good memories have affected him, and he reveals the lesson that he would impart to his younger self.…

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186: Louise Naylor 1:17:15

1 year ago1:17:15

1:17:15

My guest this week is Louise Naylor, who spent 34 years at the University of Kent before retiring in September 2023 as Director of Education. Louise started on a one year temporary lectureship in 1989, and we talk about the role of serendipity and opportunity and the recipe for staying the course and how one can never be prepared for everything that arises in a teaching context. The best teaching is when the teacher is continually learning, and we discuss the performance side of education which is two-way. Louise reflects on how people often tell us when we get things wrong but not when we get things right, and how Covid meant that teachers and learners were on a level playing field. Louise talks about the changes she has experienced since was an undergraduate in Aberdeen where she studied biochemistry in an age when it was heavily male-dominated and no one was on first name terms. She was the first in her family to go to university. Louise went to Canada to do her PhD, and turned down Cambridge to go there. We talk about the role of fate, whether we believe in it or not, the notion of ‘simple abundance’, and we discover why Louise is a 'journey' rather than a 'destination' person. We also talk about how learning is about challenging ourselves and about the need to try something new in her retirement. Louise grew up in Edinburgh and these days listens to Boom Radio. She has played the violin in the university orchestra and used to play the university church organ. Music has been a major part of her life, and we learn that much of her social life was built around the church when she was growing up. Towards the end of the interview we find out why Louise didn’t take up opportunities that came up to go elsewhere, how she feels about uncertainty and how we can deal with it, and accepting that the negative happens, the importance of listening and the role of passion and compassion, and learning about the impact one has had on people’s lives.…

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185: Matt Harrington 1:04:35

1 year ago1:04:35

1:04:35

My guest this week is Matt Harrington who studied English at Lampeter from 1991-94. There are many great undergraduate reminisces here, beginning with a recollection of the circumstances around our graduation in July 1994. Matt worked in a bookshop post-Lampeter and then as a junior copywriter, and he talks about how this enabled him to write with economy, and how that played out in his student days when it came to submitting essays. Matt reveals how he managed to avoid reading lots of Victorian novels, and why he gelled with his peers because we were all arts and humanities students (there is a fascinating thread about Informatics being an outlier). We reflect on how a city university wouldn’t have been right for us and we refer to a contemporary of ours, Alexis Athena De Winter, and the way Lampeter was a very accepting environment. Matt talks about being born in London but made in Lampeter, and we discuss the transgressive nature of Lampeter. We talk about the skills developed from our time in university, with some people having gone into politics, and we reflect on what our children today would make of the world we once inhabited in a town without a railway station or cinema. Matt was born in London and then moved to Kent at the age of three, and we talk about how so many students were from the Home Counties. He also refers to having transported Lampeter to London after he left. We discuss our musical memories and Matt remembers listening to Atlantic 252 back in his student days, and we find out which was the only song he would play on the upstairs Union jukebox where they never changed the discs. Then, at the end of the interview, we remember the 1992 General Election, which took place in the April of our first year, and Matt reveals why he is a chronic nostalgic.…

1
184: James Grindrod 1:04:16

1 year ago1:04:16

1:04:16

My guest this week is James Grindrod who was in Lampeter from 1993-96 where he studied Single Honours History. James talks about the impact of what he did on his life and career, and how learning is not just something that stops when you finish your full time education. We discuss different lenses of looking at the past, including how we might have once thought that things were ‘getting better’, but that the events of the last decade or so might militate against that way of looking at history. James talks about always having been a nostalgic person, and we touch on the relationship between Christmas and nostalgia. We talk about the epidemic of loneliness and how people came together during the time of the Second World War, and we reflect on the role played by diary accounts. We talk about how we live in a world now where every facet of our lives is recorded, no matter how mundane, in contrast to the past, and we focus on the role of ordinary experiences. James was born and grew up in North London, and he recently re-walked the same streets, and we find out why James doesn’t like change. It turns out that James and I lived in the same room in Lampeter, two years apart. We talk about what happens when one meets up again with people you haven’t seen for many years, about losing people close to us, the role of life experience, and we talk about the events from childhood we are more liable to remember. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why the dichotomy of being a looking back or looking forward type of person is not an attractive one for James.…

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183: Lucinda Murphy Christmas Special 1:02:07

1 year ago1:02:07

1:02:07

This week’s episode is a Christmas special as I am joined by someone else who has made Christmas their research project in recent years. Lucinda Murphy and I had never met before we recorded this interview in London in October 2023, and there are many parallels and synergies which make this a really compelling discussion around the ‘meaning’ of Christmas. Lucinda began her doctorate at Durham on Christmas in 2016 at just the time that my own Christmas as Religion was published. Lucinda talks about how the impetus for her work was that so little has been written on contemporary views of Christmas and she discusses why people don’t always think it is a subject worthy of study. Lucinda reflects on whether the study of Christmas was going to ruin Christmas for her personally and how it feels to live for so long in such a liminal period of time. She discusses also how Covid impacted on her research vis-à-vis the tropes of celebration and crisis and she talks about the notion of emotional dissonance. Lucinda uses the metaphor of a mirror to talk about Christmas and on how nostalgia was a way into Christmas for her (I made the reverse journey) and we both identify ourselves as introverted extroverts. We find out too about her previous research interviewing ex-choristers at Durham Cathedral. Lucinda talks about how Christmas holds up a mirror to key transitions in our life and questions of wellbeing, her fear of the ivory tower, and how this has led to her doing mentoring work in a special needs school. We talk about how we can’t escape Christmas and how people can be alienated because bad things (including, for some of her participants, divorces and miscarriages) have happened to them at this time of year. Lucinda reflects on the two types of anticlimax bound up with Christmas, and how people often think that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost, irrespective of whether one subscribes to the Christan faith or not, and how the ‘Christmas lament’ is an integral part of the reflection bound up with Christmas. Lucinda draws on the analogy of Disney, discusses Christmas as a paradox, and reflects on whether the Christmas spirit is something spiritual. Then, towards the end of the interview, we find out about Gelf the Elf, Lucinda’s research assistant, who enabled her to tell the underside of the story of Christmas, and how she subverted the difference between subject and object. Then, at the very end, we find out what is Lucinda’s favourite Christmas film and song.…

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182: Henry Jeppesen 57:51

1 year ago57:51

57:51

My guest this week is Henry Jeppesen, a freelance literary translator, who studied Single Honours Swedish at Lampeter from 1993-97. We learn about Henry’s Scandinavian background, find out why he fell in love with Lampeter and what happened on his Year Abroad. In his time at university, Henry sat on the Ents Committee and remembers seeing Zodiac Mindwarp and Doctor and the Medics perform – though we learn that he didn’t quite manage to bring Oasis or Blur to Lampeter! We learn about the impact Lampeter had on Henry, including the Students’ Union, and Henry reflects on what it would have been like to be at a different university. Henry talks about learning a language from scratch, what it was like to go to Lampeter from a small town, and growing up in Norfolk. We find out about the gigs Henry went to when young, including Def Leppard and he tells us whether he goes for the artists’ old or new music. Another of his favourite bands is The Manic Street Preachers, and we reflect on the fanzines that existed when we were young. We talk about our chart obsessions. Like me, Henry bought the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. He has always been into music, and he remembers the time that he went to see U2 in concert in Cape Town. Henry shares some of the advice he has been given along the way as far as translating is concerned and he talks about how he has been able to use his Swedish professionally. We also find out how Henry’s parents met, how life has worked out for him and how he has reconnected with people through social media. And, at the end of the interview, Henry reflects on whether he is a looking back or a looking forward type of person.…

2 years ago1:02:57

1:02:57

My guest this week is Anne-Sophie Ouattara who, until March 2023, was the National Portrait Gallery intern at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury. Anne-Sophie is really interested in nostalgia as a teacher of French literature and language and a curator. She has curated her first exhibition called Rooted in Fabric – an exploration of African and black identities through fabric, and is working on a display of three remarkable women of Canterbury. Anne-Sophie talks about finding ways of touching an audience today, connecting the past and the present. We find out how Anne-Sophie loves getting into other people’s lives but hates writing about herself whereas she loves photography and making images, and the authenticity that comes with that. Anne-Sophie looks at the gaps in our history as part of her curation work where most of the people have been rich, white and powerful, and so the exhibition has been about acknowledging those who have been forgotten. We learn about the founder of the University of Kent mosque, Sinan Rawi, who as it happens used to be a neighbour of mine! Anne-Sophie talks about how these works can change people’s perceptions of what the past was. We find out about Anne-Sophie’s background. She was a flutist, and we learn about the family dimension here, as well as about her background in legal history. Her father, who was born in West Africa, was a big barrister, though Anne-Sophie has moved in a different direction. Anne-Sophie talks about recreating memories in a different context, and how for her ‘home’ is not really a geographical place and how its meaning constantly changes. We also find out why Anne-Sophie is not always in touch with people from her past and about the importance of being in control of the narrative. We talk about what people want to be remembered for in the context of exhibitions and exploring black identities in the context of fabrics and colonization. We find out about the visitor feedback at The Beaney, and exploring the parts of history about which they don’t know, and to see how different audiences interacted with her exhibitions. We find out about Anne-Sophie’s future hopes for work in this sector and the importance of diversity in curating, including showing how resilient and creative her ancestors were. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out what Anne-Sophie’s younger self wanted to be, including being a musician, and what her parents think about the journey she has made. She also discusses her need to take the next big step, and we learn why she is a looking back and forward type of person (and the constant dialogue that exists between the past and the future).…

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