Down to a sunless sea: memories of my dad

Podcasts about podcasting. Basically what I have learnt from making podcasts (so far).

Oh no, I've had a good idea!

The Podgoblin's Hat

This is a version of a talk I often give about podcasting. It was recorded at the Thirsk Podcast Festival - Podcast Social Club on 23rd November 2019 at Rural Arts.

This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cc0eccn7pmmswl0/The%20Possibilities%20of%20Podcasting%202019.pptx?dl=0

Getting Better Acquainted Extra

GBA Extra - The Possibilities Of Podcasting

This is a talk I put together for the Maker Weekend at the London Podcast Festival and was recorded at the on 14th September 2019 at King's Place.

This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9zwoh6tqw7e533/Podcasting%20on%20a%20shoestring.pptx?dl=0

GBA Extra - Podcasting On A Shoestring

In this special GBA Live recorded at the Idea Store Whitechapel as part of the Write Idea Festival Fringe I get better acquainted with Helen Zaltzman.

http://www.helenzaltzman.com/

We talk adapting Answer Me This! into a book, badger taxidermy, old gods, Sound Women and books. 

Helen does a pretty excellent job of counter-interviewing me, getting a surprising amount out of as yet unrevealed Dave related info. In return I talk to her about her oddest editing jobs, how her artist father has influenced what she does, ghost writing and lots more.

Helen plugs:

Answer Me This!: http://www.answermethispodcast.com/
Sound Women Podcast: http://www.soundwomen.co.uk/podcast/
The Answer Me This! Christmas Album: http://answermethispodcast.com/albums

I plug:

Tragic Christmas:  12th December @ The  Dogstar in Brixton: https://www.facebook.com/events/215735955261699/

We mention:

Write Idea Festival: http://writeideafestival.org/
Unfortunatalie: https://twitter.com/unfortunatalie
JJ Abrams: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Abrams
Stephen King: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King
Chvrches:  http://chvrch.es/
Fun.: http://www.ournameisfun.com/
Olly Mann: http://ollymann.com/
Martin  Zaltz Austwick: http://www.martinzaltzaustwick.com/
Jen Adamthwaite: jadamthwaite.co.uk
cardboard box tree funerals: http://www.beatree.com/
Answer Me This book: http://answermethis.wordpress.com/book/
JK Rowling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling
Harry Potter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter
Tolkien: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
Upper Norwood Library: http://uppernorwoodlibrary.org/



You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

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GBA Live 9 Helen Zaltzman

This is the first episode of the Podgoblin's hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

We will be introducing ourselves, our relationship with each other, and our relationships with the Moomins.

Check out our twitter @ThePodgoblin and our Instagram @thepodgoblin to see pictures of the tattoos, cuddly toys and dog eared books we mentioned.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 1: Introductions

This is the second episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

It's our first read-along and we're reading The Moomins and the Great Flood.

We summarise this fairytale of Tove Jansson's, chat about her influences and make a first attempt at a taxonomy of the broader Moomin bestiary.

This week our question for Snufkin is: Things keep stealing my time, and I can't manage to do the things I want to do. What would Snufkin do?

If you've got a question for Snufkin, catch us on Twitter and Instagram @ThePodgoblin or email us at thepodhat@gmail.com

Our Spirit of the Moomins are:

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (recommended by Nina)

Journey and What Remains of Edith Finch? (recommended by Dave)

And our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is: Tolkien Black Girls from Black Nerds Create.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 2: The Moomins and the Great Flood

This is the third episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we're reading Comet in Moominland, the first fully fledged chapter book. There's lots of to discuss! The Little Creature from last week has become Sniff, a full member of the Moomin family by adoption. A philosopher comes knocking at the door in the middle of the night. But most importantly, Snufkin joins the cast.

We talk about the way this book is structured, the ways in which it calls back to Flood, and we make another fruitless attempt to discover how big Moomins are.

Our #WhatWouldSnufkinDo question this week is: What would you do if your cat came home wearing a new collar?

Spirit of the Moomins recommendations: The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate by Margaret Mahy.

The films of Hayao Miyazaki, specifically Ponyo, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

And our Spirit of The Podgoblin's Hat is: Avatar: Braving the Elements

Join us next week when we read the second half of Comet in Moominland!

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 3: Comet In Moominland (part 1)

This is the fourth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we're reading the second half of Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson, and what a rip roaring adventure it is! Moomintroll meets the fabled Snorkmaiden and falls in love on the spot, our brave adventurers attend not one but two end-of-the-world parties, and the philosopher gets stuck into something gooey.

We talk about war and climate catastrophes (again! why is Moominland always threatened by climate change?) and discuss the heteronormativity of the Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll's relationship, but also the ways in which they break that mould.

This week, our question for Snufkin was provided by the AITA community on Reddit and concerns landlords.

Our Spirit of the Moomins recommendations are as follows:

By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison (special shout-out to the audiobook)

Toy Story 3

And our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat, as provided by Nina this week, is Dragon Babies, a YA fantasy nostalgia podcast.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 4: Comet in Moominland (part 2)

This is the fifth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we're reading the first half of Finn Family Moomintroll. Spring has sprung and the children have discovered a very interesting hat on top of a hill. The hat starts to transform everything that sits inside it, from eggshells, to outlandish words, to Moomintroll himself. Moominmamma is in the mood for a change of scene and leads an expedition to the Hattifatteners' lonely island. Snufkin catches sight of a terrific villain in the heart of a storm.

Our theme for this book is ALCHEMY, and we're looking at transformations and all things golden. Also, colonialist fantasies, various masculinities and the first edition of Nina's Botany Corner.

Our question this week pertains to Dave's nonmonogamous emotional life (!) so you'll definitely want to tune in for that.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are Bluey and Knock Three Times by Cressida Cowell.

Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood].

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 5: Finn Family Moomintroll (part 1)

This is the sixth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show.

It's the end of Finn Family Moomintroll, and the end of series 1!

The Hattifatteners have their barometer back, Snufkin gets around to telling the others about the Hobgoblin and his hat, and we meet Thingumy and Bob, the lesbian-inspired non binary couple of your dreams.

This book has more bumps in the road for us as modern readers than those that went before. #JusticeForTheSnorkmaiden

It also contains some really positive representations of what we might call non-monogamy and queerness. Truly a mixed bag.

Our question for Snufkin comes from Jane Eyre, and concerns marriage and true love.

Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are: The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is: On Eyre from Hot and Bothered.

We'll be back after a break with Memoirs (or are they Exploits?) of Moominpappa.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 6: Finn Family Moomintroll (part 2)

An advert for Getting Better Acquainted the new podcast show from Dave Pickering set to begin on 18/05/2011

GBA will be a weekly podcast: Join Dave on his journey to get better acquainted with the people he knows. There are lots of shows about famous people. This is a show about the rest of us.

GBA Advert

This a bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show.

In this first guest episode, we're talking to Heidi Gilhooly, a lifelong Moomin fan and translator. Heidi did a comparative study of three versions of the Trollkarlens Hatt: in Swedish, Finnish and English. She shares some juicy insider knowledge about what Elizabeth Portch left out when adapting it for an English audience, and what she changed.

We chat about the Thingumy and Bob, a gutsier Snorkmaiden and the origin of Moominmamma's proficiency with an axe.

Many thanks to Heidi for being our first ever guest! You can find out more about her here: https://kaantopiiri.fi/en/translators/heidi-gilhooly/profile/

The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episodes

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode Bonus #1: Heidi the translator

Our special guest for this episode is Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega. Eleanor joins us to shout about how much she loves Comet in Moominland, share her Moomin memes of choice and talk about how Tove Jansson draws on medieval storytelling tropes like weird little guys you find in the woods, comets, and really good food writing. There is a case made for Moominmamma as an agony aunt and a scathing burn for Ian Fleming.

 

You can find Eleanor's on twitter @GoingMedieval, buy her new book The Once and Future Sex here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-once-and-future-sex-going-medieval-on-women-s-roles-in-society-eleanor-janega/18507010?ean=9780393867817

 and her comic The Middle Ages: A Graphic History here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Middle-Ages-Graphic-History-Introducing/dp/1785785915

She also has her own podcast We're Not So Different: https://podfollow.com/1551657923

This a bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show.

The Podgoblin's Hat will return in August with season two, which kicks off with The Memoirs of Moominpappa / The Exploits of Moominpappa. We'll tell you about both versions of the story so you can pick which one to seek out and read!

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode Bonus #2 Dr Eleanor Janega

This is the tenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

Content note: discussion of suicidal thoughts in the What Would Snufkin do part of the podcast 

This book splits three ways on Midsummer Eve: Snufkin is enacting revenge on a Park Keeper, Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden are having a party with a Fillyjonk, and the rest of our crew are still aboard the floating theatre.

There's so much about theatre in this book: a play within a play, a lion being played by two beavers, a disastrous dress rehearsal and happy endings all round.

We talk about the effects of responsibility on Snufkin (spoiler: he hates it) and there's some light prison abolitionism.

It's a banger. You should definitely read this one.

Our Spirits this week are Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, How It Ends and Wizard Team, a black fantasy podcast from Black Nerds Create.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 10: Moominsummer Madness (part 2)

This is the eleventh episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

We're breaking from our normal format for these next two episodes to bring you Tove Jansson's picture books.

The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is really ahead of its time in terms of interactivity and the use of holes cut out of the pages. It's a simple enough journey story, and a vehicle for some really gorgeous art. We compare the translation from the 1960s with the more modern text in our newer editions. There's very creative versification and some brand new Hattifattener lore!

And if it's true to say that that first book showcases Tove's love of colour, that's even more true of Who Will Comfort Toffle?. Toffle is a small grey creature living in a big colourful world. He always feels on the outside of everything. Pointillism abounds in the black and white pictures of Toffle's fearful little world. Snufkin has a cameo and he's swapped his mouth organ for a silver flute - what is up with that? Ultimately it's a story about the wisdom and strength that love brings.

For obvious reasons, there are a lot more pictures to share than usual this week, so we recommend you find us on twitter and instagram to see all that stuff.

Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are the game Gris and Press Here by Herve Tullet. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is She-Ra: Progressive of Power.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode 11: The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My & Who Will Comfort Toffle

In GBA 175 we get better acquainted with Neil Denny. He talks about balancing and compartmentalizing his day job and his "hobby" (producing and presenting the podcast and radio show Little Atoms). We get into class, road-trips across America, whether prayer or masturbation is the more shameful act,  being both inside and outside the media and lots more.

Neil plugs:

His podcast and radio show Little Atoms: http://littleatoms.com/

Available on iTunes and to hear live via the radio in the London area at 10.30am every Saturday on Resonance 104.4 FM or streamed at that time via the Resonance FM website: http://resonancefm.com/

He also plugs his live appearances as and when they arise.

Follow him on twitter: @littleatoms

We mention:

Spark London: http://sparklondon.com/
Neil on Spark London: http://www.mixcloud.com/sparklondon/best-of-spark-2-neil-denny/
Geek Showoff: http://scienceshowoff.wordpress.com/geeks/
Z List Deadlist: http://www.zlistdeadlist.com/
Izy Lawrence: https://www.iszi.com/
Winchester Science Festival: http://winchesterscifest.org/
Padraig Reidy: https://twitter.com/mePadraigReidy
Beckie Hogg: http://barefootintocyberspace.com/
Rebecca Watson: https://twitter.com/rebeccawatson
Skepchic: http://skepchick.org/
Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/
Helen Zaltzman:  http://helenzaltzman.com/
https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-live-9-helen-zaltzman
Skeptics in the Pub: http://www.skepticsinthepub.net/
Churchill Trust: http://www.wcmt.org.uk/
Little Atoms Road trip: http://www.littleatoms.com/roadtrip.htm
Neil's Guardian blogs: http://www.theguardian.com/profile/neil-denny
Radcliffe Royds: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-radcliffe-episodes
Rod Liddle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Liddle
Musa Okwonga: http://www.okwonga.com/
https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-148-musa-okwonga
Richard Sanderson: http://www.richard-sanderson.com/
Richard Dawkins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

GBA 175 Neil Denny

This is the fifteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

We're wrapping up this year on the Podgoblin's Hat with Tove's Christmas offering: The Fir Tree.

It's got everything you want from a Christmas story: the light and the dark, the fear and the wonder. There's even a little cameo from the Moomin family gun.

We chat about different translations of this story, we exchange presents and talk at length about egg nog.

Our Spirits of the Moomins this Week are The Father Christmas Letters by JRR Tolkien, the Muppets Christmas Carol, and Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson. Our Spirits of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Last Christmas, the final episode of Dave's other podcast Getting Better Acquainted.

The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 15: The Fir Tree

This is the sixteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

The crocuses are up, the cherry trees are in bloom, and Snufkin is tramping back to Moomin Valley - it must be time for our spring miniseries!

We're kicking off with this beautiful, perfectly formed gem of a short story from the collection Tales from Moomin Valley. It's a story about creativity, inspiration, song writing, and how big you need to be to get a name.

We namecheck a lot of books in this one! A non exhaustive list: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Stories by James Bruchac and Joseph Bruchac, and the songs of Regina Spektor. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Song by Song.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode 16: The Spring Tune

This is the 4th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we've got a special guest in to talk all about the music of Tove Jansson, and the game we talked about last week (Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley) AND the short story that kicked off this miniseason (the Spring Tune). Martin is a musician, a podcaster, a player of games, so he is ideal for all this!

 If you would like to listen along to the music, you'll want to start with this advert composed by Robert Farnon. Then visit this lovely Autumn Song by Tove Jansson and Erna Tauro. Henry Kathman's translation and cover of Snufkin's Spring Song can be found here. The video essay Dave was referring to is here. Finally, wrap your ears around the not unchallenging Moomin Voices album.

Martin's Spirit of the Moomins is The Wind by Fil Corbitt. His Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Noah Caldwell-Gervais. You can find his own music at Pale Bird. His podcasts are Song by Song and Neutrino Watch. 


The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 4: Martin Zaltz Austwick

This is the 5th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

To round off our spring miniseason we've got a final (for now) look at The Spring Tune, with special guest Matt Miller, a poet and theatre maker.

 Matt's take on this story is fairly different from all the other takes we've heard so far! It's about smoking, doing the washing up, procrastination. We play a round of our unofficial but recurring game: which Moomin character do you feel painfully called out by? And have a think about what kind of participant Little My would be, if you put her in school and made her be in a poetry workshop.

Matt's Spirit of the Moomins is Impro by Keith Johnston. Their Spirits of the Podgoblin's Hat are Rusty Quill and Mark Can't Rap. You can find Matt on twitter @mattmiller2805 and on their website mattmillertheatre.com. 

 The Podgoblin's Hat will be back later this year, when we will be continuing our read-through of the short story collection Tales from Moominvalley. The next short story will be A Tale Of Horror.


The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 5: Matt Miller

This is the seventeenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

Carrying on with our read-through of Tales from Moomin Valley, our story this week is A Tale of Horror! But don't get too excited. The scariest thing about it is the Whomper's daddy.

This story, despite not being our favourite, gave us lots to yap about. We talked about how stories about lying affect children's truthfulness, shifting standards in kid lit regarding discipline, in particular corporal punishment, and shared some stories about our own flexible relationships to the truth as children.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Sister Who Ate her Brothers by Jen Campbell, and the film Turning Red. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Newbery Tart podcast.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode Episode 17: A Tale Of Horror

This is the eighteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week we're reading The Fillyjonk Who Believed in disasters, certified banger no matter who you ask! It's a melancholy, funny, poignant story that feels almost too real.

Join us as we relate a little too closely and discuss the anxiety and depression of this poor Fillyjonk. We talk about the beauty and liberation of destruction, bombed out cathedrals, and monastic lifestyles. Do we ever really learn from these experiences, or is it an endless cycle? Plus special Natural History Investigations.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are Stories by Firelight by Shirley Hughes and Campaign 2 of the actual play D&D show Critical Role. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Bookwandering with Anna James.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode 18: The Fillyjonk Who Was Afraid Of Disasters

This is the 6th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

There's so much to say about The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters that we invited Ruby on to say some of it for us! We ponder on the exquisite combo that is cosy and creepy, lament the missed connection between Gaffsie and Fillyjonk and scribble all over our copies of Tales From Moomin Valley in pencil.

Ruby's Spirit of the Moomins is the folkloric art of John Bauer, and her Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is the Waterlands Podcast. She sings in the Ouseburn Folk Choir.

The Podgoblins Hat Bonus 6: Ruby Miller

This is the nineteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This story's title promises so much in terms of dragon content! In actuality there is hardly any dragon in this story, but what there is, is very good. Nina likes this story a lot anyway, Dave's more on the fence.

How understandable to want a small pet of your own, who would be attached just to you! How impossible to guarantee this outcome in any way, especially when said small pet is actually a wild thing and an endangered species to boot! We revisit some familiar themes: love triangles, the impossibility of having a secret, and the unswerving aim of a Little My throwing a pointed jab.

Our question for What Would Snufkin do was adapted from an AITA post on reddit

Our Spirits of the Moomins are Everything Is Alive and The Mab. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Shrieking Shack.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode 19: The Last Dragon In The World

This is the twentieth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.



Is this the underrated best story in this collection? We really think it might be.

What can a Hemulen tell us about work under capitalism? Will any of us ever get to be pensioned off? This is a beautiful story about introversion, access needs and the dangers of sharing your most secret desires with your relatives. IT BANGS LIKE A DRUM. And it generated a lot of conversation for us, during which we referenced Shy Radicals by Hamja Ahsan, Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, and The World Is Not Ending by Sophie From Mars.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are Moira's Pen by Megan Whalen Turner and The Rob Auton Daily Podcast. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Wilder.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode Episode 20: The Hemulen Who Loved Silence

This is the 7th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

Our guest Lou has been a Moomin fan since childhood, and the character ey relate to is the Groke (iconic).

This chat is lots of things, and one of the things is a couple of autistics marvelling over the Hemulen Who Loved Silence, with a sideshoot through Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence. It's also Brian Blessed as Edward the Booble impersonations. It's a really good time!

Lou's Spirit of the Moomins is My Neighbour Totoro. Eir Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Saga Thing. Their most recent audio drama is Eeler's Choice.

The Podgoblins Hat Bonus 7: Lou Sutcliffe

This is the twenty-first episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.



This week we're reading one of Tove's most famous short stories: The Invisible Child. It's a pretty bright and funny story with very dark themes. We both like it, but it doesn't quite live up to the hype, for us.

Little My is picking poisonous mushrooms (what else is new?), Moomintroll is an ass, and Moominmamma is a confirmed witch. It's a good one for cameos of Too-Ticky, and vengeance on fathers. We've got quite the fungus-based Natural History/Translation chat. We talk about whether bashing coldly ironical types in the head is even any use. Justice for people with hair colours that aren't black or yellow! There is a deep dive into Nina's ginger experience, and the way gingers, particularly ginger girls, are represented in kids' fiction.

Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Little Prince by Saint Exupery, as read by Peter Ustinov, and Where the Wild Ladies Are, by Matsuda Aoko and translated by Polly Barton. Dave's Spirit of the Moomins is The White Pube website and podcast, particularly their video game reviews.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode Episode 21: The Invisible Child

This is the 8th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

Our guest Ali Baker is a researcher in children's literature with a particular interest in children's voice and children's rights, so it's no surprise she chose to come on and talk to us about The Invisible Child!

Ali makes a strong case for Bjork as a Spirit of Little My and reminisces about finding the Moomins in her local library as a kid. We situate the Moomins as a type of fantasy, and Ali recommend's Dr Farah Mendlesohn's Rhetorics of Fantasy.  We talk about the mixed up class elements of the Moomin family, and go on a long tangent about femme-shaming (#JusticeForTheSnorkMaiden), with reference to Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet. 

Ali's article about the the sensitivity edit's to Roald Dahl's work is here. Her Spirit of the Moomin's is Bjork's album Vespertine, and her Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is her podcast Fantasy Book Swap.

The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 8: Ali Baker

This is the 22rd episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

How many times has Moominpappa gone off with the Hattifatteners? Are they really as wicked as they're cracked up to be? What does the birch bark scroll mean? Hop along and find out none of the answers to these questions!

This is supposed to be a story about the Hattifatteners, but it might more appropriately be named: The Feelings and Projections that Moominpappa has about the Hattifatteners. Which is a bit disappointing for Hattifattener fans but it's still a pretty good story!

Dave's done some serious research into queer species in the Moomins, and Hattifatteners as cyborgs in particular. Nina's got a super bumper natural history corner about birch bark and parthenogenic mothers, with additional rustling sound effects. There's a maths corner too, which is unlikely to happen again. Have we all got our little pieces of birch bark in hand? Good, now we'll begin.

Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are Thistle & Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland by Sorche Nic Leodhas, and The Dark Crystal, Age of Resistance on Netflix. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Research Hole.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode Episode 22: The Secret Of The Hattifateners

This is the 23rd episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts.

And just like that, it's the end of the season! We're going out on a story that actually shows us what happens when someone has a problem and wonders "What would Snufkin do?"

Sniff is inconsolable over the loss of his favourite toy, a small dog called Cedric, with bejewelled eyes (?!). Even Moominmamma can't help him, so he wanders down to Snufkin's camp and gets told a story. It's a very classic story-shape about belongings not making you happy, but you know what we say? There's nothing wrong with playing the hits well!

This story is a real two-hander between Snufkin and Sniff. It really wouldn't be the same without Sniff's many, pertinent, exasperating interruptions. We have a go at filling some plot holes, like: when did Sniff get back from wherever it was he went? Who gave him the toy dog, and why did this put jewels in its eyes?

Next season we'll be reading the Moomin comics, so dig out your copies if you want to read along!

Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester. Dave has sneaked three (three!) Spirits of the Podgoblin's hat in this season finale to keep you going until we get back: Cane and Rinse, Girl Mode and Rainbow Road.

The Podgoblins Hat Episode Episode 23: Cedric

In GBA 218 we get better acquainted with Shaun Atwood. He talks about being "the Walter White of the Ecstasy market in Arizona", struggling to survive in maximum and medium security prisons, starting a blog from the inside jail, playing chess with the Mafia, racism within criminal justice systems, teaching creative writing to prisoners, the Prison Industrial Complex, prohibition, the War on Drugs and more.

Shaun plugs:

Trilogy of memoir books: Hard Time, Party Time, Prison Time
Website: http://www.shaunattwood.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shaunattwood
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaun-Attwood/228166633865948
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/derickatt/featured
Blog: Jon's Jail Journal: http://jonsjailjournal.blogspot.co.uk/

I plug:

My preview on 23rd July: http://www.facebook.com/events/1598769017027875/

GBA and SUT in Edinburgh: http://www.facebook.com/events/1378858509079820/
http://www.facebook.com/events/1446178112341943/
http://www.facebook.com/events/1554323898168649/

We mention:

Spark London: http://sparklondon.com
HMP Thameside: http://www.hmpthameside.org/
To Kill A Mockingbird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird
Hard Time:
Wolf of Wall Street: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_of_Wall_Street_(2013_film)
Scarface: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarface_(1983_film)
Pulp Fiction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction
Rambo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambo_(film_series)
Breaking Bad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
OJ Simpson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/
Schopenhauer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Day_in_the_Life_of_Ivan_Denisovich
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn
Shawshank Redemption: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption
Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_the_Scream
Johann Hari on Little Atoms: http://www.littleatoms.com/podcast/johann-hari-chasing-scream
Orange is the New Black: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Is_the_New_Black
Queen Victoria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria
Freud: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
Fred West: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_West
David Nutt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nutt
The Bush Family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_family
Corrections Corporation of America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrections_Corporation_of_America
Three Strikes Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-strikes_law
California Prison Guards Union: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Correctional_Peace_Officers_Association
Broadcom: https://www.broadcom.com/
Chris Grayling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Grayling
Kill the Messenger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Messenger_(2014_film)
Gary Webb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
Nancy Reagan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan
Just Say No: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Say_No
Ronald Reagan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
George Bush Sr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush
Bill Clinton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton
Contras: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras






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GBA 218 Shaun Attwood

In GBA 229 we get better acquainted with Nick Van Der Kolk from Love + Radio. He talks about how and why he produces this unique podcast, his approach to the subjects  that the show covers (both the people and the issues) and what he has learnt about podcasting in his time making podcasts. He also gives me an on air tutorial in recording technique.

Nick plugs:

Love + Radio: http://loveandradio.org/

Radiotopia:  http://www.radiotopia.fm

Radiotopia Fall Campaign 2015: https://www.commitchange.com/ma/cambridge/prx-inc/campaigns/radiotopia-fall-campaign-2015

I plug:

Stand Up Tragedy Presents: http://www.facebook.com/events/461679520679231/

Donating to GBA: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4RCU5NHZURXUL

In Pod We Trust: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nhpxl

We mention:

Helen Zaltzman:  http://helenzaltzman.com/
The Allusionist: http://www.theallusionist.org/
Serial: http://serialpodcast.org/
This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/
In the Dark: http://www.inthedarkradio.org/
Episode with voice disguising: https://soundcloud.com/loveandradio/jack-and-ellen
Dan Savage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Savage
The Wisdom of J Thunderbolt: https://soundcloud.com/loveandradio/the-wisdom-of-jay
Third Coast International Festival: http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/
Ira Glass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Glass
Answer Me This! http://answermethispodcast.com/
No Such Thing As A Fish: http://qi.com/podcast/
HBO: http://www.hbo.com/
Digital Native: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native
PRX: http://www.prx.org/
Snap Judgement: http://snapjudgment.org/
Chicago Public Media: https://www.chicagopublicmedia.org/

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GBA 229 Nick van der Kolk (from Love + Radio)

In GBA 257 we get better acquainted with Tom Crowley. He talks about Wooden Overcoats, Sad Faces, producing, acting and the difference between seriousness and solemnity amongst many other things.

Tom plugs:

Wooden Overcoats: http://www.woodenovercoats.com/
Wooden Overcoasts Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1667942170/wooden-overcoats-season-2
The Night: 23rd June https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=287998684881698
Crowley & Co: http://crowleynco.com/
@crowlynco: https://twitter.com/crowleynco

I plug:

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk

Donating: http://bit.ly/1LUtbKt

SUT: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast

We mention:

(I will add links to all these later this week when I have a moment)

Spark London
Felix Trench
Sad Faces
Brydie Lee-Kennedy
Gods of Comedy Podcast
Stand Up Tragedy
It Get's Better Project
Crowley & Co
David K Barnes - How to Write A Sitcom
Andy Goddard - How to Record A Radio Drama
Tom Crowley - How to write comedy
John Wakefield
The Allusionist
Helen Zaltzman
Play and Record
Victoria Lloyd
Toby Wilson
Jack Bernhart
Rachel Lehman
Rosie Fletcher
Monty Python
James Hamilton
Vault Festival
Awkward Ghost
Oscar French
Best Served Cold
John Cleese on Creativity - German Company - knock knock jokes
Stewart Lee
John Humphreys
Johnathan Ross - awards ceremony
Stephen Fry - BAFTAs
Germaine Greer
Tom Hiddleston
Ian McEwan
Richard O'Brien
Self Pity
Beth Air
Zoot Alore Theatre
Drayton Trench
Welcome to Nightvale
Thrilling Adventure Hour
Radio 4
Itunes Best of 2015
Horse and Stables - waterloo
Micheal Longey
Kieran Hodgkon
Mary Beth Merosa
The Night
Finbury Theatre
Sadiq Kahn

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GBA 257 Tom Crowley

In GBA 262 we get  better acquainted with Miranda Kane. We recorded this conversation at the Audible studios in London during the recording of her new audio sitcom Slaving Away which is a comedy about a cheerful and happy-go-lucky single girl who just happens to be a dominatrix that will be hitting your earways this August. We talk about making comedy about sex work and sex worker rights, why it took a while for her to realise she could fit into the world of stand-up comedy, not making fat people and sex workers into punchlines and lots more. 

We also talk about her show Coin Operated Girl which is back again at this year's PBH Free Fringe: https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/602895-the-coin-operated-girl/

For more about sex worker rights, decriminalization and sex worker led activism see:

Sex Worker Open University: http://www.sexworkeropenuniversity.com/
Toni Mac: The Laws That Sex Workers Really Want: https://www.ted.com/talks/toni_mac_the_laws_that_sex_workers_really_want
GBA 197 - Toni https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-197-toni

Miranda Plugs:

Slaving Away: https://www.amazon.com/Slaving-Away-Speaking-Audible-Original/dp/B010PRLWLI

I plug:

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk

Donating: http://bit.ly/1LUtbKt

We mention:

Audible: http://www.audible.co.uk/
Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/
Spark SW podcasts:
https://www.acast.com/sparklondon/special-sex-worker-stories
https://www.acast.com/sparklondon/more-sexworkerstories-truestoriestoldlive
Coin Operated Girl: http://www.coinoperatedgirl.co.uk/

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Getting Better Acquainted

GBA 262 Miranda Kane

In GBA 274 we get better acquainted with Guilaine Kinouani. She talks about structural power, racism, mental health issues and self care in relation to the experiences of women of colour, clinical psychology, feminism, the #PredatoryPeacekeepers campaign, the differences (and similarities) between British and French attitudes to race/migration and so much more. It's also the first Getting Better Acquainted recorded in a public library.

Guilaine plugs:

Predatory Peacekeepers: http://predatorypeacekeepers.tumblr.com/
PP Petition: https://community.avaaz.org/petitions/we-will-not-stand-by-when-un-soldiers-abuse-rape-and-murder

Media Diversified: https://mediadiversified.org/

Now We Here: https://soundcloud.com/real-media-1

Real Media: http://realmedia.press/

RaceReflections: https://racereflections.co.uk

We mention:

Racism = prejudice + power: http://sjwiki.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power
White Feminism: http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/need-talk-about-white-feminism/
Strong Black Woman Trope: https://blackgirlnerds.com/mental-health-and-the-strong-black-woman-trope/
bell hooks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks
Audre Lorde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde
AL quote: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2213-if-i-didn-t-define-myself-for-myself-i-would-be
Code Blue Campaign: http://www.codebluecampaign.com/
Some articles on #PredatoryPeacekeepers:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/the-un-must-smash-the-culture-of-impunity-that-lets-peacekeepers/

https://mediadiversified.org/2016/04/12/the-uns-good-vs-bad-narrative-clears-the-way-for-sexual-violence-and-impunity/

Samantha Asumadu: http://www.samanthaasumadu.com/

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GBA 274 Guilaine Kinouani

In GBA 311 we get better acquainted with Jez Kemp. He talks learning how to make your own music, the danger of false equivalence in the time of Charlottesville, Brexit and Trump, being a femme cisgender man, realising that Nineteen Eighty-Four isn't as radical as you thought, creating and selling dinosaur and unicorn T-Shirts, the man who tried to trademark the π symbol and lots more. 

Jez plugs:

Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/jezkemp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jezkemp
JezKempInsta: https://www.instagram.com/jezkempinsta

I plug:

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: memories of my dad: https://medium.com/@goosefat101/down-to-a-sunless-sea-memories-of-my-dad-d1d2d3a61360

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/

We mention:

Liz: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-liz-episodes
Lisa: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-147-Lisa-Findley
Picasso: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso
Charlotteville: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/charlottesville-attack-170813081045115.html
1984: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
Fight Club: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club
Lord of the Rings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Rings
The Hobbit Film Extra: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/29/extra-too-brown-the-hobbit
Warhammer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Fantasy_Battle
Mitchell and Webb - "before the incident": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnd1jKcfBRE
Placebo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_(band)
The Manics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Street_Preachers
Muse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_(band)
Clash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash
I believe in dinosaurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9UUjLH93g
The Horned Warrior Friends: https://www.facebook.com/hornedwarriorfriends/
Queen Raptorcorn: https://twitter.com/jezkemp/status/855172298692866049
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/
Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.co.uk/
Blog posts: 
http://jezkemp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/this-guy-just-stole-pi-and-zazzle.html
http://jezkemp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/some-loser-has-tried-to-trademark.html
http://jezkemp.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/zazzle-pi-fiasco-communication-problem.html
Wired article on pi trademark: https://www.wired.com/2014/05/pi-takedown/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/
Bandcamp: https://bandcamp.com/
Myspace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace
Let Toys Be Toys: http://lettoysbetoys.org.uk/
Let Clothes Be Clothes: https://letclothesbeclothes.uk/
Scene on Radio: Seeing White: http://podcast.cdsporch.org/seeing-white/

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GBA 311 Jez Kemp

In GBA 312 we get better acquainted with Pandora Blake. They talk about how they became an award-winning feminist porn producer and performer, the rise and fall of their website Dreams of Spanking that was dedicated to ethically-produced BDSM erotica that prioritised gender diversity, explicit behind the scenes enthusiastic consent, and equal pay for equal work. With a wide lens they get into some of the issues around sex work law reform, censorship, obscenity law, sexual freedom and ethical/feminist porn. And in close up they talk about emerging from a few years of turmoil, change, transformation and transition, with new possibilities on the horizon and with a new understanding of their gender.

Pandora/Blake on coming out as genderqueer: http://pandorablake.com/blog/2017/10/meet-the-real-me

Pandora Blake plugs:

Supporting their activism (and helping them to write their book) by  signing up to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pandorablake

I plug:

Smut Slam London: Spooky Sex: https://www.facebook.com/events/1924476301132034/

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/

We mention:

Sex Worker's Opera: https://www.sexworkersopera.com/
Pandora's blog: http://pandorablake.com/blog
Cameryn Moore: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-215-cameryn-moore
Miranda Kane: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-262-miranda-kane
ATVOD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATVOD
Chilling Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_effect
AVMS Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiovisual_Media_Services_Regulations_2014
BBFC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Film_Classification
Obscene Publications Acts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscene_Publications_Acts
Myles Jackman Obscenity Lawyer: http://www.mylesjackman.com/
Anna Span: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Span
Spanner Case Manchester: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spanner
Digital Economy Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Economy_Act_2017
Backlash: https://www.backlash.org.uk/
TERFs: http://sjwiki.org/wiki/Trans-exclusionary_radical_feminism
SWERFs: http://sjwiki.org/wiki/Sex_worker_exclusionary_radical_feminism
bell hooks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks
Genderqueer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderqueer
Mx: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mx_(title)
Stoya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoya
Dreams of Spanking: http://dreamsofspanking.com/
11 Life Times: http://puttylike.com/what-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-11-lifetimes/
Tai Chi: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/taichi.aspx
Cuddle Party: http://www.cuddleparty.com/
Feminist Porn How to Find it and feel good watching it: http://pandorablake.com/blog/2017/9/feminist-porn-talk-book-club
Open Rights Group: https://www.openrightsgroup.org/

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GBA 312 Pandora Blake

In GBA 331 we get better acquainted with Hel Robin Gurney. They talk writing, fairytales, mythology, folklore, poetry, stories, the process of creating and developing their show The Sleeping Princess and so much more. 

Robin plugs:

5th May Poetry Society 2pm: Fairytale Double Bill: https://www.facebook.com/events/615314005470398/ 

The Sleeping Princess at Manchester Fringe, Reading Fringe, Camden Fringe: https://helgurney.wordpress.com/

April 28th Poetry Cafe: Wilderness:  New Queer Writing: https://www.facebook.com/events/1521948347932126/

The Emergence of Trans: https://transseminars.com/

I plug:

Mansplaining Masculinity: The Book https://unbound.com/books/mansplaining-masculinity/

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: memories of my dad: https://medium.com/@goosefat101/down-to-a-sunless-sea-memories-of-my-dad-d1d2d3a61360

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-family-tree/id1113714688

We mention:

Howl of the Bantee: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-howl-of-the-bantee
AJ: https://twitter.com/anathemajane
The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Larousse-Encyclopedia-Mythology-Robert-Graves/dp/185152519X
National Novel Writing Month: https://nanowrimo.org/
Buffy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest_(play)
Miranda: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_(The_Tempest)
Caliban: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliban
Sycorax: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycorax
Prospero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero
Shakespeare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
Kate Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Tempest
James Webster: https://websterpoet.wordpress.com/
Hackney Hammer and Tongue: http://www.hammerandtongue.com/hackney/
Genesis Poetry: https://genesiscinema.co.uk/GenesisCinema.dll/WhatsOn?Film=204877
Midas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midas
Medusa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa
Hollie McNish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollie_McNish
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lang%27s_Fairy_Books
Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien
Lord of the Rings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings
Eowyn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89owyn
Aragorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragorn
Faramir: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faramir
The Silmarillion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion
History of Middle Earth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Middle-earth
Galadriel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galadriel
Christopher Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Tolkien
The Arda Reconstructed by Douglas Kane: https://www.amazon.com/Arda-Reconstructed-Creation-Published-Silmarillion/dp/1611460891
Briar Rose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty
The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood by Jack Zipes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trials-Tribulations-Little-Riding-Hood/dp/0415908353
Once Upon A Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(TV_series)
Poetry School: https://poetryschool.com/interviews/meet-digital-poet-residence-interview-jay-bernard/
Jay Bernard: http://jaybernard.co.uk/
Ted Hughes Award: http://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/ted-hughes-award/

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GBA 331 Hel Robin Gurney

This Getting Better Acquainted Extra is a talk I gave as part of the Maker Sessions at the London Podcast Festival 2018 at King’s Place. 

The title of the talk was: Passion Projects

The blurb was: For better or worse, Dave Pickering has been working on passion projects since he can remember. In 2008, he wrote a drama series for a friend, which was nominated for a Sony Radio Award in 2009. He’s made podcasts in a variety of genres at the same time as working full time jobs and part time jobs, and for the last 4 years, around the paid freelance work that the passion projects have just about generated for him. His passion projects have won podcast awards, been recommended by the Guardian, Time Out and the Financial Times and have been featured on Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, Cbeebies Radio and Resonance FM. In this workshop, Dave will explore why you should follow your passions, why you should definitely not follow your passions, and how to find the perseverance to keep following your passions when no one else seems to be interested in them.

http://www.davepickeringstoryteller.co.uk

Thanks to Martin Zaltz Austwick and Zoe Jeyes for asking me to do it.

My Passions:

Getting Better Acquainted: http://www.gettingbetteracquainted.co.uk

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk

Mansplaining Masculinity: https://unbound.com/books/mansplaining-masculinity/

http://www.mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: 
https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/

Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk

Some things mentioned (tweet me at @goosefat101 if I’ve missed stuff as I’ve just moved house so haven’t given this the time I normally would):

The Boy Who Hasn’t Lived:http:// www.theboywhohasntlived.com/

Answer Me This: https://answermethispodcast.com/

The Allusionist: https://www.theallusionist.org/

Helen Zaltzman: http://helenzaltzman.com

Griefcast with Cariad Lloyd https://www.acast.com/griefcast

Where Shall We Begin? With Esther Perel: https://www.estherperel.com/podcast

WTF with Marc Maron: http:// www.wtfpod.com/

Richard Herring: http://www.richardherring.com/

FAKE FRIENDS EPISODE TWO: parasocial hel1 by 
StrucciMovies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLA-uFKjQ-g

Four Thought: Liberating Men: Liberating Men: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x5vsh

In Pod We Trust: Welcome to Podland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pjdjh/episodes/player

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

GBA Extra - Passion Projects

In the final (for now) Getting Better Acquainted Extra I continue the tradition of beginning the new year with a round up of how the last year panned out for me, I consider the impact making this show has had on my life, what kinds of things you might find on your GBA feed in the future, and the distance between who I was in 2011 and who I am now in 2019. 

Getting Better Acquainted is now on hiatus for a while. But there's over 350 episodes in the archives so plenty to catch up on for people just discovering the show.

I mention:

Sofie Hagen on GBA: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-335-sofie-hagen

Made of Human with Sofie Hagen: https://www.madeofhumanpodcast.com

The Breakup Monologues with Rosie Wilby: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-breakup-monologues-with-rosie-wilby/id1310409996?mt=2

My time hosting Spark Hackney: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-extra-the-spark

Spark True Stories: http://stories.co.uk/

The talk I gave at the London Podcast Festival: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-extra-passion-projects-the-london-podcast-festival

The 2018 Christmas Special: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-350-the-last-christmas

I plug:

Mansplaining Masculinity: The Book https://unbound.com/books/mansplaining-masculinity/

What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity

http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/

The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast

Down to a sunless sea: https://medium.com/@goosefat101/down-to-a-sunless-sea-memories-of-my-dad-604a239b7501

GBA Extra - Permanent Resolution

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues

A document is a piece of evidence; a record; a proof of something. By this definition, we are all living documents, documents that may or may not be lost to history. What parts of us are recorded? What parts of us are seen?

We record our lives and the lives of others, using our memory and our technology. We choose what to record, how we record it and how we present it, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously. We don’t always fully choose because we can only work with what we have; sometimes our choices are more restricted than others. We are all documents; we are all documenters; we are all Documentary Makers.

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 1: Documenting

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues

In the first full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to fellow Pulse Award recipient and podcaster Penny Bell.

We compare notes on documenting a parent living with dementia, and discuss the similarities and differences between our parents' experience of, and attitude towards, dementia.

You can find Penny's podcast Discovering Dementia wherever you get your podcasts. Here for example: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/discovering-dementia/id1239196983

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 2: Comparing Notes

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues


Additional content note for this episode: Euthanasia, suicide

Time is the longest distance between two places.
Even when we are no longer here, we are always in time.

This episode is about time travel, death, dementia and love.

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 3: We are all time travellers

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues

In the second full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to Dr Jonathan Huntley about the work he is doing looking into awareness in people living with advanced dementia. And to Dr Daniel Davis about the work he is doing looking at how delirium and dementia impact society and health at a population level. 

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 4: Old people are people

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues

Memories are like desire paths: when you first walk down them, they are overgrown and full of details. The more you walk them, the more eroded they become; they are smoothed out and set. You get to what you remember more quickly, but what you remember has become something else. You no longer have to look for landmarks because there is a path for you to walk.

This episode is about time memory, childhood, dementia and Citizen Kane.

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments.  You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com   

For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as Down to a sunless sea whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 5: Desire Paths

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues

Additional content note: sex, assisted dying, war 

This episode is the last episode of the first (and possibly last) season of this show, and it's about legacy.

I’ve been planning this show for years. The earliest recording I’ve used was recorded by my dad on cassette tape in 1984. This show has covered 96 years of my dad’s life and 38 years of mine. I started recording interviews with my dad in 2011 and began writing essays about our relationship and his journey through old age towards death in 2017.

I’m glad I made this show. That it hasn’t just remained an imagined show. It’s been a tough journey at times, but it’s one I’m so glad I’ve made. Thanks for travelling on it with me.

Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 18: Legacy

A weekly podcast: Join Dave Pickering on his journey to get better acquainted with the people he knows. Part interview show, part oral history project and part autobiography through conversation.

British Podcast Award 2017 winner (bronze in Best Interview category)

GBA was nominated for a 2012 Radio Production Award, aired for 3 seasons on Resonance 104.4 FM and was featured on BBC Radio 4's In Pod We Trust, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Helen and Olly's Required Listening and has been recommended by The Guardian, Time Out and the Financial Times

Getting Better Acquainted

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