Conversations about the Criminal Justice System, the War on Drugs, Prohibition, Sex Worker rights, the Prison Industrial Complex and Restorative Justice.

The Criminal Justice System and the War on Drugs

In GBA 123 we get better acquainted with Daniel Simpson. He talks about his experience trying to bring Ibiza to the Balkans in a story that involves being a journalist for the New York Times, drug smuggling, the Serbian mafia, Sonic Youth, and the conflict between idealism and egotism. 

We also get into both the wider politics that frame this story (the media, the Balkans, The War on Terror, The War on Drugs, Western Foreign Policy) and what he learnt personally about himself from his terrible experiences.

At PBH's Free Fringe (part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival):

Getting Better Acquainted

- 1.40pm, 12th August, Banshee Labyrinth w/ Gods of Comedy: http://www.facebook.com/events/489862131092073/

- 1.40pm, 13th August, Banshee Labyrinth w/ Peter Buckley Hill: http://www.facebook.com/events/197046307128430/

Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/

6.30pm, 3rd - 14th August, Fiddler's Elbow (downstairs): http://www.facebook.com/events/597921693564454/

Spark London: http://www.sparklondon.com/

12.15pm, 8th August, Fiddler's Elbow (Downstairs): http://www.facebook.com/events/120455901458002

Daniel Plugs:

Rough Guide to the Darkside: http://www.roughguidedarkside.com/

Spark London in August:

12th August @ Hackney Attic:  https://www.facebook.com/events/431964896916829/

19th August Upstairs @ The Ritzy: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/153907941477134/

We mention:

George Orwell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell
Echo: http://www.echofestival.com/croatia/
Sonic Youth: http://www.sonicyouth.com/
Hunter S Thompson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson
Glenn Greenwald: http://www.theguardian.com/profile/glenn-greenwald
Derrick May: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_May_(musician)
Ram Dass: http://www.ramdass.org/
Gary Web - dark alliance - consortium news: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/09/the-warning-in-gary-webbs-death/
The Truth is Out There: http://www.truth-is-out-there.com/
Chillpack Hollywood Hour: http://www.chillpakhollywood.com/
Phil Leirness: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-60-phil-leirness/
Chris Roberts: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-41-chris

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?

GBA 123 Daniel Simpson

This week I chatted with the critically acclaimed, and multi award winner and nominee, podcaster Dave Pickering about podcasts.

You will hear:

 - Dave doing an intro about their podcasts and history with them
- why people might listen to them, what are the motivations
- the danger of neoliberalism 'self improvement' and podcasts 
- the parasocial relationships that we have with podcast hosts and guests and how much that is part of why we listen (atomised, alienated from those around us we might turn to these kinds of relationships maybe?)
- recommendations for good shows

Dave’s own projects are
 
Getting Better Acquainted
Stand Up Tragedy
The Family Tree
Down to a sunless sea: memories of my dad (I’ve listened to the first of these, it’s really moving and excellent. 
 
Current (Client) projects: 
Who Hurt You (formally Made of Human) (I sort of mentioned this)
The Restart Project 
Race Reflections AT WORK
The Breakup Monologues 
 
Check all those out via Dave’s website http://dave-pickering.squarespace.com/ 

Also follow them on twitter for their excellent recommendations (usually on a Friday) https://twitter.com/goosefat101 

Please consider supporting the Patreon for this show patreon.com/culturesexrelationships Your support means that I can get paid to make the show and I can also pay other freelance guests. The more support I get the more shows I can make. 

Speaking of shows, the easiest ones for me to make are the 'Ask Justin' advice shows. So if you have any questions about relationships, sex, your relationship to your self, you can ask me. I will anonymise your question and will also give an excellent, long, and thoughtful answer. Email culturesexrelationships at gmail dot com

Dave Pickering: Podcasts

In GBA 197 we get better acquainted with Toni. She talks about being a sex worker and sex worker rights activist, decriminalisation, the problems with the Swedish Model, the language and stigma around sex work, harm reduction, how various systems of oppression intersect around the lives of sex workers and more. 

Toni is a member of the Sex Worker Open University: http://www.sexworkeropenuniversity.com/

Content Note: Some reference to violence against sex workers and to rape and sexual assault, although none of these references are graphic or personal accounts.

Toni plugs:

@SexWorkerOU: https://twitter.com/SexWorkerOU
CONFIDE: Helpline: http://confideinfo.com/about/

I plug:

Tragic Winter @ Hackney Attic: 28th February: 
http://www.facebook.com/events/1516191711967276/

We mention:

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers: http://www.december17.org/
Carol Leigh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Leigh
Tres Cosas Campaign: https://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/about/
Decriminalisation: http://prostitutescollective.net/2010/09/28/decriminalisation-of-prostitution-v-legalisation-2/
Swedish/Nordic Model: http://www.sexworkeropenuniversity.com/blog/swou-statement-on-poverty-sex-work-and-the-swedish-model-poverty-is-objectifying-demeaning-and-coercive1
Amnesty International - the backlash: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/agm-decisions-to-date
http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2013/06/amnesty-human-rights-and-criminalisation-sex-work
Friends: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends
Petite Jasmine: 
http://titsandsass.com/the-bloody-state-gave-him-the-power-a-swedish-sex-workers-murder/
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alex-bryce/petite-jasmine-sex-workers_b_4439049.html
Arrested Development: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_%28TV_series%29
Tina Fay: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Fey
Morecambe Bay Cockle Picking Disaster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Morecambe_Bay_cockling_disaster
ECP:  http://www.nswp.org/members/europe/english-collective-prostitutes
http://prostitutescollective.net/
x: talk: http://www.xtalkproject.net/
NSWP: http://www.nswp.org/
Ipswich Serial murders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipswich_serial_murders
Associated Press: http://www.ap.org/



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



GBA 197 Toni

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






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

GBA 218 Shaun Attwood

In GBA 58 we get better acquainted with Radcliffe. In part 1 of this weeks 2 part special he talks about his relationship with drugs and his "formative" years. 

This includes his experiences attending and being expelled from a boarding school, his family life and his almost accidental introduction into the Edinburgh underworld.

We discuss addiction and the nature and social position of drugs. And we hear a recovered addicts views on drugs policy. 

Part 2 : http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-58-radcliffe-part-2 comes out in Friday when the conversation will continue, covering crime and punishment, homelessness and then rehabilitation and recovery. 

Seriously this conversation was amazing to have and I think it is really really worth you hearing. Radcliffe has seen some dark times, he has journeyed through the class system from the top to pretty much the bottom. He has lived in expensive houses and has been a crack addict in a Soho skip. He has dropped out of society and managed to climb back in. And he tells his story with humour, kindness and brutal honesty and whilst it is full of pain and violence, it is also, somehow a story about hope, beauty and love.


Radcliffe Plugs:

"Spoken Word is the new Rock and Roll"


Spark London: http://www.sparklondon.com/     

Today marks the 100 episode of the Spark London podcast. This is Radcliffe telling his story there (which is a teaser for part 2 of his conversation):http://www.mixcloud.com/sparklondon/on-living-in-a-soho-skip-radcliffe-royds/

And this is the 100 episode of their show: http://www.mixcloud.com/sparklondon/episode-100-dorothea-stuart-alastair-smith/

You can find their podcast on iTunes and on Stitcher as well as on Mixcloud.

Their next live show is: Wednesday 6th June 2012 at 7:30pm at Canal Cafe Theatre, Little Venice, London, W2 6ND

The theme is "Life Savers" 

Box office: 020 7289 6054 or Book online: http://www.canalcafetheatre.com/

Future themes include Family Holidays, Tales from the work place, Flashbacks and Authority. If you have a story to tell then get in touch at sparklondon@gmail.com



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

The next, and last for the moment, live Stand Up Tragedy will feature Radcliffe telling a story. This is the rest of the line up: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/show-5-4-june-2012/

Here are the details:

Monday  4th June 2012. 8.30pm till late at the Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BX

Tickets: http://leicestersquaretheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/126520120/events

COME ALONG. BRING YOUR FRIENDS. Use the promo code TRAGIC to offset booking fee.

It also has a weekly podcast, which Radcliffe has featured on, which comes out every friday: http://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy








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 http://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 58 Radcliffe (Part 1)

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

This episode is about creating things: imaginary worlds, homes and friendship. It's also about walls: drawing on walls, putting up boundaries, and pulling down the walls inside your mind and heart.

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: memories of my dad

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 10: Friendship Part 2

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

Extra content note: PTSD, dependency/addiction, rape (touched on lightly, no descriptions)

In the fifth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to psychologist and epidemiologist Dr Suzi Gage from the podcast Say Why to Drugs about researching recreational drug use and mental health.

Say Why to Drugs with Dr Suzi Gage: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/say-why-to-drugs/id1114492774

Say Why to Drugs by Dr Suzi Gage: https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/suzi-gage/

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 11 - Drink Sangria in the park

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

Additional content note: war, medical operations, suicidal ideation

I’m still pretty terrified of my dad stopping existing. He has been such a part of my life that it feels like a world without him in it is impossible. But ever since I was a child, I have been imagining that world. I’ve played out his death so many times. I’ve written it into fiction and songs. I’ve spent hours in my mind going through how it will be. What I might think and do. How it will affect me. How it will affect my family. And I’ve always thought it would probably happen soon. But it never has.

This episode is about confronting death and confronting love. It includes the story of my dad's war and of his heart attack and quadruple heart bypass.

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 12:  Hearts Breaking

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

Extra content note: operations, medical procedures, assisted dying, euthanasia

In the sixth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to sociologist Dr Gill Haddow about embodiment, replaceable hearts, everyday cyborgs, humanimals and unhealth. This is an episode about possible futures and how we feel about our bodies.

Gill on twitter: https://twitter.com/gillhaddow

Everyday Cyborgs and Humanimals 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WilTY5FF5w

Animal, Mechanical and Me: https://animalmechanicalandme.com/

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 13: New answers to old questions

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

Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide

I realised that maybe our positions aren’t that different after all. And I wondered if, in the moments that I manage to believe in hope, I seem as inspiring and naïve as he does. It made me wonder if maybe the spark I see in him, that belief in people and ideas, if that isn’t also in me, despite my frequent feeling that it isn’t. If I might communicate that to other people regardless. If the world as humans know it lasts for long enough for me to reach a similar age as my dad, I wonder if I will be someone who frustrates and delights young people with my faith in them, whether I will still accept the possibility of hope and change?

This episode is about belief, hope and progress. It considers technological change, generational change, spiritual change and political change.

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

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 14: André Gorz Tweet

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

Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide

But no matter what he forgets, it can’t take away the love we have shared, that existed, and will always have existed, even when he has forgotten it; even when he is no longer alive to remember it; even when I have forgotten it; even when I am no longer alive to remember it. It happened. And that has to be enough.

This episode is about movement, memory, change, time, distance, tears, connection, therapy, sadness, love, grief and everything else that can come in waves.

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

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 16: Waves

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

Extra content note: grief, suicide, terminal illness, abuse, bereavement

In the final full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to counselor and psychotherapist Karen Pollock MBACP about grief and death. This is an episode about ways of thinking (and feeling) about bereavement, therapeutic approaches to change and loss, how the systems and attitudes around and inside us effect the ways we deal with difficult things, and so much more. It is the only episode of the show that doesn't feature my dad's voice but he is very present in the conversation.

Karen on twitter: https://twitter.com/CounsellingKaz

Counselling in Northumberland: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/

Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities: https://www.ubcpress.ca/non-binary-lives

The Messiness of Grief: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2020/02/03/the-messiness-of-grief/

Opening the door to difficult conversations: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2018/01/23/opening-the-door-to-difficult-conversations/

Death and second chances: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2016/11/22/death-and-second-chances/

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

Down to a sunless sea: Episode 17: The Box And The Jar

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

In GBA 106 we get better acquainted with Jack and George.

Whilst drinking brandy & chain-smoking Jack, George and me trade differing views of the legal system and ask whether you change significantly after childhood: what stays the same and what changes. 

This episode includes an account of being arrested for destroying a house, an account of being a witness to an assault, an account of a bus kidnapping and the curious case of the police confiscating George's Lou Reed collection.

It's an interesting ride: Part surprise therapy session, part series of complimentary and contradictory experiences of the law and part documentation of a friendship. We actually don't sound as drunk as we were!

We don't really plug anything.

These are the individual GBAs with George and Jack:

https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-46-jack

http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-6-george

And this is the collected GBAs with Apples for Everyone members:

http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/apples-for-everyone/

We mention Talha Assan

http://freetalha.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Talha_Ahsan

Aim: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aim_(musician)

Lou Reed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed

Prince: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)

Thundercats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats


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 106 Jack and George

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

GBA 218 Shaun Attwood

Getting Better Acquainted

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