Hello! This is the inaugural episode of Quarantime, a podcast about the new normal with me - your unknown host - Harriet McLean. 

It's a weird period with no finish line. It's not that the goalposts keep moving per se, it's that they haven't really been established yet. So what's going on behind people's newly closed doors? 
We have the news, vlogs, blogs...a wealth of "behind the scenes" intel, but I want to be a peephole - Gogglebox style - into people's living rooms, as the outside is brought in. 

Who better (because she is one of only 3 isolation allies I've got) to interview first than my mum! Beautifully relaxed, utterly uncensored and candidly frank, we discuss our Quarantime as a four-man band who only spend time together in dinner-sized bites, via WhatsApp, or boozed and brash over the festive period (how very modern.) Oh, and my hapless attempt at producing, editing and publishing (despite the wealth of YouTube clips to help me) is scoffable. Forgive me; enjoy it; stay safe & sanitise!

Thank you for listening. H x

Quarantime - The Inaugural Episode! With my mum

Hello Quaranteeners! It's day 5 DC (during corona) and it is as bamboozling and boozy as I expected. 

On today is a very special duo - Louis, a nearest and dearest University friend, and his Gorgeous Granny, Anne, whose dichotomous but ultimately similar views of their Quarantime together show us how the fundamentals of quarantining are relatively similar for all us layman: even when compared with the Polio outbreak of the 1950s. We talk paper rounds, overwatered tomatoes and outrageous grandsons, and it was a delight to have them on (albeit before they got cruelly cut off by poor connection, right at the very end.)

Stay safe and sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x

Quarantime 4 - Lovely Lou & Granny Anne

Hello Quaranteeners! We are officially in lockdown. Close those doors, don't stockpile that food, and settle in for an indefinite future of online shopping and mid morning wine. 

Anna, one of my closest and wisest friends, joins me from what sounds like the inside of a tin can this week to talk all things corona in Kew. Quarantining with her family, just like me, can cause friction and with Kew Gardens full of middle class lycra-wearing bandits on bicycles, there are limited places for her to escape to. So, we discuss finding inner solace, the beauty of candles and whether you're allowed to use the phrase whet your whistle with your parents. 

It's candid, crass, and colourful - all things I value in a true friendship. Stay safe & sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x

Quarantime 3 - In a Tin Can with Ann

Hello Quaranteeners! We're a week in and I'm eating sardines for breakfast and porridge for dinner. Between these questionable lapses of judgement, I find some peace and sanity whilst talking to Ellie, my oldest friend of all time. I dip my hat and breakfast club fist pump the air for her and her boyfriend who, having recently moved in together, are now facing the corona quarantine challenge of isolating together. 

From coffee breaks dangling out the window with her parents to truffle oil meal prepping, I enjoyed hearing about lockdown London with a glass of silky white with a very good friend of mine - and I hope you do too!

Stay safe & sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x

Quarantime 2 - In Ellie's Basement

Hello Quaranteeners! I’ve made it to five guests and run out of friends! I am more than glad, however, that I managed to get Flora on Quarantime, who is my first key worker. Flora brings a very different perspective on the situation - how to translate the message of lockdown to the residents of the halfway house she works in, plan for their uncertain future and turn all our empty wine bottles into everlasting living room decor! She is doing a fantastic, worthwhile job and it is my pleasure to be the vector for her to share her message with the world. 

Enjoy listening, stay safe & sanitise! H x

Quarantime 5 - My First Key Worker!

I'm new to the podcast scene. It's quarantine and I have time on my hands. I've made bread and bought a yoga mat. Apart from tiktok, what else is there to do? Time to employ my bad chat for some clumsy, candid and crass conversation about the new normal. 

It's a weird period with no finish line. It's not that the goalposts keep moving per se, it's that they haven't really been established yet. So what's going on behind people's newly closed doors? 
We have the news, vlogs, blogs...a wealth of "behind the scenes" intel, but I want to be a peephole - Gogglebox style - into people's living rooms, as the outside is brought in. In this unprecedented period, I want to use social media as a force for good. Not for scaremongering, but for supporting each other in any way - which for me, is a hapless attempt to bring the semblance of a smile to your face. 

Apologies for the intermittent connection and poor sound quality, it is a worthy price to pay for socially distant podcast production.  

Enjoy listening, leave comments, stay safe & sanitise! H

Quarantime with Harriet McLean