Other Lives Are Available

On a Brick Lane corner, sitting by a collection of paintings, we talk about selling art, being a market trader as a student teacher, recording as a backing singer, and easing back on work. "I used to go down to Deptford Market on a Saturday evening, pick up what the traders had left and then sell it here on Sunday mornings... I had an old tennis request from the 1950s, roller skates, you name...

Wheeling slowly through the park backwards we talk about the unknown of the everyday, connections with crows, understanding pain, and travelling with his father through death. "When he died it was like his spirit went through me, went into every single molecule of my being, and it was like total enlightenment, indescribable, it was like pure love". #otherlivesareavailable #eastlondon #po...

This chat takes in Tolstoy, separating past culture from present , being a Latvian in London, striving to learn more, and becoming a leader. "It's an ambition of everyone who moves from a small town life to a big city life, it's an ambition to always want more and to always want to be better, to be seen. Because if you are not seen, you are drowning". #otherlivesareavailable #pod...

This walk 'n talk with two dogs is about physically powering through until you can't, being lonely in the dark times, finding community, clearing the pipes of a lifetime of stuff, being open to others, and why London is for everyone. "It's so interesting hearing people's stories, and it's actually food for the soul, it doesn't have to be anything major... and if people...

This chat on a boat is about losing a bit of your toilet, therapy to deal with a move to land, using a hand drill to power a short voyage, handing on a business to your daughter, and living in the public eye. "If I want to go outside I'm there in a towpath thoroughfare, and it gets very busy, and I know a lot of people and everyone says hello as they come by... even if you don't know...

This is a chat about getting old, stopping the things you like doing, helping your granddaughter, living with cancer, running till you're 84, and surviving a stroke. "Next thing I remember I was on the floor... but I was lucky I could crawl, if the bathroom door had been shut I wouldn't have got out of there... and I thought 'what's happening?'". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #85

This chat is all about being a new dad, as Joe sits on a park bench with his 10 day old son on his chest. The craziness of becoming a parent, the feelings, the reality, the hopes, the massive change it brings. "There's nothing more transfixing than watching his little face as he sleeps". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #newborn

In a heatwave on the dusty grass, we chat about up north, community, imperfection, and the value of artists. "Sometimes my mind’s too busy and I can't really convey what I want to... so sometimes I just say 'not today, I'll try again tomorrow', coz there's no point in pushing through to point where I'm just going to get more frustrated that I can't do it the way I...

This conversation is about moving country for your partner, the good life in Australia, having a plan B, career change choices, and not saving money in London. "When I do sometimes think about my future it is exciting, but there is also a level of anxiety attached with the unknown. But I am mindful of trying to stay present... you focus on the anxiety and the worry... and then you reflect lat...

On a Sunday morning, sitting on a bench by the canal, we chat about working behind the iron curtain, growing fruit on a kibbutz, turning down a proposal in Canada, tears at the Sistene chapel, family ties, and retirement. "I didn't really think about missing people, I didn't really foresee that being a huge part of it" #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #family

This walk 'n talk is about the bond of sisters, freelance life, cooperative acting, WhatsApp voice notes, chatting with customers, and the small moments that make life good. "I've always been someone that's on the go, like even since I was a child my parents were like "you never sat still, we could never get you to bed!"... but I think I thrive off it a bit... running is...

This chat along a canal and into a park is about not fitting into a normal job, working out your limitations, setting up @thelowstudios and building a creative community. "As a buddhist I believe in Karma... every action has an equal and opposite action. By acting in a way that's good natured and genuine... you might stumble but you'll always find your feet... a lot of the times I hav...

Early on a sunny morning we chat about a dog who brings calm, a difficult childhood, community gardening, and not getting on with your Mum. "Everyone goes through sh*t, but it's how you come out of that, that shapes who you are as a human being... because I had lots of horrible experiences growing up, that hasn't shaped me as a person, it hasn't made me bitter, it hasn't made me twisted". #otherli...

This chat by the Thames starts with a love of planes, then goes on to the history of a family divided by World War II, the excitement of taking part in student protests in communist Poland, and why the Chernobyl nuclear accident still affects Anne's health. "I was feeling like I was in a real battle, the noise of it, the shouts... and then there was the gas... as young people we were goin...

This chat on a hot sunny day @mario_icecream is about a family business, giving up your summers, and working hard at a job you love. "If you look back into the 1980s, I believe across the whole UK there was over 68,000 ice cream traders, however … we are now down to around 8,400, because it’s a dying industry. And it’s a shame because it’s part of British culture… when there’s no ice cream vans in...

This chat in Bethnal Green is about the social benefit of a charity shop, buying a coffee for a stranger, the shrinking geography of London with age, and cleaning a telephone box. “If you’re someone who lives alone and you’re in your late 70s or late 80s… just to have interaction with a human being is absolutely fabulous… and sometimes they turn round, especially in winter time, and say ‘thank you...

This chat on a stormy day is about figuring out your identity at 19, learning to be an adult, french military service lasting one day, being stood up on a date, the comfort of your home area, losing friends as a teenager and learning to win them back. “I fell out with my friends, and my automatic response was just like ‘I’m going to be your worst nightmare!’… everybody was against me, for good rea...

This chat with @muchsigns is about pulling a line, a career that starts with a chance meeting in a pub, excessive pollen, glass tarot cards, and a supportive trade. "Sometimes you do have to kind of have nerves of steel for some jobs, and it's quite performative... even when you're not being watched or filmed you have to get your mind into the right space". #otherlivesareavailabl...

This chat is about street racing, doing a job that you enjoy, not heeding your own Dad's advice, and growing up your kids. "It's problems that they know that they've caused... and they're going to call Dad to back them up... As much as I'm always going to be on their side... for my sons when they come to me 'Dad, listen this happened', I'll be like 'OK, I t...

At the ground of Clapton CFC (www.claptoncfc.co.uk) we talk about how the fans created the club from scratch, what it stands for, the Spanish connection, and why it's about far more than football. "When you come to this club the team, the volunteers, are playing for an idea. Not for themselves, for an idea... and that is how community can come back together again, reconstitute itself into...

This conversation in Bethnal Green is about the rights of cleaners, the power of a strike, representing migrant workers, and the support @unitedvoicesoftheworld provides to its members. "We're small and mighty but we're growing every day. We started in pubs, in cafes, having informal conversations, representing cleaners... and now we're almost 5000 members and growing". (http...

On a beach at low tide we chat about being away from the crowd, the history scattered on the shingle, collecting things, and dancing the tango. "There is an intimate connection, which is an unusual thing in our world... and then you leave, and that's the nice thing, you leave. So it's clear after 3 or 4 dances it's over". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #tango

This chat happens in a terraced house at dusk. It's about unions, the benefits system, helping others, opera, getting old, and saving a local market. "I can't think when I last invoked the fact that I was 81 and couldn't do this or that... I'm lucky being in this area, because you've got a very high asian population and they still have that respect for older people"....

This chat starts with a second time round read, and goes on to age and wisdom, the mirror of gossip, the need to perform, and having something to say. "People go and listen to a piece of poetry, a piece of music because it challenges you, makes you think... or they go there to be seen... 'that person's performed a story, or that song or that poem... explaining my experience, now I am...

On the pavement outside @cherryblossom_beautysalon we chat about planting flowers in a public space, the determination to carry on when your efforts get vandalised, inner beauty, growing up in the countryside, and knowing two cultures. "We help people to find themselves... it's not just about the way you look... we show them their beauty". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon...