Absolute Units

Send us Fan Mail Content warning : This episode contains references to animal slaughter, antisemitism, and injury to children. Listener discretion is advised. Joe and Ollie continue their deep-dive into the history of pigs with Professor Dolly Jørgensen (University of Stavanger, Norway). This time, we explore the symbolism of pigs: from their significance in our myths and religious texts, to their...

Send us Fan Mail Content warning : This episode contains references to animal slaughter and blood. Listener discretion is advised. In medieval England, all roads led to pigs. They lived side-by-side with humans, and were a common sight in daily life. In this episode, Ollie and Joe speak to historian Dolly Jørgensen (Professor of History at University of Stavanger, Norway) about what it was like to...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 4 marked the end of our pilot series, produced by a group of extremely talented students from the University of Reading. Now, we're at the wheel planning future episodes. The tractor wheel of our mind and our dreams. In the meantime: for a shorter bonus adventure, join hosts Dr Ollie Douglas (curator) and Joe Vaughan (social media manager) as they reflect on the podca...

Send us Fan Mail How has our understanding of ecology in farming changed in time? What makes a pest a pest? And is an aphid chimney as metal as it sounds? Join Dr Alice Mauchline (University of Reading) to learn about changes in modern farm management. We course from the green revolution of the 1950s (the same era our work began) to the present day. This episode is introduced by Dr Ollie Douglas (...

Send us Fan Mail What do documentary makers and museum have in common? How do we choose which stories to tell, and how to tell them?  Join Dr Shweta Ghosh, Lecturer in Screen Practices and Industries at the University of Reading, as we discuss storytelling, film-making, spices and tea, and rural connections between India and England. Visit Shweta's website: https://shwetaghoshdotcom.wordpress...

Send us Fan Mail Why did people in the past make paintings of impossibly big animals? What does art teach us about the history of the countryside? And how do we work with artists today to explore the past, present and future of rural England? Here to unpack these questions and guide you through our art collections is Dr Hannah Lyons, Curator of the University of Reading Art Collection. See some of...

Send us Fan Mail In April 2018, we shared a photo of a very large sheep on Twitter with the caption 'look at this absolute unit'. Before we knew it, this sheep had changed our museum's fortunes forever. For our first-ever episode of Absolute Units, we're joined by Adam Koszary – former MERL social media manager from 2012 to 2019 and father of the Absolute Unit post–to revisit t...

Send us Fan Mail EPISODE 1 NOW LIVE It's just like all the other podcasts you love, but instead of trying to sell you mattresses and underwear we're explaining everything you always wanted to know about the history of rural England but never knew to ask. Why the name? Well, we're known for the Internet's most famous sheep, an 'absolute unit' who first went viral in 20...