Coffee & Geography

Kit spends a morning with Suzanne, Faye and Jan, three cooperative members of the Natural Foodstore Cooperative in Diss, Norfolk, UK. They chat about the store, its products and what it means for the community. Some links to things mentioned in the chat: - Wilkinson's of Norwich (https://www.wilkinsonsofnorwich.co.uk/) - NatureFlex (https://www.natureflex.com/uk/) - Anglian Organics (https://www.a...

Kit chats to Rebecca Nestor & Caroline Fernandez about tacking climate anxiety, active hope through conversations, knitting, TV box sets amongst other things! Rebecca is a climate activist and climate psychologist, and a recovering doctoral student at the University of Essex. She works mostly through the Climate Psychology Alliance, where she is on the board of directors and lead on climate cafes,...

Kit and Alexis Bahn chat about growing up with wolves, comparing Montana to Texas and the Netherlands, psychological impacts on sleep post Hurricane Harvey, reading and writing fantasy novels, amongst other things! Alexis was raised by wolves, but now she studies the brain! Alexis love questions about how we learn, what happens while we sleep, and how our emotions effect... all of it! She has live...

Kit and Esther Lemmens drink fresh mint tea, chatting about swapping Holland for Norfolk, gender identity and conformity, being a first-time published author, switching to natural washing products, amongst other things! Esther (she/they) is a creator, artist, podcaster, budding writer, truth seeker, gentle activist, and queer mystic. Generally non-conforming, she likes to refer to herself as a ‘re...

Kit and Cat Poh sip a brew chatting about accessibility in education, ADHD, George Michael, amongst other things! Cat Poh is a Geography Teacher who big on environmental philosophy, critical, feminist and Indigenous geographies. She has always felt very sensitive to the environment around her, be it built or grown. Weather, climate, birds, buildings, light and trees have always changed how Cat fee...

This is the Coffee & Geography Podcast's 50th episode! Kit celebrates by reflecting on some of the conversations they have had over the past year or so, discussing them with an audience. What can we learn from such 'everyday conversations'? Starting as a pandemic ‘comfort project’ but growing into something so much more, Coffee and Geography was a podcast where I simply chatted to people. These ch...

Kit and Jeremy Patrich share an iced tea, chatting about ‘backyard geography’, using geography education to enhance opportunities, Disney history, amongst other things! Professor Jeremy Patrich is the Backyard Geographer. He has taught hundreds of geography and geology courses at Colleges and Universities across the State of California and has taken thousands of students on field trips to explore...

Kit and Francis Mpakati catch up about teaching high school in Malawi, importing cars into the country, the impact of global geopolitics, the tragic but incredible story of his uncle, amongst other things! Francis is an ex-English teacher, teaching for many years at a secondary school in Dedza. Now he lives with his wife and children in the capital city Lilongwe and owns his own business importing...

Kit and Millie brew some Brew Tea Co. English Breakfast Tea, chatting about the 11-plus, imposter syndrome, machine learning, mapping invasive shrubs in Alaska, trophic cascades, amongst other things! Millie has just finished her degree at Durham university in Geography. Her dissertation looked at how the current subsidy system affects farmers and how changes would impact them. Millie is currently...

Kit, Adena Schutzberg & Kelly Jenkins sip some Postum and Ginger Ale, chatting about running 100 miles, the influence of geography on trans rights, disc golf, amongst other things! Adena Schutzberg has been a GIS user, marketer, and industry analyst who currently works in geography and GIS education as part of Esri’s Learn ArcGIS Team. She has too much fun playing the clarinet in community bands a...

Kit and Emily Butler brew some Tetley tea, chatting about life in Qatar teaching at an international school, sustainability in the country, a love of cats, amongst other things! Emily loves travel, nature and animals. This has encouraged her to see the world! She teaches internationally in Qatar, I teach the courses for IB and IGCSE Edexcel. Emily has implemented eco-schools into my previous and c...

A special episode recorded on-location during the three-day Geographical Association National Conference at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. Kit takes their portable recording equipment and speaks to numerous conference delegates, speakers and exhibitors while all consuming numerous cups of tea and coffee. Get an insight into what geography teachers and academics often get up to during the...

Kit and Seán Ferrick whip up some instant coffee, chatting about growing up in Dublin, gays in space, geography in Star Trek, amongst other things! Seán is a slight Star Trek addict, who is trying day by day to make the world a better place - even if that means just by sharing a kind word here or there. He is a content creator, based primarily with TrekCulture, bringing news, reviews, and behind-t...

Kit and Alistair enjoy some Sumatran dark forest coffee bags, chatting about the Giant’s Causeway, historic connotations and identity in accents and community, the troubles in Northern Ireland, Shared Education, being in a rock band, amongst other things! Alistair is an unashamed optimist who, even after 3 decades in the classroom, has not become cynical and has no intention of doing so now. He lo...

Kit and Cerys enjoy a Strawberry & Nutella Pancakes Tea, chatting about quirks of Norfolk & Welsh culture, being a seal warden, stand-up comedy, amongst other things! Cerys is first and foremost, is a proud Norfolk local! She completed her undergraduate at Swansea University where she was the University's Environment Officer for the 2020/21 academic year. Cerys have since come home to the "fine ci...

Kit talks to Linh Ho enjoying a Swiss Hot Chocolate, chatting about energy meteorology, modern-day Vietnam, getting motion sickness, amongst other things! Linh is a thinker, joker, dreamer. She can be nerdy or artistic, serious or chill, spontaneous or well-planned. Linh loves enjoying the nature, and spending days solving problems on my computer, alternately. She is a PhD student specializing in...

Kit talks to Louis Vis chatting about the stereotypes about geography teachers, being a ‘third culture kid’, how being multilingual impacts your identity, fireworks for retiring French train drivers, amongst other things! Born in Belgium to French and British parents, Louis was brought up as a third-culture kid. This helped him to develop a strong interest in people, places, and the world around u...

Kit talks to Helen Ilus enjoying a JFK Indian Instant Coffee coffee, chatting about roaming urban and rural landscapes, public transport, creating Tube Map-like walking aids, baking ciabatta, amongst other things! Helen is an independent graphic designer and aspiring map publisher who gets inspiration from nature, books and travel. She has a small studio in Tallinn, Estonia, where she makes maps a...

Kit chats to Professor James Cheshire over a sip of coffee from the Wood Street Roasters, talking about his new book 'Atlas of the Invisible', his rescue dog, amongst other things! James is professor of geographical information and cartography at the Department of Geography at University College London. He also engages in funded research using new types of data that looks into the future of the hi...

Kit chats to Daryl Sinclair over a sip of Pukka Cleanse Herbal Tea chatting about the concept of ‘each one, teach one’, student leadership, the pressures brought on by the education system, voice and identity, having diabetes, amongst other things! Based in Germany, Geography Teacher Daryl is a young conversationalist and fan of the 'each one teach one' idea focusing on the world today. Rather tha...

Kit chats to Phil Humphreys over a cup of Oxfordshire Co-Op ground coffee, chatting about the Oxfordshire landscape, old maps, rubbing shoulders with the legends at Lords (Cricket Ground), amongst other things! Geography teacher Phil is passionate, caring, happy (most of the time), tired (all of the time), lover of coffee, good times and running. He is particularly passionate about creating the ne...

A slightly different flavour for this episode as Kit is given a virtual table at the Geographical Association's 2022 Geography Teacher Educators (GTE) Conference. At the coffee breaks in-between sessions, Kit is joined by Amber Riches from the University of Sunderland, trainee teachers Ellie Bullock and Emily Bratt, GA President and friend of the podcast Alan Parkinson, conference lead-organiser E...

Kit chats to Andy Poulastides over a White Russian, chatting about London’s urban sprawl, European heritage, spaceships and dropping in as many Sci-Fi references as possible, amongst other things! Andy is a podcaster, photographer and ‘sci-fi aficionado’. 6 ft, about 175lb, dark brown hair, beard, usually seen in jeans and quirky sci-fi t-shirt. Andy does actually identify as a geographer because,...

Coffee & Geography returns for a second season, kicking off with Kit chatting to Lauren Sinclair and Surya Panyam over a masala chai and Coava coffee, chatting about mapathons, the student-teacher relationship, butchering chickens, amongst other things! Lauren Sinclair is a Where's Waldo and Carmen SanDiego aficionado who teaches GIS (digital mapping) to middle schoolers in Portland, Oregon in the...

Season 1 of the Coffee & Geography Podcast has come to a close. It's been my first full foray into podcating as a host and producer and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, the production side of things hass been taxing at times, but I've loved developing new skills. But without a shadow of a doubt it has been all the guests that have given me the most pleasure. Rather than giving my highlights and...