Getting Better Acquainted

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....

In GBA 196 we get better acquainted with Siobhan. She talks about making comedy, being a sign language interpreter, the politics of marriage, honeymooning in lapland, grief and bereavement, spreading eccentric joy, feminism, being an identical twin and so much more. The conversation focused on Siobhan's breasts much more than either of us were expecting. Siobhan plugs: We Are Funny Variety @ Dirty...

In GBA 195 we get better acquainted with Jess. He talks about positivity as a political act, being a tour guide, the representation of minority religions, teaching English in China, the impact of his sister's life and death on his family and exploring the infinite and the unknown. Jess plugs: Upcoming short film in production: working title Duty of Care: http://www.ideastap.com/People/Jess-Brownri...

In GBA 194 we get better acquainted with Paula Varjack. She talks about finding herself through becoming someone else, creating performed documentary, how money and art and identity intersect, singing the Cat in the Hat to the tune of Radiohead's Creep, the ethical and practical concerns of producing shows and more. I also get a chance to tease out some of the nuances around my attitude to copyrig...

In GBA 193 we get better acquainted with Dan Simpson. He talks about performance and process, working with words, learning acceptance, geek culture, categorising the arts and lots more. Dan plugs: Anti-Slam Anti-Valantines - 14th Feb Hackney Attic: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Hackney_Picturehouse/film/Anti_Slam_Valentine_S_Special/ Varjack and Simpson: http://varjackandsimpson.tumblr.com...

In GBA 192 we get better acquainted with Amy. She talks about asking who is Helen of Troy, gender and performance, the cultural experience of Third Culture Kids, diversity in the arts, feminism, mythology, identity and more. Amy plugs: GAP Salon: https://gapsalon.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/gapsalon https://twitter.com/GAPsalon The Helen Project: http://www.amyclaretasker.com/di...

In GBA 191 we get better acquainted with Jonathan Blake. He is one of the real people who are fictionalised in the film Pride. We talk about being played by Dominic West, living with HIV, LGBT rights and homophobia, the politics of the left, coming out, housing cooperatives, acting, activism, costume making and more. Content Note: Discussion of suicide, depression, living with HIV, homophobia, tra...

In this Getting Better Acquainted Extra I follow up last year's Uncertain New Year episode with a round up of how 2014 actually panned out for me, mixed in with some true stories that I told told at Risk!, Spark London and Stand Up Tragedy. It's a bumper sized episode but it's much shorter than the year it sums up. The true stories and reflections cover some dark times both from this year and from...

In GBA 190 we get better acquainted with Christmas (again). It's the 2014 Christmas Special and this time we focus more on the complicated than the uplifting. The majority of the episode is a conversation between me and my friend Nina, two people with a complicated relationship with Christmas swapping our war stories. Also so featured in the episode is a story of recent Christmas joy from Connor a...

In GBA 189 we get better acquainted with Heather. She talks about how faith and theatre has influenced her passion for working with young people and in getting involved with LGBT rights, her methodist upbringing and personal relationship with God, the experience of being pregnant and how she first knew me as "Pajama Boy". Heather Plugs: Speaking up for other people's rights. The only thing necessa...

In GBA 188 we get better acquainted with Tim. He talks about mathematical physics, particle accelerators, the dark matter that may form the universe, E=mc2, films, playing the bass, being a twin, having a happy childhood and more. Tim Plugs: His website: http://www.t-j-walton.co.uk/ We mention: Edinburgh Special: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-15-edinburgh-festival Large Hadron...

In GBA 187 we get better acquainted with Hannah. She talks about connecting with people, about the crack in everything that lets the light get in, about rootlessness, relationships, family, love, death and pain. It's a conversation that threads itself around how facebook can connect and dissect people, making your life into fiction and finding out what how people relate and connect to each other....

In GBA 186 we get better acquainted with Connor. In a glass house late at night in the cold eating crisps we have a conversation where all roads lead back to radio, passing through Ireland, Brussels, China, childhood, The Third Coast Festival, In the Dark and more. There's also lot's of podcast talk. Connor plugs: In the Dark: http://www.inthedarkradio.org/ Invisible Picture Palace: http://invisib...

In GBA 185 we get better acquainted with Mike Jackson. I met Mike at theFocus E15 Mothers Occupation earlier this year and he is one of the real people who are fictionalised in the film Pride. We talk about the personal and the political, going through class experience and class struggle, LGBT rights, solidarity between differently oppressed groups, consciousness raising, activist and trade union...

In GBA 184 we get better acquainted with Duncan. He talks about writing for theatre, day jobs, The West Yorkshire Playhouse writer's programme, the Royal Court Theatre Young Writer's Programme, getting involved in youth theatre, studying law, challenging your own beliefs and attitudes, moral ambiguity and growing up in Malvern. Duncan doesn't plug anything but you can find him here: https://twitte...

In GBA 183 we get better acquainted with Vicky who I met through the Ministry of Stories where she works and we talk about engaging children through creative writing, working in a Monster Supplies shop, the human capacity for learning, how the French Horn is received in folk clubs, commuting between the country and the city, the joys of birdwatching, navigating the education system and so much mor...

In GBA 182 we get better acquainted with Reni Eddo-Lodge. She talks about coming to mainstream journalism via activism and blogging, analyzing how power works, how the both the left and the media are held back by viewing everything through the lens of middle class white men, the "Great Intersectionality Wars" of 2012, black feminism, cultural capital, critical race theory and more. If that makes t...

In GBA 181 we get better acquainted with Kary. We talk about making Ministry of Stories for Cbeebies Radio, journeying into radio via 90's alternative music, living in many countries, practicing and teaching kundalini yoga. As often happens when talking to someone who also does interviews the tables are occasionally turned. Expect adventures, narrative, conscious living, feminism and more! Kary pl...

In GBA 180 we get better acquainted with George. He talks about connecting with comics and manga as a child , being told being an animator wasn't for him by his careers adviser, going to art school, and making a living as an animator. We also cover memory, libraries, Hong Kong and more. George (http://www.georgecheng.co.uk/) plugs: Your local library. I plug: This blogpost: http://davepickeringblo...

In GBA 179 we get better acquainted with Focus E15 Mothers. I talk to some of the people involved in the political struggle taking place at the Carpenters Estate, where a group of mothers and their supporters have turned some uninhabited (but perfectly fit to be inhabited) flats into a social centre serving the community and raising awareness of the harsh realities of local and national housing po...

In GBA 178 we get better acquainted with Bouncy Poppy Songs About Death. Join me, Hayley and George at a listening party for the new album by The Reactionaries. It's the first time we'd all sat down and listened to the finished album together. Plugs: Bouncy Poppy Songs About Death on bandcamp: https://thereactionaries1.bandcamp.com/releases Our eponymous first album on soundcloud: https://soundclo...

In GBA 177 we get better acquainted with Daniel. He talks magic, twitter, words, comedy and opinions and has opinions and apologies for having opinions on all of those pursuits. The conversation is a delightful dance of arrogant self-deprecation and comfortable social awkwardness with some live card tricks thrown into the mix. Daniel plugs: @daniel_barker: https://twitter.com/daniel_barker Buying...

In GBA 176 we get better acquainted with Eithne. She talks about movement between cultures, both her own global travel experiences and the experiences and issues facing groups of migrants within London . She also talks about working on equality and diversity within museums, telling her own stories in memoir and on stage and introduces me to the concept of Intangible Heritage. Content note: Some co...

In GBA 175 we get better acquainted with Neil Denny. He talks about balancing and compartmentalizing his day job and his "hobby" (producing and presenting the podcast and radio show Little Atoms). We get into class, road-trips across America, whether prayer or masturbation is the more shameful act, being both inside and outside the media and lots more. Neil plugs: His podcast and radio show Little...

In this GBA Extra James McKay recites Imperfect Enjoyment by Rochester for your NSFW enjoyment. Rochester: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester James: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-169-james-mckay