Queen Mary History of Emotions

As part of 'The Sound of Anger' series, cultural historian Fern Riddell speaks with Thomas Dixon about gender, emotions, and politics. Fern is an expert on the histories of suffragism and sexuality and the author of a biography of the radical suffragette Kitty Marion, called 'Death In Ten Minutes'. Fern and Thomas debate the meaning of 'anger', how it looks and feels, whether it is always expresse...

Do we live in an age of rage? And if so, what can we learn about our furious feelings, and how to control them, from the experiences and ideas of great thinkers in the past? Those are the questions explored in a pair of thought-provoking and darkly funny new audio dramas by playwright Craig Baxter, commissioned by the Living With Feeling project at Queen Mary University of London’s Centre for the...

Historian of emotions Thomas Dixon completes his personal odyssey through the history, feelings, and meanings of angry emotions. In this episode, he asks whether domestic, everyday anger is the same thing as political anger, and wonders about the relationship between angry dads, angry protesters, and emotional health. Thomas hates his own anger and dreams of a world with no anger, but learns reaso...

Historian of emotions Thomas Dixon continues his exploration of angry emotions. In this episodes he tries to discover how anger sounds, feels, and looks. Again, diversity seems to be the norm. Different bodies feel furious in different ways, and not all cultures have the same ways of expressing emotions. Thomas hears from opera singer Lore Lixenberg, political journalist Jo-Anne Nadler, and histor...

As part of 'The Sound of Anger' series, psychologist Jim Russell is in conversation with historian of emotions Thomas Dixon about the idea of "anger" and basic emotions. Jim is an internationally recognised expert on the psychology of emotions and explains Paul Ekman's ideas about 'basic emotions' and the problems with the theory, especially in relation to facial expressions.

Do we live in an age of rage? And if so, what can we learn about our furious feelings, and how to control them, from the experiences and ideas of great thinkers in the past? Those are the questions explored in a pair of thought-provoking and darkly funny new audio dramas by playwright Craig Baxter, commissioned by the Living With Feeling project at Queen Mary University of London’s Centre for the...

In this opening episode of a new podcast series about anger from the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, historian of emotions Thomas Dixon sets out to discover what anger really is. He meets experts including psychologists and historians, and confronts his own furious demons, in an attempt to find an answer. Is there a "basic emotion" of anger or only a range of loosely related fur...

This is a recording of a May 2019 panel discussion at Queen Mary, University of London, on the question 'should universities teach well-being?' There is, apparently, a mental health crisis in higher education. Student referrals for counselling are soaring, and according to one study, 40% of PhDs are depressed or anxious. Students in Bristol took to the streets to demand better mental health servic...

Historian Jane Mackelworth thinks about the place of gifts in loving relationships, including romantic partnerships between women. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

In this episode, historian Evelien Lemmens asks what a 'gut feeling' might be and explores Victorian worries about emotions and indigestion. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

Historian of emotions Edgar Gerrard Hughes reflects on the ways that sounds, or silence, could express grief and mourning, especially in the nineteenth century. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

Discover some of the surprising meanings of 'ecstasy' with philosopher and emotional explorer Jules Evans. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

Richard Firth-Godbehere talks about the psychology of modern 'disgust' and ask what light history can shed on this emotion. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

Sarah Chaney talks about the history of assumptions made about nursing, gender, and the emotions of care. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

Historian David Saunders talks about his research into the science and experience of anxiety in the twentieth century. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions.

In this episode, Thomas Dixon reads some extracts from his favourite text about angry emotions, the Roman philosopher Seneca's treatise on rage - De Ira. This is one of a series of short podcasts exploring what we do at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, and also a part of 'The Sound of Anger' podcast series. It was produced by Natalie Steed.

Dr Tim Read is a consultant psychiatrist who worked for 20 years at the Royal Free Hospital. He's also the author of Walking Shadows: Archetype and Psyche in Crisis and Growth, and a member of the Psychiatry and Spirituality working group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Here, he discusses 'archetypal crises' - moments which can combine aspects of spiritual awakening with psychotic episodes....

Anthony Fidler discusses how western psychiatry failed to help him when he experienced occasional episodes of highly altered states (also called psychosis). Instead, he learned to navigate through these states of consciousness using mindfulness, connection practices, and other spiritual tools. Does western culture need to find a better relationship to extreme states of consciousness? Can such expe...

Geoff Mulgan is the CEO of NESTA, former director of the Number 10 policy unit, co-founder of Demos, co-founder of Action for Happiness, and a key figure in the British 'politics of well-being'. We discussed the history of this movement, its successes and failures, and what Britain's new 'minister for loneliness' can do to combat this problem. We also discussed why academics on the left tend to be...

Dr Guy Hayward is a sort of guerrilla agitator for Anglicanism, helping connect its cultural treasure to the majority of British people who no longer consider themselves Christian. A chorister and cabaret singer, he's also the founder of two initiatives - the British Pilgrimage Trust (co-founded with Will Parsons), which works to re-open and publicize ancient pilgrimage routes around the UK; and w...

A podcast exploring the ideas and history of “normal’. How do you measure up? Where are you on the scale? And what about your children? One late Autumn night, on the third floor of Barts pathology museum, amongst the specimens pickled in their glass jars, the tight lacers liver and the bound Chinese foot, researchers from QMUL Centre for the History of Emotions gathered together an exhibition of l...

"Death to all daft and emotional neurotypicals who love soap operas!" Paul and Elizabeth Wady both have an autism diagnosis. In his book, Guerilla Aspies, and show of the same name, Paul Wady offers a conversion course for neurotypicals, inviting them to join the "new normal". In this podcast, one of a series of three about the idea of "normal" they talk to Natalie Steed about neurotypicals and ne...

One evening in November 2016, as part of the Being Human Festival, David Saunders invited seventy-three individuals into a small room on the third floor of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Once there, they disclosed their hopes, fears, and anxieties to a tape recorder. They were taking part in a restaging of a “revolutionary” therapeutic exercise called Psychic Driving. It was part of the Museum of the...

This is the third and final session from the Flourishing University seminar at the Centre for the History of the Emotions, which explored wellbeing in university from an interdisciplinary perspective. This session explored wellbeing among PhDs, staff, and wider society. Speakers: Amber Davis: The Happy PhD - PhD student mental health and well-being Sally Rose, psychotherapist at Leeds University:...

This is the second session of the Flourishing University seminar at the Centre for the History of the Emotions, held at Queen Mary, University of London on Friday September 8. This session looked at courses and interventions for student wellbeing in psychology and the humanities. The speakers are: Dr Oliver Robinson, University of Greenwich psychology lecturer: The transitions of higher education...