Getting Better Acquainted

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: war, medical operations, suicidal ideation I’m still pretty terrified of my dad stopping existing. He has been such a part of my life that it feels like a world without him in it is impossible. But ever since I was a child, I have been imagining that world. I’ve played out his death so many times. I’ve written it into fiction and songs. I’ve spent hours in my mind going through how it will be. What I might think and do. How it will affect me. How it will affect my family. And I’ve always thought it would probably happen soon. But it never has. This episode is about confronting death and confronting love. It includes the story of my dad's war and of his heart attack and quadruple heart bypass. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com F

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: PTSD, dependency/addiction, rape (touched on lightly, no descriptions) In the fifth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to psychologist and epidemiologist Dr Suzi Gage from the podcast Say Why to Drugs about researching recreational drug use and mental health. Say Why to Drugs with Dr Suzi Gage: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/say-why-to-drugs/id1114492774 Say Why to Drugs by Dr Suzi Gage: https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/suzi-gage/ Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunl

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues This episode is about creating things: imaginary worlds, homes and friendship. It's also about walls: drawing on walls, putting up boundaries, and pulling down the walls inside your mind and heart. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: Suicide, self-harm, bereavement, war, antisemitism, the Nazis, COVID-19 In the fourth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to health psychologist Professor Rory O'Connor about researching suicidal behaviour. And to historian Professor Julie Gottlieb about researching suicide increases in times of crisis, specifically during the "War of Nerves" (1938-1939) and the Munich Crisis (September/October 1938). Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: sexism, misogyny, questionable behavior, power dynamics and age gaps within romantic and sexual situations. When I made a show about my relationship with masculinity, I talked a lot about my mum and my stepdad, but my dad hardly featured at all. When he did, he was a positive presence and represented an alternative version of masculinity. When you’re trying to condense your history into an hour-long show, you have to leave some bits out. But there’s also something inside me that doesn’t want to deconstruct my dad. I don’t want to mess too much with the positive parts of my childhood. This episode is about masculinity, privilege and performance. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you ca

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues It’s important to keep in mind that the story of my relationship with my dad is only one part of his life. It’s only one of the ways he has been a father: the context of my childhood has been very different from the context of my siblings’ childhoods. While he was retired for most of my life, for the rest of my siblings, he was someone who went out to work.  This episode is about friendship, parenting, love and care. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: Bereavement, suicide, disability, abortion, terminal illness In the third full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to three doctors with different perspectives and experiences that inform their opinions around assisted dying and euthanasia, something my dad has long advocated for and wishes was available to him. Dr Rob Jonquiere is the executive director of The World Federation of Right to Die Societies: https://www.worldrtd.net Dr Jacqueline Davis chairs Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying which is part of UK organisation Dignity in Dying: https://www.dignityindying.org.uk Dr Mark Pickering is chief executive officer of the Christian Medical Fellowship and part of UK organisation Care Not Killing: https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Memories are like desire paths: when you first walk down them, they are overgrown and full of details. The more you walk them, the more eroded they become; they are smoothed out and set. You get to what you remember more quickly, but what you remember has become something else. You no longer have to look for landmarks because there is a path for you to walk. This episode is about time memory, childhood, dementia and Citizen Kane. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as Down to a sunless sea whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues In the second full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to Dr Jonathan Huntley about the work he is doing looking into awareness in people living with advanced dementia. And to Dr Daniel Davis about the work he is doing looking at how delirium and dementia impact society and health at a population level.  Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note for this episode: Euthanasia, suicide Time is the longest distance between two places. Even when we are no longer here, we are always in time. This episode is about time travel, death, dementia and love. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues In the first full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to fellow Pulse Award recipient and podcaster Penny Bell. We compare notes on documenting a parent living with dementia, and discuss the similarities and differences between our parents' experience of, and attitude towards, dementia. You can find Penny's podcast Discovering Dementia wherever you get your podcasts. Here for example: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/discovering-dementia/id1239196983 Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues A document is a piece of evidence; a record; a proof of something. By this definition, we are all living documents, documents that may or may not be lost to history. What parts of us are recorded? What parts of us are seen? We record our lives and the lives of others, using our memory and our technology. We choose what to record, how we record it and how we present it, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously. We don’t always fully choose because we can only work with what we have; sometimes our choices are more restricted than others. We are all documents; we are all documenters; we are all Documentary Makers. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

Later this year I will be launching a Getting Better Acquainted mini series titled ‘Down to a Sunless Sea: Memories of my Dad’ about the my relationship with my dad, my dad's life story and his descent into dementia.The show will be be mixing clips from over 15 hours of interviews that I've done with my dad over the last 10 years with narrations based on these medium pieces: https://medium.com/@goosefat101 Additionally to the main thread of the show I've received The Pulse Award from the Wellcome Trust and British Podcast Awards to make some additional episodes that look at the science behind the issues covered which include dementia, heart conditions, mental health and euthanasia. https://fund.britishpodcastawards.com/news/50k-awarded-to-uk-podcasters/ As part of the requirements for this funding I'd really appreciate it if people who have listened to Getting Better Acquainted at some point since it launched in 2011 could fill in this survey: http://podcastviews.com It shouldn't take too long to fill i

After a year on hiatus from Getting Better Acquainted I return for a one-off extra episode to continue the tradition of beginning the new year with a round up of how the last year panned out for me, and because it's 2019 I also consider how the decade has gone for me, and also how I'm feeling about the frying pan and fire of current political events. Getting Better Acquainted is still on hiatus for a while. But there's over 350 episodes in the archives so plenty to catch up on for people just discovering the show. I mention: Made of Human with Sofie Hagen: https://www.madeofhumanpodcast.com The Breakup Monologues with Rosie Wilby: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-breakup-monologues-with-rosie-wilby/id1310409996?mt=2 My time hosting Spark Hackney: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-extra-the-spark Spark True Stories: http://stories.co.uk/ The Restart Project: https://therestartproject.org/podcast/ Busy Being Black at LPF: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-josh-rivers-ca

In this GBA Extra we get even better acquainted with The Family Tree Podcast. I'm joined by Jen Adamthwaite the co-producer/creator of GBA's weird sister podcast to talk about the whys, the hows, the highs and the lows of making the second season of this magical realist podcast drama. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FAMILY TREE. The GBA episode where we talked about The Family Tree Season 1: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-284-the-family-tree The GBA episode where we talked about The Family Tree Season 2: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-337-the-family-tree-season-2 To listen to The Family Tree from Episode 1 and for more info about the series go over to our website: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ iTunes link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-family-tree/id1113714688 Now also available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/48CpMm47ugAryHgT7Rv9Ta To sign up to our Patreon go here, at this point you will only be charged when we release the Chri

In the final (for now) Getting Better Acquainted Extra I continue the tradition of beginning the new year with a round up of how the last year panned out for me, I consider the impact making this show has had on my life, what kinds of things you might find on your GBA feed in the future, and the distance between who I was in 2011 and who I am now in 2019. Getting Better Acquainted is now on hiatus for a while. But there's over 350 episodes in the archives so plenty to catch up on for people just discovering the show. I mention: Sofie Hagen on GBA: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-335-sofie-hagen Made of Human with Sofie Hagen: https://www.madeofhumanpodcast.com The Breakup Monologues with Rosie Wilby: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-breakup-monologues-with-rosie-wilby/id1310409996?mt=2 My time hosting Spark Hackney: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-extra-the-spark Spark True Stories: http://stories.co.uk/ The talk I gave at the London Podcast Festival: http

I have a complicated relationship with Christmas. It's been as site of both trauma and happiness for me. So in some ways you might say it's odd that since Getting Better Acquainted started in 2011 I've made a Christmas Special every year. Or perhaps it makes sense for me to keep picking at the Christmas scab because we often return to the things that have marked and shaped us. Some of the specials have been about comfort and joy and others have been about the bleak midwinter. Most have been about both and everything in between. GBA 350 is the 2018 Christmas Special but in some ways maybe it's the ultimate GBA Christmas Special, the Christmas Special I was always trying to make, the Christmas Special that I've always been making. It's a collage of the best and most personal bits from the last 7 years of GBA and Stand Up Tragedy Christmases. It has songs, stories, love, conflict, confusion, hope, despair and other Christmas things held within it. It features conversations, monologues, performances, time tr

In GBA 349 we get better acquainted with Louise. She talks about the round about route her life has taken between when we met at university and now, finding her way to poetry, writing and teaching, her relationship with Wigan where she has lived most of her life, her new music projects, coming back to dance after years away, being a self employed person working in the arts and so much more. Also at the end of today’s episode, after the conversation is over, I repeat the announcement about how Getting Better Acquainted going on a hiatus after episode 350. And also between now and the Christmas Special. Louise plugs: 1st Dec Liverpool Cinema For All event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vote-100-born-a-rebel-liverpool-tickets-49280462189 Louise on twitter: https://twitter.com/louisethepoet wordWITCH on twitter: https://twitter.com/wordWITCHsynth Nymphs and Thugs: https://nymphsandthugs.net/ Love is a Battlefield: https://nymphsandthugs.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-a-battlefield Bird St: https://nymphsandthugs

In GBA 348 we get better acquainted with Charlie. We talk about how it's hard to talk about mental health and suicide attempts, depression, suicidal ideation, accessing mental health services, the downsides of talking about mental health, disability, writing, navigating school, bullying, getting help, and so much more. It’s a serious conversation but also a thoughtful one and it doesn’t just stay in the dark places. Content Note: Bullying, suicidal thoughts/ideation, depression, mental health issues, trauma Also at the end of today’s episode, after the conversation is over, I make an announcement about the future of Getting Better Acquainted which will be going on a hiatus after episode 350. Charlie plugs: Alt-Space: https://www.facebook.com/altspacemorecambe Website: Big Charlie Poet: https://bigcharliepoet.co.uk Evidently Salford: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA8fBN5qXcQV78R5c2a9ing I plug: My recent writing about consent and gender: https://medium.com/@goosefat101/what-about-the-women-3237e4155f

In GBA 347 we get better acquainted with Tanaka. We talk about making theatre that engages with and challenges harmful versions of masculinity, making work about experiences of rape and sexual assault, engaging with young people about how masculinity is created and framed by culture, the intersection of caring and gender, navigating and expressing emotions and so much more. The topics might make this sound like a heavy conversation but it's actually a fun, thoughtful and positive. Although there is a content note for sexual assult and trauma the conversation doesn't contain any descriptions of being assaulted. Tanaka plugs: Universities and companies booking the Consent Collective: https://www.consentcollective.com/ People who hear disclosures of sexual violence regularly in their daily lives getting in touch for some research he is working on. You can find his work and contact him through his website: https://tanakamhishi.co.uk/ I plug: My recent writing about consent and gender: https://medium.c