Getting Better Acquainted

In GBA 306, we get better acquainted with Sadia Azmat. She talks about comedy, politics, current events, the media, public speaking, being a British muslim woman who wears a hijab and does stand up while living in a society that often doesn't treat Muslims well and lots more. Content note: racism, sexism, islamophobia Sadia plugs: Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/sadia_azmats_ I plug: What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity http://mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Made of Human: https://www.madeofhumanpodcast.com/ Sofie Hagan: http://www.sofiehagen.com/ Smut Slam: https://www.facebook.com/events/827737554066972/ Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ Charlottesville: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/charlottesville-attack-170813081045115.html Burkini ban: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/burkini-ban-why-is-france-arr

In GBA 305 we get better acquainted with Dave. He talks about recreating the first series of the sitcom The Trip with his best friend, the smell of motor racing, being a fan of comedy, how Blackadder, Asterix and the city of York influenced his interest in history, being comfortable being and living on your own and lots more. We recorded this conversation in a snatched hour within a family get together. Dave plugs: Support comedy, specifically the PBH Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: I plug: What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity http://www.mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Star Wars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars John: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-129-john Jen: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-jen-episodes The Trip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trip_(2010_TV_series) S

It's another episode of GBA Replayed which showcases some of the conversations recorded in the early years of Getting Better Acquainted. ------------ In GBA 81 we get better acquainted with... Dave. The tables are turned as Alex who was my guest in GBA 80 takes the reins and interviews me in his own unique style. His approach to hosting is very different from mine. We go on lots of interesting tangents produced by his crowd sourcing approach to coming up with questions. Personal, political, surreal, it's all there. This is the conversation I had with him immediately before we switched roles: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-80-alex Dave plugs: Personal: http://soundcloud.com/the-dave http://soundcloud.com/the-plural http://soundcloud.com/thereactionaries Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/ Don't Shoot the Clowns: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Shoot-Clowns-Taking-Circus/dp/1904456480 The Dispossessed: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dispossessed-Ursula-Guin/dp/1857988825 V f

In GBA 304 we get better acquainted with Scarlett. She talks about being the lead singer in a band from the age of 14 to the age of 21, writing and editing at Men's Health magazine, the landscapes of gender and masculinity, the value of asking for help, Spark London true storytelling, how complicated compliments can be and more. Content Note: Mental Health Issues, Therapy, Street Harassment, Sexism Scarlett plugs: Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ I plug: What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity http://www.mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Next Hackney night: Friendships 14th August: https://www.facebook.com/events/520373711490463/ Next Brixton night: https://www.facebook.com/events/465238527164037/ We mention: Charley: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-200-pt-5-with-charley-harrison Men's Health: http://www.menshealth.co.uk/ Brighton

In GBA 303 we get better acquainted with Tyrone Lewis. He talks about documenting (and growing up within) the spoken word scene, being close to his mum, pop culture, football, editing video, taking photos and performing poems. We recorded this conversation at the Royal Festival Hall beginning in a quiet spot but during the conversation we were moved to a more challenging environment for background sound. Tyrone plugs: Scores Please: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2qc4OEmZAU Boomerang at Fringe 19th -27th: http://freefringe.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-festival/boomerang-club/2016-08-06/ Process Productions: https://www.processproductions.org/ I plug: The next Smut Slam London: 13th September: https://www.facebook.com/events/827737554066972/ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Smut Slam: http://www.camerynmoore.com/smut-slam/ Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/ Dogstar: http://dogstarbrixton.com/ Tyrone's Smut Slam video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=przuh-Oy4c

In GBA 302 we get better acquainted with Nicole Henriksen. She talks about stripping, making comedy, making theatre, flyering and other forms of work and performance, being vulnerable and open in a world that discourages these qualities, living with anxiety and being a robot in human skin. I also go into some detail about my own journey through understanding my mental health covering self diagnosis, re-understanding self harm and suicidal ideation and struggling to get therapy on the NHS. All of which may make this episode sound pretty heavy, but it's actually full of laughter and fun and was a real joy to record. Content Note: Sex and Sexuality, Racism and Sexism, Mental Health Issues, Suicidal Thoughts, Self Harm, Self Destruction Nicole plugs: Robot In Human Skin at #Edfringe: Underbelly Medquad: http://www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/whats-on/a-robot-in-human-skin Making It Rain at King's Head Theatre, Islington http://nicolehenriksen.com/ I plug: The next Smut Slam London: 13th September: https://ww

This Getting Better Acquainted Extra features 3 stories I told at Spark London about various kinds of adulthood and various ways that I've grown up and grown out over the years. Content Note: Some references to trauma and discussion of sex, sexuality and substance use. Mentioned: Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity http://www.mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/ Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review? Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 301 we get better acquainted with Dr Nira Chamberlain. He talks about the history of black mathematicians, his personal journey from being a child told by his careers adviser that he couldn't be a mathematician to getting a PHD in maths and becoming the first black mathematician to be included in the Who's Who, how the women from Hidden Figures could have been his role-models, the real world maths of mathematical modelling and so much more. I sat down with Nira in a quiet room at University of Greenwich where he was giving a talk. We met each other for the first time at a Spark London fundraiser for the Steve Sinnott Foundation. Content note: Racism, slavery Nira plugs: Success Looks Like You: Saturday 29th July: 1pm-4pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/success-looks-like-me-tickets-34548932788 @ch_nira: https://twitter.com/ch_nira His website: http://nirachamberlain.com/ Black Heroes of Mathematics: http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/black-heroes-mathematics/ http://nirachamberlain.com/the-blac

To celebrate the 300th episode of GBA I'm putting out a season of 3 special episodes, which ends with today's GBA Extra. Most of today's episode was produced, performed and arranged by Martin Zaltz Austwick: http://www.martinzaltzaustwick.com/ The sample used in today's episode was taken from GBA 38 Karl James: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-38-karl-james Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review? Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

To celebrate the 300th episode of GBA I'm putting out a season of 3 special episodes, which continues with today's conversation. In many ways this feels like a regular GBA episode and is a good example for new listeners of what the show is usually like. It's also a conversation with someone who it's taken 299 episodes to persuade to come on as a guest. Part of the motivation for that is encourage people to donate to Refuaid which you can do here: http://stories.co.uk/ https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/sparkrefuaid In GBA 300 we get better acquainted with Matt. We talk about forming a theatre company together as students, 16 years of friendship, the different collaborations we have had over the years, who is actually the hardest working person in UK podcasting, the different interests and experiences that have led to him becoming a major force in British podcasting and how experiencing and healing from a spinal injury caused by a carcrash has influenced his outlook on the world. This episode also features

To celebrate the 300th episode of GBA I'm putting out a season of 3 special episodes, starting with today's Episode 1 Revisited which is in some ways a conversation between two different versions of me, the 2011 Dave and the 2017 Dave. This episode contains the original audio from Episode 1 with a new commentary and reflection on that material. Episode 1 focused on introducing me, featuring audio pieces and performances. It contains the first two true stories that I ever told at Spark London. I found listening back to the past version of me a difficult thing to do and doing so inspired lots of different emotions in me. Content note: Mental Health Issues, violence against children, sex and sexuality, toxic masculinity and Christmas. The 300th season will continue on Wednesday with GBA 300. In that episode a friend who has resisted being a guest for 299 episodes finally comes on the show, and it will finish on Friday with a special musical GBA Extra. Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what

In part 2 of this two part GBA special we join my 93 year old dad on the second day of a two day trip to some of the places where he grew up. My dad had wanted to take this trip for a while and me and my little sister (technically my half sister) managed to arrange to take him in February 2017. My 12 year old niece is the last member of the team on this roadtrip adventure. In this episode we visit the Bristol Museum, Bristol Zoo and The Downs. My dad learns why he was attracted to the Museum as a child and how much the city has transformed since he moved through it as a little boy, and bumps into a Gorilla that he used to know. It also includes an interesting moment involving an icecream van, a lack of appropriate ice-cream options for a 12 year old with very specific ice-cream tastes and a spontaneous outburst of Italian. Day 2 of the journey takes us through time, space, memory, dementia, old age, love, family and the ways places and people change. Next week will feature more podcast episodes than usual as

In part 1 of this two part GBA special we join my 93 year old dad on a two day trip to some of the places where he grew up. My dad had wanted to take this trip for a while and me and my little sister (technically my half sister) managed to arrange to take him in February 2017. My 12 year old niece is the last member of the team on this roadtrip adventure. In this episode we travel from London to my dad's childhood home in Sea Mills which is now a suburb of Bristol. Day 1 of the journey takes us through time, space, memory, lost branches of the family tree, dementia and old age and the ways places and people change. Next week in part two of episode 299 of Getting Better Acquainted we travel into Bristol to the Bristol Museum and other places my dad visited as a child. Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review? Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 298 we get better acquainted with Juliet Meyers and the flipping rescue dog that ruined her life, otherwise known as Homer. We talk dogs, wolves, comedy, dogs, storytelling, dogs and more dogs as we swap dog stories and consider the complexities of getting a dog and the love and anxiety dogs can bring to dog owners. Juliet plugs: Her show Juliet Meyers - This Flipping Rescue Dog Has Ruined My Life Edinburgh: Southside Social 2.30pm 3rd-22nd August https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/juliet-meyers-this-flipping-rescue-dog-has-ruined-my-life Buxton: http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/descriptions2017.html Oxford: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/whats-on/all-shows/this-flipping-rescue-dog-has-ruined-my-life/ Ludlow: TBA Leyton: June 5th: https://www.facebook.com/events/1367130813376431/ I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Nugget: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-247-nugget Sam: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-extra-the-partition

In GBA 297 we get better acquainted with Andre. He talks about transformation and change in his life and work. Our conversation covers education, dialogue, theology, writing, psychology, acting and so much more. He shares the "origin story" of how he exchanged his adopted name for the original one on his birth certificate, how he became a Priest finally (after being rejected first time round) only to find himself on a different path to the one he'd expected, what he does when practicing systemic therapy, and the relationship between therapy, spirituality, performance and narrative. Andre plugs: The book he is writing about transformation and change His website: http://www.andreradmall.co.uk @radmallandre: https://twitter.com/radmallandre The Shapeshifters: https://www.theshapeshifters.org/ I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ Azariah: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-243-azariah Andre and Azariah on The Family Tree

In GBA 296 we get better acquainted with Susie. She talks about financial systems, international trade, the influence of empire, Adam Smith, comedy, walking tours of capitalism, dualism, class, Simon Amstell, awkwardness and so much more. It's a fun and awkward conversation about a whole range of really big topics containing a description of meeting me where I give the most On Brand first impression ever and one of my favourite goodbye to the audience moments. Susie plugs: Walking Tour of Capitalism - Heroes: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/susie-steed-money-walks-the-unofficial-story-of-capitalism @SussStead: https://twitter.com/sussteed I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/ Brixton Pound: http://brixtonpound.org/ David Graeber: https://twitter.com/davidgraeber Debt: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Debt-First-5-000-Years/dp/1612191290 Adam Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith Keynes: https://en.wikipedia.org

In GBA 295 we get better acquainted with Joseph. He talks about acting, anti-bullying advocacy, impostor syndrome, sexuality, vulnerability, social commentary and so much more. We also spend a good chunk of the beginning of our conversation talking about activism and action within the current political climate, which includes a potted history of my own (pretty inactive) activism, the rise of modern fascism, the triggering of Article 50 and the importance of defending migrant rights and showing solidarity. Joseph plugs: His just launched podcast: I Want To Be https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/i-want-to-be/id1223801760?mt=2 I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Podcaster's Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=571436979623574 Felix Trench: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-258-felix-trench London Attack: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Westminster_attack Militant Labour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militant_(Trotskyist_group)#The

In GBA 294 we get better acquainted with Charmian. She talks about finding your feet at unexpected moments, talking to your past selves, wanting to be a centaur, school reports as first reviews, complicated families, how bullies bring out her inner vigilante and so much more. Charmian plugs: Soixante Mirth: http://charmianhughes.co.uk/ at the Brighton Fringe 7,8,14,15 May 8.20pm Blue Man: https://www.brightonfringe.org/box-office/shows/view/charmian-hughes-soixante-mirth at the Buxton Fringe 20th, 21st July 10.30pm at the Edinburgh Fringe 2.25pm Stand 4 - August I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Antony and Cleopatra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_and_Cleopatra Banshee Labyrinth: https://www.thebansheelabyrinth.com/ Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/ Raj Rage: http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/edinburgh_fringe_2014/c/23073/charmian_hughes%3A_raj_rage%21 Royal Festival Hall: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/royal-festival-hall Philippe G

In GBA 293 we get better acquainted with Kobi. He talks about being excellent to each other, making and listening to podcasts, what he didn't get from further education, moving from chemical engineering to digital marketing consultancy, learning languages and music, coming to terms with Brexit and mortality and so much more. Kobi plugs: Flixwatcher: http://flixwatcher.tv/ Kobestarr Digital: http://kobestarr.io/ Jess Phillips - Every Woman: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everywoman-Womans-Truth-About-Speaking-ebook/dp/B01LA64ZXU I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Voting for GBA or The Family Tree for the British Podcast Awards Listener's Choice Award: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote/ We mention: Helen Zaltzman: http://www.helenzaltzman.com/ Podcasters' Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/571436979623574/ Kobi's co-host on flixwatcher: Helen: https://twitter.com/TheCatFilmFan Jen: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-jen-episodes Wooden Overcoat

In GBA 292 we get better acquainted with Elle. She talks about being "the most boring kind of twin", the stories behind dead teeth, talking to Hugh Grant about hand cramp, being expelled from school, being the class clown, working in TV, radio and podcasting, the pros and cons of confrontation and openness and so much more. We swap stories of complicated school lives, discuss how passing exams can help you see how meaningless and damaging exams can be and share our love for true storytelling. Elle plugs: Radio Wolfgang: https://www.radiowolfgang.com/ Scienceish: https://www.radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish It's Nice That Podcast: https://www.radiowolfgang.com/s/the-it's-nice-that-podcast Matt Hill: https://rethinkaudio.wordpress.com/ The BPA's: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/ I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Voting for GBA or The Family Tree for the British Podcast Awards Listener's Choice Award: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote/ We mention: Spark London: http: