Getting Better Acquainted

This Getting Better Acquainted Extra is a true story I told at Spark London about how getting nominated for the British Podcast Awards sent me into a spiral of anxiety and depression as I found myself flashing back to a horrible experience I had at a school talent show when I was 15. Content Note: bullying, reference to suicide Mentioned: Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ British Podcast Awards: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/ Stop Whispering by Radiohead: https://youtu.be/PECnzN8P6KQ The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Cameryn Moore: http://www.camerynmoore.com/ Smut Slam: https://www.facebook.com/events/1329431967123652/ 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 291 we get better acquainted with Andrew. We talk about history, culture, politics, education, learning to understand your privilege, the history of genocide and ethnic cleansing, who Belle should have ended up with at the end of Beauty and the Beast, being conscious of language and word choices, Power Rangers, the influence of fear on cultural development, why I hate the Lego Batman movie and lots of other things. Content note: Mention of genocide, rape, slavery, war, domestic violence, suicide, child abuse, and other forms of violence, all of which are discussed within a broader analysis of history, politics and culture, with no descriptions or personal anecdotes. Andrew plugs: Conference on Visual Thinking in the Digital Humanities on May 19th at King's College: http://newperspectivesdh.com/ Sending the Black Cultural Archives £5: http://bcaheritage.tumblr.com/ I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Voting for GBA or The Family Tree for the British Podcast Awards Listen

This Getting Better Acquainted Extra features two stories told at Spark London nights and one told at a storytelling event I hosted in Warwick. Plus a new song. Mentioned: Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ Next Brixton Night: 3rd April https://www.facebook.com/events/1891953977747487/ Next Hackney Night: April 10th https://www.facebook.com/events/263159014125695/ The new song is called Isthmus and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2vXFynC24c 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 290 we get better acquainted with Hamja Ahsan. He talks about his forthcoming book Shy Radicals, the zine festival DIY Cultures that he curates for, the successful campaign to free his brother Talha Ahsan, society as a teen movie, being bullied at school, mental health issues, male suicide, the history of state crimes, imprisonment, extradition and internment and so much more. Content note: Mental Health Issues, Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar, Suicide, Mania, Bullying, Incarceration Hamja plugs: DIY Cultures - 14th May: https://www.richmix.org.uk/events/exhibitions/diy-cultures-2017 https://www.facebook.com/events/259081314527166/ http://diycultures.tumblr.com/ DIY Knowledge - 3rd May - 2ndJune: https://www.richmix.org.uk/events/exhibitions/diy-cultures-exhibition-diy-knowledge Shy Radicals - published by bookworks and out any time now! https://www.facebook.com/ShyRadicals/ http://shyradicals.tumblr.com/ I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Voting for GBA or The Family Tree

In GBA 289 we get better acquainted with Shane Solanki. We talk about identity, belonging, sustainability, masculinity, storytelling, time, science, art, connection, pain, love, change and lots more. It's a really wide ranging conversation which is both very theoretical and very personal, recorded on a sunny spring Saturday morning on a balcony overlooking a canal in Hackney Wick. Content note: mental health issues Shane plugs: The project he is currently developing called The Miseducation of of Lunar Khan His website: http://lastmangoinparis.net/ Mangoes are forever: https://www.facebook.com/mangosareforever Shane Solanki on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shane.solanki.5 I plug: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ We mention: Angela: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-26-angela Industrial Revolution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution Wes Anderson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson Tim Burton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton Isle o

This is the second episode of a new strand of GBA called GBA Replayed which showcases some of the conversations recorded in the early years of Getting Better Acquainted. Part of the reason for me re-releasing this episode is that Elspeth has a cause that she would like people to know about which is highlighted in the introduction. Register For Ruby: http://www.registerforruby.com/ Ruby desperately needs to be matched with a bone marrow donor with Salvadoran or Latin American heritage - something the doctors have said is not going to be easy. Her time is running out. https://twitter.com/registerforruby https://www.facebook.com/RegisterForRuby/ This is the video featured in the intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk8B8jNUYZw __________________ In episode GBA #2 we get better acquainted with Elspeth who talks about religion, feminism and sudden death. Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review? Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting

This is the first episode of a new strand of GBA called GBA Replayed which showcases some of the conversations recorded in the early years of Getting Better Acquainted. As mentioned in the intro, Sam did came back on for follow up conversation a couple of years later: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-128-sam-2 __________________ In GBA 18 we get better acquainted with Sam. She talks about having a premature baby, being a young mum, nearly marrying a man she met on holiday in the Dominican Republic when she was 16 and other stories of innocence and experience. It's a brave and frank discussion full of hope and warmth as well as sadness and her young baby provides a soundtrack and commentary for this intimate and moving conversation. Sam plugs: Nothing. 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 288 we get better acquainted with Peta Lily We talk about making performance from our personal lives, dark clowns and red nose clowns, creating solo shows, gender, identity, movement, memory, memoir, mime, physical theatre, bodies and lots more. Content note: bereavement, breast cancer She plugs: Her workshops: http://www.petalily.com/ Her shows: https://www.facebook.com/Peta-Lily-Shows-301578776530474/ Look out for a development read through of Topless in May We mention: Devoted and Disgruntled: https://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/ Camden Peoples Theatre: https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/ D & D: Making Work That Helps Liberate Men From Patriarchy/Masculinity WITHOUT Dominating Feminist Spaces https://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/events/dd-gap/reports/making-work-that-helps-liberate-men-from-patriarch/ Wikipedia on Peta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peta_Lily bell hooks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks Open Space Technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology #ManSurvey:

This Getting Better Acquainted Extra starts with a story I told at a Spark London night about mental heath in November 2016 and then jumps to Feb 2017 to continue the story. It's all about therapy, mental health, diagnosis and the relationship between the personal and the political. Mentioned Spark London: http://stories.co.uk/ Hackney Night: https://www.facebook.com/events/1362423493814282/ Spark Mind Podcast Specials: https://www.acast.com/sparklondon/multiculturalminds-truestorieslive https://www.acast.com/sparklondon/imfine-shannon-sparktruestories Mind in Haringey: http://www.mindinharingey.org.uk/ Dad Episodes: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dad-episodes The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Cameryn Moore: http://www.camerynmoore.com/ Smut Slam: https://www.facebook.com/events/607321672796807/ What About the Men? https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity Help more people get better acquainted. If you

In GBA 287 we get better acquainted with Sophie Bailey who makes The Edtech Podcast, a podcast that gets behind the personalities in global education innovation and edtech. We talk about how she came to make a podcast that explores the intersection and conversation between education and technology, working in TV development, independent book publishing and event planning, growing up on the Isle of Wight, work/life balance, life long learning and lots more. And we compare notes on the practicalities and specifics of podcasting. She plugs: The Edtech Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-edtech-podcast/id1107282759 The Edtech Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/podcastedtech The Edtech Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastEdtech We mention: Southampton Podcasting Conference: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/iliad/tel/podcasting--conference.page Stephan: https://twitter.com/dotsandspaces The Yard Theatre: http://www.theyardtheatre.co.uk/ Batteries Not Included: http://www.imdb.com/

In GBA 286 we get better acquainted with Nick Harris. He talks about how he accidentally got the job he'd always wanted (although he didn't know he'd always wanted it at the time), making podcasts and youtube videos for The British Museum, travelling around the world a lot during his childhood, ancient board-games, building sound studios, super cats, living in an uncertain world, getting sent to the head teacher for suggesting America isn't the best country in the world, playing the bass guitar and so much more. Nick plugs: Rob Pinney's Journalistic Photography: http://www.robpinney.com/ Book on Calais: http://www.robpinney.com/store/the-jungle Summary of 2016: http://www.robpinney.com/2016-the-year-in-review British Museum You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/britishmuseum The British Museum Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-british-museum-podcast/id1147175428 Upcoming: The Things We Preserve British Museum Membercast: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/british-museum-membercast/id11

GBA 285 is a special episode of Getting Better Acquainted. It's two parts monologue and one part interview as my dad tells the story of two road trips he made across America in 1969 to film in American coal mines on behalf of the British Coal Board. We get better acquainted with him and the places and people he met. This is an edited version of some recordings I made with him before GBA had even started, so it doesn't fit the usual format. It all feels like an slightly absurd and possibly a touch melancholic comedy, perhaps directed by The Cohen Brothers or Wes Anderson, and one day I hope to make a film or book about it. You can get even better acquainted with my dad by listening to the episodes he has been on previously: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dad-episodes We mention: Francis Gyson: http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ef24bf0 Coal Board: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coal_Board Paul Rotha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rotha Donald Alexander: http:

In GBA 284 we get 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 first season of this magical realist podcast drama. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FAMILY TREE. 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/ To sign up to our Patreon and help us to make Season 2 of The Family Tree go over to our here: https://www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast We mention: Jen Episodes: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-jen-episodes Dave Episodes: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dave-episodes Matt Hill/ Rethink Radio /Rethink Audio/ Rethink Daily: https://rethinkaudio.wordpress.com/ Sony Radio Awards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Academy_Awards Helen Zaltzman: http://helenzaltzman.com/ Martin Zaltz Austwick: http://ma

In GBA 283 we get better acquainted with Dr Cathy Elliott. We talk about changing your mind, being aware of your emotions, The Radical Ordinary, Temporal Othering, storytelling, her book Democracy Promotion as Foreign Policy, whiteness, creativity and so much more. We also spend quite a bit of time deconstructing our experiences of me performing my show about masculinity to her students and how we felt about meeting two Men's Rights Activists who came along and dominated the Q and A session after the show. Cathy plugs: Democracy Promotion As Foreign Policy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/democracy-promotion-as-foreign-policy/cathy-elliott/cathy-elliott/9781138669727 International Development and Public Policy at UCL: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/study-abroad-ucl/study-abroad-guide/modules/pols7007 The Little Adventurer: http://www.thelittleadventurer.com/ The London Free Wheel: https://thelondonfreewheel.com/ Your Local Comprehensive School We mention: In Pod We Trust: http://www.bbc.c

In this Getting Better Acquainted Extra, which I recorded just before Christmas, I round up how 2016 went down both personally and politically, in what has become an annual post New Year retrospective. The episode finishes off with a true story I told at Spark True Stories at the first ever London Podcast Festival. Contact me on twitter where I'm @goosefat101 on by email on goosefat101@gmail.com or GBApodcast@gmail.com Mentioned/Plugged: The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Four Thought: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x5vsh What About the Men? https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinity Z List Dead List: http://www.zlistdeadlist.com/post/2016/4/6/s06e5-the-spys-wife-who-loved-me Our Warwickshire: http://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/ The Restart Project: http://therestartproject.org/podcast Letter to myself: https://www.facebook.com/dave.pickering.180/media_set?set=a.1372768969419367.1073741848.100000588327591&type=3 Patreon: https://www.pat

In GBA 282 we get better acquainted with Christmas (again). It's the 2016 Christmas Special! This year contains some tributes to the late great Leonard Cohen and a conversation with my 92 year old dad about the ghosts of Christmas past. Content note: mental health issues, Christmas For other flavours of Christmas check out the Christmas specials from past years: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/christmas-specials And for more from my dad go here: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dad-episodes Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year! GBA will return on 4th January 2017. They'll be no more episodes this year. 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 281 we get even better acquainted with Radcliffe. He talks about being in a coma, continuing battles with addiction, the double edged swords of being attractive and charming, storytelling, class, belief and so much more. We recontextualize his journey through addiction, prison, homelessness and public school and we talk about the pressures, ironies and positives that can come in telling audiences true stories of redemption. We talk about many dark things such as child sexual abuse, rape, violence but we talk about the light too. This conversation is both an update where we talk about things that have happened since Radcliffe was last on the show and an extension and development of the stories we have shared before. All of Radcliffe's GBA conversations are collected here: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-radcliffe-episodes More about Spark True Stories here: http://stories.co.uk Radcliffe plugs: Looking out for his future work and keeping in mind that homeless people are peo

In GBA 280 we get better acquainted with Joe Marshall. He talks about his journey from being a child who thought words weren't for him due to dyslexia and bad education to eventually becoming an award winning travel writer. Along the way we talk words, true stories, depression, hair beading in Cornwall and what crap rooms can tell us about the housing crisis. Joe plugs: Crap Rooms London: https://twitter.com/craproomslondon https://www.facebook.com/craproomslondon/ Mundial: http://mundialmag.com/ Sabotage Times: http://sabotagetimes.com https://twitter.com/SabotageTimes Joe's writing: https://joemarshallwriting.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JGMarshallWrite Spark London http://stories.co.uk I don't plug The Family Tree in the episode but I will in these notes: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ http:// www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast We mention: Steve Sinnott Foundation: http://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/ Joanna Yates: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-32-jo

In GBA 279 we get even better acquainted with Liz. We explore what has happened to her since the last time she was on the show and how the ways in which we know each other have changed since then, including working on Stand Up Tragedy together and her journey into academia and teaching. We also talk about Star Trek, myths, social policy and bereavement. An extra plug from Liz (which I have failed to add into the episode but which I will add to the audio in the future) was for the David T Bailey scholarship fund: http://bailey.history.msu.edu/ Content Note: death, bereavement, illness Liz's first GBA: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-4-liz Liz plugs: Me generally and specifically The Family Tree: http://thefamilytreepodcast.co.uk/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thefamilytreepodcast My website: http://davepickeringstoryteller.co.uk Me on twitter: https://twitter.com/goosefat101 She also plugs community. We mention: Stand Up Tragedy: http://www.standuptragedy.co.uk/ SUT Liz Episodes:

In GBA 278 we get even better acquainted with my dad. We sit down to talk about his working life making documentary films about the coal mining industry and the communities who provided it their labour, and we do touch on that frequently, but we also end up talking about lots and lots of other things. Threading through the conversation are the changes, both physical and mental, that have happened to my dad over the last few years. He's currently 92 so the underlying themes of the conversation are memory, age and death. Content Note: Dementia, old age, death, bereavement, assisted suicide, structural oppression Past dad episodes: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dad-episodes Dad plugs: Andre Gorz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Gorz Critique of Economic Reason: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Critique-Economic-Reason-Radical-Thinkers/dp/1844676676/ Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-Based Society: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reclaiming-Work-Beyond-Wage-based-Society/dp/0745621279/ Fa