Getting Better Acquainted
482 episodes - English - Latest episode: 28 days ago - ★★★★ - 2 ratingsA weekly podcast: Join Dave Pickering on his journey to get better acquainted with the people he knows. Part interview show, part oral history project and part autobiography through conversation.
British Podcast Award 2017 winner (bronze in Best Interview category)
GBA was nominated for a 2012 Radio Production Award, aired for 3 seasons on Resonance 104.4 FM and was featured on BBC Radio 4's In Pod We Trust, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Helen and Olly's Required Listening and has been recommended by The Guardian, Time Out and the Financial Times
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Episodes
The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 5: Matt Miller
May 29, 2024 09:16 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBThis is the 5th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. To round off our spring miniseason we've got a final (for now) look at The Spring Tune, with special guest Matt Miller, a poet and theatre maker. Matt's take on this story is fairly different from all the other takes we've heard so far! It's about smoking, doing the washing up, procrastination. We play a round of our unofficial but recurring game: which...
The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 4: Martin Zaltz Austwick
May 29, 2024 09:13 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBThis is the 4th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we've got a special guest in to talk all about the music of Tove Jansson, and the game we talked about last week (Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley) AND the short story that kicked off this miniseason (the Spring Tune). Martin is a musician, a podcaster, a player of games, so he is ideal for all this! If you would like to listen along to the mus...
The Podgoblin's Hat Bonus Episode 3: Melody of Moominvalley
May 29, 2024 09:08 - 58 minutes - 53.1 MBThis is the 3rd bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're popping in with something a little different for you this week, it's a video game review! That's right, we're almost topical! Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a beautiful, relaxing, not quite open world exploration of Moomin Valley through the eyes and musical instruments of Snufkin. We discuss the way it feels, the way it looks, the way it sound...
The Podgoblins Hat Episode 16: The Spring Tune
May 29, 2024 09:02 - 1 hour - 61 MBThis is the sixteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. The crocuses are up, the cherry trees are in bloom, and Snufkin is tramping back to Moomin Valley - it must be time for our spring miniseries! We're kicking off with this beautiful, perfectly formed gem of a short story from the collection Tales from Moomin Valley. It's a story about creativity, inspiration, song writing, and how big you need to be to ge...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 15: The Fir Tree
December 25, 2023 06:42 - 1 hour - 69 MBThis is the fifteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're wrapping up this year on the Podgoblin's Hat with Tove's Christmas offering: The Fir Tree. It's got everything you want from a Christmas story: the light and the dark, the fear and the wonder. There's even a little cameo from the Moomin family gun. We chat about different translations of this story, we exchange presents and talk at length about eg...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 14: Moominland Midwinter (part 2)
December 19, 2023 11:12 - 1 hour - 89.3 MBThis is the fourteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're wrapping up Moominland Midwinter this week, and despite being only three chapters, it's 70% of the words in this book, so do strap in for a mammoth episode. There's a whole raft of new characters: the lonely and the rum, a flock of small creep, a very melancholy dog and a jock Hemulen. Misunderstandings and unrequited longings abound. Moomintroll ...
The Podgoblins Hat Episode 13: Moominland Midwinter (part 1)
December 16, 2023 10:43 - 1 hour - 78 MBThis is the thirteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to series 3! We're back with a banger: Moominland Midwinter. Nina has had this book hyped up by everyone who knows she's doing this podcast, and despite all the hype it doesn't disappoint. In this first half of the book, the unthinkable happens: Moomintroll awakes from his hibernation and finds himself alone in a world of winter. It is as if he ...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 13: Moominland Midwinter (part 1)
December 16, 2023 10:43 - 1 hour - 78 MBThis is the thirteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to series 3! We're back with a banger: Moominland Midwinter. Nina has had this book hyped up by everyone who knows she's doing this podcast, and despite all the hype it doesn't disappoint. In this first half of the book, the unthinkable happens: Moomintroll awakes from his hibernation and finds himself alone in a world of winter. It is as if he ...
The Podgoblins Hat Episode 12: The Dangerous Journey & Villain In The Moominhouse
September 26, 2023 10:55 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBThis is the twelth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. To wrap up season two we are bringing you the last two picture books set in the Moomin universe written by Tove Jansson. Both of these books are a bit difficult and inaccessible! They're very interesting to Moomin fans in that they show the later stages of Tove's journey with her little trolls, and how she felt about them towards the end of her life. The D...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 12: The Dangerous Journey & Villain In The Moominhouse
September 26, 2023 10:55 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBThis is the twelth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. To wrap up season two we are bringing you the last two picture books set in the Moomin universe written by Tove Jansson. Both of these books are a bit difficult and inaccessible! They're very interesting to Moomin fans in that they show the later stages of Tove's journey with her little trolls, and how she felt about them towards the end of her life. The D...
The Podgoblins Hat Episode 11: The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My & Who Will Comfort Toffle
September 19, 2023 12:10 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBThis is the eleventh episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're breaking from our normal format for these next two episodes to bring you Tove Jansson's picture books. The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is really ahead of its time in terms of interactivity and the use of holes cut out of the pages. It's a simple enough journey story, and a vehicle for some really gorgeous art. We compare the translation ...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 10: Moominsummer Madness (part 2)
September 12, 2023 10:15 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBThis is the tenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Content note: discussion of suicidal thoughts in the What Would Snufkin do part of the podcast This book splits three ways on Midsummer Eve: Snufkin is enacting revenge on a Park Keeper, Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden are having a party with a Fillyjonk, and the rest of our crew are still aboard the floating theatre. There's so much about theatre in this...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 9: Moominsummer Madness (part 1)
September 06, 2023 07:35 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBThis is the ninth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's summer in Moominvalley and this book truly hits the ground running. There's a volcano casually going off in the background, and another flood, and the Moomin family has to relocate to a strange floating house. Also, Snufkin is nowhere to be found and Moomintroll is pining away. We've got a bunch of cool new characters, some magical midsummer traditions...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 8: The Exploits (or Memoirs) of Moominpappa (part 2)
August 29, 2023 09:19 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBThis is the eighth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're back with the second half of Moominpappa's memoirs, in which our brave hero becomes the subject of a country run by an Autocrat, starts a colony and meets his wife. Moomintroll has some very sensible notes for his Pappa in this half of the book, Sniff has some very good questions, but alas, we will never know why Moominmamma was in the sea. Our quest...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 7: The Exploits (or Memoirs) of Moominpappa (part 1)
August 23, 2023 10:52 - 1 hour - 69.9 MBThis is the seventh episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to a new season of the Podgoblin's Hat! This week, Nina is reading the Exploits of Moominpappa and Dave is reading the Memoirs of Moominpappa. Our theme for these books is Memoir. This episode is all about unreliable narrators, self mythologising and the fundamental mystery of our parents. Moominpappa has finally finished his memoirs and is ...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode Bonus #2 Dr Eleanor Janega
June 29, 2023 12:25 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBOur special guest for this episode is Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega. Eleanor joins us to shout about how much she loves Comet in Moominland, share her Moomin memes of choice and talk about how Tove Jansson draws on medieval storytelling tropes like weird little guys you find in the woods, comets, and really good food writing. There is a case made for Moominmamma as an agony aunt and a scathing burn for Ian Fleming. You can find Eleanor's on twitter @GoingMedieval, buy her new book The...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode Bonus #1: Heidi the translator
June 06, 2023 10:37 - 28 minutes - 26.8 MBThis a bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show. In this first guest episode, we're talking to Heidi Gilhooly, a lifelong Moomin fan and translator. Heidi did a comparative study of three versions of the Trollkarlens Hatt: in Swedish, Finnish and English. She shares some juicy insider knowledge about what Elizabeth Portch left out when adapting it for a...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 6: Finn Family Moomintroll (part 2)
February 14, 2023 12:55 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBThis is the sixth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show. It's the end of Finn Family Moomintroll, and the end of series 1! The Hattifatteners have their barometer back, Snufkin gets around to telling the others about the Hobgoblin and his hat, and we meet Thingumy and Bob, the lesbian-inspired non binary couple of your dreams. This book has more bumps in...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 5: Finn Family Moomintroll (part 1)
February 07, 2023 13:29 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBThis is the fifth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading the first half of Finn Family Moomintroll. Spring has sprung and the children have discovered a very interesting hat on top of a hill. The hat starts to transform everything that sits inside it, from eggshells, to outlandish words, to Moomintroll himself. Moominmamma is in the mood for a change of scene and leads an expedition to the H...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 4: Comet in Moominland (part 2)
January 31, 2023 10:59 - 57 minutes - 53 MBThis is the fourth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading the second half of Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson, and what a rip roaring adventure it is! Moomintroll meets the fabled Snorkmaiden and falls in love on the spot, our brave adventurers attend not one but two end-of-the-world parties, and the philosopher gets stuck into something gooey. We talk about war and climate catastrophes ...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 3: Comet In Moominland (part 1)
January 25, 2023 11:04 - 54 minutes - 50.8 MBThis is the third episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading Comet in Moominland, the first fully fledged chapter book. There's lots of to discuss! The Little Creature from last week has become Sniff, a full member of the Moomin family by adoption. A philosopher comes knocking at the door in the middle of the night. But most importantly, Snufkin joins the cast. We talk about the way this book i...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 2: The Moomins and the Great Flood
January 17, 2023 10:09 - 50 minutes - 46.9 MBThis is the second episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's our first read-along and we're reading The Moomins and the Great Flood. We summarise this fairytale of Tove Jansson's, chat about her influences and make a first attempt at a taxonomy of the broader Moomin bestiary. This week our question for Snufkin is: Things keep stealing my time, and I can't manage to do the things I want to do. What would Snufkin...
The Podgoblin's Hat Episode 1: Introductions
January 11, 2023 09:54 - 26 minutes - 25 MBThis is the first episode of the Podgoblin's hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We will be introducing ourselves, our relationship with each other, and our relationships with the Moomins. Check out our twitter @ThePodgoblin and our Instagram @thepodgoblin to see pictures of the tattoos, cuddly toys and dog eared books we mentioned.
GBA Extra - Podcasting On A Shoestring
April 08, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutes - 53.4 MBThis is a talk I put together for the Maker Weekend at the London Podcast Festival and was recorded at the on 14th September 2019 at King's Place. This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9zwoh6tqw7e533/Podcasting%20on%20a%20shoestring.pptx?dl=0
GBA Extra - The Possibilities Of Podcasting
April 06, 2021 14:00 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBThis is a version of a talk I often give about podcasting. It was recorded at the Thirsk Podcast Festival - Podcast Social Club on 23rd November 2019 at Rural Arts. This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cc0eccn7pmmswl0/The%20Possibilities%20of%20Podcasting%202019.pptx?dl=0
GBA Extra - In the dark times there will also be singing
December 31, 2020 18:54 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBOn the 31st of Decemeber 2020 I sat down to record a reflection on this strange and terrible year in personal and political terms. Which makes it sound like a downer but I did try to focus on good things as well as bad and all the rest of the things that don't fit the good/bad binary. Then I listened back to it and did some light editing. Then I mixed it down, And now I'm sharing it with you.
Chapter 6
December 12, 2020 16:20 - 57 minutes - 46.3 MBChapter 6 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Chapter 5
December 02, 2020 17:44 - 1 hour - 54.5 MBChapter 5 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Chapter 4
November 26, 2020 15:14 - 44 minutes - 35.6 MBChapter 4 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Chapter 3
November 19, 2020 15:51 - 42 minutes - 33.7 MBChapter 3 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Chapter 2
November 12, 2020 13:05 - 33 minutes - 27 MBChapter 2 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Chapter 1
November 05, 2020 15:36 - 19 minutes - 15.5 MBChapter 1 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 18: Legacy
July 21, 2020 08:23 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: sex, assisted dying, war This episode is the last episode of the first (and possibly last) season of this show, and it's about legacy. I’ve been planning this show for years. The earliest recording I’ve used was recorded by my dad on cassette tape in 1984. This show has covered 96 years of my dad’s life and 38 years of mine. I started recording interviews with my dad in 2011 and be...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 17: The Box And The Jar
July 14, 2020 08:47 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: grief, suicide, terminal illness, abuse, bereavement In the final full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to counselor and psychotherapist Karen Pollock MBACP about grief and death. This is an episode about ways of thinking (and feeling) about bereavement, therapeutic approaches to change and loss, how the systems and at...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 16: Waves
July 07, 2020 07:48 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide But no matter what he forgets, it can’t take away the love we have shared, that existed, and will always have existed, even when he has forgotten it; even when he is no longer alive to remember it; even when I have forgotten it; even when I am no longer alive to remember it. It happened. And that has to be enough. This episode is about movement, memory, change, ti...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 15: Death is not something that can be kept at a distance
June 30, 2020 08:33 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: bereavement, pain, terminal illness (including cancer) and the caste system In the seventh full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to Khyati Tripathi about studying death. This is an episode about understanding and navigating mortality and creating spaces where we can talk about difficult and taboo topics. Khyati on twi...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 14: André Gorz Tweet
June 23, 2020 08:15 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide I realised that maybe our positions aren’t that different after all. And I wondered if, in the moments that I manage to believe in hope, I seem as inspiring and naïve as he does. It made me wonder if maybe the spark I see in him, that belief in people and ideas, if that isn’t also in me, despite my frequent feeling that it isn’t. If I might communicate that to othe...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 13: New answers to old questions
June 16, 2020 07:35 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBGeneral content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: operations, medical procedures, assisted dying, euthanasia In the sixth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to sociologist Dr Gill Haddow about embodiment, replaceable hearts, everyday cyborgs, humanimals and unhealth. This is an episode about possible futures and how we feel about our bodies. Gill on twitter: https...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 12: Hearts Breaking
June 09, 2020 08:33 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBGeneral 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 i...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 11 - Drink Sangria in the park
June 02, 2020 08:27 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBGeneral 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.app...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 10: Friendship Part 2
May 26, 2020 07:58 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MBGeneral 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 s...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 9: We're not in uncharted territory
May 19, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 82.3 MBGeneral 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...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 8: Chivalry
May 12, 2020 08:38 - 44 minutes - 41.4 MBGeneral 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 i...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 7: Friendship Part 1
May 05, 2020 08:11 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBGeneral 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 ...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 6: I don't want to die, but I'm dying
April 28, 2020 08:35 - 1 hour - 81.5 MBGeneral 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 J...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 6: I Don't Want To Die, But I'm Dying
April 28, 2020 08:35 - 1 hour - 81.5 MBGeneral 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 J...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 5: Desire Paths
April 21, 2020 07:50 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBGeneral 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, deme...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 4: Old people are people
April 14, 2020 07:48 - 1 hour - 69.4 MBGeneral 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:...
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 3: We are all time travellers
April 07, 2020 08:26 - 45 minutes - 42.4 MBGeneral 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/
Down to a sunless sea: Episode 2: Comparing Notes
March 31, 2020 08:44 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBGeneral 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 wher...