Queer Rural Lives: Searching the Archives (with Tim Jerrome)
Queer histories of England have predominantly focused on the country's urban centres and cities - especially London. Yet queer and same-sex relationships have always existed throughout English life. Rural England is no exception.In the first of two podcasts, Joe and Ollie welcome onto Absolute Units former MERL colleague Tim Jerrome (University of Brighton), whose PhD explores the history of same-sex relationships in rural England.Learn about the challenges of finding queer histories in farm archives, the issues of archivist objectivity, and how museums can develop their practices to better surface and represent stories and relationships that were hidden in the past.Relevant links:Horseman's Word: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2021/03/horsemans-word-secret-society-horse-wizards/The Tractor Whisperers: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2021/04/tractor-whisperers/Queer Constellations: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/online-exhibitions/queer-constellations-histories-rural-gay-men/Queer Constellations (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxCUMyOGc9w---Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe VaughanProducer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/
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A Radical History of the Commons (with Katrina Navickas)
"The law locks up the man or woman who steals the goose from off the common / But leaves the greater villain loose: who steals the common from the goose."In this episode, Joe and Ollie speak with Professor Katrina Navickas (University of Hertfordshire) about the history of the commons: the shared resources that communities depended upon for their livelihoods. Learn about the historical processes that encroached upon the commons, and the public resistance to get those resources back.Katrina's next book, Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England, is published by Reaktion Books this autumn.Lantern Slides of the Open Spaces SocietyUntitled Goose Game---Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe VaughanProducer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/
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Flying Your Drone Through a Michelin-Starred Polytunnel (with Amy Bateman)
Modern farming is full of digital technology. Nobody knows this better than Amy Bateman, a prize-winning photographer and sheep farmer who uses digital tech in both lines of work (even using the same kit to take photos and to run the farm).In this episode, Joe and Ollie continue chatting with Amy about technology and diversification on modern farms: from tech's opportunities for developing farms and improving farmers' lives, to the risks and challenges that technology presents to rural communities.Links:Amy Bateman wins photography award for lamb photo: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-47091514360-degrees VR shepherding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-913nvaQMRU&feature=youtu.beForty Farms video: https://youtu.be/oOlzZWg58SY---Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe VaughanProducer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/
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Forty Farms (with Amy Bateman)
In 2020, award-winning photographer and sheep farmer Amy Bateman set out to document the stories of forty farms in Cumbria. From Lake District hill farms, to the Solway marshes. Amy's photographs present a captivating picture (literally!) of Cumbrian farming in a period of profound societal and technological change. We've been fortunate enough to display them in our 2025 exhibition, Forty Farms, based on Amy's gorgeous book of the same name.In this episode, Joe and Ollie chat with Amy about her work and perspective as a farmer and photographer. What motivated Amy to create Forty Farms? What did she learn from the project? And as myriad challenges continue to impact English farmers, where are those forty farms five years later?Links:Forty Farms: https://amybatemanphotography.com/forty-farms/A Landscape for All: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXMrTTifpw8The Wanderlust Women: https://www.thewanderlustwomen.co.uk/--Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe VaughanProducer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/
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The Rural Art of Dog Poo Posters (with Man in the Woods)
Man in the Woods makes art about parts of rural England that you wouldn’t normally think about – and definitely wouldn’t find in Wordsworth. From hastily-printed dog poo posters, to portraits of massive cows framed in pubs.In this episode, Joe and Ollie continue last week’s conversation with Man in the Woods. We discuss his artistic career, his interests, and the modern history of people interpreting and distilling the rural world.Links:AniMERL Crossing: A Gallery of SmocksMan in the Woods (Instagram)🐑🐑🐑Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe VaughanProducer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/
The Museum of English Rural Life podcast. We're exploring the fascinating, surprising, and moving backstories of our collections, to tell the story of the English countryside.
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