The Museum of English Rural Life podcast. We're exploring the fascinating, surprising, and moving backstories of our collections, to tell the history of the Eng...
In April 2018, we shared a photo of a very large sheep on Twitter with the caption 'look at this absolute unit'. Before we knew it, this sheep had changed our museum's fortunes forever.For our first-ever episode of Absolute Units, we're joined by Adam Koszary – former MERL social media manager from 2012 to 2019 and father of the Absolute Unit post–to revisit the story behind our most viral moment. What did it take for a museum to go viral on the Internet? What was its role in our history? And what did it mean for our future?Episode produced by students at the University of Reading's Department of Film, Theatre, and Television. Intro produced by Joe Vaughan.P.S. We hope to offer transcripts for future episodes! We're a very small team and trying to figure out the best way of providing these.---Absolute Units is hosted by Ollie Douglas, Katie Bergen, and Joe Vaughan, and made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. Support our work Buy our merch Follow us on Bluesky/Instagram/TikTok Let us know what you think of the podcast, and what you'd like to see differently, by taking our podcast survey, or send us an email. Help shape the future of Absolute Units!
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Welcome to the Museum of English Rural Life podcast
EPISODE 1 NOW LIVEIt's just like all the other podcasts you love, but instead of trying to sell you mattresses and underwear we're explaining everything you always wanted to know about the history of rural England but never knew to ask.Why the name? Well, we're known for the Internet's most famous sheep, an 'absolute unit' who first went viral in 2018. But ask any of our staff and they'll tell you everything at The MERL is worth that level of fuss. So join us for a very special pilot season, coming mid-to-late March. We'll be covering topics ranging from square cows to big hogs, to how a museum is like a documentary, and why farmers are using infrared technology to count insect wingbeats in their fields.-----Absolute Units is hosted by Ollie Douglas, Katie Bergen, and Joe Vaughan, and made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. Support our work Buy our merch Follow us on Bluesky/Instagram/TikTok Let us know what you think of the podcast, and what you'd like to see differently, by taking our podcast survey, or send us an email. Help shape the future of Absolute Units!
The Museum of English Rural Life podcast. We're exploring the fascinating, surprising, and moving backstories of our collections, to tell the history of the English countryside.
UK