#12: On Island Tides: A journey through the music of Blanco White
Standing Places
In this episode we meet the voice and the inspiration behind Blanco White, the stage name of Josh Edwards, a guitarist and singer-songwriter from London.
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#11: The Cult of the Shining City
Standing Places
What is happening to the soul of America? It’s a question the whole world is asking as Americans vote in the most bizarre Presidential election in their history.
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#10: Poetry to journey by
Standing Places
So we’re all grounded for the foreseeable future. None of us will be travelling the way we used to any time soon.
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#9: Politics of a Pandemic: A conversation with Dr. Paul G. Buchanan
Standing Places
How do we navigate a COVID-19 world? What does a global pandemic mean for liberal democracy? And what might a ‘new normal’ look like for the world order?
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#8: Coronavirus: Time will come good
Standing Places
As the UK lockdown is extended it’s hard to know when our lives will return to any sense of normality.
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#7: Coronavirus: Fighting 'The Rona'
Standing Places
Since recording my last episode it seems that I contracted the coronavirus.
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#6: Coronavirus: We're all in this together
Standing Places
We're only just starting to accept the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic here in the UK. We've never lived through anything like this in our lifetimes, and everything is about to change dramatically. So how do we stay connected and hopeful, and how do we manage our fear?
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#5: Home is where we have 51 per cent of the vote
Standing Places
What does it mean to be a global citizen when walls and borders are back in vogue? How do you create a permanent home that’s a sanctuary? And what does permanence and sanctuary even mean when borders are being re-drawn and the ground is shifting beneath your feet?
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#4: Finding home again in the aftermath of grief
Standing Places
How do you find home again when you’ve lost the person who was your home? And what does the idea of home even mean in the aftermath of grief?
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#3: The citizenship tests of a lapsed Canadian
Standing Places
What does home mean when you've always had a complicated relationship with the country you were born in?
info_outlineAs the coronavirus lockdown is further extended here in the UK, it’s hard to know when or indeed how our lives will return to any sense of normality.
In the meantime we wait, and we hope, and we tune in for news of better times.
In this episode I reflect on the importance of journalists – the good ones – who inform us, widen our worlds, and in times of crisis can so often find just the right words to lift our spirits.
One of the good ones is Fergal Keane, whose ‘Letter to Daniel’ remains one of the best loved pieces of audio the BBC has ever aired.
I hope this episode encourages you.