Hannah and Francisca: Neutron stars, landscapes and imagination

So that was season 6. Thank you to all our guests for sharing much more than just your objects with us. Also big love to Hannah, our conversational guide, thoughtful host and gentle questioner, we'll miss you. 

Sharing things will return in 2023. 

In the meantime, it's winter graduation here at the University of Edinburgh and Sharing things friend and season 1 guest, Catherine Wilson Garry has written a poem for our graduating students, and we wanted to share. Thank you for listening. And if you're stuck over the festive season, check out the Sharing things back catalogue. It's full of audio treats.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

Door image from  www.freevector.com

In the sixth and final episode of season six , guests Emily Aboud and Ed Patrick talk about shapeshifting, storytelling and the politics of saying it out loud.

 Emily is a Trinidadian theatre director, writer and artistic director of Lagahoo Productions. As a Caribbean theatre maker, her work draws inspiration from the political community theatre she grew up making in Trinidad - a combination of music, movement, direct audience address and naturalism. Her most directing recent credits include BOGEYMAN (Edinburgh Fringe 2022), the award-winning SPLINTERED (Soho Theatre, also, writer), Pink Lemonade (Bush Theatre), Dolly (Park Theatre) and Chatham House Rules (Pleasance Theatre). 

Ed is a comedian, author and NHS anaesthetist. As well as performing across the UK, Ed also hosts the Comedians' Surgery podcast where he speaks to other comedians about their health stories and experiences. His memoir Catch Your Breath: The Secret Life of a Sleepless Anaesthetist was published in 2021.

Warning: This episode occasionally contains strong language. 

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.  

In the fifth episode of season six , guests Ichwan Thamin and Jon Henderson talk about CDs, chickens and change.

Ichwan Thamin Wiputra is a third-year undergraduate studying agricultural science, food security, and sustainable development in the University of Edinburgh. From 2019 – 2020, he completed the Biology and Chemistry Foundation programme in King’s College London. He is currently working on an upcoming food sustainability podcast.

Jon is a Chancellors Fellow in Global Challenges at the University of Edinburgh and Head of Archaeology. He is a prehistoric archaeologist who is interested in how the past can help inform and improve the present, specifically looking at submerged settlements and developing underwater survey techniques around the world. Jon is also a series consultant and regular on-screen contributor to the National Geographic series Drain the Oceans which uses cutting-edge digital recording and CGI modelling to present underwater sites to a global audience.

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In the forth episode of season six , guests Gloria Omuya and Tenzin Dhardon-Sharling talk about landscape, symbolism and pieces of home. 

Gloria is a recent graduate with an MSc in Africa and International Development. She is passionate about building programs that help organisations impact lives and communities. With a background in the educational non-profit sector in Kenya, her work has focused on honouring people, building community, improving systems for long-lasting impact, and increasing opportunities for people to thrive. Gloria is happy doing anything involving people, plans and processes! 

Dhardon is an educator, feminist scholar, environmental humanist, and a former Tibetan political personality. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts and is also pursuing a graduate certificate in feminist studies. Dhardon is passionate about intersectional social justice and is working on her current book Theorising a Female Dalai Lama: An Intersectional Tool for Feminisms. 

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In the third episode of season 6, guests Niamh Pinkerton and Nathan Oenardi talk about rituals, ‘Friendsmas’, and writing your own narrative. 

Niamh loves dogs, nature, puns and being invited to be a guest on fun podcasts (thank you!). During Niamh's early high school years, she faced a sudden change of circumstances and was no longer able to attend school due to a neurological disorder. Niamh spent her exam years in inpatient hospital care. Despite this, she was determined she would improve enough to attend university. A year after Niamh left inpatient care, she attended a SWAP access course to allow her to apply to university. Currently, Niamh is going into her third year of Sustainable Development and Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh and is continuing to work on recovery. 

Nathan is zoology graduate who is now a Talent Sourcer at Iconic Resourcing. He realised that his degree doesn’t define him and that his strengths and transferable skills can get him to new and more opportunities. Being mixed race, he feels a strong sense of responsibility to use his platform to represent and empower people with mixed race backgrounds and people in other minority backgrounds. 

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In our third episode of season 6, guests Kim Graham and Alan Addison talk about Edinburgh roots, managing memories and education as transformation.

Professor Kim Graham was appointed as the first Provost of the University of Edinburgh in June 2022, having previously held the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Enterprise at Cardiff University. Kim is an internationally-renowned Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and co-author of award-winning book The Evolution of Memory Systems. Her research asks how variation in the structure and function of brain networks is linked to differences in human memory performance and how damage to these networks influences risk and resilience to dementia across the lifespan. 

Alan is a published author and a retired literacy tutor. Before graduating from the university in English Literature in 1995, Alan had his own joinery business. He gave it up to pursue his love of literature, which stemmed from his uncle Bert Mackie, who was a writer and journalist, and encouraged Alan to study English. To enable him to qualify for university he went to a community college and was the first in his family to reach higher education. After graduating, he became a literacy tutor. By then he had been diagnosed with dyslexia and learned that this condition existed in his family. This led him to become a family literacy tutor supporting families in areas of multiple deprivation.

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In the second episode of season six , guests Maria Maclennan and Hannah Feben-Smith talk about adoptee voices, jewellery detectives, and the value of things.

Dr Maria Maclennan is an award-winning interdisciplinary designer, researcher, writer, and educator. Her current research interests concern the forensic and criminal use of jewellery and the value of design in facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange between diverse areas such law enforcement, government, and education. 

Hannah graduated with an MA (Hons) in Linguistics and Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh in 2022. During her final two years at university, Hannah co-founded an adoptee project called Whatever Next? with her two friends, Josephine Jay and Adaline Bara. By sharing their own personal experiences, they aim to positively impact the adoptive community while challenging misconceptions!

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In our opening episode of season 6, guests Hannah Clark and Francisca Lima chat about neutron stars, landscapes and imagination.

Hannah is a 4th year student in Sustainable Development and Social Anthropology, originally from a small town near Glasgow. She is also this year's Sharing things host! She is currently focused on her roles as research director for The Buchanan Institute (a student-led think tank), president of the Hearty Squirrel Food Cooperative, and board trustee for 2050 Climate Group. She has also hosted another podcast called 'Planting Seeds of Change', in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh's Food Security & Sustainability Society.

Francisca is a landscape designer and lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art, where she currently teaches history and theory of landscape architecture. Francisca is interested in range of different research topics, including perception of landscape, urban decline and green spaces in relation to community engagement and wellbeing. 

Who are we? Season 6 is about who we are as individuals, what motivates us and why we do the things we do? But as it is Sharing things, it is also about where we overlap, where our experiences help us better understand others and why we are never alone.

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

In this specially curated bonus episode from our season 6 podcast intern Hannah, we explore 5 seasons of Sharing things and pick out conversational snippets that explore identity, belonging and making spaces. 

This special episode features guests from all five seasons of Sharing things.

• Ellen and Rachel: Dying and not dying, familial love and ketchup splatters - Listen and subscribe
• SJ and Mona: The flying frisbee of death, evocative smells and taking ownership of faith - Listen and subscribe
• Srishti and Abrisham: Self-expression, dangerous women and writing things down - Listen and subscribe
• Beth and Udita: Role models, women in leadership and voyages of discovery - Listen and subscribe
• Richenda and Amalie: New skills, impostor syndrome and sudden departures - Listen and subscribe
• Charles and Rianna: Woolly mammoths, deep sea gigantism and knowing your place in the family hierarchy - Listen and subscribe
• Daisy and Dalia: Childhood excitement, happy folders and love over hate - Listen and subscribe
• Elias and Tomiwa: Internet culture, giving others a platform and Michael Rosen memes - Listen and subscribe
• Laura and Nicha: Lifelong friendships, belonging and painting with Bob Ross - Listen and subscribe
• David and Caroline: Escaping in nature, imposter syndrome and finding treasure (everywhere) - Listen and subscribe
• Nuam and Olivia: Family ties, intersectionality and figuring out where home is - Listen and subscribe

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set. 

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes where the objects are not just starting points, but deeply woven through the lives of our guests. What do you hold close? In the final episode of this collection we revisit the conversation between Lily Mellon and Debora Kayembe and talk about making history, uncovering stories and taking time for yourself.

This episode is hosted by Ayanda Ngobeni, who joined us in summer 2021 before starting her final year as a law student.

Lily is currently completing her research Master’s in Scottish Ethnology, Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University, after graduating with an MA in Scottish Ethnology in 2020. Alongside her studies, Lily is exploring Student Records for Underrepresented Student Narrative as the University Histories Archives Intern. You can listen to Lily on the monthly webinar ‘Meet the…Series’ (a live interview and Q&A session) as part of the VOiCE podcast – We’ve Got History Between Us.

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Debora is the University’s 54th Rector. Debora is a human rights lawyer and is passionate about advocating against issues such as racism, inequality, children in need, domestic violence and child abuse. From 2013 – 2016, Debora served as Scottish Refugee Council Board member and in 2017 founded the charity Full Options, promoting human rights and peace. In 2019, she became the first African to have her portrait erected at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Later in 2020, Debora launched the Freedom Walk campaign, which aims to lobby and campaign on behalf of citizens by promoting social reforms, racial justice and community harmony.

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded during the Covid thing. We are still online but 2021 was starting to feel a bit okay.

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.