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"So where's home then?" It's a question that so many of us struggle to answer. Yet the dilemmas and complexities of identity and belonging are things we're talking about more and more. Standing Places is a digital campfire for sharing stories and reflections about the eternal question of 'home'. Hosted by traveller, writer and storyteller, Ivor Wells.
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#12: On Island Tides: A journey through the music of Blanco White
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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. Josh studied flamenco guitar in Cádiz in Spain, and later the Andean instrument the charango in Sucre in Bolivia. In 2016 he released his first EP, ‘The Wind Rose’ which was followed by ‘Colder He…
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What is happening to the soul of America? It’s a question the whole world is asking as Americans start voting in the most bizarre general election in their history. Yet regardless of who wins the 2020 Presidential race, it’s clear that something is going horribly wrong in the world’s oldest democracy. Tempting as it may be to blame America’s malais…
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So we’re all grounded for the foreseeable future. None of us will be travelling the way we used to any time soon. And so we wait, and remember, and imagine the open roads and open skies we crave and miss. In this episode I share a few poems about the excitement of setting off again, and our insatiable itch for new horizons. But the best journeys ar…
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#9: Politics of a Pandemic: A conversation with Dr. Paul G. Buchanan
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Most of the world is now in some form of pandemic lockdown, and everything around us is changing – politics, economics, international relations. How do we navigate this new terrain? What are the implications for liberal democracy? What might a ‘new normal’ look like for the world order? Paul Buchanan is Director of 36th Parallel Assessments, a geop…
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As 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 time…
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Since recording my last episode it seems that I contracted the coronavirus. So here are some reflections on fighting ‘The Rona’, the silence of London’s traffic-less skies, and the poetry of one of New Zealand’s best writers, Brian Turner. If you’re feeling unwell or afraid right now, I hope this episode is an encouragement. You’re not alone. If yo…
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#6: Coronavirus: We're all in this together
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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? In this episode we also hear from a leading expert at the frontline of t…
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#5: Home is where we have 51 per cent of the vote
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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? In this episode we meet Amy Hochadel and Monica Cunningham who met on the political c…
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#4: Finding home again in the aftermath of grief
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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? Home is more than a physical place. It's something very human shaped. Because so many of us find our sense of home in the people we love. Four years ago Caroline Twigg's world was tipped upside down. Since th…
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#3: The citizenship tests of a lapsed Canadian
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What does home mean when you've always had a complicated relationship with the country you were born in? Piali DasGupta's personal story stretches from Kolkata, India to the prairies of Canada, to the town halls of England's cities and the banks of the river Thames in London. In this episode Piali and I talk about what it means to be a modern Canad…
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#2: Football, grime music and being English in East 18
1:22:35
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Londoners aren't always good at getting to know their neighbours. Sometimes it feels like even the city's suburbs are trying to avoid eye contact. In this episode we go out East to meet Freddie, James and Dan; three Londoners in their mid-20s who grew up in the postcode of East 18. We met in South Woodford to talk about everything from football tri…
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Welcome to the first episode of Standing Places! In this episode we're just getting introduced. I explain what Standing Places is all about and the inspiration behind this podcast. And it all starts with a word that you'll only find at the uttermost edge of the world... Don't forget to subscribe to the show and please rate and review us! You can al…
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