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About This Podcast
Lo-fi clip-clops and bleats to relax/study to. Welcome to the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. Based at the University of Reading, we explore the past, present and future of the English countryside. Hosted by Joe Vaughan and Dr Ollie Douglas. Chaotic Good.
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Recent Episodes
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Send us Fan MailGreetings, friends and listeners. We had a problem with this week's episode where the SD card that we're using for recording has broken, leaving us with a very patchy episode not…
The art of accessible spaces (with Anahita Harding)
Send us Fan MailHow do museums engage with accessibility, both as spaces that welcome visitors and as collections of human stories?On this episode, we're joined by the brilliant disability activist…
50 Million Pheasants Later (with Guy Shrubsole)
Send us Fan MailTurns out delays come like London buses. First Joe got the flu. Then we accidentally re-shared the first episode with Guy rather than the new one. If you listened before we caught it,…
Oops! See the shownotes
Send us Fan MailOops, sorry folks, we accidentally uploaded our first conversation with Guy twice! We will fix this as soon as possible and share the actual episode either tomorrow or Monday. Thank…
No episode this week (see show notes)
Send us Fan MailTurns out scheduling breaks are like London busses! Joe's come down with the flu, so we haven't had the chance to produce this week's episode in time for Thursday release. We'll be…
Who owns England? (with Guy Shrubsole)
Send us Fan MailIt's a simple three-word question. Yet the answer is extremely complicated, expensive, and concealed behind paywalls that run into hundreds of millions of pounds.How did we get here?…
Quick schedule update
Send us Fan MailHi folks! We're closed tomorrow for Easter (which is when we'd usually release our next episode). Ollie and Joe are also in and out of the office at the moment, so we're going to use…
Celebrating 1 year of Absolute Units + listener questions
Send us Fan MailContent warnings: infant mortality (indicated in the chapter list!) - skip from 14:38 to 19:33Today we turn 1 years old! A fine age for a growing podcast. Thanks to everyone who has…
Life on Marsh (with Adrian Lawson)
Send us Fan MailIn 2022, a report by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences analysed 14 European countries and ranked them for nature connectedness, bio diversity, and wellbeing. Britain ranked last…
The Fight for Wild Camping on Dartmoor (with Ruth Webb and Lisa Schneidau)
Send us Fan MailOld Crockern returns! We're back for a second episode with the legendary giant of Dartmoor, plus giant maker and dancer Ruth Webb (of The Lost Giants) and storyteller and…
Old Crockern Awakes (with Ruth Webb and Lisa Schneidau)
Send us Fan MailThere's an ancient spirit who rules over Dartmoor, an uplands region in South West England. His face is granite grey. His eyes are dark as peat pools. His name is Old Crockern. And…
Rural Britannia (with Ollie Douglas)
Send us Fan MailContent warning: This episode contains references to antisemitism and prejudice. Listener discretion is advised.---Last episode we talked about the founding year of The Museum of…
Making The MERL (with Ollie Douglas)
Send us Fan MailOn 1 January 1951, on the same day that the first episode of iconic radio drama The Archers aired on the radio, academics at the University of Reading officially founded The Museum of…
Jane Austen: Verdure, Culture, and Comfort (with Paddy Bullard and Isabel Hughes)
Send us Fan MailJane Austen’s novels are classic books of the English countryside. Yet they reveal so much more about English culture, industry and society than simply presenting prettified scenes of…
Jane Austen: How to Spot a Wrong'un (with Paddy Bullard and Isabel Hughes)
Send us Fan MailIt is a truth universally acknowledged that every podcast about the history of the English countryside must do an episode on Jane Austen.In the first of two conversations, Joe and…
Contested Countryside (with George Monbiot), pt. 2
Send us Fan MailHow does the history of enclosure surface in England today and in Britain's former colonies? How can we de-enclose to create access for all?In this episode, Joe and Ollie continue…
Contested Countryside (with George Monbiot), pt. 1
Send us Fan MailThroughout history people have pitted life in the city against the countryside, comparing urban corruption with an innocent rural idyll.Where does this comparison come from? What is…
Death, Rebirth, and Scooby Doo (with Mark Norman)
Send us Fan MailPumpkins, carved. Candles, lit. Units, absolute. Welcome to a special Halloween bonus podcast by The Museum of English Rural Afterlife.This time, ghosts Ollie and Joe welcome…
Queer Rural Lives: Love Letters and Farm Papers (with Tim Jerrome)
Send us Fan MailIn our last episode, Tim Jerrome (now, University of Brighton; previously, The MERL) shared with Joe and Ollie how he's using The MERL archives to research queer lives and same-sex…
Queer Rural Lives: Searching the Archives (with Tim Jerrome)
Send us Fan MailQueer 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…
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolute Units has published 33 episodes since February 2025, covering topics in Arts, History.
Absolute Units is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 45m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Absolute Units, including email and social media links.
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