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The RAH! Podcast at Manchester Met

Research to shout about!

Each episode covers a different topic of research specialisms here within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Metropolitan University, from poetry, to fashion, to architecture.

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Episodes 2019/20

	A Short Introduction to Magical Realism The tenth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Monique Roffey introduces us to magical realism. We will explore the origins of the genre and its use by South American and Caribbean writers and the figure of the mermaid. Listen to the episode here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Baking Bread Through Lockdown Launch date: Thursday 25th June 2020 The ninth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Dr Muzna Rahman will give us an introduction to gastrocriticism and the popularity of bread baking in the lockdown. We explore all the meanings bread can have, from domestic bliss to post-apocalyptic survival, and how bread baking in lockdown can make us feel less alone. Listen to the episode here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Policing the Lockdown Launch date: Thursday 18th June 2020 The eigth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode Dr Kevin Wong and Dr Kris Christman gives us an introduction to policing the lockdown. We focus on how breach of lockdown could become a crime of the law abiding, the importance of consistency in police approach to enforcing lockdown and what new challenges the police force are facing during this period. Listen to the episode here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Contagion Films Launch date: Thursday 11th June 2020 The seventh episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes will be givin gus an introduction to Contagion Films, including why the zombie is the perfect embodiment of contagion and how contagion moves between genres, such as noir, sci-fi and comedy. Listen to the episode here Episode transcript available here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Victorian Representations of Contagion Launch date: Thursday 4th June 2020 The sixth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Dr Emma Liggins will be giving us an introduction to Victorian Representations of Contagion, with a focus on the ghost story, including how disease was represented as a malignant or haunting force in the house. Listen to the episode here Episode transcript coming soon Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	Science and Art Launch date: June 2020 This month, we are experimenting with a slightly different format for you. A series of episodes exploring Science and Art. Featuring: Sam Illingworth on how poetry and science haven't always been distinct; Helen Mort and Kathryn Adamson on creative responses to climate change; Antony Hall on how drawing can help communicate scientific ideas; and Dave Griffiths on storytelling through microfiche and microfilm. Listen to the series here Episode transcripts available for episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4 Presented by Martin Kratz, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Contagion Narratives Launch date: Thursday 21st May 2020 The fifth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Andreea Ros will be giving us an introduction to Contagion Narratives in history including how quarantine was perceived in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, how perceptions of contagion have been affected by the social and political beliefs of each era, and and some of the language used in representations of contagion today during the coronavirus pandemic. Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Poetry of Place Launch date: Thursday 14th May 2020 The fourth episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Emily Oldfield will be giving us a short introduction to Writing Poetry of Place, including defining place poetry and exploring how writing about place can give representation to often under-represented places and groups. Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to Bad Religion Launch date: Thursday 7th May 2020 The third episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Dr Ellie Beal will be giving us a short introduction to Bad Religion, in Gothic texts including a focus on how religion is portrayed in the Gothic and how depictions of religion have changed as society has become less religious and more secular. Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	Episode 17: Homelessness and Spice Launch date: May 2020 Featuring Rob Ralphs and Paul Gray about emerging drug trends on the streets and the importance of a cross-disciplinary response when tackling such a complex issue; Simone Newman from DePaul UK will speak to Rob Ralphs about some of the challenges in working with young people affected by homelessness; Aisla Cuthill from the Big Change Society at Manchester Met about how their work and how students can help. Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Matt Foley, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway.
	A Short Introduction to: Sport and Epidemics Launch date: April 2020 The second episode in our new RAH! Podcast mini series! In this episode, Dr Tosh Warwick will be giving us a short introduction to Sporting Histories during Epidemics, focusing on a particular smallpox outbreak in Middlesbrough in 1898 which led to sporting events being cancelled, much as we are seeing today in the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic. Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Image credit: The Story of the Small Pox Epidemic in Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Libraries) Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway
	A Short Introduction to: Sonic Gothic Launch date: April 2020 The first episode in our new RAH! Podcast Mini-Series! In this episode, Matt Foley will be giving us a short introduction to Sonic Gothic, a literary sound studies focusing on Gothic Literature. In particular, we will explore what Sonic Gothic is, what constitutes Gothic, and the soundscape of Psycho (1960). Listen to the episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented, produced and edited by Lucy Simpson and mixed by Julian Holloway.
	Episode 15: Crime and Justice Film Festival Launch date: March 2020 Featuring: Kevin Wong and Gavin Bailey on the full festival program; Charlotte Gislam and Rebecca Wyne Walsh on their film choices for the festival and how film can expose the grey areas in crime and justice today; and Siobhan Pollit from Back on Track on the charity’s partnership with the Film Festival and their work in giving voice to marginalised communities. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Ellie Beal, edited by Oliver Cochrane, mixed by Julian Holloway, and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 14: Writing about Love and Sex Launch date: February 2020 Featuring: Catherine Fox and Kirsty Bunting on consent in sex scenes and whether romance novels have a role in teaching us how to have relationships; Sarah Perry on shame, sexual violence and gender equality; and Monique Roffey on her own journey with sex writing and writing good sex as a feminist issue. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Ellie Beal, edited by Alice Brown, mixed by Julian Holloway, and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 13: Perceptions of M‌enstruation and Endometriosis Launch date: January 2020 Featuring: Rosie Jackson on perceptions of menstruation in history, and how the taboo could have first arisen; Stella Bullo and Zoe Bibbon on how the language we use to talk about menstruation and endometriosis affects how they are considered in medical discourse, and how education might begin to solve the problem; and Jenny Cole on women’s experiences of living with endometriosis and how social expectations often lead to misdiagnosis and misunderstanding. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Ellie Beal, edited by Max Muenster, mixed by Julian Holloway, and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 12: Thread Bearing Witness Launch date: December 2019 Featuring: Professor Alice Kettle, the artist who started the project; Ibrahim and Mustafa about their GIOCHERENDA group about how the project resonated with them; Kani Kamil from the Travelling Heritage Buruea about their work empowering displaced women; Ibukun Jesusanmi, or Buki, who became artist in residence at the Whitworth as a result of the Thread Bearing Witness project; and finally Jenny Eden and Kelly Quinzel who worked on the Stitch a Tree aspect of the project. Listen to this episode here Presented by Matt Foley, edited by Oliver Cochrane, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 11: Music and Sonic Studies Launch date: November 2019 Featuring: Dr Beate Peter and Dr Matt Foley about the group; Dr Susan O’Shea about the Sonic Waves conference and her research on gender participation in music scenes and feminist festival networks; Emily Oldfield, Julian Holloway and Susan O'Shea in a co-curated performance piece; and Jamie Halliwell on Eurovision, sexuality and fan culture. Listen to this episode here Presented by Julian Holloway, edited by Joshua Spector, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 10: Gothic Manchester Festival 2019 Launch date: October 2019 Featuring: Highlights from the upcoming Gothic Manchester Festival - find out more about our full program here. Linnie Blake and Xavier Aldana Reyes on the genesis of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies; Dale Townshend and Emma Liggins on 18th and 19th Century Gothic; and Sorcha Ní Fhlainn and Chloe Germaine Buckley on Contemporary Gothic. Listen to this episode here Presented by Matt Foley, edited by Joshua Spector, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
‌	Episode 9: Perceiving Brexit Launch date: September 2019 Featuring: Catherine Fox who live blogged her novel during the referendum of 2016 about her experiences of depicting Brexit and trying to write characters on both sides of the political divide; Eleanor Byrne and Fionna Barber about how we can read Brexit in art and literature and their recent Brexit Wounds symposium; and Stephen Harper, a PhD student in history about parallels between modern day Brexit and The ‘Great Fear’ of 1659. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented and mixed by Julian Holloway, edited by Charlie Fyfe-Williams and produced by Lucy Simpson.

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2018/19 Episode Series

	Episode 8: Wildcard Launch date: August 2019 This episode is a bit different to our usual episodes - as it features you, our listeners! Recorded at our launch event in April 2019, this episode covers a range of topics such as: PhD study, climate change, data analysis, LGBT politics, Peterloo, safe spaces, dogs and the Metrolink. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Martin Kratz, edited by Tim Jackman, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 7: Place Writing Launch date: July 2019 Featuring: Jean Sprackland, Andre Naffis-Saheley and Andrew McMillan on the work of Robinson Jeffers, ecological nightmare and the responsibility of the place poet; David Cooper and Richard Skelton on the importance of considering time when writing about place; Natalie Burdett and Zofija Tupikovskaja-Omovie on their project exploring eye-tracking in the urban landscape and whether writers see the world differently. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Martin Kratz, edited by Tim Jackman, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 6: HAUNT Manchester Takeover Launch date: June 2019 Featuring: Helen Darby and Emily Oldfield who have made HAUNT Manchester a reality; Chloe Germaine-Buckley, who is a member of the HAUNT network and the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, about her research in folk horror; JJ Wray about how he got involved in HAUNT Manchester; Simon Buckley, who ran the Not Quite Light festival, and Nick Kenyon from the Peer Hat who ran the Manchester Folk Horror festival, about how festivals and parties can encourage a new kind of engagement; and finally we’ll hear from some of our network members about what HAUNT has done for them. Visit the HAUNT Manchester website here. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here Presented by Matt Foley, edited by Ben Stott and Lucy Simpson, mixed by Julian Holloway and produced by Lucy Simpson.
	Episode 5: Manchester Game Studies Network Launch date: June 2019 Featuring: Tom Brock on the turn of gambling in digital games and how this has arisen due to the current political economy; Charlotte Gislam, a PhD student researching artificial intelligence, storytelling and video games; and Chloe Germaine-Buckley about her research on horror-themed live action role playing games. We’ll even get to hear how each of our researchers got into this field and some game recommendations from each. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here This episode was presented by Matt Foley, produced by Lucy Simpson, edited by Charlie Fyfe-Williams and mixed by Julian Holloway.
	Episode 4: Personalisation in the Public Services Launch date: May 2019 Featuring: Professor Chris Fox on public sector reform in the criminal justice setting; Caroline Marsh, an independent consultant who speaks to Chris about how this work has impacted upon practice; and Gail Mann who works on personalisation in voluntary, community and social enterprise services. This podcast features the voices of service users. These were collected by People’s Voice Media and are available, open access on the www.communityreporter.net website. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here This episode was presented by Julian Holloway, produced by Lucy Simpson, edited by Adam Farish and mixed by Julian Holloway.
	Episode 3: Modernist Architecture Launch date: April 2019 Featuring: Richard Brook and Janneke Geene on their recent Special Collections exhibition featuring the work of Gordon Hodkinson; Hannah Neate and Steve Millington on modernist architecture in Manchester and the Manchester Modernists Society; and Johnathan Djabarouti on intangible heritage and the significance we attach to buildings. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here This episode was presented by Julian Holloway, produced by Lucy Simpson, edited by Ben Stott and mixed by Julian Holloway. Image credit: Day Sketch for a Bungalow Gordon Hodkinson
	Episode 2: LGBT and Religion Launch date: April 2019 Featuring: Catherine Fox on her Lindchester chronicles, where she explored contemporary issues such as gay marriage; Kim McLelland on paganism and LGBT identities; and queer jewish writer and educator, sam sax at an event by the Manchester Writing School. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here This episode was presented by Julian Holloway, produced by Lucy Simpson, edited by Mia Abeyawardene and mixed by Julian Holloway.
‌‌	Episode 1: Creative Encounters with Death Launch date: April 2019 Featuring: Rodica Arpasanu on Dark Tourism; Eleanor Beal and Craig Young on the upcoming Death and the Sacred symposium and the previous Encountering Corpses series events; and Graham Foster, Iris Feint and Martin Kratz on Anthony Burgess' Beard's Roman Women. Listen to this episode here Read the episode transcript here This episode was presented by Matthew Foley, produced by Lucy Simpson, edited by Ben Stott and mixed by Julian Holloway.

Meet the Team

	Producer: Lucy Simpson Lucy Simpson is the producer on the RAH! Podcast. She's responsible for putting together the content for each episode, organising recording sessions, and doing the technical stuff while interviews are taking place. She does some editing asissted by a fantastic team of student editors and promotes the episodes once they've been released. She is Public Engagement Assistant and the RAH! Festival Program Co-Ordinator in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Met. She has a Masters in Contemporary Literature, Film and Theory.
‌‌	Presenter and Mixer: Julian Holloway Dr Julian Holloway is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Manchester Met. He presents on the RAH! Podcast and also provides his sound engineering and music production expertise to mix each episode before release. His research interests include geographies of the occult, Forteana and haunting. His recent work focuses on the sonic eerie and how this might transform the way we think about rural spaces. He is also a member of MASS Manchester. He is a trained sound engineer and music producer, and is part of two experimental and electronic outfits, Flange Circus and Zirkus. Julian has presented on the following episodes: Modernist Architecture LGBTQ+ and Religion Personalisation in the Public Services Perceiving Brexit Music and Sonic Studies (MASSMcr)
‌	Presenter: Matt Foley Dr Matt Foley is Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Manchester Met and he is also the academic lead on HAUNT Manchester - an online network and website focusing on the alternative side of Manchester. He presents on the RAH! Podcast and he is a member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies and MASS Manchester. He has a broad range of research intersts in the fields of modernist and Gothic studies. Matt has presented on the following episodes: Creative Encounters with Death The Manchester Game Studies Network Haunt Manchester Takeover The Gothic Manchester Festival 2019 Thread Bearing Witness
‌	Presenter: Martin Kratz Dr Martin Kratz is the poetry projects manager at Manchester Metropolitan University. His biggest project is the Manchester Poetry Library which is launching in Manchester in 2020. Martin regularly presents on the RAH! Podcast. Martin was awarded a PhD on the poetics of touch in the poetry of Michael Symmons Roberts in 2016. His MA is in Creative Writing (Poetry) and he won an AHRC-funded postgraduate studentship in 2012. His poetry has been widely published in poetry magazines and he collaborates regularly with the composer Leo Geyer. Martin has presented on the following episodes: Place Writing Wildcard
	Presenter: Eleanor Beal Dr Eleanor Beal is Associate Lecturer in English Literature and Film at Manchester Met. Eleanor presents on the RAH! Podcast. She recently organised the Death and the Sacred symposium at Manchester Met inspired by her research interests in the intersections and dialogue between the secular and the religious in the contemporary period and its manifestation in Gothic literature and film. Ellie has presented on the following episodes: Writing about Love and Sex Perceptions of Menstruation and Endometriosis