Decentered Podcast

Ryan and I got together at the recently extended Phoenix Cinema and Digital Arts Centre in Leicester, for a chat about what makes for a meaningful life. Ryan shared his experience of getting a car and being stuck in endless traffic trying to get to work. This was the first time we've met in the [...] The post Distraction Therapy 081 – Driving Around or Living a Meaningful Life first appeared on Rob Watson Media.

In our final podcast of 2022, Ryan and I met for a coffee and chatted about how we are coping during the festive season, what films and books we've been watching and reading, and how to show sincerity when attempting to get the Christmas Feeling when buying tat in an out-of-town shopping centre!

It was really nice to have a coffee this morning with Jonathan Taylor and Paul Whitehead, who are based at the University of Leicester's Centre for New Writing. We chatted about the way that literature has faced the challenge of the consumer society, and what role literature plays in a progressive and democratic society. As [...]

Today I chatted with Dafydd Roberts, about Listen to the Voice of Fire, Dafydd's music project that encompasses sound art and experimental music performances. Since relocating to West Wales, to pursue a PhD in the alchemical writings of Thomas Vaughan (fl.1650), Dafydd has been active in DIY underground music networks since the early 90s. His [...]

For the first time in ages, Ryan and I met up to chat and discuss what we've been up to for the Distraction Therapy podcast. This was the first time we'd met on a Sunday morning, though the coffee was on hand as ever. We spent some time discussing Ryan's visit to the Thought Bubble [...]

Ryan and I met up on Saturday morning for our regular coffee and chat. Ryan came hot-footed from a bikram yoga session, and was super energised. We chatted about the after-effects of Queen Elizabeth's funeral, and how narrow many of our cultural options have become. It turns out I was a few hours away from [...]

Ryan and I caught up for a coffee again this morning, to find out what films and books we've been reading. We chatted about how forms of media can be thought of as emergent, and considered what a metamodern radio station might feel like. Ryan mentioned Arrow Cult Films, the films of Anton Tarkovsky and [...]

What was the heatwave like for you? That was our starting topic in this latest episode of Distraction Therapy. Ryan and I chatted about what insight we gained about climate crisis, and what manifestations of anxiety we might see emerging in films, songs and creative media, that compensate for the need for urgent action? We'll [...]

The degree to which we need suitable distractions in our lives, is in direct proportion to the level of anxiety that we experience as a result of modern culture, working practices and social expectations. The more media and stuff that we try to cram into our heads, the less we are open to the experience [...]

Ryan Clayton and I met for a coffee, neither of us knowing what we wanted to discuss. It was an experiment in seeing what might emerge! In the end we tried to discuss Kant's transcendental philosophy, and what it's implications might be for engaging with metamodern culture? What does a symbolic experience help us to [...]

Hi, in this episode of Distraction Therapy I've put some music together, and added some thoughts on what a listening-focussed approach to social deliberation might feel like. Music Played: The Bottom Line (Sunrise Session II) Ólafur Arnalds, Josin & Reykjavík Recording Orchestra                Sunrise Session II Leyohmi (Luminescence) – Carolina Eyck & American Contemporary Music Ensemble                [...]

Community development isn’t just a technical process of change management, but is something that aims to enrich our lives in more meaningful ways. This episode [...]

How can we use popular media to bridge the gaps in our knowledge of the world? Over a coffee, Ryan Clayton and Rob Watson discuss how we can make sense of popular media, and what a metamodern outlook might encompass as we wander about the cultural wasteland… 

Is the new Marvel movie, Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, a metamodern film? What would a metamodern radio station sound like, and what topics would it cover? Ryan and I chatted over a coffee and tried to figure out what to make of these things.

Now that spring is here, it was lovely to be able to sit in Castle Gardens and record some observations and thoughts, and to play some music. Also included in this episode is a feature I recorded with Lucy Stevens about here work Colour Coded Birds, which is in collaboration with Leicester Museum service. Music [...]

It was a pleasure, as always, to chat with Ryan Clayton about popular culture, metamodernism and archetypal symbols that have currency in our times. This week we chatted about Fantastic Beats: The Secrets of Dumbledore, James Bond, and a load of other stuff that we hand't prepared beforehand, but were happy to follow our intuition [...]

Community Radio in the UK is a distinct platform for community-focussed communication, not just because of the diversity of the stations and programming content that [...]

Once again, coffee propelled our conversation this morning, as Ryan and I turned our thoughts to the process of reflection and getting to grips with the challenges of modern life. Our conclusion was to take and share more pictures of cats and dogs, and to lighten up! It's easier said than done, but at least [...]

As we push for more media to be delivered on digital platforms, should we pause and think that we might be giving up on some [...]

There are worse ways to spend Saturday morning than drinking coffee and chatting with Ryan Clayton about the meaning crisis and metamodernism for a podcast. It gave us the chance to explore some ideas about what we are reading and watching, and how we are integrating the living mythologies into daily life.

What was intended to be a general conversation about metamodernist sense-making, turned into discussion of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and how it has unfolded across our media in recent days. Rather than taking a position or a stance, Ryan and I considered the challenge of finding sure ground when faced with the exercise [...]

If postmodernity is about playful signifiers and pastiche, then how is metamoderninity different? Ryan Clayton and I met up for a coffee, and we chatted about how we think the ‘new sincerity' that metamodern cultural practice works? Is this sensibility to be found in the artwork itself, in the creative practice, or in the relationship [...]

Continuing a set of vague and unspecific wanderings, where I try to form a sense of what metamodernism is in practice, this week's episode is a mash-up of collected of extracts taken from videos discussing metamodernism on YouTube. Various people talk about metamodernism, and discuss where the concept has come from as a concept, and [...]

This week, Ryan Clayton and I had a stroll around Leicester, and mulled over some terms and reference points for what we think metamodernism could be about based on the environment and the culture that we inhabit. The question of what metamodernism is can't be answered from a seminar room or in discussions between policy [...]

Metamodernism is perhaps the most influential and wide-ranging way of thinking about post-postmodernism. The proponents of metamodernism include cultural theorists Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker. The dualism of “ironic sincerity,” “informed naivete” and “pragmatic idealism” have come into view as the metamodern presents us with an oscillation between paradigmatically modern and postmodern attitudes. [...]

What is metamodernism? This is the ongoing topic that Ryan Clayton and I are mulling over in our conversations. Is metamodernism simply an extension of postmodernism, or does it offer something new, and point towards an emerging ‘structure of feeling' that is only now being brought into focus. Raymond Williams uses the “feeling rather than [...]

It was lovely to have an early morning walk in the frost with sound and visual artists Lucy Stevens. We walked through Leicester's Aylestone Meadows and Lucy told me about how she approaches here work, how she finds inspiration in nature, and her future project working with Leicester Museum to curate an exhibition that depicts [...]

In this episode I chat with Ryan Clayton about our expectations for the coming year, and how we make sense of our experiences in relation to the creative work that we read, watch, listen to and view in our cultural lives. We are exploring what a metamodern approach to social life means, and how we [...]

This is the Distraction Therapy Christmas Mashup! A selection of songs celebrating the festive season from around the world. Relax, put your slippers on, have a hot chocolate, and sing along… The Christmas Song (feat. DA PUMP & Lead) – w-inds – The Christmas Song 3:56 Christmas Thanks for Nothing – Slow Club – Christmas, [...]

Here's the track listing of this festive episode, with sounds from Christmas Markets from around the world. YouTube Edinburgh Christmas Market 2021 || Evening Walkthrough 4K https://youtu.be/EXgzc-4YXMU Edinburgh Christmas Market – Christmas Ambience https://youtu.be/GIxNS4UdxWw Frankfurt Germany City Walk 4K

Leicester Lo-Fi is a community darkroom and photography collective that promotes fine art and traditional photographic processes, by supporting specialist knowledge and facilities, education and exhibitions. Leicester Lo-Fi started in 2011 with no place to call a home, but managed to put on workshops and events at any place that would have them, converting toilets [...]

How does community learning happen, and what do people get out of a more social way of sharing insight and ideas? I chatted with Dan [...]

What are the challenges of running a community newspaper? What’s the best way to keep people informed about what is happening in our neighbourhoods? What [...]

The Evington Echo has been around for over forty years, and manages to keep readers informed and up to date on what's happening in the village of Evington in Leicester. Helen Pettman is the editor of the Evington Echo, and we spent time walking and chatting about what makes a good community newspaper, and the [...]

I want to use the Distraction Therapy podcast to explore what metamodernism means, and how our culture is shifting towards something that goes beyond postmodernity. We've established that we live in a world of signs and media, but we've not taken full account of how meaning is found in the depths of our shared consciousness. [...]

I went to Coventry for the first time at the weekend, to attend the Community Radio Conference, and to check out the Coventry Capital of Culture. I'd never been to Coventry before, despite living nearby in Leicester. So, I had a wander about the city centre, and explored the old and the new buildings, before [...]

At the weekend I went to Totnes to undertake some work with Stelaria Media and Soundart Radio, about how community radio and university-based researchers can better support public engagement. I recorded some sounds from my journey, and had a chance to note some thoughts about the benefit of the community media approach to public engagement, [...]

Last week I went for a stroll with Hayley Rogers, and we talked about her work with the Y-Heritage project, and what she has learnt about the changing nature of Leicester. We also listened to some French Synth pop.

I'm obsessed with walking tour videos on YouTube at the moment. I've been watching them as a virtual alternative to travelling during the lockdown. I'm also looking at them to learn how they are produced and presented, and the variations in form that they demonstrate. I'm hoping to build-up a picture of how they work, [...]

Through the lockdown, many people have been experiencing the use of teleconferencing for the first time. Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other video platforms, have made [...]

Last weekend I went to Liverpool to visit family for the first time in eighteen months. We stayed in the city centre and met up for a visit to New Brighton, where we enjoyed playing in the arcade, walking along the sea front and eating fish and chips. I captured some sounds and chit-chat along [...]

It was fantastic to chat with Josh Aitman today, about Melodic Distraction, an innovative internet-based radio station that has developed into a social enterprise and [...]

I've been watching walking tours on YouTube, which are videos posted to show what different towns and cities are like around the world. There's a continual flow of new videos being posted all the time, some taken from live-stream events, and others shot as a specific tour. I started by visiting places that I have [...]

This week I went to an event celebrating the work of a women's group who have been meeting over Zoom over the lockdown in Leicester. They learnt how to knit and crochet, as well as using Zoom and YouTube to share skills in fostering a network of friends. It was lovely to be able to [...]

The Social Care Act 2014 established principles of independence and control for people who need social care services, however, the reality in practice is patchy [...]

This was our final session of the Community Reporters Club that has taken place over the summer, so we recorded our conversation about what has [...]

I went for a walk through Leicester to test a new gimble that I've bought, and I captured some audio in the process. It's interesting taking the audio from the video, because its less obvious what's being referred to.

How will we know what information and news we can trust as the media and information platforms that we use expand and accelerate into uncharted [...]

This morning I went for a walk into Leicester City Centre, and recorded some thoughts reflecting on the need for total systems change that has been identified in the IPCC report about climate change. What does this mean for our towns, neighbourhoods and communities? How are we going to facilitate change positively? How can we [...]

At today’s Leicester Stories Community Reporters Club, we discussed the role and purpose of vox-pops as a way to gather evidence of opinions and awareness [...]

As part of the Leicester Stories project, we went out into Leicester City Centre to ask people what they know of the Build Back Better slogan. Roy and Ryan were able to record some fascinating comments that help to show the wide variety of opinions and experiences that people have of the whole idea of [...]