Getting Better Acquainted

This is the 23rd episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. And just like that, it's the end of the season! We're going out on a story that actually shows us what happens when someone has a problem and wonders "What would Snufkin do?" Sniff is inconsolable over the loss of his favourite toy, a small dog called Cedric, with bejewelled eyes (?!). Even Moominmamma can't help him, so he wanders down to Snufkin's camp and gets told a story. It's a very classic story-shape about belongings not making you happy, but you know what we say? There's nothing wrong with playing the hits well! This story is a real two-hander between Snufkin and Sniff. It really wouldn't be the same without Sniff's many, pertinent, exasperating interruptions. We have a go at filling some plot holes, like: when did Sniff get back from wherever it was he went? Who gave him the toy dog, and why did this put jewels in its eyes? Next season we'll be reading the Moomin comics, so dig out your copies if you want to read along! Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester. Dave has sneaked three (three!) Spirits of the Podgoblin's hat in this season finale to keep you going until we get back: Cane and Rinse, Girl Mode and Rainbow Road.

This is the 22rd episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. How many times has Moominpappa gone off with the Hattifatteners? Are they really as wicked as they're cracked up to be? What does the birch bark scroll mean? Hop along and find out none of the answers to these questions! This is supposed to be a story about the Hattifatteners, but it might more appropriately be named: The Feelings and Projections that Moominpappa has about the Hattifatteners. Which is a bit disappointing for Hattifattener fans but it's still a pretty good story! Dave's done some serious research into queer species in the Moomins, and Hattifatteners as cyborgs in particular. Nina's got a super bumper natural history corner about birch bark and parthenogenic mothers, with additional rustling sound effects. There's a maths corner too, which is unlikely to happen again. Have we all got our little pieces of birch bark in hand? Good, now we'll begin. Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are Thistle & Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland by Sorche Nic Leodhas, and The Dark Crystal, Age of Resistance on Netflix. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Research Hole.

This is the 8th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Our guest Ali Baker is a researcher in children's literature with a particular interest in children's voice and children's rights, so it's no surprise she chose to come on and talk to us about The Invisible Child! Ali makes a strong case for Bjork as a Spirit of Little My and reminisces about finding the Moomins in her local library as a kid. We situate the Moomins as a type of fantasy, and Ali recommend's Dr Farah Mendlesohn's Rhetorics of Fantasy. We talk about the mixed up class elements of the Moomin family, and go on a long tangent about femme-shaming (#JusticeForTheSnorkMaiden), with reference to Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet. Ali's article about the the sensitivity edit's to Roald Dahl's work is here. Her Spirit of the Moomin's is Bjork's album Vespertine, and her Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is her podcast Fantasy Book Swap.

This is the twenty-first episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading one of Tove's most famous short stories: The Invisible Child. It's a pretty bright and funny story with very dark themes. We both like it, but it doesn't quite live up to the hype, for us. Little My is picking poisonous mushrooms (what else is new?), Moomintroll is an ass, and Moominmamma is a confirmed witch. It's a good one for cameos of Too-Ticky, and vengeance on fathers. We've got quite the fungus-based Natural History/Translation chat. We talk about whether bashing coldly ironical types in the head is even any use. Justice for people with hair colours that aren't black or yellow! There is a deep dive into Nina's ginger experience, and the way gingers, particularly ginger girls, are represented in kids' fiction. Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Little Prince by Saint Exupery, as read by Peter Ustinov, and Where the Wild Ladies Are, by Matsuda Aoko and translated by Polly Barton. Dave's Spirit of the Moomins is The White Pube website and podcast, particularly their video game reviews.

This is the 7th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Our guest Lou has been a Moomin fan since childhood, and the character ey relate to is the Groke (iconic). This chat is lots of things, and one of the things is a couple of autistics marvelling over the Hemulen Who Loved Silence, with a sideshoot through Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence. It's also Brian Blessed as Edward the Booble impersonations. It's a really good time! Lou's Spirit of the Moomins is My Neighbour Totoro. Eir Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Saga Thing. Their most recent audio drama is Eeler's Choice.

This is the twentieth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Is this the underrated best story in this collection? We really think it might be. What can a Hemulen tell us about work under capitalism? Will any of us ever get to be pensioned off? This is a beautiful story about introversion, access needs and the dangers of sharing your most secret desires with your relatives. IT BANGS LIKE A DRUM. And it generated a lot of conversation for us, during which we referenced Shy Radicals by Hamja Ahsan, Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, and The World Is Not Ending by Sophie From Mars. Our Spirits of the Moomins are Moira's Pen by Megan Whalen Turner and The Rob Auton Daily Podcast. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Wilder.

This is the nineteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This story's title promises so much in terms of dragon content! In actuality there is hardly any dragon in this story, but what there is, is very good. Nina likes this story a lot anyway, Dave's more on the fence. How understandable to want a small pet of your own, who would be attached just to you! How impossible to guarantee this outcome in any way, especially when said small pet is actually a wild thing and an endangered species to boot! We revisit some familiar themes: love triangles, the impossibility of having a secret, and the unswerving aim of a Little My throwing a pointed jab. Our question for What Would Snufkin do was adapted from an AITA post on reddit Our Spirits of the Moomins are Everything Is Alive and The Mab. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Shrieking Shack.

This is the 6th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. There's so much to say about The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters that we invited Ruby on to say some of it for us! We ponder on the exquisite combo that is cosy and creepy, lament the missed connection between Gaffsie and Fillyjonk and scribble all over our copies of Tales From Moomin Valley in pencil. Ruby's Spirit of the Moomins is the folkloric art of John Bauer, and her Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is the Waterlands Podcast. She sings in the Ouseburn Folk Choir.

This is the eighteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading The Fillyjonk Who Believed in disasters, certified banger no matter who you ask! It's a melancholy, funny, poignant story that feels almost too real. Join us as we relate a little too closely and discuss the anxiety and depression of this poor Fillyjonk. We talk about the beauty and liberation of destruction, bombed out cathedrals, and monastic lifestyles. Do we ever really learn from these experiences, or is it an endless cycle? Plus special Natural History Investigations. Our Spirits of the Moomins are Stories by Firelight by Shirley Hughes and Campaign 2 of the actual play D&D show Critical Role. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Bookwandering with Anna James.

This is the seventeenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Carrying on with our read-through of Tales from Moomin Valley, our story this week is A Tale of Horror! But don't get too excited. The scariest thing about it is the Whomper's daddy. This story, despite not being our favourite, gave us lots to yap about. We talked about how stories about lying affect children's truthfulness, shifting standards in kid lit regarding discipline, in particular corporal punishment, and shared some stories about our own flexible relationships to the truth as children. Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Sister Who Ate her Brothers by Jen Campbell, and the film Turning Red. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Newbery Tart podcast.

This is the 5th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. To round off our spring miniseason we've got a final (for now) look at The Spring Tune, with special guest Matt Miller, a poet and theatre maker. Matt's take on this story is fairly different from all the other takes we've heard so far! It's about smoking, doing the washing up, procrastination. We play a round of our unofficial but recurring game: which Moomin character do you feel painfully called out by? And have a think about what kind of participant Little My would be, if you put her in school and made her be in a poetry workshop. Matt's Spirit of the Moomins is Impro by Keith Johnston. Their Spirits of the Podgoblin's Hat are Rusty Quill and Mark Can't Rap. You can find Matt on twitter @mattmiller2805 and on their website mattmillertheatre.com. The Podgoblin's Hat will be back later this year, when we will be continuing our read-through of the short story collection Tales from Moominvalley. The next short story will be A Tale Of Horror.

This is the 4th bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we've got a special guest in to talk all about the music of Tove Jansson, and the game we talked about last week (Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley) AND the short story that kicked off this miniseason (the Spring Tune). Martin is a musician, a podcaster, a player of games, so he is ideal for all this! If you would like to listen along to the music, you'll want to start with this advert composed by Robert Farnon. Then visit this lovely Autumn Song by Tove Jansson and Erna Tauro. Henry Kathman's translation and cover of Snufkin's Spring Song can be found here. The video essay Dave was referring to is here. Finally, wrap your ears around the not unchallenging Moomin Voices album. Martin's Spirit of the Moomins is The Wind by Fil Corbitt. His Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Noah Caldwell-Gervais. You can find his own music at Pale Bird. His podcasts are Song by Song and Neutrino Watch.

This is the 3rd bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're popping in with something a little different for you this week, it's a video game review! That's right, we're almost topical! Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a beautiful, relaxing, not quite open world exploration of Moomin Valley through the eyes and musical instruments of Snufkin. We discuss the way it feels, the way it looks, the way it sounds. Dave has some nitpicks. We wonder how canon the good ship SnufMin is to these game developers. Did the Groke really break Nina's Switch?! Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are games. Nina's is Untitled Goose Game and Dave's is Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna). Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is The End of the World Book Club.

This is the sixteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. The crocuses are up, the cherry trees are in bloom, and Snufkin is tramping back to Moomin Valley - it must be time for our spring miniseries! We're kicking off with this beautiful, perfectly formed gem of a short story from the collection Tales from Moomin Valley. It's a story about creativity, inspiration, song writing, and how big you need to be to get a name. We namecheck a lot of books in this one! A non exhaustive list: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. Our Spirits of the Moomins are The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Stories by James Bruchac and Joseph Bruchac, and the songs of Regina Spektor. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Song by Song.

This is the fifteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're wrapping up this year on the Podgoblin's Hat with Tove's Christmas offering: The Fir Tree. It's got everything you want from a Christmas story: the light and the dark, the fear and the wonder. There's even a little cameo from the Moomin family gun. We chat about different translations of this story, we exchange presents and talk at length about egg nog. Our Spirits of the Moomins this Week are The Father Christmas Letters by JRR Tolkien, the Muppets Christmas Carol, and Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson. Our Spirits of the Podgoblin's Hat is The Last Christmas, the final episode of Dave's other podcast Getting Better Acquainted.

This is the fourteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're wrapping up Moominland Midwinter this week, and despite being only three chapters, it's 70% of the words in this book, so do strap in for a mammoth episode. There's a whole raft of new characters: the lonely and the rum, a flock of small creep, a very melancholy dog and a jock Hemulen. Misunderstandings and unrequited longings abound. Moomintroll finally gets to grips with the snow. Little My invents ice skating. And we finally get to hear what Mamma thinks about it all. Perhaps the real winter was the friends we made along the way. Or maybe, as per Too Ticky, one has to discover everything for oneself, and get over it all alone. Our spirits of the Moomins this week are Strega by Johanne Lykke Holm and Bob's Burgers, an animated sitcom. Our spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is the blog series The Percy Jackson Project by Talia Franks.

This is the thirteenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to series 3! We're back with a banger: Moominland Midwinter. Nina has had this book hyped up by everyone who knows she's doing this podcast, and despite all the hype it doesn't disappoint. In this first half of the book, the unthinkable happens: Moomintroll awakes from his hibernation and finds himself alone in a world of winter. It is as if he has rolled out into outer space. This is such a beautiful meditation on loneliness, and change, and uncertainty. We've got a great new character in Too-Ticky, and of course the whole show is stolen by recurring character Little My. Our spirits of the Moomins this week are Nimona (the animated film) from Dave and two short stories from Nina: The Horse in the Snow by Jeanette Winterson and the Snow Horse by Joan Aiken.

This is the twelth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. To wrap up season two we are bringing you the last two picture books set in the Moomin universe written by Tove Jansson. Both of these books are a bit difficult and inaccessible! They're very interesting to Moomin fans in that they show the later stages of Tove's journey with her little trolls, and how she felt about them towards the end of her life. The Dangerous Journey is a portal fantasy that sees human girl Susanna enter the Moomin world and travel through a series of gorgeously bleak watercolor landscapes. The Moomins are barely in this, and when they do appear, it's time for Susanna to go. We talk about the many influences on the art and writing of Jansson and read the book as a kind of retrospective of her life. Villain in the Moominhouse has no official translation into English and is kind of hard to find! You can read a fan translation by Teresa Ronayne here: https://kupdf.net/download/the-unwanted-guest-final-version-03-09-small_58d46345dc0d60893ec34667_pdf This is a more typical story shape for the Moomins, except it's all set inside the Moominhouse. Little My is awakened by a horrible smell - eventually the whole house is roused to search out the pungent intruder. Again, we have characters from all different Moomin books and comics humbled together, in a very much larger than canon house. This book is a photo picture book: each illustration was staged inside a large Moomin dolls house that Tove worked on in collaboration with her friends. It's more of a sculpture than a book? Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon by David Almond (honourable mention to How to Stay Sober When You'd Rather Be Dead which you can borrow from overdrive here: https://clevnet.overdrive.com/clevnet-ADVANTAGEKEY/content/media/1475832), Where the Wild Things Are (the movie). And Nina's Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is All About Agatha.

This is the eleventh episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're breaking from our normal format for these next two episodes to bring you Tove Jansson's picture books. The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is really ahead of its time in terms of interactivity and the use of holes cut out of the pages. It's a simple enough journey story, and a vehicle for some really gorgeous art. We compare the translation from the 1960s with the more modern text in our newer editions. There's very creative versification and some brand new Hattifattener lore! And if it's true to say that that first book showcases Tove's love of colour, that's even more true of Who Will Comfort Toffle?. Toffle is a small grey creature living in a big colourful world. He always feels on the outside of everything. Pointillism abounds in the black and white pictures of Toffle's fearful little world. Snufkin has a cameo and he's swapped his mouth organ for a silver flute - what is up with that? Ultimately it's a story about the wisdom and strength that love brings. For obvious reasons, there are a lot more pictures to share than usual this week, so we recommend you find us on twitter and instagram to see all that stuff. Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are the game Gris and Press Here by Herve Tullet. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is She-Ra: Progressive of Power.

This is the tenth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Content note: discussion of suicidal thoughts in the What Would Snufkin do part of the podcast This book splits three ways on Midsummer Eve: Snufkin is enacting revenge on a Park Keeper, Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden are having a party with a Fillyjonk, and the rest of our crew are still aboard the floating theatre. There's so much about theatre in this book: a play within a play, a lion being played by two beavers, a disastrous dress rehearsal and happy endings all round. We talk about the effects of responsibility on Snufkin (spoiler: he hates it) and there's some light prison abolitionism. It's a banger. You should definitely read this one. Our Spirits this week are Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, How It Ends and Wizard Team, a black fantasy podcast from Black Nerds Create.

This is the ninth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's summer in Moominvalley and this book truly hits the ground running. There's a volcano casually going off in the background, and another flood, and the Moomin family has to relocate to a strange floating house. Also, Snufkin is nowhere to be found and Moomintroll is pining away. We've got a bunch of cool new characters, some magical midsummer traditions, and a lot of theatrical superstitions. Dave is taking a new occasional rubrik out for a spin: it's the Clothes Corner!... Nina's usual Botany Corner is also here, and it's all about mosses and lichens. Our Spirits this week are Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, The Spellcoats by Diana Wynne Jones, and So I Got To Thinking, a Sex and the City podcast by Juno Dawson and Dylan B Jones.

This is the eighth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We're back with the second half of Moominpappa's memoirs, in which our brave hero becomes the subject of a country run by an Autocrat, starts a colony and meets his wife. Moomintroll has some very sensible notes for his Pappa in this half of the book, Sniff has some very good questions, but alas, we will never know why Moominmamma was in the sea. Our question for Snufkin this week comes from Helen Zaltzman. Our Spirits of the Moomins are Edward Carey's The Swallowed Man and Alice Tarbuck's A Spell in the Wild. Nina's other podcast, Even the Trunchbull, is our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat.

This is the seventh episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to a new season of the Podgoblin's Hat! This week, Nina is reading the Exploits of Moominpappa and Dave is reading the Memoirs of Moominpappa. Our theme for these books is Memoir. This episode is all about unreliable narrators, self mythologising and the fundamental mystery of our parents. Moominpappa has finally finished his memoirs and is reading them out to the children. Did he really build a Moomin house, or did he just draw it? How much of this story is true? We have a question for Snufkin from upcoming guest Martin Zaltz Austwick, who you can find here. Our Spirits of the Moomins are both memoirs: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr. Dave's spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Down to a Sunless Sea.

Our special guest for this episode is Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega. Eleanor joins us to shout about how much she loves Comet in Moominland, share her Moomin memes of choice and talk about how Tove Jansson draws on medieval storytelling tropes like weird little guys you find in the woods, comets, and really good food writing. There is a case made for Moominmamma as an agony aunt and a scathing burn for Ian Fleming. You can find Eleanor's on twitter @GoingMedieval, buy her new book The Once and Future Sex here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-once-and-future-sex-going-medieval-on-women-s-roles-in-society-eleanor-janega/18507010?ean=9780393867817 and her comic The Middle Ages: A Graphic History here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Middle-Ages-Graphic-History-Introducing/dp/1785785915 She also has her own podcast We're Not So Different: https://podfollow.com/1551657923 This a bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show. The Podgoblin's Hat will return in August with season two, which kicks off with The Memoirs of Moominpappa / The Exploits of Moominpappa. We'll tell you about both versions of the story so you can pick which one to seek out and read!

This a bonus episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show. In this first guest episode, we're talking to Heidi Gilhooly, a lifelong Moomin fan and translator. Heidi did a comparative study of three versions of the Trollkarlens Hatt: in Swedish, Finnish and English. She shares some juicy insider knowledge about what Elizabeth Portch left out when adapting it for an English audience, and what she changed. We chat about the Thingumy and Bob, a gutsier Snorkmaiden and the origin of Moominmamma's proficiency with an axe. Many thanks to Heidi for being our first ever guest! You can find out more about her here: https://kaantopiiri.fi/en/translators/heidi-gilhooly/profile/

This is the sixth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's also the last episode of the first series of the show. It's the end of Finn Family Moomintroll, and the end of series 1! The Hattifatteners have their barometer back, Snufkin gets around to telling the others about the Hobgoblin and his hat, and we meet Thingumy and Bob, the lesbian-inspired non binary couple of your dreams. This book has more bumps in the road for us as modern readers than those that went before. #JusticeForTheSnorkmaiden It also contains some really positive representations of what we might call non-monogamy and queerness. Truly a mixed bag. Our question for Snufkin comes from Jane Eyre, and concerns marriage and true love. Our Spirits of the Moomins this week are: The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is: On Eyre from Hot and Bothered. We'll be back after a break with Memoirs (or are they Exploits?) of Moominpappa.

This is the fifth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading the first half of Finn Family Moomintroll. Spring has sprung and the children have discovered a very interesting hat on top of a hill. The hat starts to transform everything that sits inside it, from eggshells, to outlandish words, to Moomintroll himself. Moominmamma is in the mood for a change of scene and leads an expedition to the Hattifatteners' lonely island. Snufkin catches sight of a terrific villain in the heart of a storm. Our theme for this book is ALCHEMY, and we're looking at transformations and all things golden. Also, colonialist fantasies, various masculinities and the first edition of Nina's Botany Corner. Our question this week pertains to Dave's nonmonogamous emotional life (!) so you'll definitely want to tune in for that. Our Spirits of the Moomins are Bluey and Knock Three Times by Cressida Cowell. Our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood].

This is the fourth episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading the second half of Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson, and what a rip roaring adventure it is! Moomintroll meets the fabled Snorkmaiden and falls in love on the spot, our brave adventurers attend not one but two end-of-the-world parties, and the philosopher gets stuck into something gooey. We talk about war and climate catastrophes (again! why is Moominland always threatened by climate change?) and discuss the heteronormativity of the Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll's relationship, but also the ways in which they break that mould. This week, our question for Snufkin was provided by the AITA community on Reddit and concerns landlords. Our Spirit of the Moomins recommendations are as follows: By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison (special shout-out to the audiobook) Toy Story 3 And our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat, as provided by Nina this week, is Dragon Babies, a YA fantasy nostalgia podcast.

This is the third episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. This week we're reading Comet in Moominland, the first fully fledged chapter book. There's lots of to discuss! The Little Creature from last week has become Sniff, a full member of the Moomin family by adoption. A philosopher comes knocking at the door in the middle of the night. But most importantly, Snufkin joins the cast. We talk about the way this book is structured, the ways in which it calls back to Flood, and we make another fruitless attempt to discover how big Moomins are. Our #WhatWouldSnufkinDo question this week is: What would you do if your cat came home wearing a new collar? Spirit of the Moomins recommendations: The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate by Margaret Mahy. The films of Hayao Miyazaki, specifically Ponyo, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. And our Spirit of The Podgoblin's Hat is: Avatar: Braving the Elements Join us next week when we read the second half of Comet in Moominland!

This is the second episode of The Podgoblin's Hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. It's our first read-along and we're reading The Moomins and the Great Flood. We summarise this fairytale of Tove Jansson's, chat about her influences and make a first attempt at a taxonomy of the broader Moomin bestiary. This week our question for Snufkin is: Things keep stealing my time, and I can't manage to do the things I want to do. What would Snufkin do? If you've got a question for Snufkin, catch us on Twitter and Instagram @ThePodgoblin or email us at thepodhat@gmail.com Our Spirit of the Moomins are: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (recommended by Nina) Journey and What Remains of Edith Finch? (recommended by Dave) And our Spirit of the Podgoblin's Hat is: Tolkien Black Girls from Black Nerds Create.

This is the first episode of the Podgoblin's hat, with Nina and Dave. You can find it on it's own feed wherever you get your podcasts. We will be introducing ourselves, our relationship with each other, and our relationships with the Moomins. Check out our twitter @ThePodgoblin and our Instagram @thepodgoblin to see pictures of the tattoos, cuddly toys and dog eared books we mentioned.

On the 31st of Decemeber 2021 I sat down to record a reflection on the second year of the pandemic and the year I turned 40 in personal and political terms. I then pulled the file straight from my field recorder into soundcloud. I haven't listened back to it, edited it, or even mastered it, so my apologies for that. But now I'm sharing it with you (and future me) anyway.

This is a talk I put together for the Maker Weekend at the London Podcast Festival and was recorded at the on 14th September 2019 at King's Place. This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9zwoh6tqw7e533/Podcasting%20on%20a%20shoestring.pptx?dl=0

This is a version of a talk I often give about podcasting. It was recorded at the Thirsk Podcast Festival - Podcast Social Club on 23rd November 2019 at Rural Arts. This was the powerpoint I used for the talk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cc0eccn7pmmswl0/The%20Possibilities%20of%20Podcasting%202019.pptx?dl=0

On the 31st of Decemeber 2020 I sat down to record a reflection on this strange and terrible year in personal and political terms. Which makes it sound like a downer but I did try to focus on good things as well as bad and all the rest of the things that don't fit the good/bad binary. Then I listened back to it and did some light editing. Then I mixed it down, And now I'm sharing it with you.

Chapter 6 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

Chapter 5 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

Chapter 4 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

Chapter 3 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

Chapter 2 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

Chapter 1 of my weekly unedited lockdown readings.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: sex, assisted dying, war  This episode is the last episode of the first (and possibly last) season of this show, and it's about legacy. I’ve been planning this show for years. The earliest recording I’ve used was recorded by my dad on cassette tape in 1984. This show has covered 96 years of my dad’s life and 38 years of mine. I started recording interviews with my dad in 2011 and began writing essays about our relationship and his journey through old age towards death in 2017. I’m glad I made this show. That it hasn’t just remained an imagined show. It’s been a tough journey at times, but it’s one I’m so glad I’ve made. Thanks for travelling on it with me. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: grief, suicide, terminal illness, abuse, bereavement In the final full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to counselor and psychotherapist Karen Pollock MBACP about grief and death. This is an episode about ways of thinking (and feeling) about bereavement, therapeutic approaches to change and loss, how the systems and attitudes around and inside us effect the ways we deal with difficult things, and so much more. It is the only episode of the show that doesn't feature my dad's voice but he is very present in the conversation. Karen on twitter: https://twitter.com/CounsellingKaz Counselling in Northumberland: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/ Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities: https://www.ubcpress.ca/non-binary-lives The Messiness of Grief: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2020/02/03/the-messiness-of-grief/ Opening the door to difficult conversations: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2018/01/23/opening-the-door-to-difficult-conversations/ Death and second chances: https://counsellinginnorthumberland.com/2016/11/22/death-and-second-chances/ Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide But no matter what he forgets, it can’t take away the love we have shared, that existed, and will always have existed, even when he has forgotten it; even when he is no longer alive to remember it; even when I have forgotten it; even when I am no longer alive to remember it. It happened. And that has to be enough. This episode is about movement, memory, change, time, distance, tears, connection, therapy, sadness, love, grief and everything else that can come in waves. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: bereavement, pain, terminal illness (including cancer) and the caste system In the seventh full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to Khyati Tripathi about studying death. This is an episode about understanding and navigating mortality and creating spaces where we can talk about difficult and taboo topics. Khyati on twitter: https://twitter.com/khyati_tripath Remaining with death: https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-33/april-2020/remaining-death Association for the Study of Death and Society: https://www.deathandsociety.org/ Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: euthanasia/suicide I realised that maybe our positions aren’t that different after all. And I wondered if, in the moments that I manage to believe in hope, I seem as inspiring and naïve as he does. It made me wonder if maybe the spark I see in him, that belief in people and ideas, if that isn’t also in me, despite my frequent feeling that it isn’t. If I might communicate that to other people regardless. If the world as humans know it lasts for long enough for me to reach a similar age as my dad, I wonder if I will be someone who frustrates and delights young people with my faith in them, whether I will still accept the possibility of hope and change? This episode is about belief, hope and progress. It considers technological change, generational change, spiritual change and political change. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: operations, medical procedures, assisted dying, euthanasia In the sixth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to sociologist Dr Gill Haddow about embodiment, replaceable hearts, everyday cyborgs, humanimals and unhealth. This is an episode about possible futures and how we feel about our bodies. Gill on twitter: https://twitter.com/gillhaddow Everyday Cyborgs and Humanimals 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WilTY5FF5w Animal, Mechanical and Me: https://animalmechanicalandme.com/ Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Additional content note: war, medical operations, suicidal ideation I’m still pretty terrified of my dad stopping existing. He has been such a part of my life that it feels like a world without him in it is impossible. But ever since I was a child, I have been imagining that world. I’ve played out his death so many times. I’ve written it into fiction and songs. I’ve spent hours in my mind going through how it will be. What I might think and do. How it will affect me. How it will affect my family. And I’ve always thought it would probably happen soon. But it never has. This episode is about confronting death and confronting love. It includes the story of my dad's war and of his heart attack and quadruple heart bypass. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: PTSD, dependency/addiction, rape (touched on lightly, no descriptions) In the fifth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to psychologist and epidemiologist Dr Suzi Gage from the podcast Say Why to Drugs about researching recreational drug use and mental health. Say Why to Drugs with Dr Suzi Gage: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/say-why-to-drugs/id1114492774 Say Why to Drugs by Dr Suzi Gage: https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/suzi-gage/ Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues This episode is about creating things: imaginary worlds, homes and friendship. It's also about walls: drawing on walls, putting up boundaries, and pulling down the walls inside your mind and heart. Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.

General content note for the series: death, dementia, old age, mental health issues Extra content note: Suicide, self-harm, bereavement, war, antisemitism, the Nazis, COVID-19 In the fourth full episode of the podcast using content funded by the British Podcast Awards and the Wellcome Trust I talk to health psychologist Professor Rory O'Connor about researching suicidal behaviour. And to historian Professor Julie Gottlieb about researching suicide increases in times of crisis, specifically during the "War of Nerves" (1938-1939) and the Munich Crisis (September/October 1938). Artwork by my brother Tony Pickering: http://www.pick-art.co.uk/ The BPA Fund has a survey that I’d really appreciate you filling in if you have a few moments. You can find it here: http://podcastviews.com For some extra incentive if you fill it in you can be entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. For the purposes of this survey “Getting Better Acquainted” counts as "Down to a sunless sea" whether you are listening to it via the GBA feed or not.