Absolute Units

The Museum of English Rural Life
  • 4.8 (36)
  • History
  • Updated Biweekly

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.

  1. Oct 1

    Big sheep, little labels

    Send us Fan Mail Sorry we missed a week! We're catching up after both being out on leave. In this episode, Joe and Ollie chat about what they've been up to lately with many surprising links to rural history: from Ollie's son sending him surreal livestock portraiture on WhatsApp, to Joe's visit to Versailles. We also discuss what's coming up soon - including an episode about the Bayeux Tapestry. Relevant links: CF Payne's art: https://www.cfpayne.com/Joe's interview with NPR about cottagecore: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/09/900498227/the-escapist-land-of-cottagecore-from-marie-antoinette-to-taylor-swiftBrother may I have some oats: https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/guides/what-does-brother-may-i-have-some-oats-mean-the-meme-of-two-hungry-pigs-explainedCompton Verney: https://www.comptonverney.org.uk/Guy Baxter to become our new Director: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-views/guy-baxter-new-director/Who was Horatio Bland? https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/who-was-horatio-bland--- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  2. Sep 10

    So you want to make a time capsule (with Rosy Scholes and Ellen Knight)

    Send us Fan Mail What will farming look like in 100 years time? That's the question asked by a group of University of Reading PhD students, managed by Rosy Scholes and Ellen Knight, as part of the University of Reading's centenary celebrations. In this pod, Joe and Ollie catch up with Rosy and Ellen about their research and their project, which culminated in the burial of a time capsule in our garden, filled with research, creative responses, and visions of what the future of farming might be. The time capsule project was funded by the University of Reading Centenary Project Grant Scheme and completed with the assistance of Phillippa Heath, Dr Ollie Douglas, Dannielle Keegel, Katie Somerville-Hall, Talor Whitham, Tatiana Dickins, Wiktoria Szkolnicka, Prof Deepa Senapathi, Lucy Markwell and Claire Biggs. --- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  3. Aug 27

    21st-century MERL (with Kate Arnold-Forster)

    Send us Fan Mail How do you lead a rural history museum in 2026? What does that look like in practice? And how does our contemporary work vary to the vision of our founders back in 1951? In this second of two conversations with Kate Arnold-Forster, Director of The Museum of English Rural Life and the University of Reading's Museums and Collections, Ollie and Joe chat with Kate about our museum's ongoing evolution, the power of eBay for contemporary collecting, and what the future holds for university museums. --- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  4. Aug 13

    How to move a museum down a hill (with Kate Arnold-Forster)

    Send us Fan Mail So far we've spoken a lot about The Museum of English Rural Life's earliest years. Yet so much of what we are today results from a radical rethinking of what The MERL can be, which has happened under the brilliant stewardship of Kate Arnold-Forster, Director of The Museum of English Rural Life and the University of Reading's Museums and Collections. In this episode, we speak with Kate about her journey into museums, the significance of university museums, and her pivotal role in turning The MERL into the museum you know today. --- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  5. Jul 30

    Bad Bunny, Star Wars, and Stardew Valley (Joe and Ollie special)

    Send us Fan Mail What have we been up to lately? What's coming up? And what's the rural significance of Bad Bunny's performance at the Superbowl? In this episode, Joe and Ollie have a general chat about a bunch of different topics, which each connect - in some surprising ways - to the collections we hold here at The Museum of English Rural Life. Guy Shrubsole on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/guyshrubsole.bsky.socialThe Skylon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_(Festival_of_Britain)--- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  6. Jul 16

    What can we learn from the T-rex? (with Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel)

    Send us Fan Mail We're back with our second episode with the University of Reading's Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel! We continue talking about their Nature-centric Catalyst project, how we can rebuild our relationships with the natural world, and what's coming up next for our collaboration with Tom and Marzia at the museum. Relevant links: Nature-centric CatalystTom OliverMarzia Briel--- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  7. Jul 2

    Ego vs eco (with Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel)

    Send us Fan Mail How does humanity fit into nature? How long have we viewed ourselves as being apart from it? And what are the problems that creates? This time, we chat with Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel from the University of Reading to learn about their Nature-centric Catalyst project. We discuss the rights of nature, the advocacy landscape today, and how we can better centre the natural world in our thoughts and deeds. Also, we end with a 5-minute meditation, beautifully performed by Marzia. Relevant links: Nature-centric CatalystTom OliverMarzia Briel--- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

  8. Jun 18

    Radical Rural Revisited (Joe and Ollie special)

    Send us Fan Mail Okay. Take 2. Last month we drew to a close two major installations at The MERL: our gallery trail Radical Rural, and our exhibition Voices of the Countryside. In this episode, Joe and Ollie reflect on these two projects. We explore what we learned from them, what they meant to us, and how we want to build on this work for the future. We also talk about the World Cup, explain what the heck went wrong last time, and go on a few other tangents that we don't regret at all. Enjoy. Relevant links: Radical Rural: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/radical-rural-gallery-trail/Man in the Woods' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/man.in.the.woods/?hl=enWild Card's Rewilding the Ghost Woods: https://wildcard.land/campaigns/rewild-the-ghost-woodsCPRE: https://www.cpre.org.uk/--- Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound. Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan Producer: Joe Vaughan Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.htmlSupport the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    The Museum of English Rural Life
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Absolute Units
  • Show Website
    Absolute Units

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