Our Lives, Our Stories with Carl Chinn

Our Lives, Our Stories
  • 5.0 (2)
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Our Lives, Our Stories is hosted by social historian and writer Carl Chinn MBE, whose life’s work has been dedicated to bringing to the fore the lives and stories of people too often left out of traditional history books. This podcast is built on a simple but powerful belief: that history must be democratised and that every person’s story matters. In each episode, Carl sits down with guests ranging from well-known figures to community activists and changemakers, exploring the personal histories, experiences, challenges and moments that have shaped who they are. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 6d ago

    Kynton Swingle

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Kynton Swingle, a youth and community worker who grew up around Fox Hollies in Acocks Green and now helps run Fox Hollies Forum as Community Development Manager of the Fox Hollies Community Association. Kynton talks about a family steeped in community work, a summer at Camp America, the university lecturer who changed his direction, and building youth work in a neighbourhood that had none. He also reflects on class, confidence and what Pride in Place could mean for the Gospel and Pitmaston estates. Fox Hollies Forum - https://foxholliesforum.com Fox Hollies Forum Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FoxHolliesForum Fox Hollies Forum YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwKIMGU5A2c7emvmSqQf8fw About This Podcast: The Our Lives, Our Stories podcast features conversations about life stories, family history, memory, identity, and the moments that shape who we are. Our Mission: Our Lives, Our Stories is a living archive for our generation and the ones to follow. Our mission is to empower everyone to tell their story. Record Your Own Story: Our website https://www.ourlives-ourstories.com has free guides on how to unlock your memories and record them. My Life, My Story: My Life, My Story is a guided legacy journal curated by Carl Chinn that includes prompts to help you reflect on your memories, experiences, and family history. It's a keepsake to help preserve your story, or a special gift for a parent, grandparent, or loved one. Available now on Amazon. https://ourlives-ourstories.com/mylifemystory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Oct 23

    Deborah Douglas

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Deborah Douglas, campaigner, author and chair of Breast Friends Solihull. Deb was born in Aston and grew up in a back-to-back in Nechells, sharing an attic with her brother and the two young uncles her mom had brought out of care. She started on the shop floor at Lucas and rose to run production lines and investigate faults in aircraft electronics, from Birmingham to China and America. In 2003, the year after she lost her dad and two years after losing her mom, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and treated by Ian Paterson. Years later an independent consultant told her she should have had a lumpectomy, not a mastectomy, and should not have had seven months of chemotherapy. Deb has been leading the fight for justice, not only for herself but for all the other patients harmed by Ian Paterson, including the families of patients now at inquest. This is a story about trust, persistence and community, and about a woman who used a quality engineer's eye to look for the truth. She also talks about the women of Breast Friends Solihull and her book, The Cost of Trust. Content warning: This episode contains discussion of cancer, surgery and medical harm, and the deaths of patients and family members. Please do take care whilst listening or skip this episode if this could be distressing for you. The Cost of Trust (book) - https://ourlives-ourstories.com/go/deborah-douglas-book Breast Friends Solihull - https://ourlives-ourstories.com/go/breast-friends Petition - https://ourlives-ourstories.com/go/petition About This Podcast: The Our Lives, Our Stories podcast features conversations about life stories, family history, memory, identity, and the moments that shape who we are. Our Mission: Our Lives, Our Stories is a living archive for our generation and the ones to follow. Our mission is to empower everyone to tell their story. Record Your Own Story: Our website https://www.ourlives-ourstories.com has free guides on how to unlock your memories and record them. My Life, My Story: My Life, My Story is a guided legacy journal curated by Carl Chinn that includes prompts to help you reflect on your memories, experiences, and family history. It's a keepsake to help preserve your story, or a special gift for a parent, grandparent, or loved one. Available now on Amazon. https://ourlives-ourstories.com/mylifemystory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Oct 16

    Larry Hanks

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Larry Hanks, one of the four founders of Birmingham's Pen Museum and, a quarter of a century after it opened, still one of its most devoted volunteers. Larry grew up in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. Larry talks about starting as a trainee draughtsman, and how he learnt that the man who swept the floor had just as much to teach him. He remembers being an ink monitor at school, watching bombs fall in a row into a stream near his home during the war, and turning 21 in Nicosia during the Cyprus Emergency. His career took him from site checks across Europe, America and Singapore to a factory in Russia. A warning about retirement led Larry to collect fountain pens and pen nibs, and to discover that Birmingham once made 75% of the world's pen nibs. Brian Jones, Colin Giles and Ray Handley and Larry formed the Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association, cleared out a derelict room in Frederick Street, rebuilt old library cabinets by hand and funded much of it themselves. Larry reflects on why the museum is the thing he is proudest of, and speaks about Margaret, his wife of almost 64 years. It is a story about what a few determined people can do to make sure a city remembers how it made its living. The Pen Museum - https://penmuseum.org.uk Record Your Own Story: Our website https://www.ourlives-ourstories.com has free guides on how to unlock your memories and record them. My Life, My Story: My Life, My Story is a guided legacy journal curated by Carl Chinn that includes prompts to help you reflect on your memories, experiences, and family history. It's a keepsake to help preserve your story, or a special gift for a parent, grandparent, or loved one. Available now on Amazon. https://ourlives-ourstories.com/mylifemystory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Oct 9

    Joe Lycett: Replay

    From our archive: first released in March, Carl Chinn sits down with comedian, artist and TV presenter Joe Lycett to talk family history, building a comedy career, creativity, and what it means to be a champion for Birmingham. Inspired to tell your own story? Free guides at our website https://ourlives-ourstories.com My Life, My Story is a guided legacy journal for writing down the memories that matter, ready to pass on to the people you love. Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GNPTVHVV Hardback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GN6J3TZ6 Content warning: This episode contains some strong language. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Oct 2

    Peter Connolly

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Peter Connolly, a publican with Irish roots who opened Nortons in Digbeth and went on to take over The Anchor, one of Birmingham's best-loved Victorian pubs. Peter talks about growing up in a second generation Irish family, finding his way to Digbeth's Irish Quarter, opening Nortons on Friday the 13th just months before the pandemic, bringing a historic boozer back to life, and why he believes a good pub is worth far more to its community than anyone has ever measured. Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the death of a parent and of serious illness. Please do take care whilst listening or skip this episode if this could be distressing for you. Nortons Digbeth - https://nortons.bar The Anchor Digbeth - https://www.anchordigbeth.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Sep 25

    Patricia White MBE

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Patricia White MBE, a Hodge Hill-born Brummie who set up Birmingham's first Trussell Trust food bank in Ladywood and went on to found Suited for Success, a charity helping people into work. Patricia talks about growing up with her mom and two sisters in a family with roots in St Kitts and Nevis, ten years at BBC WM, a secondment with the BBC World Service in Nigeria, the faith that drives her, and why dignity sits at the heart of everything she does. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Sep 18

    Lauren Broxton

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Lauren Broxton, a bespoke leather designer and maker from Walsall who has been drawing, sketching, and making things out of whatever she could find since she was a girl. She has also been one of the key campaigners that saved Walsall Leather Museum from moving to a new building. Lauren grew up in Rushall, a borough that had watched its industry slip away. She talks to Carl about the misfit teenager who found herself through clothes, the tutors who saw something in her long before she could see it herself, the influence her family and especially her nan's have had, and the heavy reclaimed saddlery leather that the trade had dismissed, which has become the material she is known for. Lauren Broxton - https://laurenbroxton.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lauren_broxton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Sep 11

    Paul Smith

    Carl Chinn sits down in conversation with Paul Smith, a retired Birmingham firefighter and one of the people who helped turn the city's St Patrick's Parade into one of the largest in the world. Born to a Dublin mom and dad and raised in a council flat in Longbridge. On 9/11, Paul and his watch stood in a fire station in Northfield and watched 343 New York firefighters lost in a single day. Feeling helpless three and a half thousand miles away, they started with car washes and bucket collections, and the people of the West Midlands turned that into a quarter of a million pounds for the widows and children of the fallen. Then Paul set out to bring the New York Fire Department to Birmingham, so they could see that love for themselves and march in the parade. He also tells Carl about the family history he has only recently uncovered, a grandmother from Kerry whose story was never spoken of at home. This is a conversation about brotherhood, grief and hope, about the deep roots of the Irish community in Birmingham, and about how one act of kindness can build a bridge across an ocean that lasts a lifetime. Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the September 11th attacks and the loss of life, bereavement, references to Ireland's mother and baby institutions, the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings and some strong language. Please do take care whilst listening or skip this episode if this could be distressing for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About

Our Lives, Our Stories is hosted by social historian and writer Carl Chinn MBE, whose life’s work has been dedicated to bringing to the fore the lives and stories of people too often left out of traditional history books. This podcast is built on a simple but powerful belief: that history must be democratised and that every person’s story matters. In each episode, Carl sits down with guests ranging from well-known figures to community activists and changemakers, exploring the personal histories, experiences, challenges and moments that have shaped who they are. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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