Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy
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Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

I have been running my Nostalgia Interviews podcast since 2018. Through over 200 one-to-one interviews with guests from a range of backgrounds and professions – some of the guests are people I went to school or university with, others are leading figures in broadcasting, journalism, politics, film, music and education – the aim is to find out what it is that inspires our interests and passions. What is it that shapes us? How did we end up where we are today in terms of the music, books, films, sporting events, fantasies, tragedies and the relationships and family members that brought us to where we are now? These interviews are unscripted and are inspired by the great radio interviews I grew up listening to when I was in my teens and early twenties.

  1. Yvonne Howard

    4 DAYS AGO

    Yvonne Howard

    This week's guest is Yvonne Howard, an educationalist, creative practitioner, and artist-writer. Yvonne grew up in Leeds in a challenging environment and turned to writing to process the events from those days. Yvonne left school at 15 with no qualifications. She returned to education in her late 20s, building into her first degree personal experiences on diversity and exclusion issues. She then worked in conflict resolution, adult education and community relations in east London. I first met Yvonne in the 1990s when she was studying for a British Academy-funded PhD in Lampeter on mediation, social inclusion and community cohesion. Yvonne worked extensively in equity, diversity, group dynamics and interpersonal communication. More recently, Yvonne's Diversitree.Wales won an award for its representation of nature, art, photos, and poems in Wales. She also appeared on Dare to Dance with Amy Dowden. Yvonne is readying a book for publication in 2025. We talk about how a return to education later in life as an access student impacted her perspective, especially when it centred on aspects of lived experience. We discuss how Yvonne’s background subsequently influenced her students, encouraging them to follow their dreams and return to education. We discuss how art can be a creative tool for transformation and provide moments of escape when faced with difficult realities.  We explore autobiography, journal writing, and the pros and cons of returning to places of oppression from the past. We talk about processing personal insecurities, self-help, overcoming personal fears, and the power of positive thinking in educational and professional journeys. We discuss the evolution in education over the years in terms of how we fit into a mould, and the benefits of a neurodivergent perspective on the world. We talk about how the belief and understanding of a teacher from 40 years ago resonated with Yvonne when she contacted him again shortly before he passed away. We also learn about Yvonne’s involvement with community interest groups in Wales, including the Women’s Institute, mental health advocacy groups, and organisations associated with diversity and inclusion.  Then, at the end of the interview, we find out whether Yvonne considers herself to be a looking back or a looking forward type of person, and the way past, present and future interrelate.

    55 min

  2. OCT 7

    Nina Kuryata

    My guest this week is Nina Kuryata. Nina is a journalist, editor, media consultant and writer who, from 2011-19, was Head of the BBC News Ukrainian Service. I spoke to Nina on Ukrainian Independence Day in August to talk about her first novel Dzvinka (The Call) and to learn about what it means to be Ukrainian in the last days of the USSR and to discuss the role of independence.  Nina refers to the trauma in not being allowed to be oneself and about how her creative journey has followed through since childhood. She talks about various stereotypes and reflects on why so many people who have read her novel, whose main character always has to prove that she exists, say that the story is about themselves! We talk about what happens when our identity is defined through the lens of someone else, and we learn that Nina’s ancestors are from Poland. She refers to her family background, and what happens when there is a tension between what one’s parents say vs. what the ‘official’ educators are promulgating. Nina refers to what comprises the largest collective trauma for Ukrainians and why her generation are the grandchildren of survivors. We learn why there are monuments to famine and why food and language are so important. We also find out why Nina’s novel amounts to a work of ‘autofiction’ and the reason that she changed the names of negative characters. Nina discusses what she initially thought other people, including those from her home town in the Odessa region, would think of her book and how she initially wrote just a few pages per year. She wasn’t sure if anyone would publish it, only for the publisher to say it would be a best seller. It is now on its second edition, and we find out what Nina’s son, who was aged from 2-17 while the book was being written, makes of it.

    1h 16m
  3. Liù Batchelor

    SEP 19

    Liù Batchelor

    My guest this week is presenter, video coach and former TEDx curator Liù Batchelor, who refers to the 'wiggly' journey she has been on. She has always felt unclear about what she wanted to do, while at the same time being driven. We talk about the way people see us and whether it encapsulates our own sense of who we are, and Liù speaks about the importance of being present. We also talk about the cringe factor involved when watching our old presenting and why Liù is a ‘learn by doing’ type of person. She can relax more and more now into what she is doing. We reflect too on the types of presenting needed, e.g. at university. We find out about Liù’s childhood and some of the things she thought she might go on to do, e.g. being an interior designer or artist. She did Product Design and Manufacture at Loughborough, and we talk about whether there is an inbuilt thread in all of us that guides us. We learn that film and music didn’t play a great role in her childhood, and we find out about Liù’s mission to provide adults with the space to find what it is they are looking for. We talk about how the ethos in schools in the past was quite different to that of today. We discuss the growth in the way impact plays a role in the importance of a subject or discipline, and Liù reflects on how her life would have turned out if she didn’t have the interests and skill set she has. We talk about how education comes in different forms. We find out about the time just before graduation when Liù suffered a large physical injury, which acted as a stop to her ability to move forward, and we discover why Liù doesn’t have a huge relationship with space and location. Rather, identity is more important. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why Liù, whose original outlet was painting and art, is a looking forward type of person.

    1h 12m
  4. Christina Kim

    SEP 1

    Christina Kim

    My guest this week, for my 200th Nostalgia Interview, is Christina Kim. It was terrific to catch up with Christina, who is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, before I left the University of Kent in July 2024. Christina begins by remembering the visa issues that consumed her time upon arriving at Kent just over a decade ago and how it took a while to work out who everybody was in the School of European Culture and Languages at the time. Christina grew up in Los Angeles and went to university in Boston and was doing a postdoc in Chicago before moving to the UK. Christina discusses how she had not lived outside the US before moving to Canterbury. She has a linguistics, psychology and cognitive science background and we talk about how there are different sides to ourselves that define us in different ways. Christina also discusses the allure of going to another countries and how Canterbury feels very different from California. Christina reflects on growing up in LA and the dimensions with which it is possible to connect with people. In turn, I refer to my experience of walking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002 and how it didn’t relate to the Hollywood of my imagination. Now that Christina lives outside of LA, she can see how it’s perceived, and why people have polarizing opinions of the place, and she remembers trips to different types of cinemas around LA. Christina insightfully discusses how this is her nostalgia now but that she couldn’t have known at the time that she would be nostalgic about this period. We reflect on what nostalgia means in this context. We talk about the possibility of reframing and inserting ourselves back into our pasts, and Christina brings up a particular memory she has relating to The Bodyguard. We talk about the different lenses through which we look at the past, how we interact in different social contexts, whether there is anything we have to prove to others e.g. from our childhood, and whether other people have moved on in the same way we have, and so whether it is healthy to ‘go back’. Then, at the end of the interview, we talk about whether it is possible to be nostalgic about negative experiences and we find out why Christina is more of a looking back than a looking forward type of person.

    1h 9m
  5. Eleni Kapogianni

    AUG 15

    Eleni Kapogianni

    My guest this week is Eleni Kapogianni who I have known for about a decade. Eleni lectures in Linguistics at the University of Kent, and we talk about the big role that film (and film dialogue) plays in her research. Storytelling and fiction is a big hobby for Eleni, and we discuss the permeable nature of the work-life balance and find out about her work in pragmatics and discourse analysis, and how discourse is shaped by societal trends. Eleni talks about growing up in a seaside town in Greece and living on her grandparents’ farm. Her parents are both academics, her mother is a Philosophy Professor and her dad’s area is Politics. Eleni was taken to Philosophy conferences at a young age, and we learn that she knew from when she was a child that she wanted to be a teacher. She did her MPhil and PhD in Cambridge before coming to Kent, and Eleni reflects on how different Linguistics conferences are now compared to the Philosophy ones she went to as a child. We talk about filmic representations of our professions and about the role of music and identity. Eleni has always loved radio as a medium. She didn’t have TV when growing up and Eleni reflects on the magical and confessional nature of radio, with a community coming together. And, she talks about the importance to her these days of podcasts. We find out what Eleni’s younger self would think about what she is doing now, and vice versa. We learn that her best friend from when she was young is (and always has been) a sheep herder and that Eleni is the only one from her village who went away. Then, at the end of the interview, we find out why Eleni is both a looking back and a looking forward type of person.

    58 min
  6. Gabriel Morris

    JUL 27

    Gabriel Morris

    My guest this week is Gabriel Morris, Video Journalist at KMTV. We begin by talking about our Cardiff connection, and learn that Gabriel, who is originally from Hertfordshire, studied Geography in Liverpool and went into broadcast journalism. We find out where the spark for broadcast journalism came from, having grown up as a child with watching BBC Breakfast News each morning. Like me, Gabriel used to pretend he was reading the news from teletext. We also learn why Gabriel likes to watch himself back, and he gives away one of his tricks of the trade. Gabriel talks about his hospital radio work in Liverpool which he did for nearly two years up until the pandemic, and about the music he played and the on-air puzzles he did with the listeners. He has also done student radio, and he built his own studio in his student bedroom and was involved with ‘mission impossible’ challenges. We learn that he would like one day to return to radio, and we hear Gabriel’s thoughts on zoo radio and find out what happened once when Gabriel left the station without handing in the key. We talk about the intimacy element of radio and the role of podcasts. I explain too why I prefer live radio, and Gabriel talks about why it can work even better when things go wrong. We find out that one of Gabriel’s reports was once picked up by The Sun and Gabriel reflects on how at the age of 15 he had interviewed James Cleverly, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. Then, towards the end of the interview, we discuss whether Gabriel knew what path he was on when he was younger (we find out that his dream job was to be a pilot) and we learn whether he is a looking back or forward type of person and how doing the interview has made him rethink his answer to that question.

    1 hr
  7. Duncan Woodruff

    JUN 24

    Duncan Woodruff

    My guest this week is actor and stage combat instructor Duncan Woodruff who did a History degree at the University of Kent about fifteen years ago. We learn that Duncan had a plan from when he was at school to go into acting, and that his work in fight directing was more serendipitous. Duncan used to take part in the Dickens Festival Play every year in Broadstairs, and we talk about the relation between the director and the actor and the way actors can interact on a stage in a way they can’t in a film with an audience. Duncan also discusses how the editor can change the way in which the actor comes across. We talk about his film Occupied (Bruce Partleton, 2024) and how it developed from the original short, and discuss the various different components which make it work, and how the audience can play detective. We learn why Duncan is not such a fan of method acting, and we talk about the role of fiction, and we find out about Duncan’s favourite scene from Occupied. We find out why Duncan is a fan of fantasy, in the light of what he was brought up on, and about the specifically Kent connection that inspired his acting bug. Duncan reveals that auditions can be more nervous than doing the job itself, and that sometimes when one is performing on stage mistakes that happen can lead to a better outcome. He relays a story about what happened when an accident took place during Singin’ in the Rain at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre and how it worked to the actor’s advantage. Duncan discusses how the best stories are about us overcoming obstacles, and we hear his thoughts on what happens when actors stop shows to tell audience members off for using their phones, and we find out when it is acceptable to break the fourth wall. Then, towards the end of the interview, we learn what sort of roles Duncan would like to play, and Duncan reflects on what has changed in the industry in recent times, and he refers to the golden age of performing. We also find out at the end why Duncan looks back in order to look forward.

    1h 6m

  8. JUN 8

    Sofia Akin

    My guest this week is Sofia Akin, journalist and main anchor at KMTV's Kent Tonight, and (as we learn in the breaking news at the end) who is about to join the BBC as a Broadcast Journalist. We learn that Sofia, who is from West Sussex, started out as a video journalist, and she talks about how no two days are the same. Sofia gives the example of a current story at the time we recorded the podcast regarding the bombshell defection of Natalie Elphicke MP from the Conservatives to Labour. Sofia talks about being one’s own worst critic, the role of feedback, and Sofia discusses her upbringing and her educational journey, and we find out how she got into journalism. Originally, she wanted to be a print journalist but Sofia explains why she especially loves telling a story through TV. Sofia also reveals how quickly one needs to learn in such a short amount of time. We learn that Sofia’s favourite movie is Harry Potter and how she doesn’t get tired of it, and how she also likes to watch films which take her by surprise. We talk about the ‘Sliding Doors’ and ‘what if’ notion, too, and about the way not having breakfast in the morning can impact in unexpected ways on how one’s day unfolds. We find out about the teachers who have inspired her, including Rob Bailey at the University of Kent with whom Sofia went on to work at KMTV, and the experience of reporting from the count in Tunbridge Wells at the local elections. We learn about how Sofia and her peers have been thrown in the deep end due to the quantity of breaking news over recent years, and we discuss the local element to the news in Kent. Then, at the end of the interview, before finding out whether she is a looking back or a looking forward type of person, we have a big reveal – Sofia announces that she is moving to BBC South East in mid-June.

    45 min
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About

I have been running my Nostalgia Interviews podcast since 2018. Through over 200 one-to-one interviews with guests from a range of backgrounds and professions – some of the guests are people I went to school or university with, others are leading figures in broadcasting, journalism, politics, film, music and education – the aim is to find out what it is that inspires our interests and passions. What is it that shapes us? How did we end up where we are today in terms of the music, books, films, sporting events, fantasies, tragedies and the relationships and family members that brought us to where we are now? These interviews are unscripted and are inspired by the great radio interviews I grew up listening to when I was in my teens and early twenties.

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