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Absolutely brilliant to talk to Jay Baruch about his fabulous book Tornado of Life.  We talk about making time for stories, narrative arcs and why uncertainty is the most fascinating part of everything we do. Exploring the concept of creativity as a clinical skill and discussing the anatomy of stories was all part of our fabulous conversation, I hope you'll enjoy it

Follow Jay on twitter here https://twitter.com/JBaruchMD

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I really loved my conversation with Associate Professor of mental health and self confessed "book pusher" Charley Baker about Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine  Gail Honeyman's wonderful novel about loneliness, friendship, belonging and acceptance.

We explore Charley's opinion that novels are by far the best way for everyone to explore feelings and opinions and I left our conversation with lots of other books to add to me to-read list.

Follow Charley on Twitter here https://twitter.com/charleybaker1

LONELINESS RESOURCES

https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/resources-2/

https://www.marmaladetrust.org/

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It was a huge honour to have this book and this guest to launch series 3.  I was approached by Ru's publicist to ask if I might consider speaking to him and was sent my first ever pre-publication copy of a book. What an absolute treat the book was, I absolutely adored it and speaking to Ru himself was just a delight.  

When he became an undertaker, Rupert Callender undertook to deal with the dead for the sake of the living. What Remains?  is the brilliant, unforgettable story of the life and work of the world's first punk undertaker - but it is also a book about ordinary, everyday humanity and our capacity to face death with courage and compassion. To say goodbye to the people we love in our own way.

And in becoming the world's first 'punk undertaker' and establishing the Green Funeral Company in Devon, Ru Callender and his partner Claire challenged the stilted, traditional, structured world of the funeral industry: fusing what he had learned from his own deeply personal experiences with death, with the surprising and profound answers and raw emotion he discovered in rave culture and ritual magick.

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Watching Brene Brown's "power of vulnerability" TED talk was a life changing moment for me as a clinician and when I started reading more of her work I was blown away. I didn't think there could be a book of hers as good as "Daring Greatly", I was wrong. Atlas of the Heart is such a beautiful book in the way it looks, it feels, the illustrations and oh my word the content within.

It was such a treat to discover that Anna Baverstock had loved it as much as I had.  We talk about language, meaning, connection, empathy and so much more. Something to reflect on in terms of interactions with patients as well as colleagues. 

Follow Anna on twitter here: https://twitter.com/anna_annabav especially her amazing doodles and pictoral representations of the books she's been reading

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Sam Guglani's novella Histories captivated me from the moment I picked it up and having reread it more than once has compelled me and made me think so much. It was a huge treat to welcome him onto the podcast to talk about the book and especially how it came to be and to share some of our favourite moments.


Medicine Unboxed Sam's incredible festival is back in May 2023, have a look at the website for some brilliant audio and video recordings from previous events https://voices.medicineunboxed.org/


Follow Sam on Twitter https://twitter.com/samirguglani

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A warm welcome to Manchester based GP registrar Lava Yuki who grew up in Ireland and is an almost exact contemporary of the writer of this week's book.   Evanna Lynch is best known for playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series and her memoir The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting  is a compelling story of what happens when you lose your creativity and how Anorexia Nervosa can erode someone's identity so profoundly that they lose sight of themselves. It is also moving, funny, engaging and full of life and hope.

Lava very generously shares some of her own lived experience of Anorexia as well as of being a Harry Potter mad teenager and growing up in Ireland in the early 2000s.

Follow Lava on twitter: https://twitter.com/lava_yuki

If you are looking for some resources to support a patient, a friend, a relative or yourself with an eating disorder the RCPsych have a great section here https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/your-faculties/eating-disorders-psychiatry

There's also NICE CKS https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/eating-disorders/

The RCGP have an elearning module here: https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=173

we also recommend the national eating disorders charity BEAT  https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

Locally to where I work we have the superb charity First Steps whose website is a mine of resources even if you aren't fortunate enough to be in Derbyshire https://firststepsed.co.uk/

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My guest today is MedTwitter royalty in the form of Bethan John. Follow her brilliant twitter self here: https://twitter.com/msbethanj

We talk about Kristen Neff's brilliant book Self Compassion and why doctors seem somehow so hardwired to be perfectionists who put themselves down at every opportunity. 

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It was a huge pleasure to welcome Dave Hindmarsh to Bedside Reading to discuss The Culture Code  by Daniel Coyle. Dave is the brains behind GP Templates:  https://www.gptemplates.co.uk/

Follow him on twitter here: https://twitter.com/gp_templates

We talked about healthy vs unhealthy cultures, why it's sometimes easier to recognise bad leadership than practise or teach good leadership.

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Sheffield GP Jo Maher and I know so many people in common that it felt only right that we should finally meet in person in order to record today's episode where we explore Helen Macdonald's essay collection Vesper Flights as well as talking a bit about her earlier book H is for Hawk.

Jo and I explore the power of nature, why being outside is so good for the soul and think about the risks of the countryside and the natural world becoming the preserve of the wealthy rather than something for us all.

Follow Jo on twitter http://www.twitter.com/jomaher8

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An episode with a difference this week as we celebrate changeover week for doctors in training in the UK.

I've asked 12 GPs across the UK all with different backgrounds and interests each to recommend one book they think every GP should read. I'd argue they are all books any healthcare professional will benefit from reading.  A huge thank you to each and every one of them for being a part of this episode. You may recognise some voices as previous guests, you may recognise some names as big faces from medtwitter or the wider world of GP

A huge thanks to:

Pim Dhahan GP, Trainer and TPD  from North Birmingham Follow Pim on twitter here: https://twitter.com/DrPimPim 

Margaret Ikpoh GP Trainer East Yorkshire and Vice Chair of the RCGP. Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/docmagsy 

Hussain Ghandi GP Partner, trainer and the brains behind https://egplearning.co.uk/ Follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/drgandalf

Francesca Boffey First 5 GP from North Derbyshire. Follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/fboff7

Dom Patterson GP, educator and founder of https://www.fairhealth.org.uk . Follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/DocDomP

Selina Flinders GP and safeguarding lead in Bolsover.

Catriona Davis a remote and rural GP who works on Islay. Follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/catrionadavis 

Naveen Jayadev GP partner, trainer and TPD with a lead role for Differential Attainment in Derbyshire.

Emma Cunliffe a freelance GP from North Yorkshire.

Zuhriya Muazu salaried GP from Doncaster. 

James Thambyrajah GP, Vice-Chair RCGP South West Thames faculty.  Follow James on twitter https://twitter.com/JThambyrajah