Bodies Are Telling

Nudity impacts so many areas of our lives - sexual and nonsexual - so it seems only right that we start here. From the moment that we have an understanding of our bodies we’re told about all the things that are wrong with them, and that it’s our responsibility to fix them. Which is exhausting. What would it be like if we were able to start from a place of accepting our bodies as they are right now? In this episode Ruby digs into the ways she became comfortable with her own body - from life drawing to being in nude spaces, and the myriad reasons why nudity could be difficult for us. She also speaks to Dr Keon West about the positive impacts being nude could have on us all.

CREDITS:

Host: Ruby Rare

Producer, Editor and Sound Design: Bea Duncan

Executive Producer: Hana Walker-Brown

Production Assistants: Rory Boyle and Mars West

Social Assets: /Forward Slash

This is a Broccoli Production 

Full transcript available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DVvHY7uF5yo8lUetDRs-jAq04ZT4ua2H/view?usp=sharing

RESOURCES:

Beat

UK’s leading eating disorder charity

Phone: 0808 801 0677 (Weekdays 12-8pm, weekends bank holidays 4-8pm)

Youthline (under 18) 0808 801 0711 (Weekdays 12-8pm, weekends bank holidays 4-8pm)

Website: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge

Free and confidential helpline.

Phone: 0808 2000 247 (24 hours a day)

Galop

Hate crime, domestic abuse and sexual violence support service for LGBT+ people

Helpline: 0800 999 5428 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm / Wednesday & Thursday, 10am-8pm)

Website: http://www.galop.org.uk

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Body Love Sketch Club: https://www.instagram.com/bodylovesketchclub/?hl=en

The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, by Sonya Renee Taylor: https://www.waterstones.com/book/body-is-not-an-apology/sonya-renee-taylor/9781626569768

It Isn't Rude To Be Nude, by Rosie Haine:  https://www.waterstones.com/book/it-isnt-rude-to-be-nude/rosie-haine/9781849767002

Happy Fat, by Sofie Hagen: https://www.waterstones.com/book/happy-fat/sofie-hagen/9780008293901

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We're re-releasing In Touch with Ruby Rare. In this documentary series, sex educator Ruby Rare draws on her own personal and professional experience to offer an intimate and playful education around the different ways we connect to our bodies and to each other. Ruby speaks to experts, porn creators and even her parents to explore and understand the very unique ways that we each approach sex and sexuality.

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Debates about what should or shouldn’t be taught in RSE can so often be driven by misinformation, fear-mongering, and political agendas — but at what cost? Who does this benefit, and crucially, who does it harm? Evidence-based research has proven that high-quality sex education can not only protect young people from countless harms, but give them the tools to navigate the real and online world with more agency, more empathy, and more control. Let’s Talk About Sex (Education) is a one-off documentary examining some of the (many) reasons why a comprehensive and inclusive sex education curriculum matters. It features the voices of sex educators, journalists, students and others, all of whom wish they'd learned, wish they'd been taught, more.  

Let’s Talk About Sex (Education) was produced and presented by Lucy Carr. It was mastered by Benjamin Williams. This is a Broccoli Production.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Annabel - Student, England

Dolly Padalia - CEO, School of Sexuality Education 

Lucy Whitehouse - CEO & Founder, Fumble UK 

Matilda Lawrence-Jubb - Co-founder, Split Banana

Milly Evans - Sex educator and author of Honest: Everything They Don’t Tell You About Sex, Relationships and Bodies

Sophia Smith Galer - Senior Reporter at VICE News and author of Losing It: Sex Education for the 21st Century

Also thanks to Michael Conroy (Men At Work) and Tamasine Preece (Humanise)

OTHER RESOURCES:

Brook: Help & Advice

NSPCC Learning 

End Violence Against Women

Everyone’s Invited

Sex Education Forum: Resources

Sexpression UK

Sex Ed Matters

Twinkl: Teaching resources

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On the 27th October 2023, the team behind We Were Always Here held a live event at the Bishopsgate Institute in London. We had collected hundreds of hours of interviews from over 50 people during the making of the podcast and decided to donate all of the audio and transcipts to the Queer Archives at the Bishopsgate Institute so that these stories would no longer be left out of the telling of the UK HIV Epidemic history.  This evening was in celebration of that donation but also to ensure the conversation around HIV is ongoing. 

This event featured Marc Thompson, Sophie Strachen and Angelina Namiba and was chaired by the podcast's producer, Hana Walker-Brown.

Bishopsgate: https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk

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As we move into the 2000's, the demographic of HIV is changing as are the policies surrounding treatment. At an International medical trail, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is found to be highly effective for treating people with HIV, reducing the risk of infection from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed. It was a breakthrough and it was assumed by many that PrEP would be rolled out by the NHS. But it wasn't going to be that simple. The thread of activism that runs through the last decade is reminiscent of the early 80's and 90's and a reminder that the fight to end HIV still very much includes the fight to end stigma. 

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

The Sophia Forum

www.sophiaforum.net

The Sophia Forum promotes and advocates for the rights, health, welfare and dignity of women living with HIV through research, raising awareness and influencing policy.

Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehens

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the 1990's the prevelance of HIV increased across the mainstream media in part due to celebrities taking to the world stage to disclose their diagnosis. First it was Magic Johnson, a week later singer Freddy Mercury would announce he had aids. He died the next day. Then there would be tennis star Arthur Ashe who had contracted the virus during a blood transfusion in 1982. Up to 5000 peope were thought to have been infected with HIV via contaminated blood transfusion in the 1980's. This episode looks at the role the media and the government played in stigma and those who fought to dispel it. 

This Episode is dedicated to memory of Jonny Cooper. 

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tA-aKpvUwoTVtGqubaHVwiQRQrHMvFlGD-9-PSbrk1Q/edit

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

The Sophia Forum

www.sophiaforum.net

The Sophia Forum promotes and advocates for the rights, health, welfare and dignity of women living with HIV through research, raising awareness and influencing policy.

Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehens

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Positively Women was created by HIV positive women for HIV positive women. Two of the founders discuss the groups inception, the services they offered, and Princess Diana's chic suit. But some women still fell through the cracks. 

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

The Sophia Forum

www.sophiaforum.net

The Sophia Forum promotes and advocates for the rights, health, welfare and dignity of women living with HIV through research, raising awareness and influencing policy.

Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehensive information on treatments and a database of HIV clinics in the UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since the start of epidemic, women in many regions have been disproportionately affected by HIV. Today, women make up more than half of all people living with HIV and AIDS-related illnesses. In 1986 the ratio of male to female of HIV cases in the UK was 33 to one. By 1989, it was estimated that women accounted for a third of HIV cases worldwide, with several thousand diagnosed in the UK. In the first of this two part episode, women share their recollections of diagnosis. 

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Leigh Neal

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

A transcript for this episode is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_oxBhv4iJlXFxKEIgJ6-dCAa1wXDMMLGYSMOf8tMu6w/edit?usp=sharing

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

The Sophia Forum 

www.sophiaforum.net

The Sophia Forum promotes and advocates for the rights, health, welfare and dignity of women living with HIV through research, raising awareness and influencing policy.

 Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehensive information on treatments and a database of HIV clinics in the UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between the first case of HIV in 1981 and 1987, AIDS was unstoppable. The glimmer of hope came in 1987 when the drug, AZT, an antiretroviral medication was fastracked under enormous public pressure. What followed was a controversial trial. At the same time more and more cases of HIV were being reported, from both the African Continent and in Women. 

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

A transcript for this episode is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-eZ2iIaiFyqL6gXvqJ_2xIEi1YZBvRcg36dopFcxGto/edit?usp=sharing

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehensive information on treatments and a database of HIV clinics in the UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1987, 71,751 cases of AIDS had been reported to the world health organisation. They estimated that 5-10 million people were living with HIV worldwide. The epidemic didn’t just affect individuals, it impacted households, and communities. Against the backdrop of a conversative government with Section 28 just around the corner, there was a tradition of volunteering and community involvement and a very ‘English’ approach to fighting the system. People looked out for people. And that was true of the response to the AIDS epidemic.You just had to find yours. This was the start of the response. 

We Were Always Here is produced and sound designed by Hana Walker-Brown

This is a Broccoli Production.

If you have been affected by the themes in this episode a list of resources and helplines can be found below:

The Love Tank

The Love Tank is a not-for-profit community interest community (CIC) that promotes health and wellbeing of under served communities through education, capacity building + research.

http://thelovetank.info

Body and Soul Charity

Tel: 020 7923 6880

bodyandsoulcharity.org

Body & Soul is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children, teenagers and families living with, or affected by HIV.

Terrence Higgins Trust

Helpline: 0808 802 1221

tht.org.uk

Offers free and confidential services for people with HIV and AIDS, including specialist advice and representation on welfare rights, housing and legal matters, practical help and befriending. See website for local centres.

Positively UK

Tel: 020 7713 0444

positivelyuk.org

We are here to help all individuals living with HIV in the UK to live well. From diagnosis and starting treatment to talking about your HIV with others, your relationships, and employment options, Positively UK will support you to manage all aspects of your HIV and help you to achieve the best for your physical and emotional well-being. Our front-line staff and volunteers are themselves living with HIV and have first-hand experience of the issues you may face.

The National AIDS Trust

nat.org.uk

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

chiva.org.uk

CHIVA work with professionals to provide the best possible care and services for children, young people and families living with HIV, as well as working with parents to provide information to support them in the issues HIV presents within the family. They also work with young people living with HIV through a youth committee and consultations to ensure they are provided  with the information they need and that their voices are heard throughout their work and in the wider community.

NAM Aidsmap

aidsmap.com

Information, news and resources for people with HIV and AIDS, comprehensive information on treatments and a database of HIV clinics in the UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices