‘We could be so great, we could be great to people and do great things’

Displaying a national flag and saying that you love your country can be quite loaded gestures at the moment. But why?

Shrewsbury artist Jonny Thaw tackles these issues head-on in his new show at the town’s Swan Hill Studios. And if you’d never normally go to an art show, he’s particularly keen to know what you think of it! So why not go this weekend? It’s free to enter, and it would make a change from traipsing around a retail park in the rain, wouldn’t it?

I mean, where else are you going to see a St George’s Flag Amnesty Bin?!

‘I shouldn’t feel it’s a bad thing to want to display a flag, but I do’

Jonny Thaw: Loves His Country is on at Shrewsbury’s Swan Hill Studios until November 13th. You can hear all about it in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

Excited by this? Intrigued? Enraged?

Join in the conversation in the comments:

Thank you, Jonny!

I’m grateful to Jonny Thaw for taking the time to share his art and his thoughts with Hello You the Shropshire podcast. If this episode makes you smile or makes you think, please share it with a friend, colleague or family member:

And while we’re about it: You like listening to intelligent, informed, positive and progressive conversation. That’s why you’re a member of the Hello You family, isn’t it?

I bet you know at least a handful of people who’d also really enjoy listening to Hello You the Shropshire podcast. Do them (and me, and yourself) a solid. Share Hello You with those people? And suggest that they, in turn, share it with other likeminded individuals, wherever in the world they may be? Start by hitting this button:

Thank you, Miranda!

Hello You 147 was about the lost art of noticing, and it was noticed by super-noticer, the marvellous Miranda Keeling, author of two delightful books about what she sees when she stops to notice things, and host of a brilliant short podcast called Stopping to Notice. She shared the episode with her social media followers and described it as ‘lovely’, which was very kind and generous of her. If you’re here because of Miranda, I’m very grateful to you and to her!

Thank you, Emily Jayne!

Something about Hello You 146: Home wasn’t built in a day has really connected with people. Emily Jayne’s story of life on the streets and how she came back from that has become the second most listened-to episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast so far. Not only that, so many people have been deeply touched by Emily Jayne’s life and words. I’ve long since lost count of the number of people who’ve stopped me in the street, in shops and cafés and even in meetings to talk about the episode.

If you’ve not heard it yet, take a listen to it this weekend? And share it with your friends?

Thank you, Julia!

Next weekend, I’m recording a conversation with Julia Buckley, the Labour MP for Shrewsbury.

I’ll publish the interview as soon as I can after recording, but what do you want me to ask Dr Buckley?

I’ve already had a lot of suggestions, but I’m still open for more. Leave your question in the comments, or send me a message:

Thank you, you

Thank you for being there. Putting together Hello You the Shropshire podcast isn’t easy, especially with a full-time job and lots of other things going on in my life too, so I’m very grateful that you choose to spend time with my work.

Take care of yourself

Take care of the people around you. And I really hope the people around you are taking care of you, too.

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