Sharing things

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes that revolve around the themes of belonging, fitting in and finding your place. These are conversations about growth and about identity. In our fifth and final episode of this collection we revisit the conversation between Laura Maciver and Nicha Sarkka and listen to them as they talk about lifelong friendships, belonging and painting with Bob Ross.

This episode is hosted by Kate Stewart, a member of the alumni relations team who took the hot seat in early 2021. 

Laura is a Reporting Scotland presenter on BBC TV and also presents Good Morning Scotland on BBC Radio Scotland every Friday. Upon graduating from the University of Edinburgh she started her career as a reporter for Radio Forth before joining the BBC.

Nicha is a first-year student at the University of Edinburgh. Trilingual in English, Finnish and Thai, she is currently working towards her degree in Biological Sciences. 

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded during the Covid thing.

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes that revolve around the themes of belonging, fitting in and finding your place. These are conversations about growth and about identity. In our third episode we revisit the conversation between Nuam Hatzaw and Olivia Sweeney and listen to them as they talk about family ties, intersectionality and figuring out where home is.  

The episode is hosted by Ayanda Ngobeni, who joined us in summer 2021 before starting her final year as a law student. 

Nuam is a current PhD student in the School of Divinity researching the theologies of migration, diaspora and identity among Zomi in Europe. Nuam studied at SOAS in London for her undergraduate degree, before moving to Edinburgh for her Masters in World Christianity.

Olivia graduated with an MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 2017. She is currently a Junior Consultant at sustainable waste consultancy, Resource Futures and also a Black and Green Ambassador working to lead, connect and celebrate diverse community action for the environment. In 2019, Olivia was named among the 'Top 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering' in the UK and Europe by Inclusive Boards in association with the Financial Times. She has also worked with the Royal Academy of Engineering on their 'This is Engineering' campaign.

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded during the Covid thing. We are still online but 2021 was starting to feel a bit okay. 

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes that revolve around the themes of belonging, fitting in and finding your place. These are conversations about growth and about identity. In our third episode we revisit the conversation between SJ Sandhu and Mona Siddiqui and listen to them as they talk about the flying frisbee of death, evocative smells and taking ownership of faith.  

This episode is hosted by Amalie Sortland, who joined us in the summer of 2019 and stayed until March 2020. She graduated in politics as part of the class of Covid in 2020.  

Sanjeevan, aka SJ, is a second-year medicine student at the University of Edinburgh. He’s originally from London, although according to everyone who knows him, he’s actually from Essex.  

When he isn’t studying or attending his 9am classes, SJ loves to play sports and represents the University at futsal. Along with six of his closest course mates, he is currently creating his own podcast, ‘Medic Matters’, as part of a second-year project.  

Mona is Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds the position of Assistant Principal for Religion and Society, and Dean International for the Middle-East.  

Mona studied Arabic and French at the University of Leeds, followed by a Masters in Middle-Eastern Studies and PhD in Classical Islamic Law at the University of Manchester. She is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Thought for the Day’ and became a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning ‘The Moral Maze’ in 2016.  

Her contributions to interfaith services were recognised with an OBE in 2011 and she was awarded the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation in 2019.  

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded before the Covid thing (just).

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes that revolve around the themes of belonging, fitting in and finding your place. These are conversations about growth and about identity. In our second episode we revisit the conversation between Daisy Narayanan and Dalia Al-Dujaili and listen to them as they talk about childhood excitement, happy folders and love over hate. 

This episode is hosted by Richenda Rae, who joined us in the summer of 2020. After her summer with us she returned to her final year of medical school.

Daisy is Director of Urbanism at Sustrans, a charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle. While on secondment to the City of Edinburgh Council between 2018 and 2019, Daisy led the Edinburgh City Centre Transformation project.

Dalia is a final year English Literature student who has recently started a platform and newsletter showcasing emerging creatives called MISFiT. She was formerly editor-in-chief at Mxogyny, an online platform for marginalised creatives to share poetry, art and writing related to prevalent social issues.

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded during the Covid thing. We were finding our feet with online recording.

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

Welcome to a dive into the Sharing things archive and a selection of 5 episodes that revolve around the themes of belonging, fitting in and finding your place. These are conversations about growth and about identity. In the first episode we revisit the conversation between Ellen Blunsdon and Rachel Weiss and listen to them as they talk about dying and not dying, familial love, and ketchup splatters.

This episode is hosted by Amalie Sortland, who joined us un the summer of 2019 and stayed until March 2020. She graduated in politics as part of the class of Covid in 2020. 

Ellen is a fourth-year history and politics student and the Disabled Students’ Officer 2019/20 at Edinburgh University Students’ Association. In this role, she has campaigned for the inclusion of disability on the curriculum and created an online resource hub for disabled students. In her spare time, she oversees Europe’s oldest student newspaper as president of The Student.

Rachel describes herself as a perimenopausal, park-running partner at Rowan Consultancy and parent of three. After graduating from Edinburgh with an MSc in Knowledge Based Systems in 1990, she trained as a teacher and gained a Diploma in Counselling, leading to the creation of her business offering counselling, coaching, workplace mediation and leadership training.

Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected.

Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast

This episode of Sharing things was recorded before the Covid thing.

Images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.

For our final episode of 2021 we decided to share moments from our sister podcast, Multi Story Edinburgh. Multi Story Edinburgh is about sharing stories, finding comfort in the fact that there are always people who are thinking like us, going through the same things, and having to make the same decisions. Each episode is a snapshot of a person and a moment. But each episode also includes something else, something unique and personal. For this very special episode, we decided to draw together a selection of these moments, and celebrate our graduates by sharing the places that have inspired and nourished them over the past two years.  

This episode features graduates from 2021 and 2020 and includes the special places of Emma, Rosie, Tommie, Victoria, Sara, Lauryn, Madhu, Sheela, Marc, Lucia, Tim, Kirsty, Sarah, Alex, Joanna, Michael and Maddy. Thank you for sharing the special and the personal with us.

Vector created by pch.vector - www.freepik.com.  
Music: Since When by Mise Darling from freemusicarchive.org 
Bells from Christmas Story by Alex MakeMusic from Pixabay. 

Our gift to you this Christmas is inspired by George and Tammy from episode 3 of our most recent season. We decided to reflect more on the idea of the perfect gift. What makes something memorable? Is it about the giver, the moment, or a perfect cocktail of everything? We asked this question to you our listeners, and you shared your thoughts.

Part two of this special gift edition features Elizabeth, Ash, Kate, Struan, Carolina, Finn, Mary, Ashank, Maire, Tianna and Thiu.

If you have a spare moment this Christmas, check out the Sharing things back catalogue and explore your community through other important objects.  

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

Bells from Christmas Story by Alex MakeMusic from Pixabay.

Graphics from Freepix: Guitar - Designed by Freepik, Picture - Designed by pch.vector, Golf - Designed by vectorpouch, Dog - Designed by rawpixel.com, Santa hat - Designed by Freepik,  Ipod Nano – Designed by Freepik. Also includes Ticket – Designed by BarelyDevi from Pixabay.

Our gift to you this Christmas is inspired by George and Tammy from episode 3 of our most recent season. We decided to reflect more on the idea of the perfect gift. What makes something memorable? Is it about the giver, the moment, or a perfect cocktail of everything? We asked this question to you our listeners, and you shared your thoughts.

Part one of this special gift edition features Lindsay, Scott, Natalie, Nick, Brigid, Wing, Gaurav, Michael, Chiara and Alan. There will be more gifts and more stories in part 2 next week.   

Join us then or check out the Sharing things back catalogue and explore your community through other important objects.  

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

Bells from Christmas Story by Alex MakeMusic from Pixabay.

Graphics from Freepix: Guitar - Designed by Freepik, Picture - Designed by pch.vector, Golf - Designed by vectorpouch, Dog - Designed by rawpixel.com, Santa hat - Designed by Freepik,  Ipod Nano – Designed by Freepik. Also includes Ticket – Designed by BarelyDevi from Pixabay.

Do you fancy being part of the Sharing things audio tapestry of people and memories? Well, if so, you're in luck because we're currently putting together the Christmas special. 

Please get in touch if you want to share the story behind your favourite gift. What makes something special? Why do we treasure some things and re-gift others. 

If you'd like to share your gifts memories, contact us at [email protected] and join the Sharing things family. We'd love to hear from you. Deadline for participation is Monday 6 December 2021. 

Christmas vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com

So that was Sharing things season 5. Thank you to all our amazing guests. To Kevin, Aisha, George, Tammy, David, Caroline, Nuam, Olivia, Lily and Debora. We started with a  mission to explore hidden and unexpected corners of our university community and what emerged was a fascinating conversational journey through identity, opportunity, escape, family and home. As our new guide, Ayanda brought warmth, curiosity and infectious laughter. We had lots of favourite moments but these conversational snippets have stayed with us. 

Whether you are a regular listener or new to the Sharing things world, we hope you enjoy season 5's final fling.

Sharing things will return in 2022. Maybe we’ll be back in the studio again - meeting our guests face to face rather than over a dodgy internet connection. You never know. Here’s hoping.   

You can find more information on the Sharing things website.

Graphic images designed by Chris Behr. They are part of his Nice Things icon set.