Welcome to The Reader Podcast. The Reader is a national charity bringing about a Reading Revolution so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature, which we believe is a tool for helping humans survive and live well. Through our global Shared Reading movement, powered by 1,000 volunteers and many partnerships, we bring thousands of people together every month through weekly Shared Reading groups. Our podcast is for anyone who loves books and believes they can be powerful tools for change, and wants to hear more of the powerful, personal responses that reading can provide. It will feature great guests, conversations and thoughts about books and reading, and show how reading together improves wellbeing, strengthens communities and sparks the change needed in the world. The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work. We are grateful for the kind support of our core funders Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the Steve Morgan Foundation.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
**This episode contains explicit language (swearing) and discussion of suicide throughout which some listeners may find distressing.**
In this episode we’ll hear from two events at Gravity and two different guests linked by their experiences of being on the frontline in responding to fellow humans in moments of crisis.
Tony Schumacher grew up in Huyton in Liverpool, and was a police officer for over a decade before the pressure of the job caused his mental health to fray. He eventually left the force and began writing, which he credits with saving his life. After publishing several novels, Tony wrote a TV script drawing on his experiences in the police, which became ‘The Responder’, a unique, uncompromising major drama series which aired on BBC1 in January 2022. Tony came to Gravity and discussed ‘The Responder’ and his life and career with Greg Jenkins, Young Person’s Mentor at The Reader.
Chris Dowrick is a professor of primary medical care at the University of Liverpool and a practising GP. Chris is the author of the well-known book Beyond Depression, and, more recently, of Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence. This book draws on case histories of Chris’ patients, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins to speak powerfully about moments of crisis and desperation. Chris talked via video link at Gravity festival to Philip Davis, Emeritus Professor of English literature at the University of Liverpool.
The Responder on BBC iPlayer
Greg Jenkins on The Reader Podcast (Episode 8)
Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence, published by Anthem Press
Reading for Life by Philip Davis
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
‘No worst, there is none’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Comments (0)
To leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or
No Comments
To leave or reply to comments,
please download free Podbean App.