Pumpkins, carved. Candles, lit. Units, absolute. Welcome to a special Halloween bonus podcast by The Museum of English Rural Afterlife. This time, ghosts Ollie and Joe welcome fiend-of-the-show Mark Norman (author, host of the Folklore Podcast, and founding curator of the Folklore Library and Archive) for a candle-lit walk through the history of Halloween. Join us as we cycle through the origins of Halloween, the challenges of collecting folklore (and intangible cultural heritage), the ...

In our last episode, Tim Jerrome (now, University of Brighton; previously, The MERL) shared with Joe and Ollie how he's using The MERL archives to research queer lives and same-sex relationships in England's rural past. Today, Tim shares examples of the stories and relationships that he's been able to trace so far. We talk about the challenges of piecing together people's lives from fragmentary and coded evidence, the difficulties of applying categories to relationships that far predate moder...

Queer histories of England have predominantly focused on the country's urban centres and cities - especially London. Yet queer and same-sex relationships have always existed throughout English life. Rural England is no exception. In the first of two podcasts, Joe and Ollie welcome onto Absolute Units former MERL colleague Tim Jerrome (University of Brighton), whose PhD explores the history of same-sex relationships in rural England. Learn about the challenges of finding queer histories in far...

Throughout modern English history, people have protested against the movements to enclose and limit access to green spaces. Their reasons have varied dramatically – from deadly agricultural protests like the Swing Riots, to 90s raves, and druids campaigning for access to Stonehenge. Yet each moment of resistance gives us new insight into the complex and contested relationships we have with the world around us. In this episode, we continue our conversation with Katrina Navickas (Professor of H...

"The law locks up the man or woman who steals the goose from off the common / But leaves the greater villain loose: who steals the common from the goose." In this episode, Joe and Ollie speak with Professor Katrina Navickas (University of Hertfordshire) about the history of the commons: the shared resources that communities depended upon for their livelihoods. Learn about the historical processes that encroached upon the commons, and the public resistance to get those resources back. Katrina'...

Modern farming is full of digital technology. Nobody knows this better than Amy Bateman, a prize-winning photographer and sheep farmer who uses digital tech in both lines of work (even using the same kit to take photos and to run the farm). In this episode, Joe and Ollie continue chatting with Amy about technology and diversification on modern farms: from tech's opportunities for developing farms and improving farmers' lives, to the risks and challenges that technology presents to rural commu...

In 2020, award-winning photographer and sheep farmer Amy Bateman set out to document the stories of forty farms in Cumbria. From Lake District hill farms, to the Solway marshes. Amy's photographs present a captivating picture (literally!) of Cumbrian farming in a period of profound societal and technological change. We've been fortunate enough to display them in our 2025 exhibition, Forty Farms, based on Amy's gorgeous book of the same name. In this episode, Joe and Ollie chat with Amy ...

Man in the Woods makes art about parts of rural England that you wouldn’t normally think about – and definitely wouldn’t find in Wordsworth. From hastily-printed dog poo posters, to portraits of massive cows framed in pubs. In this episode, Joe and Ollie continue last week’s conversation with Man in the Woods. We discuss his artistic career, his interests, and the modern history of people interpreting and distilling the rural world. Links: AniMERL Crossing: A Gallery of SmocksMan in the Woods...

Seven years ago on a Friday, artist Scott (best-known on social media as Man in the Woods) set off for a walk to no particular destination. The next Friday, he started a new walk where the previous week's ended. He's been doing that every Friday ever since, documenting his travels on social media while producing beautiful artworks that reflect his finds and the connections he builds to where he explores. In this episode, Joe and Ollie speak with Man in the Woods about what inspired the Friday...

Content warning: This episode contains references to animal slaughter, antisemitism, and injury to children. Listener discretion is advised. Joe and Ollie continue their deep-dive into the history of pigs with Professor Dolly Jørgensen (University of Stavanger, Norway). This time, we explore the symbolism of pigs: from their significance in our myths and religious texts, to their use as a foil for thinking through what it is to be human. Delve deeper into Dolly's work in her book, The Medieva...

Content warning: This episode contains references to animal slaughter and blood. Listener discretion is advised. In medieval England, all roads led to pigs. They lived side-by-side with humans, and were a common sight in daily life. In this episode, Ollie and Joe speak to historian Dolly Jørgensen (Professor of History at University of Stavanger, Norway) about what it was like to live with pigs in medieval England: from pigs' place in homes and food systems, to the challenges required to main...

Episode 4 marked the end of our pilot series, produced by a group of extremely talented students from the University of Reading. Now, we're at the wheel planning future episodes. The tractor wheel of our mind and our dreams. In the meantime: for a shorter bonus adventure, join hosts Dr Ollie Douglas (curator) and Joe Vaughan (social media manager) as they reflect on the podcast to date. We talk about what we've learned, what we've loved, and what we're looking forward to for the future. Plus,...

How has our understanding of ecology in farming changed in time? What makes a pest a pest? And is an aphid chimney as metal as it sounds? Join Dr Alice Mauchline (University of Reading) to learn about changes in modern farm management. We course from the green revolution of the 1950s (the same era our work began) to the present day. This episode is introduced by Dr Ollie Douglas (MERL curator) and Joe Vaughan (MERL social media manager) - we forgot to say! The main discussion features Ollie a...

What do documentary makers and museum have in common? How do we choose which stories to tell, and how to tell them? Join Dr Shweta Ghosh, Lecturer in Screen Practices and Industries at the University of Reading, as we discuss storytelling, film-making, spices and tea, and rural connections between India and England. Visit Shweta's website: https://shwetaghoshdotcom.wordpress.com/films/Shweta's staff profile, University of Reading: https://www.reading.ac.uk/film-theatre-television/staff/...

Why did people in the past make paintings of impossibly big animals? What does art teach us about the history of the countryside? And how do we work with artists today to explore the past, present and future of rural England? Here to unpack these questions and guide you through our art collections is Dr Hannah Lyons, Curator of the University of Reading Art Collection. See some of the artworks referenced in this episodeAn online version of Sire, an exhibition exploring selective breedingShop ...

In April 2018, we shared a photo of a very large sheep on Twitter with the caption 'look at this absolute unit'. Before we knew it, this sheep had changed our museum's fortunes forever. For our first-ever episode of Absolute Units, we're joined by Adam Koszary – former MERL social media manager from 2012 to 2019 and father of the Absolute Unit post–to revisit the story behind our most viral moment. What did it take for a museum to go viral on the Internet? What was its role in our histo...

EPISODE 1 NOW LIVE It's just like all the other podcasts you love, but instead of trying to sell you mattresses and underwear we're explaining everything you always wanted to know about the history of rural England but never knew to ask. Why the name? Well, we're known for the Internet's most famous sheep, an 'absolute unit' who first went viral in 2018. But ask any of our staff and they'll tell you everything at The MERL is worth that level of fuss. So join us for a very special pilot ...