Adam Stoner

BBC Radio Gloucestershire and the School of Life

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Episode notes

Recently is my monthly newsletter letting you know what I’ve been doing, reading, listening to and enjoying. It’s usually only available for members — you can sign up for free at adamstoner.com. 

Members can read this post (and see the things I mention) at adamstoner.com/020.

The back-to-back battering of storms Ciara and Dennis earlier this month proved largely uneventful for me and my travels. Disruptive but relatively low-destruction storms like these serve as a handy reminder that extreme weather events will become increasingly frequent as temperatures continue to climb.

I spoke about how to educate yourself and others on the climate crisis. It's a list of 24 things you can do to learn more, understand the solutions, and become a climate activist. You can also read it on my website.

As well as working on my own podcast, I've also been working on and enjoying the podcasts of other people. The Space Programme is one of them. I designed its artwork. The orange version is the final thing but you can also see what version one looked like too at adamstoner.com/020.

I've also designed bits and pieces for BBC Radio Gloucestershire's newest on-air initiative, 50 by 50. Presenter Dominic Cotter just turned 49 and and he's on a quest to do fifty new things in the countdown to his 50th.

Where There Is Light, an art installation built to celebrate 20 years of Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, was installed at Gloucester Cathedral. As well as a gorgeous evolving light display, a soundscape created in collaboration with the Everyman Theatre, The Music Works and Squidsoup, featured stories of refugees and asylum seekers from various countries who are now living in the area.

I heard the School of Life's Alain de Botton on Virgin Radio at the start of February and purchased one of his books, The News: A User's Manual, shortly thereafter. Here's a snippet of a 2014 talk that de Botton gave on exactly that topic.

I saw 2014's The Kingsman and its sequel for the first time the other day. If you haven't, make sure you do. It's the perfect mix between a classic spy film and an action flick with some dark, Tarantino-like humour blended in. My girlfriend recommended the movies after we spent the morning walking around Croome.

Croome's a National Trust site – we're both members – and also home to RAF Defford. As well as large parklands there's also a museum dedicated to the service men and women and their work during the war.

Minutes after sending my last newsletter I stumbled upon a group of people who knit the weather. I'm a fan of taking concepts that are hard to grapple with and distilling them into simple things. In 2017 I made a clock with a single hand that takes 365 days to complete a revolution.

Here's Josie explaining how to knit the weather:

"I decided that this year, every day, I would knit a row on a scarf to mark the corresponding daily temperature/weather of my town. It felt like a good way to engage with the changing climate and with the changing year. A way to notice and not look away."

I picked up Marrakech Intense, a parfum from my favourite skincare and toiletries brand, Aesop. It's marginally cheaper than their other offerings but still £67 for 10ml.

After almost a year of trusty service, I've finally worn out the two pairs of Calvin Klein jeans I purchased in May 2019. I've gone for some classic tapering Levi's 501s to replace them.

I've been a lover of meditation app Calm for almost ten years (even speaking to its co-founder Michael Acton Smith back in 2016, read it at /calm) but have recently subscribed to Headspace. I am particularly a fan of Everybody Headspace, ten minute meditation sessions every 30 minutes that groups of people do together in real-time. Plus Andy Puddicombe's voice is nice!