Getting Emotional

Step aside, Paxman! There's a new political interviewer in town! Well, kind of. Because today I'm delving into 'qualunquismo', a word that has befuddled my autocorrect and my own tongue, as I learn to both spell and pronounce it.

This feeling comes from Italy, and was coined in the post-war period to describe a political movement that tried to rally against party politics. It's influenced by apathy bordering on contempt, for politics and the politicians within- a mistrust of the whole political spectrum. This 'meh-ism' may explain why voting turnout is down, people feel less engaged, and the electorate sometimes...doesn't care.

To discuss this emotion, I spoke to Femi Oluwole, a fantastically astute, outspoken and intelligent political campaigner. You may know him as a commentator on various TV or Radio shows, or for his fantastic presence on twitter. (Or you may not know him at all- that's ok too!) Femi talks me through what motivated him to get engaged in politics, how he does it, and why he thinks it's hard to motivate some of the public to think that their voice can make a change too. Also, full warning: there is a little (but not too much) Brexit chat.

If you want to find Femi on twitter, he's @femi_sorry, and I'm there too, @getemotionalpod. Come say hi! It would be lovely to say hello to a listener or two!

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The act of caring for someone is important, brave, and selfless. It requires love and compassion, sure, but sometimes it's also inspired by pity and vulnerability of the other person. You're doing it all whilst knowing that it can't last forever; maybe they'll get stronger and not need you anymore, maybe they'll pass away, or maybe you'll leave them.

All these factors come into play in this emotion: fago. It's a mixture of feelings that build into a broad combination of love, compassion and pity, and result in the act of caring for someone. It was first found to be described by the Ifaluk people on a remote island in the Pacific; their peaceful and sharing culture prizes fago as a deeply desired emotion and state of being.

So for this feeling, I spoke to excellent comedian Bilal Zafar, who's written a whole Edinburgh Fringe show about the year he spent working in a care home. He tells me about what it was like having responsibility for residents with dementia, how he coped when they found out he was a comedian, and how it affected his point of view in his current career.

You can find Bilal on twitter, at @zafarcakes, or on Twitch, at twitch.tv/zafarcakes. And I'm on twitter too, @getemotionalpod, plus instagram, @gettingemotionalpodcast.

Also, as a side-note: this podcast was nominated at the British Podcast Awards last week! It's up for the Bullseye Award- a bit like the best small/niche podcast, so keep your eyes peeled in case we manage to nab a victory!

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/getting-emotional.

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Ever wanted to travel somewhere in particular, and you have no idea why? Perhaps somewhere you haven't been before, but you feel like if you were to get there, you'd suddenly feel...at home? Because that's what this feeling means. It's extreme wanderlust, an urge to travel, and almost feeling homesick for a place you've never been to.

To describe it, I travel back to my old pals, the Finns, who created this beautiful- and very tricky to pronounce- word. (If nothing else, you'll enjoy the progress I make with it through the show.) And to discuss it in more depth, I chatted to travel bloggers Hand Luggage Only (aka Yaya and Lloyd) about how they became travellers, why they pick certain places to go to, and what top tips they might have for the curious adventurer.

You can find them on instagram @HandLuggageOnly, and you can find me there too, at @gettingemotionalpodcast. I'm also on twitter, @getemotionalpod. Come say hi before you go off on your next adventure!

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/getting-emotional.

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You hear 'vu', you think of 'déjà', right? Yeah, fair enough, most people do. But did you know that déjà has two siblings, often overlooked? I'm talking about presque and jamais, and I'd argue they bring just as much to the table as their big sister does.

The Vus (I like to think of them as a girl band, by the way) comprise of three states of mind, all pretty common, but one just more famous than the others. Déjà, as you may already know, roughly means 'already seen'- but what of the two others? Well, presque is known as 'almost seen' and jamais, 'never seen'. Between them they're equally frustrating, and very common.

So let's find out a little about them! Have you ever felt something on the 'tip of your tongue'? Then you've felt presque vu! And ever not recongnised something you probably should? Then jamais vu is your jam! Of course, I'll go into a little more detail in the episode. Plus, I manage to squeeze in references to The Matrix, Bridget Jones, Beyonce, BTS and Atomic Kitten. Never say I don't have my finger on the pulse.

Also, you may notice there's no guest for this one. Every now and again a feeling that comes along that is...unguestable. I have a list of these emotions, willing to be made into shows, but sadly uncoupled with people to talk about them. So instead I brought in some old friends to provide a bit of context. Wonderful Guy Kelly (@brainmage) discusses his dealings with déjà, and Richard Soames (@RichardSoames) and Benedict Salter help me out with their acting skills.

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You're lying in bed, awake. It's 5.45am. Your mind wanders. Should you get up now? Is your packed lunch ready? Will you go to the gym? Have you paid your rent? All of these things play into the feeling of 'uhtcaere'- lying in bed, worrying about the day ahead before it's even started.

The emotion comes from an Anglo-Saxon poem, The Wife's Lament, where a woman is bereft without her beloved. Although the poem is fantastically vague, we know it's about a woman looking for her partner. And most of that worry, it seems, is 'uhtcaere'- in the pre-dawn moments. So for this emotion I got incredibly geeky about Anglo-Saxon history (honestly, I had to hold myself back) and discovered more about literature from this era. I even read a very saucy riddle about an onion, but the less said about that the better.

Then, I spoke to Times Radio's Breakfast presenter Stig Abell- because who knows early mornings better than a breakfast radio presenter? He told me what time he gets up, how his show is planned, and what he does to keep the show on the road while avoiding uhtcaere for himself and his listeners. We eben invented a few new emotions along the way, including 'sockdread'. (You'll have to listen to find out more.)

So, when youre lying in bed worrying about the day ahead, I hope you're not worrying about which podcast to listen to. Because it's this one, obviously.

Oh, by the way, you can find me on twitter @getemotionalpod, and instagram @gettingemotionalpodcast.

And: Journey in the New World by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://www.twinmusicom.org/song/258/journey-in-the-new-world

Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/getting-emotional.

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