Qualunquismo- with Femi Oluwole

08/11/21 • 18 min

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!

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Gender Euphoria- with Laura Kate Dale

This might be one of the more important emotions I've explored, and also one of the emotions I am least qualified to talk about. So I spoke to someone who is: writer Laura Kate Dale!

Gender Euphoria is the joy you feel when thinking about your true gender identity, and it's mostly associated with the transgender or non-binary community. It can occur in different ways, for different reasons. And it's a happy feeling, a feeling of enjoyment and delight. So let's celebrate it!

Laura has recently released a book called 'Gender Euphoria', so she was perfectly placed to talk about what this emotion means and how big a deal it is. Plus, she kindly shared a few stories from the book with me, which gives us a peek into more joyous stories from the trans community, and shows how important those moments of acceptance are.

As Laura mentions at the beginning, gender euphoria is the opposite of gender dysphoria, a more medical term. So I delved a little into that too, and asked Laura if you can have one without the other. Finally, as you can tell, I was just thrilled to find one more happy emotion- one that lets us celebrate and amplify stories that maybe haven't been given as much airtime as they should have.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Ruinenlust- with Angela Barnes

Picture this: you're wandering around a crumbling castle, fascinated by the ruins, totally lost in the history of it all. Not only are you amazed by its beauty, you're also heavily reminded of the past, present and future. These ruins of a once-grand building inspire a feeling of obsession, pleasure, and wonder. It's ruinenlust.

This is a German word, and describes the feeling of pleasure you take when exploring old ruins. But 'ruins' don't have to be a castle- it could be a column, a church, a...cold war bunker. Because that's what I'm talking about with comedian, podcaster, and history lover Angela Barnes. Angela's love of cold war bunkers- now pretty much all abandoned- has inspired a full Radio 4 series, as well as providing a location for her hen-do! So I decided to ask her why these building in particular are so interesting- is it the building, or the history surrounding them? She gives some fascinating answers, as well as ruminating on her own ruinenlust.

Angela is on the wonderful We Are History podcast, if you want to hear her discover more historical gems, and you can find her on twitter @AngelaBarnes. I'm there too, @GetEmotionalPod. Come say hi!

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.