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Archive for January, 2021

Professor Raymond Mar

By Rebecca Markwick, on 26 January 2021

Professor Raymond Mar

This week we chat to Professor Raymond Mar of the MAR Lab (York University, Canada). Raymond is a Professor of psychology and employs personality, social, and cognitive psychology along with neuroscience to study imaginative experiences such as engaging with fictional narratives acrossdifferent forms media.

We talk all about the effects of narrative on social cognition, his psychology studies, and how this research area is full of interesting topics to explore.




Show Notes
This week we chat to Professor Raymond Mar of the MAR Lab (York University, Canada). Raymond is a Professor of psychology and employs personality, social, and cognitive psychology along with neuroscience to study imaginative experiences such as engaging with fictional narratives acrossdifferent forms media. We talk all about the effects of narrative on social cognition, some surprising results of his psychology studies, and how this relatively new research area is full of interesting topics to explore.

Link to the MAR Lab published papers
Highly recommend reading some of the papers published by Raymond’s lab.
Here are a few relevant papers:
Link to Elizabeth van Monsjou & Raymond Mar’s study on shipping mentioned in the episode
Link to Raymond Mar’s article in Current Directions in Psychological Science about Stories and the Promotion of Social Cognition
Link to an article on how humour appreciation and prodution have different predictors

Works mentioned in the podcast:
Poetics by Aristotle
Short stories from The New Yorker

Dr Douglas Cowie

By Rebecca Markwick, on 19 January 2021

Dr Douglas Cowie

This week our guest is Dr Douglas Cowie, senior lecturer in creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. We talk about the therapeutic effects of reading and writing, Moby Dick, and how everyone approaches texts differently and gets different things out of them.

Head to the show notes for links and a list of authors and books mentioned in the podcast.



Show Notes
This week our guest is Dr Douglas Cowie, senior lecturer in creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. We talk about the therapeutic effects of reading and writing, Moby Dick, and how everyone approaches texts differently and gets different things out of them.

Link to Doug’s website

List of texts and authors mentioned:
Authors:
WH Auden
John Berryman
Patrick Kavanaugh
Eve L Ewing
Herman Melville

Texts:
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Dream Song by John Berryman
Black Girl Magic the second BreakBeat Poets anthology
“what I mean when I say I’m sharpening my oyster knife” by Eve L Ewing 

Deborah Alma

By Rebecca Markwick, on 12 January 2021

Deborah Alma of the Poetry Pharmacy

We chat about poetry’s powerful effects on our mental health, how she prescribes poems, and how things changed when she moved from a vintage ambulance to a bookshop in Shropshire.

Head to the show notes for links and a list of authors and books mentioned in the podcast.




Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Deborah Alma, poet and founder of The Poetry Pharmacy. We discuss bibliotherapy, poetry, prescribing poems, and wellbeing, and what literature Deborah reaches for to improve mental health. This week I am joined by a guest co-host, Sara Cheraghlou.

Link to The Poetry Pharmacy website
Link to Deborah’s twitter account 

Authors and works mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Tove Jansson
Seamus Heaney
Derek Walcott
John Keats
William Shakespeare
Esther Morgan

Works:
The Moomin books by Tove Jansson
Love After Love by Derek Walcott
Postscript by Seamus Heaney
Grace by Esther Morgan
East Coker by TS Eliot

Dr Radha Modgil

By Rebecca Markwick, on 5 January 2021

Dr Radha Modgil


Dr Radha Modgil

This week’s guest is GP and broadcaster Dr Radha Modgil. We discuss mental health, bibliotherapy, how lockdown has drawn attention to wellbeing and its importance, and what books Dr Radha goes to and recommends for comfort in times of hardship.

Head to the show notes for links and a list of authors and books mentioned in the podcast.




Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Dr Radha Modgil, GP, mental health activist, and broadcaster. We discuss bibliotherapy, the rise of anxiety, the vitalness of therapuetic tools, and how important it is to care for one’s mental wellbeing.

Link to Dr Radha’s website
Link to Dr Radha’s twitter

Books and authors mentioned:
Authors:
Philip Pullman
Roald Dahl
Eckhart Tolle
Oprah Winfrey
Maya Angelou
Walter de la Mare

Books:
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Boy by Roald Dahl
Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou