Absolute Units

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How do you lead a rural history museum in 2026? What does that look like in practice? And how does our contemporary work vary to the vision of our founders back in 1951?
In this second of two conversations with Kate Arnold-Forster, Director of The Museum of English Rural Life and the University of Reading's Museums and Collections, Ollie and Joe chat with Kate about our museum's ongoing evolution, the power of eBay for contemporary collecting, and what the future holds for university museums.
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

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So far we've spoken a lot about The Museum of English Rural Life's earliest years. Yet so much of what we are today results from a radical rethinking of what The MERL can be, which has happened under the brilliant stewardship of Kate Arnold-Forster, Director of The Museum of English Rural Life and the University of Reading's Museums and Collections.
In this episode, we speak with Kate about her journey into museums, the significance of university museums, and her pivotal role in turning The MERL into the museum you know today.
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

Send us Fan Mail
What have we been up to lately? What's coming up? And what's the rural significance of Bad Bunny's performance at the Superbowl?
In this episode, Joe and Ollie have a general chat about a bunch of different topics, which each connect - in some surprising ways - to the collections we hold here at The Museum of English Rural Life.
Guy Shrubsole on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/guyshrubsole.bsky.social
The Skylon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_(Festival_of_Britain)
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

Send us Fan Mail
We're back with our second episode with the University of Reading's Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel! We continue talking about their Nature-centric Catalyst project, how we can rebuild our relationships with the natural world, and what's coming up next for our collaboration with Tom and Marzia at the museum.
Relevant links:
Nature-centric Catalyst
Tom Oliver
Marzia Briel
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

Send us Fan Mail
How does humanity fit into nature? How long have we viewed ourselves as being apart from it? And what are the problems that creates?
This time, we chat with Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel from the University of Reading to learn about their Nature-centric Catalyst project. We discuss the rights of nature, the advocacy landscape today, and how we can better centre the natural world in our thoughts and deeds.
Also, we end with a 5-minute meditation, beautifully performed by Marzia.
Relevant links:
Nature-centric Catalyst
Tom Oliver
Marzia Briel
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/