Hack Circus

This is the second half of a long chat I had with the incredibly inspiring Mary Turner Thomson; check out part 1 first, if you haven't already. Mary’s tale of living with a sociopathic liar is unlike anything you've heard before – but the way she has overcome this appalling experience makes her the true star of the story. Raising children without their dad, writing books, giving talks – Mary is fuelled by a determination to help others. Find out how she has turned her experiences into 'gold clouds' in this episode; we could all take a leaf out of her book. You can check out Mary’s story on her website maryturnerthomson.comand buy her book on Amazon. She’s also on Twitter and Facebook and always up for chatting to anyone who wants to talk about, well, anything really. She replies to all emails. If you enjoy Hack Circus please rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it! Hack Circus goes up every Monday and Thursday, and you can peek behind the curtain by following us on Facebook (hackcircuspodca

This week's Creativity Clinic looks at the importance of telling your own story and occupying your own space, and explains why failing big is an important rite of passage for any creative. hackcircuspodcast.com Tune in again on Thursday for the interview episode! And remember you can subscribe to the Creativity Clinic newsletter, here: leilajohnston.com/newsletter If you enjoy Hack Circus, don’t forget to rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it! In between episodes (uploaded every Thursday) you can glimpse behind the curtain by following us on Facebook(hackcircus), Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (hackcircus) and Snapchat (can you guess?). Enjoy!

This is the first half of a long chat I had with the incredibly inspiring Mary Turner Thomson; tune in next week for the second episode. Mary’s story of living with a psychopathic con artist is truly extraordinary, but not as extraordinary as the way she has overcome this appalling experience. She emanates positivity and dignity, determined to help others who have been affected by trauma and heighten awareness of the psychopaths and sociopaths in our midst. You can check out Mary’s story on her website maryturnerthomson.com and buy her book on Amazon. She’s also on Twitter and Facebook and always up for chatting to anyone who wants to talk about, well, anything really. She replies to all emails. DON’T FORGET TO COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR PART 2 OF THIS CHAT! If you enjoy Hack Circus please rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it! Hack Circus goes up every Monday and Thursday, and you can peek behind the curtain by following us on Facebook (hackcircuspodcast), Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (ha

Most of us are experts at blaming things, people or situations for our misfortunes. Sometimes this is justifiable, but just because it sometimes proves true, Leila argues, doesn't mean that we shouldn't suspect every argument against our creative progress for being a potential excuse.  Additionally, one of the reasons we are so quick to blame is because we fear responsibility. Leila explores why this might be, in this third Creativity Clinic episode of the Hack Circus podcast. Hackcircuspodcast.com Get in touch anytime with questions or comments on twitter @hackcircus, snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, IRC, or by email: editor@hackcircus.com  

Does making stuff all the time feed your energy or sap it?  In this week's Creativity Clinic, Leila takes a question about the Hack Circus project itself, and talks publicly for the first time about some of the joys and drawbacks of taking on something so ambitious over the last three years. If you're enjoying these episodes, please rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about the show. We're also on Facebook (hackcircuspodcast), Twitter, Instagram and IRC. Hack Circus now has a phone number. Leave questions or comments for Leila on the messaging service here:  0203 322 8867 Subscribe to the weekly Creativity Clinic newsletter to get subversive tried and tested tips to increase your output and motivation, here: leilajohnston.com/newsletter

Sarah Smizz is an artist, medic and PhD student, based in Sheffield. Sarah was recently awarded Radiography Student of the Year, and has just begun a PhD all about creative practice in medical care. Sarah is a creative across the board, with experience as a writer, rapper, graffiti artist, cartoonist, comedian and poet. She has an amazing work ethic and is committed to changing the system from the inside, and using creative practice to address inequality wherever she finds it. Her approach to life is incredibly inspiring, and it was a privilege to spend some time talking to her for this episode. You can find Sarah on Twitter @smizz and her blog is smizz.wordpress.com If you enjoy Hack Circus, don’t forget to rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it! In between episodes (uploaded every Thursday) you can glimpse behind the curtain by following us on Facebook(hackcircus), Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (hackcircus) and Snapchat (can you guess?). Enjoy!    

A slightly different kind of episode this week. I've decided to try a 'creativity clinic', answering listeners' questions submitted online. If you have something you'd love to know, or an area you'd like me to tackle, get in touch by email – editor@hackcircus.com, on twitter @hackcircus, facebook hackcircuspodcast, or instagram @hackcircus.  This week questions range from favourite colours to world domination.  I have a lot of experience of making all sorts of different kinds of things, and if I don't know something, I probably know something who does. So send your questions in! I would love to help people out if I can.   Enjoy!

Flamenco dancer Rosamaria Cisneros Kostic discusses her craft, how to stay grounded, calm and physically aware in a hectic world, and the fascinating dance/tech research she's involved with at C-DaRE in Coventry. Rosa grew up in the U.S. but has lived and worked all over the world. She's a professional dancer, dance historian and critic, Roma scholar, Flamenco historian and peace activist. If you want to check out her beautiful Flamenco skills for yourself, Rosa's dance film Saeta: The Mourning is online here.  See Rosa's website to find out more about her. She's on Twitter too. If you enjoy Hack Circus, don’t forget to rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it! In between episodes (uploaded every Thursday) you can glimpse behind the curtain by following us on Facebook (hackcircus),Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (hackcircus) and Snapchat (can you guess?). Enjoy!

This week I chat to Sheffield-based leadership coach and award-winning close-up magician, Steve Faulkner. Steve advises businesses and individuals, helping them to find their direction, and build good habits into their lives. Steve is also a highly accomplished performer whose fascinating background spans circus training, street performing in Covent Garden, cruise ships and even dance.  Find out more about Steve's work and training on his website getgoodatstuff.com If you enjoy Hack Circus, don’t forget to rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it. In between episodes (uploaded every Thursday) you can glimpse behind the curtain by following us on Facebook (hackcircus), Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (hackcircus) and Snapchat (can you guess?). Enjoy!

iTunes link Direct download This week Leila is in Finland, investigating Helsinki's creative technology community. You'll meet Rambo of the Helsinki Hacklab, Ashish Mohite – a designer 3D printing with ceramics at the Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory, and Erik Parr, an artist working with all sorts of cool stuff, including glass-smashing audio tones. If you enjoy Hack Circus, don't forget to rate or review on iTunes, or just tell a friend about it. We're also on Facebook (hackcircus), Instagram (hackcircus), Twitter (hackcircus) and Snapchat (can you guess?). Enjoy!

This week we chat to writer and editor Simon Ings. Simon has just written a non-fiction book about science research under Stalin's regime. We talk about the plight of the scientists, the problem of metricised governing, and why Russia's plans were often far more rational than they later seemed. These complex issues are brought to life brilliantly by Simon – who is also a science fiction author, and the culture editor of New Scientist magazine. You can order Stalin and the Scientists on Amazon.  Remember to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, to ensure you don't miss many other equally interesting episodes which will be uploaded weekly from now on. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series. See hackcircuspodcast.com for more about the show, hackcircus.com for the magazine, and @hackcircus on Twitter. We're also on Facebook and Instagram.    

Download this episode This week we meet friend of Hack Circus, science comedian Helen Keen! You may know her from her Radio 4 series It Is Rocket Science. As well as being an established comedy writer and performer on the circuit, Helen is the author of The Science of Game of Thrones, which is out today. Helen is a highly experienced writer and performer. We chat about performing, audiences, comedy influences, the Edinburgh festival, the challenges of writing a book and more, in this half-hour episode recorded on the fly between meetings. Hope you enjoy it!

This week I chat to Dr Sean Power, a philosopher based in Ireland. Sean has a keen interest in the study of time, and how it relates to presentism and eternalism. He often collaborates with artists, scientists and hackers, and knows a lot about sci-fi movies too!  Sean is on Twitter @jdepaor and you can find out more about him and read some of his essays on his blog or his academic webpage on the Trinity College site. Sean has also contributed regularly to the magazine version of Hack Circus, which you can peruse or buy from hackcircus.com. Remember to subscribe and rate the show to ensure you don't miss many other equally interesting episodes, which will be uploaded weekly from now on. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series. See hackcircuspodcast.com for more about the show, hackcircus.com for the magazine, and @hackcircus on Twitter. We're also on Facebook and instagram.  

This week we catch up with Welsh-Iraqi comedian, actor, writer and all-round supercreative Nadia Kamil who is now living and working in LA. She's known for her double act with Luke Roberts, 'The Behemoth', a string of hit Edinburgh shows, and 'The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society'. In 2014, Nadia played the petulant flight attendant in Starship Hack Circus, a live Hack Circus event in which we sent the audience into space to investigate an alien signal... and left them there. Check out Nadia's website and twitter for a sense of the many arenas in which she has come to excel.  We discuss international differences in the comedy scene, tactics for auditioning, whether women are ever recognised as polymaths, and more. Remember to subscribe and rate the show to ensure you don't miss many other equally interesting episodes, which will be uploaded weekly from now on. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series. See hackcircuspodcast.com for more about the show, hackcircus.com for the magazine, and @hackc

This is the second half of an in-depth two-part chat with Steve Punt. A well-known British comedy writer and performer, Steve is a regular on BBC Radio (especially The Now Show), and known for his comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis and work on phenomenally popular topical satire TV show, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which he also starred in, back in the early 90s.  The chat covers everything from how stand-ups translate to television, to crafting documentaries, to what makes a great sitcom. Remember to subscribe and rate the show to ensure you don't miss many other equally interesting episodes, which will be uploaded weekly from now on. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series. See hackcircuspodcast.com for more about the show, hackcircus.com for the magazine, and @hackcircus on Twitter. We're also on Facebook.

This is the first of an in-depth two-part chat with Steve Punt. A well-known British comedy writer and performer, Steve is a regular on BBC Radio (especially The Now Show), and known for his comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis and work on phenomenally popular topical satire TV show, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which he also starred in, back in the early 90s.  The chat covers everything from how technology has affected performance styles, to Mary Whitehouse memories, to Steve's feelings about Big Brother. Remember to subscribe and rate the show to ensure you don't miss Part 2, and many other equally interesting episodes which will be uploaded weekly from now on. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series. See hackcircus.com for more about the project, and @hackcircus on Twitter. We're also on Facebook.

In this episode, Leila talks to archivist and writer Arike Oke. Arike looks after the archive at Rambert, one of the UK's leading contemporary dance companies, where Leila completed a residency earlier this year. They talk storytelling, dance and the challenges of acting as the custodian of the invisible, and plumb some of the fascinating and unexpected depths of archive theory.

Earlier this year, your host was the first digital artist in residence at Rambert, one of the UK's leading contemporary dance companies. In this episode, Leila talks technology, learning, mastery, driving, injuries and more with two of the world class dancers she's been working with: Liam Francis and Hannah Rudd. Look out for more episodes featuring Rambert people as the season progresses. Hack Circus is also a magazine and an event series all about 'Fantasy technology and everyday magic'. See Hackcircus.com for more about the project.

Currently in residence at Sheffield's Site Gallery, artists Anna Chrystal Stephens and Glen Stoker are interested in survival and empowerment. Their residency began with a 60 mile walk across town and country, living off the land and slowing down their thinking, before arriving at the door of the gallery full of inspiration and in need of a shower. In this first in this year's series of Hack Circus podcasts, we discuss building shelters, foraging, starting fires, using networks, birds nests, trees, fear and uncertainty... An interview with the artists based on this podcast also features in the forthcoming issue of Hack Circus (hackcircus.com) which is all themed on Survival.

My big project for September is called How To Live Forever. I've gone rogue as the Hack Circus Ringmaster and created a kind of "solo album..." I've been reading a load of stuff about death (and life) and 'transhumanism' and talking to loads of interesting experts about longevity and technology, trying to get a few different sides of the issue and knock something decent together on not-very-much-money, in about a month. And the month when everyone's away, too. One of the things I'm doing for it is making a short film. The camera conked out at the end of our last filming session, but every cloud has a silver lining, and sometimes when a camera dies, some interesting audio is born from its ashes. So, here's your unexpected podcast! You'll hear Alexander D. Ornella, Director of the Centre for Spirituality Studies at the University of Hull, Paul Graham Raven from the University of Sheffield and Eric Olsen, Professor of Philosopher at the University of Sheffield. They discuss cryonics, brain uploading, the soul, r