Absolute Units

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Turns out scheduling breaks are like London busses! Joe's come down with the flu, so we haven't had the chance to produce this week's episode in time for Thursday release. We'll be back with regular programming and return for our second episode with Guy Shrubsole in two weeks' time.
Meanwhile: are there topics you'd like to hear about? Do you have a burning question? We've re-enabled our fan mail link, so please send anything that you'd like to share with us, and we'll be sure to cover them in future episodes!

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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. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
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
It's a simple three-word question. Yet the answer is extremely complicated, expensive, and concealed behind paywalls that run into hundreds of millions of pounds.
How did we get here? And how do we get out of it?
In this episode, Joe and Ollie are joined by the remarkable author and campaigner Guy Shrubsole (co-founder of Right to Roam) to explore the question of who really owns England. We chart the course of land management in England from the Norman conquest, through to the Tudors, and right up to the present day, with policy changes coming out as recently as 2026.
Learn more about Right to Roam: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/
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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. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
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
Hi folks! We're closed tomorrow for Easter (which is when we'd usually release our next episode). Ollie and Joe are also in and out of the office at the moment, so we're going to use this as a chance for a brief hiatus and we'll then be back to regular programming in 2 weeks' time. See you very soon!
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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. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
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
Content warnings: infant mortality (indicated in the chapter list!) - skip from 14:38 to 19:33
Today we turn 1 years old! A fine age for a growing podcast. Thanks to everyone who has tuned in, joined us in the booth, and supported us in these last 12 months.
To celebrate, we decided yesterday afternoon to record an impromptu anniversary episode, taking listener questions via Bluesky. We talk about a range of topics, including: our favourite museums, what we're reading, spookiness, the definition of an oat, more haunting, cookbooks, horses, hogs, and hovercraft.
Should we do more listener question episodes? Do you have any burning feedback? Can you shed any light about an oat? Please leave us a review to let us know what you think!
Links:
JC Niala's new book (congrats JC!): https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/jc-niala/the-new-eden/9781856755887/
Nicola Chester's new book (congrats Nicola!): https://nicolachester.com/book/ghosts-of-the-farm-two-womens-journeys-through-time-land-and-community/
Apotropaic objects: https://theconcealedrevealed.wordpress.com/
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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. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
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
In 2022, a report by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences analysed 14 European countries and ranked them for nature connectedness, bio diversity, and wellbeing. Britain ranked last in all three.
So how do we better protect nature, care for wildlife, and look after each other? 
Adrian Lawson is an environmentalist, author and activist whose career and campaigns have been defined by these questions - whether in council meetings or camping out with Extinction Rebellion. Adrian is also a pivotal figure in a major community ecological project here in Reading, turning an abandoned meadow into the thriving Fobney Marsh, as a lead organiser of the Fobney Marshians.
In this episode, we speak with Adrian about his love of land, wildlife, and humanity, and how we can do better better by all three. We also talk a lot about Reading and the joy of building a home and finding community. You should definitely visit Reading btw. Come for the marsh, The MERL, and the memes.
Links:
Adrian vs the IMO: https://oceanrebellion.earth/imo-omg-get-a-grip-poseidon-lectures-the-imo/
Join the Fobney Marshians: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/absolute-units/qr-code-for-the-fobney-marshians/
Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You, by Nick Hayes and Jon Moses: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/wild-service-9781526673299/
Book your tickets for our Spring LATE: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/spring-late/
Come and visit us: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit/
This episode features additional audio from Epidemic Sounds. The opening song is 'Journey to Mars' by Sayuri Hayashi Egnell. The song for the LATE is 'Pity Party' by Gamma Skies. The wetlands ambient sound was recorded by Lars Edenius and reused from xeno-canto.
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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. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
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/