Quarantine: it's a weird period with no finish line. In this unprecedented time, I want to use social media not for scaremongering, but as a force for good.
I've already made bread and bought a yoga mat. So now, naturally, it's time to employ my bad chat for clumsy, candid and crass conversation about the new normal.
What is going on behind people's newly closed doors? We have the news, vlogs, blogs...a wealth of "behind the scenes" intel, but I want to be a peephole - Gogglebox style - into people's living rooms, as the outside is brought in. It's time to chat world.
Stay safe & sanitise! H
Quarantime 10 - Baking Bull Testicles with Joe Burroughs
Hello Quaranteeners! I’m far too sober for this time on a bank holiday weekend but that’s the way it is now, normality is there to be tossed into the trash. Put me in confession with the minister and I'd say I prefer the old ways of bank holiday working, but here we are.
Anyway! On this weekend, someone to lift the blues, is a truly gorgeous spirit. Someone who tickles my intellectual tassels as much as he laughs at my crappy jokes. Joe and I chat about mental health, bull testicles (as in the balls of a bull) and vinyl record shops as well as musing over Clapham’s obsession with mussels. I ask Joe what it means to “Be" - and he has given me more questions than answers. But that is what a true friend does; they leave you wanting to come back for more. If you hear the occasional thud, apologies - that would be me plonking my beer down on the desk.
Joe, thank you for letting us pick our misinformed opinions apart and for giving me something I can’t quite put my (socially distant) finger on. Enjoy listening! Stay safe and sanitise. H x
7 May 2020
Quarantime 9 - Keep the Faith
Hello Quaranteeners! Part two of the bank holiday weekend Quarantime double-bill, coming in hot.
This is my lovely Luke. I would go as far as to say that Luke is one of the most stand-up, unique friends I’ve got. We talk about faith - the strength of his faith is what keeps him going whilst living by himself. We share honest views on the importance of staying connected; for him that is with his faith, and with the Christian community. I love it, I really do. I wish I was more clued up and solemnly swear to try and understand the Bible more so I can at least hold a more eloquent conversation with you next time.
Go spend all your money in Morrisons! We love you!
Stay safe and sanitise. H x
7 May 2020
Quarantime 8 - Self-Motivated Studenting
Hello Quaranteeners! How goes it? HAPPY BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND YOU LOVELY PEOPLE. I know that all you’ve been waiting for during this two-week hiatus is for me to release another episode of cracking content and convos with my gorgeous guest. And I know that your weekend would have been incomplete without it. And so here you are!
This was a very lovely, easy, breezy chat that I feel has cemented in my head what I thought about Quarantine; it’s fine, admittedly, I’m learning things about myself as I go, definitely, I am oh so grateful for the sunshine, undeniably - and it is tricky. It’s hard to also not feel bad about feeling bad, and good about feeling good. It’s a tapestry of emotion that Emily and I air out, lay out, unpick and put back in it’s box in a very enjoyable way. If I may say so myself. She is studying for the bar, a law student, something that is hard at the best of times and truly unbearable at others. And I appreciate her honesty when it comes round to perceiving quarantime as phased; I wonder what phase we will head into next. Good luck with your exams Bacon - you got dis.
Stay safe and sanitise! H x
22 Apr 2020
Quarantime 7 - It's a Boy!
Hello Quaranteeners! Are we okay? Are we drunk mid morning on a Wednesday? Have we even got out of our pyjamas since March? Is it 2021 yet? I know no answers to these but I do know something for certain - I have a humpday treat to get you through the week!
This is Charlie - a soul brother, a beautiful energy, one of my most favourite people. Charlie is an old work friend who has seen me at my best and at my worst and, since leaving our company, has qualified with FLYING colours as an English foreign language teacher. I can only imagine how fantastic he is at being a teacher shown by the fact he hasn't been tempted to interfere with his siblings' Easter holidays by dropping in spontaneous grammar sessions. We discuss sub 3-hour marathons (obviously not from my side), getting drunk off one bottle of beer (also, obviously not from my side) and taking the twists and turns of quarantine on the chin. He also helps me to resolve my severe interviewee gender imbalance. Thank you Charlie: the pleasure was all mine.
Thank you for listening. Stay safe & sanitise! H x
18 Apr 2020
Quarantime 6 - On Becoming Famous with Kirstin Baking Barney
Hello Quaranteeners! I've eaten all my Easter eggs, all my mums' Easter eggs, normal eggs, anything I can get my hands on. Hope you had a socially distant Easter weekend.
Joining me in the chair this week is my glorious old University housemate, Kirstin. This little pocket rocket ended up in quarantine with her boyfriend by "accidentally" packing a bag with enough stuff to last 2 months, staying for the weekend before lockdown and ending up ”stuck.” Well-played Kirstin. We talk about headstands, ways to expend pent up energy, life in furlough...and in this z-list celebrity conversation, how you too can use your time to find fame like Kirstin has with her new cooking instagram (handle below.) On becoming famous is twist on works by two fabulous, inspiring women: On Becoming Fearless by Ariana Huffington and Becoming by Michelle Obama. As we clearly are pitching ourselves to a similar audience, with a similarly profound message.
It's a bunch of waffle and I thoroughly enjoyed it; I hope you do too.
Thanks for listening. Stay safe & sanitise! H x
Insta handle for my lovely guest, my B-league MOB kitchen: @unprecedented_cookin
13 Apr 2020
Quarantime 5 - My First Key Worker!
Hello Quaranteeners! I’ve made it to five guests and run out of friends! I am more than glad, however, that I managed to get Flora on Quarantime, who is my first key worker. Flora brings a very different perspective on the situation - how to translate the message of lockdown to the residents of the halfway house she works in, plan for their uncertain future and turn all our empty wine bottles into everlasting living room decor! She is doing a fantastic, worthwhile job and it is my pleasure to be the vector for her to share her message with the world.
Enjoy listening, stay safe & sanitise! H x
13 Apr 2020
Quarantime 4 - Lovely Lou & Granny Anne
Hello Quaranteeners! It's day 5 DC (during corona) and it is as bamboozling and boozy as I expected.
On today is a very special duo - Louis, a nearest and dearest University friend, and his Gorgeous Granny, Anne, whose dichotomous but ultimately similar views of their Quarantime together show us how the fundamentals of quarantining are relatively similar for all us layman: even when compared with the Polio outbreak of the 1950s. We talk paper rounds, overwatered tomatoes and outrageous grandsons, and it was a delight to have them on (albeit before they got cruelly cut off by poor connection, right at the very end.)
Stay safe and sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x
13 Apr 2020
Quarantime 3 - In a Tin Can with Ann
Hello Quaranteeners! We are officially in lockdown. Close those doors, don't stockpile that food, and settle in for an indefinite future of online shopping and mid morning wine.
Anna, one of my closest and wisest friends, joins me from what sounds like the inside of a tin can this week to talk all things corona in Kew. Quarantining with her family, just like me, can cause friction and with Kew Gardens full of middle class lycra-wearing bandits on bicycles, there are limited places for her to escape to. So, we discuss finding inner solace, the beauty of candles and whether you're allowed to use the phrase whet your whistle with your parents.
It's candid, crass, and colourful - all things I value in a true friendship. Stay safe & sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x
13 Apr 2020
Quarantime 2 - In Ellie's Basement
Hello Quaranteeners! We're a week in and I'm eating sardines for breakfast and porridge for dinner. Between these questionable lapses of judgement, I find some peace and sanity whilst talking to Ellie, my oldest friend of all time. I dip my hat and breakfast club fist pump the air for her and her boyfriend who, having recently moved in together, are now facing the corona quarantine challenge of isolating together.
From coffee breaks dangling out the window with her parents to truffle oil meal prepping, I enjoyed hearing about lockdown London with a glass of silky white with a very good friend of mine - and I hope you do too!
Stay safe & sanitise! Thank you for listening. H x
13 Apr 2020
Quarantime 1 - The Inaugural Episode! With my mum
Hello! This is the inaugural episode of Quarantime, a podcast about the new normal with me - your unknown host - Harriet McLean.
Who better (because she is one of only 3 isolation allies I've got) to interview first than my mum! Beautifully relaxed, utterly uncensored and candidly frank, we discuss our Quarantime as a four-man band who for the past four years really only spend time together in rushed dinner-sized bites, via WhatsApp, or boozed up over the festive period.
My hapless attempt at producing, editing and publishing this podcast (despite the wealth of YouTube clips to help me and, well as you can see, all the time in the world) is scoffable. Forgive me: enjoy it, stay safe & sanitise.
Thank you for listening. H x
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