unfinishing

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.Akeem Balogun is a writer. His debut collection of stories, The Storm, won the Society of Authors' Somerset Maugham Award, a competition he now judges. Akeem is eclectic with his form, and has written stories, audio drama, and creative pieces for artists and festivals.He curated Words, Vision and Sound for the 31st Off the Shelf Literature Festival of Words, a multimedia literature event. It was also featured in the Huddersfield Literature Festival. His latest work, Post-modern Hustle, was published by Intergraphia Books and features artwork by Thomas D. Fowler. Akeem’s first unfinished project is a short story collection called Expressions. It has finished elements, but for the most part consists of stories that are unwritten or ideas - all safely collected in a notebook for when the time is right to complete and publish them. His second unfinished project is a novel with the working title of The District. The book depicts a particular set of characters whose lives Akeem wants to see in print. After countless drafts and lots of feedback, the end is in sight. Akeem is highly motivated by a desire to make his writing excellent. In fact, the pursuit of excellence is one of the reasons the works we discuss aren’t yet out in the world - so they’ll be worth the wait. ⁠Links of interest:About Akeem: Written Gallery – Writing by Akeem BalogunThe Literary Studio: About Us | The Literary StudioThe Storm, with original cover painting by Arantza Pardo: The Storm – Written GalleryAkeem’s book recommendations:Richard Ford, Canada (2012): Canada (novel) - WikipediaTibor Fischer, Good To Be God (2009): Good To Be God by Tibor Fischer | WaterstonesTed Chiang, Exhalation: Stories (2019): Exhalation: Stories - WikipediaKerry Hadley Price, Gamble (2018): https://www.waterstones.com/book/gamble/kerry-hadley-pryce/9781784631307

The first live unfinishing took place at the Crossed Wires festival 2026! The audience had the treat of hearing the fabulous Dr RJ Wade unfurling the mysteries behind an unfished portrait held at the University of Leeds. Wade gave some brilliant insights into the unfinished nature of the portrait - the ways in which its unfinishedness changes how we interact with it, and the clues its incompleteness gives about how it was created.The portrait, which is of the significant Victorian politician Richard Cobden, was painted by the wonderful artist Emma Aloysia Novello, likely in May 1861. Wade’s research has uncovered that Novello led an extraordinary, rich, intriguing life - travelling across Europe and maintaining her status as an artist despite the barriers presented by the gender norms of the time. Wade’s research also, however, revealed tragic and unsettling information about the last years of Emma’s life. Two heart-breaking documents - the first admitting her to a ‘lunatic’ asylum, after which all other papers from and about her stop - and the second a record of her death. Wade tells us about how these last years came about, but argues we should resist the temptation to see Emma’s life as ‘incomplete’. Her work, her travel, her relationships, and above all her ability to maintain her profession as an artist - all speak of a meaningful, varied, and important life.Links of interest:View Emma Novello’s portrait of Richard Cobden here - where you can also read about Wade’s fascinating research: The portrait | Special Collections | Library | University of LeedsMore about Wade: RJ Wade | Library | University of LeedsThe book Wade mentions, titled How to do Nothing, is by Jenny Odell. Find out more here: How to do nothing: the new guide to refocusing on the real world | Life and style | The Guardian

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.Our guest in this episode is Professor Manuel Barcia. Professor Barcia is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) at the University of Bath, with responsibility for developing and leading the university’s international engagement. He’s also a world-leading scholar in Atlantic and global history. His work focuses on slavery, resistance, and the legacies of colonialism. Over the years he has been a recipient of multiple research fellowships and awards, including a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2014. His global perspective is deeply informed by both the nature of his scholarship and his extensive experience working with institutions and researchers from all over the world.Professor Barcia studied History at undergraduate level at the University of Havana in Cuba, then went on to experience life as an international student in the UK when he took a MA in Comparative History (as a Chevening scholar) and a PhD in History at the University of Essex. After concluding his PhD, he taught at the universities of Essex and Nottingham before going to Leeds in 2006.Manuel is here to tell me about two unfinished books. One is titled, The Cuban Sugar Kings: The Untold Story of a Minor League Baseball Team and the Cuban Revolution. It tells the story of the Cuban Sugar Kings, better known as the Havana Sugar Kings, a team who made history. Not only did they maintain a historical relationship with the Cincinnati Reds, but also won the most important prize in Minor League baseball, the mini-World Series of 1960, and found themselves immersed in the events that led to and followed the triumph of the 1959 Revolution led by Fidel Castro. Despite having conducted interviews with members of the team, and having a rich body of research material ready to go, this is a project Manuel has had to abandon and will never be able to finish. The future of Manuel’s other unfinished book is looking more hopeful. It’s called The First Anglo-Asante War: Colonialism and Abolition in the Gold Coast, 1823-1831. Manuel tells us about this complex (and often gory) period of history, as well as the surprising things he’s found in the archives while researching it.Links of interestAbout Manuel: Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement)  The Havana Sugar Kings: Havana Sugar Kings – Official League If you liked this episode you can:1. Give it a rating or a review:On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact3. Tag us in your social media posts!Instagram: @unfinishingpodBluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.social  

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.Our guest in this episode is Chanel Comis, who possibly has the best job ever. Chanel is the co-founder of Wildlife Sense, a conservation and research organisation that specialises in protecting sea turtles on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia.Chanel talks about how conservation is ongoing, continuous, potentially un-finishable. work. We learn about what Wildlife Sense has achieved so far, what Chanel and her colleagues want for the future, and why sea turtles are always surprising... You can learn more about Wildlife Sense here: Wildlife Sense - Research & Conservation Organization - KefaloniaAbout Chanel: Chanel’s devotion to conservation efforts and scientific research has led her to work with sea turtles since 2010. She's worked with environmental conservation organizations in America and Greece. She earned her B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry with honors from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, NY, while interning at the Bronx Zoo, where she became interested in animal behavior. Chanel graduated from Coastal Carolina University, SC, with a master’s degree in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies. She conducted her research thesis on loggerhead sea turtle hatchling orientation in Kyparissia, Greece. Soon after she co-founded Wildlife Sense where she now enjoys spending her days working with others to protect sea turtles in Kefalonia, where her family is from.If you liked this episode you can:1. Give it a rating or a review:On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact This is the best way to stay up to date!3. Tag us in your social media posts:Instagram: @unfinishingpodBluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.socialTwitter: @TrueBagglerag

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.My guest in this episode is Fuschia Sirois, a Professor in Social and Health Psychology at Durham University, and a former Canada Research Chair in Health and Well-being. For over twenty years, Professor Sirois has researched the causes and consequences of procrastination, so she’s the perfect person to speak to about things not getting finished.We talk about what procrastination is, why we do it, and how we can help ourselves to overcome it. Fuschia gives some brilliant insights into why procrastination is bad for your health, and how it's linked to our emotions.Fuschia’s advice on what to do when you find yourself procrastinating are at the end of the episode, but she's also developed a tool to help stop procrastination. It's called TEMPO and you can find out more via the link below. Links of interestFuschia’s website: https://fuschiasirois.com/2024/11/12/do-you-or-someone-you-know-struggle-with-procrastination/Sign up for the TEMPO tool: https://durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJzXFb6SBwNPI46 If you liked this episode you can:1. Give it a rating or a review:On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact This is the best way to stay up to date!3. Tag us in your social media posts:Instagram: @unfinishingpodBluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.social Twitter: @TrueBagglerag

Micah is an artist, designer, and teacher who’s an expert in punch needle rug hooking - a type of textile craft that can be used not only to create rugs and cushions, but also fashion and art.Micah’s unfinished projects include a stalled attempt to create a piece of punch needle art every day for a hundred days, and several ideas for punch needle fashion that she’s never quite got round to starting. We talk about the struggles that have stopped her progressing that work, as well as the complexities of trying to navigate the worlds of art, fashion, craft, and business all at the same time.If that weren’t enough, Micah has also just released her first book, Punch Needle Fashion, which explains how to make different pieces of wearable art. About MicahMicah Clasper-Torch is a Los Angeles-based artist, designer, and educator helping to lead the modern revival of punch needle rug hooking. With a background in fashion design from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, Micah blends fine art, heritage craft, and wearable design to create one-of-a-kind textile pieces that range from coats and accessories to wall hangings and soft sculpture. In 2019 Micah launched Punch Needle World, an online community, shop and educational platform dedicated to uplifting the craft and its history, and making high quality supplies and training accessible around the world. Her debut book, Punch Needle Fashion, came out in June 2025 from Quadrille –– it brings punch needle into the world of contemporary fashion through 15 original projects and a beautifully photographed exploration of the medium.Links of interestPunch Needle Fashion - https://www.amazon.com/Punch-Needle-Fashion-Accessories-Wearables/dp/1837832218 Micah’s website - www.micahclasper-torch.comMicah’s blog, including information on how to get started in punch needle art - Blog – Punch Needle WorldMicah’s Instagram - @claspertorch & @punchneedle.world

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.My guest in this episode is Tommy Mackay. Tommy is a musician, a comedian, a punk, a satirist, a mature student, a reader of James Joyce, and a writer.He’s the creator of The Daily Reckless, a long-running website known as ‘the paper that’s sick of the news’ – which is jam packed with comic songs.Tommy’s unfinished project is a book called 'The Reckless History Of The 21st Century.' It’s part a history, part memoir, part experimental account of the Daily Reckless.... and of the 21st century. He describes it as ‘an encyclopaedic mish mash reflecting the absurdity of modern times’.Tommy used to play in punk bands in the 70s and 80s, but then resurrected his career to become a popular entertainer on the Scottish comedy circuit. As The Sensational Alex Salmond Gastric Band he has played in comedy clubs across the UK. He was once a regular on SW1 radio in London, as well as appearing in several Edinburgh Fringe shows, including Tartan Special, Best of Scottish Comedian Of The Year and Mark Watson’s ‘The Hotel’. He has also contributed regularly to the Caledonian Mercury and the BBC Comedy Unit’s Rough Cuts. Collaborations include his work with Armando Iannucci, Adam & Joe and journalist Robert McNeil, whose reviews of Scottish MSPs Tommy shaped into a collection of songs about our political leaders (mishaps.htm). He was also half of the short-lived phenomenon that was Whyte & Mackay and the public art agitpoppers The Tam Tam Club.Links of interestRabelais: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francois-RabelaisArmando Iannucci: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0406334/Stuart Lee: STEWART LEE vs THE MAN-WULF : Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever!Hugh MacDiarmid: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/hugh-macdiarmidP.L. Travers: https://www.britannica.com/biography/P-L-TraversWake podcast: WAKE: Cold Reading Finnegans Wake | Podcast on SpotifyIf you liked this episode you can:1. Give it a rating or a review:On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact3. Text it to a friend with this link: with Tommy Mackay. Satire, experiment, and Noel Gallagher. — unfinishing4. Tag us in your social media posts:Instagram: @unfinishingpodBluesky: unfinishing (@unfinishing.bsky.social) — BlueskyTwitter: @TrueBagglerag

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete,abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson. You can find more episodes and get in touch with us here: https://unfinishing.co.uk/. My guest in this episode is Teresa Stenson, a writer and zine-maker based in York. She’s the creator of My 90s Teenage Diaries, an online project in which she revisits her old diaries and shares extracts alongside present-day thoughts and reflections.She’s also a published short story writer, with work placed in several literary prizes and anthologies, including the Guardian’s Summer Reads contest.My 90s Teenage diaries is a work-in-progress, and in this interview with Teresa we talk about the emotional and practical challenges of keeping it going. Teresa also shares two diary extracts during our interview. One is a letter that her teenage-self wrote to her future husband, and the second is a list of flirting tips. Towards the end of this episode, Teresa tells me about her day job as a freelance ghost writer and editor, helping her clients all over the world to tell their own stories.We also talk about the comedy persona Teresa created sometime in the mid noughties – an alter ego called Bella De La Rocher – who by coincidence has published an unfinished novel. Teresa continues, sporadically, to share Bella’s creative works and her inner world online, though sometimes that's just photos of potatoes. Links of interestMore unfinishing episodes: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.My 90s Teenage Diaries: https://teenagediaries.substack.com/Teresa’s zines are here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TeresaWrites?ref=profile_headerTeresa’s Insta: @Teresa.StensonMost of a Novel by Bella De La Rocher: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Novel-Bella-Rocher-ebook/dp/B07XLP7RB6?ref_=ast_author_dpBella’s insta: @BellaDeLaRocher If you liked this episode you can:1.    Give it a rating or a review: On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail(the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.2.    Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact 3.    Share it with a friend!4.    Tag us in your social media posts! Instagram: @unfinishingpodBluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.socialTwitter: @TrueBagglerag

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.  My guest in this episode is Dr Michael Shallcross, who is a writer based in York, UK. Michael's unfinished project is called Inscribing Pandemonium. Inscribing Pandemonium is about why authors introduce devils or devil-like characters into their writing, and what happens when they do. Michael focusses on writers who try to use the devil to help convey a particular angle on social and political change - only to find that the devil isn’t always that easy to control. Originally, Inscribing Pandemonium was going to be a traditional academic book, but it became clear that a book just wasn’t going to contain the subject. Instead, Michael left the book unfinished, and he’s now exploring a far more expansive, accessible, and entertaining online format for his work. Michael has a PhD in English Studies from Durham University, and his first book, Rethinking G.K. Chesterton and Literary Modernism: Parody, Performance, and Popular Culture, was published by Routledge in 2017. Michael can be contacted via ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠. If you liked this episode you can: 1. Give it a rating or a review:  On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section. On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’. 2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact  3. Text it to a friend with this link: https://unfinishing.co.uk/episodes 4. Tag us in your social media posts!  Instagram: @unfinishingpod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unfinishing.bsky.social Twitter: @TrueBagglerag Links of interest About Inscribing Pandemonium: ⁠https://inscribingpandemonium.wordpress.com/the-point/⁠   G.K. Chesterton: https://www.chesterton.org/who-is-this-guy/ Butler Act: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/school/overview/educationact1944/⁠⁠⁠  Kingsley Amis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsley_Amis Lucky Jim: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Jim Evelyn Waugh: https://evelynwaughsociety.org/about-evelyn-waugh/ J.G. Ballard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/. This episode features Kenton Rogers, the director and co founder of Treeconomics. Treeconomics is an organisation that uses the best available scientific techniques to understand and improve how trees enrich our urban and rural spaces. Kenton talks about some of the projects that the team at Treeconomics has completed, and explains why working with trees is always an ongoing, unfinishing endeavour. Kenton is a Chartered Urban Forester and Environmentalist. He’s worked on a range of commercial, urban and community forestry projects in the UK, Europe and North Africa. Kenton was a Trustee of the International Tree Foundation and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has written for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment and the Springer Handbook of Urban Forests, and co-authored the Haynes Workshop Manual for Trees. ‘Thank the Lord (for Sidmouth  Arboretum)’ was recorded by Kelvin Dent and Tess Bisson, musical director of Sid Vale Folk Choir. Links of interest Treeconomics website and resources: https://treeconomics.co.uk/resources/other-resources/  Birmingham Tree People: https://birminghamtreepeople.org.uk/ Sidmouth Arboretum: https://sidmoutharboretum.org.uk/