112. Jo - swimmer

This chat with @drewindianas is about a difficult upbringing, finding real family in the Paras, working with Vivienne Westwood, partying with Malcolm McLaren, losing two wives, wearing good threads, and winning love through pineapples. "At my age, if you haven't got the stories that represented the world at the time, what the f*ck were you doing?... there was an evening we lost 22 men in one night... dead, gone." (pic: EVM) #podcast #eastlondon #fashion #streetart

This chat with @lukeslines is about body art, the importance of lifelong friends, good times on the dance floor, kicking someone off a train, and moving from Plymouth to London. "My family... has been this tight bubble, and we've always been brought up to be whoever we've wanted to be... and it's the same with being around such a small tight friendship group, we've all grown together, so we've always bigged each other up, we've always helped each other, I think that's why I'm so resilient". #podcast #tattoo #plymouth #eastlondon

On a Brick Lane corner, sitting by a collection of paintings, we talk about selling art, being a market trader as a student teacher, recording as a backing singer, and easing back on work. "I used to go down to Deptford Market on a Saturday evening, pick up what the traders had left and then sell it here on Sunday mornings... I had an old tennis request from the 1950s, roller skates, you name it." #otherlivesareavailable #eastlondon #podcast #bricklane

Wheeling slowly through the park backwards we talk about the unknown of the everyday, connections with crows, understanding pain, and travelling with his father through death. "When he died it was like his spirit went through me, went into every single molecule of my being, and it was like total enlightenment, indescribable, it was like pure love". #otherlivesareavailable #eastlondon #podcast #eds

This chat takes in Tolstoy, separating past culture from present , being a Latvian in London, striving to learn more, and becoming a leader. "It's an ambition of everyone who moves from a small town life to a big city life, it's an ambition to always want more and to always want to be better, to be seen. Because if you are not seen, you are drowning". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #latvia

This walk 'n talk with two dogs is about physically powering through until you can't, being lonely in the dark times, finding community, clearing the pipes of a lifetime of stuff, being open to others, and why London is for everyone. "It's so interesting hearing people's stories, and it's actually food for the soul, it doesn't have to be anything major... and if people have the time to talk to you then they're decent people." #otherlivesareavailable #eastlondon #podcast #rescuedog (photo: @akmentolga)

This chat on a boat is about losing a bit of your toilet, therapy to deal with a move to land, using a hand drill to power a short voyage, handing on a business to your daughter, and living in the public eye. "If I want to go outside I'm there in a towpath thoroughfare, and it gets very busy, and I know a lot of people and everyone says hello as they come by... even if you don't know them, they want to chat about your boat." #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #boatlife

This is a chat about getting old, stopping the things you like doing, helping your granddaughter, living with cancer, running till you're 84, and surviving a stroke. "Next thing I remember I was on the floor... but I was lucky I could crawl, if the bathroom door had been shut I wouldn't have got out of there... and I thought 'what's happening?'". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #85

This chat is all about being a new dad, as Joe sits on a park bench with his 10 day old son on his chest. The craziness of becoming a parent, the feelings, the reality, the hopes, the massive change it brings. "There's nothing more transfixing than watching his little face as he sleeps". #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #newborn

In a heatwave on the dusty grass, we chat about up north, community, imperfection, and the value of artists. "Sometimes my mind’s too busy and I can't really convey what I want to... so sometimes I just say 'not today, I'll try again tomorrow', coz there's no point in pushing through to point where I'm just going to get more frustrated that I can't do it the way I want to." #otherlivesareavailable #podcast #eastlondon #calligraphy