Dreams, problematic academia & Easter in lockdown

The last episode of the Sussex Students' Union podcast with Chris & Niina! In the future, some of new Officers might want to take over... stay tuned!  Niina and Chris discuss their experiences of working as Officers, including how painfully difficult the System is, is achieving change possible, power dynamics and what are Officers supposed to do.  What did we achieve during this year? How was the year in terms of personal development? What are we doing next? What were some lessons learnt from this year? Why did we not re-run?  Also our favourite podcast moments of the year!  Huge thank you to everyone who has listened this year! <3 

Apologies for a weird break in between, Chris had to deal with a window leak!  This week Niina and Chris just chat randomly about things that are going on, including how much oatmilk Niina uses , importance of building coalitions to be effective, understanding opposites, joy from comedy, the Finnish summer, Chris defending his garden from cats, why we haven't had Filip (the president of SU) as a guest on the pod, relationships & individuality, and what we miss in lockdown. 

This week Chris & Niina talk about a range of things!  Including addressing some feedback about our discussion around problematic academia, organising Forums for students to bring issues to university management, reading Sara Ahmed and thinking about happiness, front, back, spaces & places, privilege & access in the education system.  We also discuss Niina's obsession with true crime and what is the affect of it in real life, gender & violence , and conspiracy theories about crop circles and Princess Diana. 

Back with another episode!!  Sorry for the audio being shitty, technology sometimes does not like to work in this situation...  Chris & Niina discuss Easter in lockdown, Niina quizzes Chris on Supernatural things, Chris basically becoming a farmer in his apartment & cooking vegan, doing research during and about the Covid-19, Hot Topic from the UG Education Officer : Academia & Ivory Towers, & dream analysis.... 

We are back with episode number 10 and second episode in one week!  On this one Niina & Chris discuss all of the bizarre things that they have been thinking about during this time... Topics include : effects of the coronavirus to drug dealing, does the virus actually discriminate, freedoms / liberties and the government control, Chris' Hippie Theory (Harding, 2020), different personalities during staying home and connected, importance of being careful with misinformation & fake news and how it can affect your mental health.  Niina does a Good Tarot - card reading for Chris! We find out what is going to happen with Chris' plans to go to Palestine in August... 

First episode remotely! (sorry about the sound not being that great)  Hope everyone is doing okay and staying safe and healthy <3  Chris & Niina discuss nice things going on during this stressful times, including community groups, free online books, games, documentaries to watch, taking care of birds, weird & happy news stories.  And go on weird tangents about crossings, Supernatural, musicians conspiracy theories, stalking neighbours and what food to order on the weekend?? 

With everything that is going on, we decided to do a positive podcast!  Niina and Chris talk about positive things that have been going on their lives, some positive news and Chris learns some Finnish! (finally)  Links to things mentioned :  - Cheer on Netflix  - Great books that Niina has read recently : Reni Eddo-Lodge : Why am I no longer talking to white people about race , Nikesh Shukla ed. - The Good Immigrant, Roxane Gay - Bad Feminist, and Finnish one Minja Koskela - Ennen Kaikkea Feministi (if anyone wants to start learning some Finnish..) - Chris' book : Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing  - The Mushroom at the end of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins  Positive news :  - Sculptures returned to Afghanistan - The Kashmiri Woman Who Spent Her Life's Savings on Stocking Sanitary Pads in Public Washrooms - These elephants travel 12 hours to mourn human who rescued them - Schools in England to offer free sanitary products - Reduced pollution due to COVID-19 in China  - European Space Agency to launch world’s first space clean-up - Powering forward: how energy in the UK has transformed in a decade - New award celebrates acts of kindness to people and the planet Finnish words for people who want to learn :  - yliopisto (university)  - ylioppilaskirjoitukset (basically means A-levels)  - hyvää yötä (good night) Folklore gods :  - Ukko (the boss of the gods, god of weather and thunderstorm) - Ahti (god of water, good one, helps fishermen)  - Näkki (in water as well, but malicious, if spelled Nakki, means hot dog)

This week me and Chris discuss racism relating to the coronavirus, ongoing UCU strike action, BAME ambassadors and the Students' Union block grant!  What would you like for us to discuss in the next episode? Any people you would like us to have on the podcast? Let us know on social media or email us at [email protected] / [email protected] ! 

We are back with another episode!  Students' Union Spring Elections are happening again! We have new exciting roles this year, including Diversity, Access and Participation and International Students' Officer, check out all the roles and information here !  Nominations close THURSDAY 20th FEB 5 PM (you only have to choose a role and sign up by then, manifesto deadline is the 9th of March)  We have a guest appearance from Becky, who is currently doing her second term in office as the Activities Officer! We are discussing our own experiences of campaigning and elections, and why to run in the first place. We forgot to mention the full-time Officer is a PAID position!  Next episode we will discuss coronavirus and all things strike related, stay tuned! Big thanks to URF and Hazel for recording and editing for us! 

What has been going on with this term ? Highlights ? What to expect from next term ?  Link to Limelight website and how to submit : https://limelightjournal.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR0DkKUGfwA_S6N3jYlvA3q7bjSkrAs2tH1xUrsl6RNGblzEBkq0gTg4u3g