Methodological reflections on radio and podcast listenership in political geography

This paper makes a novel intervention in political geography by offering methodological reflections on contemporary radio and podcast listenership. It begins from the starting point that radio and podcasts are important and popular sites of geographical knowledge production with the power to shape how audiences understand, imagine and engage in the world. The paper heeds calls in critical and popular geopolitics to move away from the site of representation towards audience reception and presents the ‘playlist‐diary’ method as an innovative way of exploring listener responses to BBC radio journalism on migration. This method is then used as a springboard to think more broadly about everyday encounters with radio and podcasts. It argues that situating audience engagements within specific spatialities and temporalities, and considering the digital technologies and platforms though which audio is discovered, consumed and circulated, is critical to developing a nuanced understanding of radio and podcast geopolitics. This discussion reflects growing interest in materialities, networks and assemblages of popular geopolitics and points to a blurring of visual and aural media. Overall, the paper makes the case for amplifying methodologies of listening in political geography and aims to be a catalyst to future scholarship on radio and podcasts

Radio and the anti-geopolitical ear: imaginative geographies of a Syrian family's migration to Europe on BBC Radio 4

This paper examines imaginative geographies of forced migration and refugee settlement in a BBC radio series that follows and gives voice to a Syrian family as they journey to Europe. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2015 and 2017, the episodes have since been repackaged as a podcast on BBC Sounds. The paper answers Horton’s (2019) call for greater engagement with media and popular culture by foregrounding radio as an understudied medium with the capacity to shape listeners’ geographical imaginations. It explores how this series, presented by Manveen Rana, broke new ground through its journalistic-ethnographic form, eyewitness reporting and amplification of refugee voices, and analyses how two imaginative geographies of journey and settlement are constructed through sounds and the spoken word. The paper concludes by theorising radio as a slow medium and demonstrating how Rana’s journalism pushes beyond Toal’s (1996, p. 171) ‘anti-geopolitical eye’ to evidence an anti-geopolitical ear: that is to say, Rana encourages a way of listening to Europe’s migration ‘crisis’ that disrupts discursive framings of refugees as ‘victims’ or ‘threats’ by recasting the family as tangible and relatable human beings. This finding has significant implications for media reporting on migration and scholarship on journalistic storytelling and the construction of geographical imaginations

Learning or leaving? An international qualitative study of factors affecting the resilience of female family doctors

Background: Many countries have insufficient numbers of family doctors, and more females than males leave the workforce at a younger age or have difficulty sustaining careers. Understanding the differing attitudes, pressures, and perceptions between genders toward their medical occupation is important to minimise workforce attrition. Aim: To explore factors influencing the resilience of female family doctors during lifecycle transitions. Design & setting: International qualitative study with female family doctors from all world regions. Method: Twenty semi-structured online Skype interviews, followed by three focus groups to develop recommendations. Data were transcribed and analysed using applied framework analysis. Results: Interview participants described a complex interface between competing demands, expectations of their gender, and internalised expectations of themselves. Systemic barriers, such as lack of flexible working, excessive workload, and the cumulative impacts of unrealistic expectations impaired the ability to fully contribute in the workplace. At the individual level, resilience related to: the ability to make choices; previous experiences that had encouraged self-confidence; effective engagement to obtain support; and the ability to handle negative experiences. External support, such as strong personal networks, and an adaptive work setting and organisation or system maximised interviewees’ professional contributions. Conclusion: On an international scale, female family doctors experience similar pressures from competing demands during lifecycle transitions; some of which relate to expectations of the female's ’role’ in society, particularly around the additional personal pressures of caring commitments. Such situations could be predicted, planned for, and mitigated with explicit support mechanisms and availability of workplace choices. Healthcare organisations and systems around the world should recognise this need and implement recommendations to help reduce workforce losses. These findings are likely to be of interest to all health professional staff of any gender

Radio geopolitics: imaginative geographies of Europe's migration ‘crisis’ on BBC Radio 4

Geographers have examined the history, materiality, and geopolitics of radio but there has been relatively little interest in contemporary radio broadcasting and its capacity to shape geographical imaginations. This is surprising given the ubiquity and popularity of radio, and its enduring role in communicating global news and current affairs to mass audiences. This article reflects on the power of media to represent people and places, and regulate imagined communities of identity and belonging by exploring how BBC Radio 4 constructs imaginative geographies of forced migration to, and refugee settlement in, Europe between January 2014 and March 2019. It joins recent efforts in geography to engage in methodologies of listening through a thematic analysis of 172 radio broadcasts that reveals two contrasting imaginative geographies of migration: first, a geopolitical imaginary of ‘crisis’, exemplified in news broadcasts, that reports from a top-down, state-centric perspective and is articulated by ‘expert’ voices, principally politicians; and second, a place-based, immersive, multi-sensory imaginary, exemplified in ‘feature’ programmes, that explores personal stories and experiences ‘on the ground’, and is articulated by multiple voices, most notably refugees. Radio 4 emerges as a diverse and contradictory space of journalistic storytelling which invites multiple ways of listening to, understanding, and imagining people on the move. By focusing on Radio 4 and the audible story of Europe's migration ‘crisis’, the article demonstrates how imaginative geographies are constructed through sounds and the spoken word, and evidences radio's imaginative, discursive, and sonic power

Recovery as a troublesome concept: A phenomenographic study of mental health nursing students’ learning experiences

The notion of recovery is central to mental health nursing practice, yet little is known about the ways in which nursing students understand it. This study explores the variation in how recovery is experienced by nursing students and the troublesome nature of their learning journeys as they engage with the concept. Contemporary understanding of recovery has moved beyond the idea of ‘cure’ and is concerned with the person building a meaningful and satisfying life. This challenges the traditional thinking and practices of mental health professionals. There is evidence to suggest that in some areas nurses still rely on out-dated authoritative models of care; however, there is little literature exploring how the concept is understood by nursing students. As today’s student nurses represent the future nursing workforce, it is important that their educational experiences support the knowledge development required to embrace this contemporary practice. Phenomenography and the threshold concept framework provide the research design. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 pre-registration students at one UK University. Following phenomenographic analysis four qualitatively distinct categories of description, or ways of understanding recovery, were identified; Recovery as Clinical Improvement, Recovery as Making Progress, Recovery as Managing to Live Well, and Recovery as Learning to Live Differently. The threshold concept framework was utilised in considering the variation in how students’ progress (or otherwise) in their understanding of recovery in considering the obstacles to learning that students encounter. Four categories were identified; Troublesome Knowledge, Troublesome Learning Environments, Troublesome Practice, and Troublesome Relationships. Understanding the dimensions of variation in student understanding and the obstacles to learning they might face provides important insights for future teaching. Findings here identify recovery as posing particular challenges for students requiring educators to consider a range of strategies to support transformational learning

De cemitério de ideias a embrião de sementes : uma experiência sobre a mobilização social em Fernando de Noronha

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Excelência em Turismo, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Turismo, 2013.A Ilha pernambucana de Fernando de Noronha (FN), um dos principais destinos turísticos do Brasil, está a beira de um colapso socioambiental, segundo o Estudo de Capacidade de Suporte (ECS) e Indicadores de Sustentabilidade de Fernando de Noronha (FN), feito pelo Ministério do Meio Ambiente (MMA), em 2009. Noronha opera com uma sobrecarga de cerca de 2000 pessoas e se desenvolve privilegiando o crescimento do turismo e a preservação da natureza em detrimento da qualidade de vida dos moradores. Este quadro de dilaceramento socioambiental pode ser revertido se a comunidade, administração e turistas mudarem seus padrões de comportamento e se mobilizarem para transformar o destino de Noronha. Tendo como inspiração e base o programa Noronha +20 (2011), um projeto construído na Ilha de forma participativa com o objetivo de promover a gestão socioambiental sustentável de FN, esta pesquisa buscou analisar como seria possível mobilizar a comunidade a participar dos processos decisórios na administração insular. Ao pesquisar o histórico de mobilização na Ilha, uma bela história veio à tona: o movimento “SOS Noronha”, quando toda a comunidade lutou contra a anexação da Ilha a Pernambuco em 1988. Desde então, a comunidade está desunida, perdeu a esperança e vontade de batalhar pelo bem comum e pouco se envolve nos projetos e nas decisões que estão relacionadas diretamente ao seu futuro. Como resgatar esse sentimento que uniu a Ilha inteira em 1988 e usar o aprendizado desse movimento para mobilizar os jovens, única geração ainda capaz de iniciar esse necessário processo de transformação socioambiental? Para buscar essa resposta, pesquisei ferramentas de comunicação para mobilizar os atores envolvidos e produzi com os alunos do ensino fundamental e médio da Escola Arquipélago, única escola da Ilha, um documentário sobre a mobilização de 1988. Mobilizar trabalhando o afeto, a cidadania e a auto-estima são algumas descobertas dessa experiência compartilhada com cerca de 20 jovens noronhenses. A transmissão de saberes entre as gerações e o resgate histórico obtidos com essa pesquisa podem contribuir para propor estratégias visando um planejamento participativo voltado ao desenvolvimento sustentável de Noronha, cenário onde seria possível pensar na retomada do crescimento populacional, no turismo sustentável e, acima de tudo, na melhoria da qualidade de vida dos filhos da Ilha. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTFernando de Noronha, an island located neartheast coast of Brazil, in the state of Pernambuco -Fernando de Noronha (FN); one of Brazil’s main touristic spots is at the edge of socio environmental collapse, according by the Study of Support Capacity (or Estudo de Capacidade de Suporte (ECS), in Portuguese) and local indicators of sustainability, done by the Ministry of Natural Environment, in 2009. Noronha operates with an overflow of about 2000 people and develops itself favoring the growth of tourism and the conservation of nature in detriment of the local habitant’s quality of life. This situation of socio environmental shattering could be reverted if the community, local administration and tourists changed their behavior patterns and mobilized themselves to change Noronha’s destiny. Having as an inspiration and ground base the program Noronha +20 (2011)- one of the first projects built on the island in a participative way and with the goal of promoting a sustainable socio environmental management in FN, this research analyzed how it would be possible to mobilize the community for the participation in the decisive processes of the insular administration. While searching the mobilization history of the island, a handy story came to surface: the “SOS Noronha” movement. A movement when the whole community fought in vain against the island’s annexation to the state of Pernambuco, in 1988. Since then, the community has been split, lost all hope and will of battling for the common good and has little involvement in projects and decisions that are directly related to their future. How to redeem this feeling that united the whole island in 1988 and use the lessons learned from this movement to gather the young – only generation still capable of starting the necessary processes of socio environmental transformation? To find this answer, I produced, together with the Escola Arquipélago students, a documentary about the 1988’s mobilization. To mobilize working with affection, citizenship and self-esteem are some of the discoveries of this experience shared with about 20 young Noronhenses (people from FN). The passing on of knowledge between generations and the historical rescue attained with this research could contribute to suggest strategies seeking a participative planning, aimed at the sustainable development of Noronha, a scenario where it would be possible to think about the resumption of the population’s growth, sustainable tourism, and, above all, the improvement of the island’s quality of life

Text Messages as a Reminder Aid and Educational Tool in Adults and Adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis: A Pilot Study

Optimal management of atopic dermatitis (AD) requires patients to adhere to self-care behaviors. Technologies, such as cell phones, have been widely adopted in the USA and have potential to reinforce positive health behaviors. We conducted a pilot study with 25 adolescents and adults age 14 years and older [mean 30.5 yrs, SD 13.4] with AD. Daily text messages (TMs) that provided medication reminders and AD education were sent for six weeks to participants. Our goals were to (1) measure changes in pre- and posttest scores in treatment adherence, self-care behaviors, disease severity, and quality of life and (2) assess the usability and satisfaction of the TM system. Significant improvements in treatment adherence, self-care behaviors, skin severity, and quality of life (P ≤ .001, .002, <.001, and .014, resp.) were noted postintervention. User feedback on the TM system was positive with 88% and 92% of participants reporting that the reminder TMs and educational TMs were helpful, respectively. In conclusion, study participants were receptive to using TMs as a reminder aid and educational tool. The positive trends observed are promising and lay the ground work for further studies needed to elucidate the full potential of this simple and cost-effective intervention

Investigating the role of Wnt/Planar cell polarity (PCP) in Neuromesodermal Progenitors (NMPs)

Neuromesodermal progenitors (NMPs) are bipotent progenitors, located at the caudal end of the embryo and are essential for axis formation. These stem cell-like progenitors possess the ability to self-renew and differentiate to both mesodermal and neural lineages, such as skeletal muscle and spinal cord derivatives. These progenitors arise at E8.5 and are localised in the caudal lateral epiblast (CLE), a posterior region of the embryo near the primitive streak. Later in development, they reside in the tail bud until cessation of axial elongation at E13.5. Throughout these stages NMPs are characteristically marked by co-expression of T(Bra) (Brachyury) and Sox2. This characteristic is also present in in vitro NMPs, which can be derived from Epiblast Stem Cells (EpiSCs) through treatment with Wnt/β-catenin signalling agonists and Fgf2, which simulates their in vivo environment. Protein and mRNA profiling of NMPs and mutant phenotypes in vivo supports the hypothesis that a non-canonical Wnt pathway, the Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity pathway (PCP) could be involved in NMP fate decision and/or maintenance. This thesis focuses on understanding more about the role of PCP by aiming to identify the spatio-temporal profile of Wnt/PCP pathway components in NMP regions during axial elongation, as well as determining its role in NMP behaviour through manipulation of this pathway via in vivo and in vitro assays Employing in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry techniques, key Wnt/PCP components, including Pk1, Vangl2 and Ptk7, were confirmed to be present in in vivo and in vitro NMPs, thus, providing strong evidence that Wnt/PCP may be involved regulating NMP behaviour. Disruption of Wnt/PCP signalling through overexpression of Wnt/PCP components was tested in refined in vivo and in vitro assays. Overexpression of Vangl2 and Ptk7, but not Pk1 in NMPs regions in vivo resulted in loss of contribution to neural lineages, as well as lower contribution to NMP regions themselves. Similarly, Wnt/PCP components were disrupted in vitro through generation of dox-inducible overexpression cells lines for Wnt/PCP components. These lines were used to generate NMPs from an optimised novel alternative source Epiblast-Like Cells (EpiLCs), however no clear affect to lineage was observed. Overall this work has successfully advanced our knowledge of Wnt/PCP mediated control of NMP differentiation and maintenance, and provided a finer grained description of the relationships between them