Cambridge Edition June 2023 - Newsletter

PODCAST PICK

Tune In Cambridge podcaster Catherine Carr tells Nicola Foley about her new series, Where Are You Going? VOX POPULI F ollowing the success of Relatively, a series shining a light on sibling relationships, local podcaster Catherine Carr’s latest offering sees her approaching people in the street WHAT’S YOUR STORY? Catherine

Carr cajoles fascinating accounts out of everyday people

with one simple question: Where Are You Going? What unfolds are a series of fascinating, funny and often moving conversations, with Catherine travelling from Brighton to Brooklyn, mic in hand, to coax strangers into sharing their life stories. Encouraging passers-by to open up is something she has an obvious talent for, but she insists that most people are happy to engage in conversations about big topics – it’s just a case of asking them. “If you can connect quickly enough, people have things they want to say – to put out there,” she asserts. “There’s something in us that makes us want to unburden ourselves – and that’s universal. “I also believe that, especially now, there’s a tender-heartedness to people that wasn’t there before,” she continues. “We’re all a little bit broken down and emotional – and we’re all looking for connection. There’s this rhetoric of us all being divided right now – but a podcast like this, really gently and without that being the intention behind it, can show us how much we all

have in common with each other. And I think that’s what people are responding to: finding that comfort of common ground with themes of love and loss, as well as joy and silliness.” The podcast is already proving a

“It’s a fresh idea in podcasting. It’s so short and unexpected – even to the people making it – we don’t know what it’s going to be about each week, and it’s not rehearsed; people aren’t trying to gain

anything by telling their stories,” she reflects. “They own it, they share it, and we hold it carefully and try to present it as they told it. It’s an honouring of people’s stories. I genuinely find it moving.”

There are variations in the way people open up

hit with both critics and listeners, with the Radio Times describing it as ‘a classic instance of the simplest idea being the best’, and The Spectator calling

it ‘riveting’. Furthermore, it was selected as Apple Podcasts’ editor’s choice during its launch week. For Catherine, the magic ingredient that’s making it resonate with people is its uniqueness.

At under 15 minutes apiece, the episodes are short, but they pack a hefty emotional punch at times. A cheerful man on his way to Soho House excavates the painful memory of watching his colleague get killed in an accident at work, while another turns out to be a cancer patient on his way to hospital. Closer to home, an elderly man in Ely reminisces on farming the Fens in the 50s and meeting the love of his life at a local dance, then recounts her illness and death, voice audibly cracking. “In these fleeting interactions – even though they’re going to be broadcast and people give their consent to that – it’s like depositing something somewhere, with no comeback,” muses Catherine. “It feels safe for people, and it seems to be something they want to do. Depending on where in the world we are, there are variations in the way people open up; with different sorts of manners in different cultures. But once you get through that, you get to the same stuff, which is really interesting.”

Where Are You Going? is available on all major podcast platforms. Read more about the project at whereareyougoing.co.uk

20 JUNE 2023 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK

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