Episode 59 - Think Different
Nat interviews Jess Thom
Writer, artist and part-time superhero, Jess Thom co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with Tourettes Syndrome.
Jess has written in the mainstream and disability press including The Guardian, The Observer and Disability Now. In 2012 she published Welcome to Biscuit Land – A Year In the Life of Touretteshero, with a foreword by Stephen Fry.
Jess is a regular performer at Glastonbury, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, DaDaFest, Unlimited Festival and Shambala. She made Broadcast from Biscuit Land as part of On Stage: Live from Television Centre for BBC4 in 2015. In 2018 her one-hour film Me, My Mouth and I was broadcast on BBC2 and went on to be screened in the USA, Russia, Chile, Switzerland and Canada.
In 2016 Jess took her award-winning stage show Backstage in Biscuit Land on an extensive national and international tour including the USA and Australia. In the same year she received a Wellcome Engagement Fellowship, became an Arts Council England Change Maker and received an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton.
In 2018 Jess took her stand-up show Stand Up, Sit Down, Roll Over to the USA and Europe, hosted Heroes of the Imagination at the Southbank’s Imagine Festival, and Brewing in Battersea at Battersea Arts Centre. The year ended with Hacks for the Future, a residential theatre project for disabled young creatives in the Highlands in association with National Theatre Scotland.
During the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown, Jess devised and delivered Digital Heroes of the Imagination with the National Youth Theatre and created a Pandemic Postcard for the Harbourfront Theatre in Toronto.
Jess has spoken widely in the media about her life with Tourettes, including on Woman’s Hour, This Morning, and Russell Howard's Good News. She has given a TEDx talk at the Royal Albert Hall and features in the Annalisa is Awkward documentary on BBC Radio4.
Jess is a visual, performing, and participatory artist based in London. She graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2005. She campaigns for disability rights and social justice and is on a mission to change the world ‘one tic at a time.’
Find out more about Jess & Tourette's Hero here:
Website: touretteshero.com
Facebook: @touretteshero
Instagram: @touretteshero
Twitter: @touretteshero
Kids Capers - Emily chats with Kate Foster
ABOUT KATE:
Kate is a children's author writing about friends, family, and dogs. Originally from a small town in the south east of England, she now lives on the Gold Coast in Australia with her husband, three sons, and cavoodle and spoodle.
Find out more about Kate at:
Website: kfosterbooks.com
Twitter: @kfosterauthor
Instagram: @kfosterauthor
ABOUT EMILY:
Emily is a twelve-year-old enthusiastic reader whose current favourite books include Paws by Kate Foster, Tarin of the Mammoths by Jo Sandhu and the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. Emily loves storytelling in all formats, especially the performing arts. She is a keen singer and actor, as well as an accomplished dancer in ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. She is a strong supporter of her author mum who wrote There Is No Magic In This Book. When she’s not reading or dancing, she can be found playing the euphonium, drawing or making animations on her iPad.
Whatcha Readin?
Kate recommends The Boy Who Stepped Through Time by Anna Ciddor, published by Allen and Unwin.
allenandunwin.com/browse/books/childrens/The-Boy-Who-Stepped-Through-Time-Anna-Ciddor-9781760526443
Liz recommends Daisy and Bear and the Very Ordinary Day written by Haylee Hackenberg, illustrated by Bianca Pozzi and published by Red Paper Kite.
red-paper-kite.myshopify.com/products/daisy-and-bear-and-the-very-ordinary-day
A Pair of Pears and an Orange, by Anna McGregor, published by Scribble.
scribblekidsbooks.com/books/a-pair-of-pears-and-an-orange
How to Hug a Cactus written by Emily S Smith, illustrated by Aleksandra Szmidt and published by Larrikin House.
larrikinhouse.com/product/how-to-hug-a-cactus
Elsewhere Girls by Nova Weetman and Emily Gale, published by Text Publishing.
textpublishing.com.au/books/elsewhere-girls
The Underdogs by Kate and Jol Temple, illustrated by Shiloh Gordon & published by Hardie Grant.
Nat recommends GOAL, written by Lydia Williams, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford & published by Allen & Unwin.
The Rock From The Sky by Jon Klassen, published by Walker Books.
walkerbooks.com.au/Books/The-Rock-from-the-Sky-9781406395570
Vote 4 Me by Krys Saclier, illustrated by Cathy Wilcox & published by Wild Dogs Books.
Shout-out
This episode, Nat gives a shout-out to a new 5 part podcast series for kids called Project ARI. It's written by our very own Nat and produced by Nova Podcasts.
It’s a scripted drama podcast about an Artificial Intelligence prototype called ARI who had been taken in by a family and it is up to 10 year old Sammy to teach ARI how to be a real boy. Easier said than done when ARI won’t stop talking to the kitchen appliances. But while ARI is the one supposed to be getting the education, maybe it’s the humans around him that will get the real life lessons.
Perfect for kids aged 8-12, each episode is around 10-15 minutes and will have you laughing and thinking a little more carefully about some of the ridiculous things us humans say and do.
With an amazing cast including Kate Ritchie, Wippa, Gyton Grantley and Cameron Daddo, plus some very cool guest appearances like pro soccer player Kyah Simon and Channel 7 sports presenter Melanie McLaughlin. There's also some incredible kid talent like River Mardesic as ARI and Xion Jarvis as Sammy, who played the lead roles in stage productions of Billy Elliot and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory respectively.
The first episode dropped on Monday and it sounds AMAZING! New episodes will be released each week.
Subscribe via your favourite podcast app:
Competition Details
Today we have an absolutely massive book prize to give away, thanks to Penguin Random House! It includes: The Right Way to Rock by Nat Amoore, Friday Barnes 9: No Escape by RA Spratt, Super Geeks 1: Fish and Chips by James Hart, A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr, The Golden Tower by Belinda Murrell, Ginger Meggs by Tristan Bancks and Jason Chatfield, and What Zola Did on Saturday by Melina Marchetta.
Head to our WIN page and simply tell us where is your favourite thinking spot?
Enter your answer (or ask a parent to) by 5pm Tuesday 20th July to be in the running.
Thanks
To illustrators Ramona Davey and Marianne Khoo for all our wonderful One More Page images.
And to our sound editor Adam Orlowski for his wonderful audio genius - check out his other work at www.aosd.tk
Want to know more?
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Instagram: @onemorepageAU
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Do you have any feedback or suggestions for future episodes? Want to share with us what you’re reading? Email us at onemorepagepodcast@gmail.com or send us a message through our CONTACT page.