Our Stories and Our Selves: Why the narratives we tell shape the way we think about the world

Terry Pratchett's Jingo and Other War Stories: what they tell us about how we talk about conflicts

Jingo by Terry Pratchett is a story about lots of things, one being pointless wars, especially those fought in deserts. For some reason this has been on my mind. This Episode Melody joins me to discuss the book, the parallels with the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T. E. Lawrence and hint at some more modern similarities. We also talk about the stories we tell ourselves about war, battles and people from other cultures, and looking on mighty works with despair. As mentioned in the opening more information about Canada’s budget and the prison library services https://silvacor.medium.com/funding-libraries-is-easy-lets-help-canada-do-it-93cca625cea3 [https://silvacor.medium.com/funding-libraries-is-easy-lets-help-canada-do-it-93cca625cea3] Not much in the way of references for this one other than the books which can be found at all good booksellers or from my bookshop.org [http://bookshop.org] link https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves]. Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com [OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com] or @ourstories.bsky.social [http://ourstories.bsky.social] Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ [https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/] Cover image comes from https://pixabay.com/users/summerstock-79075/ [https://pixabay.com/users/summerstock-79075/]

One Graph Two Stories: how statistics can be misused to tell stories, and what the numbers actually tell us about young peoples mental health

Statistics can be used, and abused to tell all sorts of stories. This episode I dig into some of the ways that statistics can be misrepresented and how the same graph can be used to tell different stories, depending on how someone looks at it. This is especially the case when it comes to young people, mental health and social media use. Source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ [https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/] Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com [OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com] or @ourstories.bsky.social [http://ourstories.bsky.social] Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ [https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/] Support the show by buying a book from: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves] Or back the patreon patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves [http://patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves] Cover image created from https://pixabay.com/users/creapark-6555204 [https://pixabay.com/users/creapark-6555204] and https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis [https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis] The article and graph which prompted me to write this episode: Males, M. (2025, November 25). Today’s “teenage mental health crisis” and social media panic are founded in nostalgic myths [Substack newsletter]. Mike’s Substack. https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis [https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis]

Hogfather and other Christmas Stories: what they tell us about belief, hope and our world

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather is a fun parody of several Christmas stories with a deep message. In this episode I talk to my friend and hog historian Marissa about all the Christmas stories covered in the book. We dig into what these stories, and the ways they are inverted in the Discworld, can tell us about our own world. Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com [OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com] or @ourstories.bsky.social [http://ourstories.bsky.social] the book: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16176/9781473200135] Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ [https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/] Cover image a collage based on work by https://pixabay.com/users/marswallpaper-25561668/ [https://pixabay.com/users/marswallpaper-25561668/] and https://pixabay.com/users/soomrom-21832913 [https://pixabay.com/users/soomrom-21832913] Sleigh bells https://pixabay.com/users/dragon-studio-38165424/ [https://pixabay.com/users/dragon-studio-38165424/] Support the show by buying a book from: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves] Or back the Patreon patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves [http://patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves]

The Psychology Replication Crisis: what it tells us about science, media and our world

The replication crisis in psychology has come about for a range of reasons, including the stories we tell outselves about research and science. In this eposide I dive into these stories, and the overlapping issues combined into the story of a crisis. I also do a deeper dive into self-fullfilling prophecies as after all prophecies are stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, and about each other. Source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ [https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/] Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com [OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com] or @ourstories.bsky.social [http://ourstories.bsky.social] Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ [https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/] Cover image from: https://pixabay.com/users/chenspec-7784448/ [https://pixabay.com/users/chenspec-7784448/] Support the show by buying a book from: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves] Or back the patreon patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves [http://patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves]

Oral Storytelling and Memory

Some oral cultures use their stories to recall all sorts of useful information about their area, plants and history among other things. This episode looks at how we can use stories to help our memories, and how stories told across generations can inform us about our world. Also a bit about the challenges of telling history stories, no matter the medium. Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com [OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com] or @ourstories.bsky.social [http://ourstories.bsky.social] Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ [https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/] Image from https://pixabay.com/users/dieter_g-359839/ [https://pixabay.com/users/dieter_g-359839/] Support the show by buying a book from: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves] Or back the patreon patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves [http://patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves]