The Pandemic Podcast: Student Life During COVID-19

George Marlin ON: putting on a musical theatre show during the pandemic

Welcome back to the Pandemic Podcast! This week, our interviewer Emilie Clark and George Marlin discuss what it is like to put on a musical theatre show during a pandemic and the difficulties that accompany it.  George is directing a musical showcase called 'Songs For a New Normal’ and provides details on how he has done so despite the obvious limitations of social distancing.  Please note that this episode was filmed at the end of January, so some topics that are discussed may seem a little outdated given how rules and guidelines are constantly changing. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Joe O’Connor & Ollie MacKenzie ON: their three lockdown experiences

Welcome back to the Pandemic Podcast!  In this week’s episode, Hannah Giraudeau is talking to two of her good friends from home (and fellow Leeds students), Ollie and Joe.  The pair, who are also the hosts of the radio show, “Everything’s Fucked” at LSR, candidly discuss university, their own lockdown experiences, how the pandemic affected home life, and what they personally did to keep busy. Really, it’s just a bit of a chat between mates, but hopefully one which people find that they can relate to!  Please bear in mind that this episode was filmed back in February of 2021, so some of the topic themes may be a bit less relevant, what with everything constantly changing.  We hope you enjoy the episode! (Hannah would also like to formally apologise to Joe and Ollie for its lateness.)

Julia Brookes ON: being a key worker during the pandemic

Welcome back to the Pandemic Podcast! In this episode, Kinga Kaluszynska interviews Julia Brookes, both from the University of Leeds. They talk through Julia’s experience as a front-line worker as a delivery driver during the first lockdown, and the contrast in her experience as a student in first year. We examine the frustration felt by many students as the blame for rising COVID-19 cases was placed on them, despite the fact many students were essentially locked into their university accommodation with little to no contact to the outside world. We also touch on topics of accommodation security, loneliness and general hardships of doing first year of university in a pandemic, with many laughs along the way. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Caroline Starkey ON: the pandemic's impact on educators

Hello again, everyone! In this week's episode we are talking to Dr. Caroline Starkey, an academic at the University of Leeds. Caroline is the head of the Liberal Arts course, as well as being a lecturer, personal tutor and academic writer. In this episode, we talk about how COVID-19 has affected Caroline as an educator and what the challenges and benefits have been with switching to an online learning environment. We also discuss mental health and what we are looking forward to in life after the pandemic. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Alex Hogg ON: Lockdown of March 2020

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Pandemic Podcast! We hope you’re well and are enjoying the lighter evenings. (Honestly it makes all the difference- especially in lockdown!) For today's episode we have: Ellen Gooch, a first year Liberal Arts student at the University of Leeds, is interviewing Alex Hogg, a second year English student at the University of Nottingham. This was recorded in November 2020. They discuss the effects of the first UK lockdown in March 2020, and Alex talks about how it impacted her personal well-being and what ways the university adapted and provided support.