Monday 9 March 2015

The Getting Better Acquainted Podcast Turns 200

Getting Better Acquainted is a weekly podcast where we join Dave Pickering on his journey to get better acquainted with the people he knows from his closest friends and family to someone he once met at a party. It’s partly an oral history project, partly an autobiography through conversation, and partly a collection of opinions and experiences recounted by an ever-growing latticework of people. There are lots of shows about famous people; this is a show about the rest of us.
GBA was nominated for a 2012 Radio Production Award, and has aired regularly on Resonance 104.4 FM. It has been recommended by Time Out, was featured on the Radio 5 Live podcast special, Helen and Olly's Required Listening, and has recently been picked out as a podcast to listen to in the guardian.
The #GBA200 season will celebrate 200 episodes of Getting Better Acquainted with a week of daily episodes where the script is switched and the people I know interview me. It's taking place from the 16th-20th of March. The guest hosts are Helen ZaltzmanChella QuintSophia Walker and James McKayJen Adamthwaite and Charley Harrison. During this week we'll learn what Getting Better Acquainted might be like if it was made by someone else, and whether I'm a consistent character or not; we'll explore and celebrate how combinations of people and places create wildly different conversations.

I'll also be re-sharing and discussing the first 200 episodes of GBA on the show's twitter feed, using the hashtag #GBA200. If you want to join in the celebrations by sharing your favourite episodes, you would be very welcome to do so!
WHAT: Getting Better Acquainted 200    (#GBA200)
WHERE: Itunes and other places that podcasts are found
WHEN: Daily from 16th to the 20th of March 2015



Some of the past 200 episodes to listen out for:
#GBA100 gives you a good idea of the first 100 episodes.
Despite not being a show about famous people, GBA has hosted some guests you might know of, including: Michael Fenton StevensKevin AllisonHelen and OllyBec HillBen TargetReni Eddo-LodgeMusa OkwongaThe Focus e15 MothersMike Jackson and Jonathan Blake from Pride, Neil DennyJanet VarneyKarl JamesChris GoodeDarren Hayman and Alice Bell.
But probably the best episodes of the show are with people you won’t have heard of. Examples include: OwainSamRadcliffeToni and Aunty MargaretThe Family Season 2013 is a collection of conversations that look at family, intergenerational relationships and so much more.

About Dave Pickering:

Dave Pickering is currently a freelance storyteller. His drama series Numbers, written for RethinkDaily, was nominated for the Sony Radio Awards in 2009. He runs a live night and podcast called 
Stand Up Tragedy. He co-wrote and produced the Cbeebies Radio Series, Ministry of Stories featuring Jenni Murray. He is a part of the Spark London team, hosting their Hackney true storytelling Open Mic. He has run workshops on podcasting both independently and for Pod Acadamy, and given talks about podcasting (for example this one for In The Dark). He writes and produce music. He writes for the page, the screen, the stage and for himself, and is currently working on his first solo show for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Before he went freelance, he worked for the library service, first as a Library assistant and later as an Early Years Library Outreach Worker, a job he did for 5 years until it was cut in 2014.