Russia, Christianity and sport; Nostalgia interview with Dr Philip Boobbyer

Russion dolls

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Chris Deacy, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, interviews Dr Philip Boobbyer from the School of History.

Philip, a specialist on Russia, has been at the University of Kent since 1995. Philip grew up in Oxford to a sports-loving family and whose parents worked for a Christian charity.

Philip talks about how faith has changed the way he looks at the world, and we move on to talk about how we tend to find later in life the same characteristics in ourselves that we recognised in our earlier selves. The pair also discuss the role of faith, studying Modern Languages at Cambridge, visiting Russia before and after Gorbachev came to power (Philip has a number of fascinating insights on living through this era of Soviet history), having a healthy peer group at university, the relationship between confidence (or the lack of) and expertise, why Philip has a need to retell his stories, why we have an innate need to turn a negative experience into a lesson, how the way one remembers can depend on one’s mood, and whether our sense of vocation expands with age.

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