Head of Department of Religious Studies, Dr Chris Deacy, has recently interviewed Dr Aled Thomas, University of Wolverhampton, for his latest Nostalgia Interviews podcast episode.
Dr Aled Thomas is a specialist in Free Zone Scientology, having done a PhD in this area with the Open University. In this podcast episode, Aled talks about authentic vs. heretical Scientology and why it is important for a researcher to be in control of their own work. Aled also shares how Queen is in his musical DNA, why Sparks are everything that pop music should be (and how he had one of their album logos tattooed on his arm), the thrill of buying vinyl in the record shop, why he would love to make a band sound great, how everyone has a view on religion, and why he is a forward looking person.
Dr Chris Deacy says, “This is the podcast which accompanies the work I am doing on Nostalgia at the University of Kent. We often know what our colleagues are researching and teaching, but we don’t always know what it is that inspires those interests and passions.
What is it that shapes us? What propelled us into persevering with our studies and then to want to impart that knowledge and enthusiasm to subsequent generations of students? How did we end up where we are – not just the books we read and the ones we wanted to write ourselves, but what influenced us in terms of the music, the films, the sporting events and the relationships and family members that brought us to where we are now? These interviews are unscripted and take the form of a free-flowing conversation with a range of guests, both within and outside of academia, and are inspired by the great radio interviews I grew up listening to when I was in my teens and early twenties.
I try to upload a new interview every two weeks. I have been carrying out this podcast series for nearly three years, and am approaching edition number 100.”
You can listen to the latest episode and all of Dr Chris Deacy’s past episodes via Audioboom.