The world feels broken. But what if this brokenness is something that brings us together, deepens our feelings of care for each other, and allows us to connect with something profound within ourselves? What if brokenness can even be beautiful? This podcast is about opening up the conversation on brokenness and the ways we attend to it through acts of repair. It takes special inspiration from Japanese culture, exploring how the aesthetics of imperfection and fragility of everyday life resonate more broadly. In each episode, we bring together two people who are each grappling with ideas of brokenness & repair in their work, from different perspectives, including anthropology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, art, geography and theology. The world feels broken. But what if this brokenness is something that brings us together, deepens our feelings of care for each other, and allows us to connect with something profound within ourselves? What if brokenness can even be beautiful? This podcast is about opening up the conversation on brokenness and the ways we attend to it through acts of repair. It takes special inspiration from Japanese culture, exploring how the aesthetics of imperfection and fragility of everyday life resonate more broadly. In each episode, we bring together two people who are each grappling with ideas of brokenness & repair in their work, from different perspectives, including anthropology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, art, geography and theology. Dr Jason Danely https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc Dr Jason Danely openaccess@brookes.ac.uk openaccess@brookes.ac.uk en-gb false © Dr Jason Danely episodic Hannah Gould, Anthropologist and Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at University of Melbourne and Beverley Clack, Professor Emerita in the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford Brookes University. Hannah’s research focuses on changing rituals and sentiments around death and the afterlife, particularly among Buddhists in contemporary Japan. Beverley is author of How to be a Failure and Still Live Well: A Philosophy, and has written extensively on sex, death, suffering, Christian theology, psychoanalysis and feminism. Hannah Gould, Anthropologist and Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at University of Melbourne and Beverley Clack, Professor Emerita in the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford Brookes University. Hannah’s research focuses on changing rituals and sentiments around death and the afterlife, particularly among Buddhists in contemporary Japan. Beverley is author of How to be a Failure and Still Live Well: A Philosophy, and has written extensively on sex, death, suffering, Christian theology, psychoanalysis and feminism. Hannah Gould, Beverley Clack, Jason Danely https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/d6d3affa-a628-4c76-ad1e-0bc763cef0d2/1/ false Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:00 GMT 2372 Iza Kavedžija, Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Katie Taylor, Artist and founder of Shifting States. Iza has conducted fieldwork on health, wellbeing, creativity and happiness with older adults and contemporary artists in urban Japan. Katie’s sculptural and installation works address questions of ‘grievability’ for the unidentified dead in sites of mass death like Bosnia and Rwanda, as well as the less visible deaths of lonely individuals in the UK. Iza Kavedžija, Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Katie Taylor, Artist and founder of Shifting States. Iza has conducted fieldwork on health, wellbeing, creativity and happiness with older adults and contemporary artists in urban Japan. Katie’s sculptural and installation works address questions of ‘grievability’ for the unidentified dead in sites of mass death like Bosnia and Rwanda, as well as the less visible deaths of lonely individuals in the UK. Iza Kavedžija, Katie Taylor https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/815ab0a7-7787-4619-8117-b4601d27dfe9/1/ false Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT 2655 Caitlin DeSilvey, Professor of Geography, University of Exeter and Dan O'Brien, Professor of Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University. Caitlin has collaborated with artists, archaeologists, environmental scientists and heritage practitioners on numerous projects, and authored the award-winning Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving. When Dan is not painting abstract landscapes, he writes and teaches on the philosophy of religion, mind, art, and epistemology. Caitlin DeSilvey, Professor of Geography, University of Exeter and Dan O'Brien, Professor of Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University. Caitlin has collaborated with artists, archaeologists, environmental scientists and heritage practitioners on numerous projects, and authored the award-winning Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving. When Dan is not painting abstract landscapes, he writes and teaches on the philosophy of religion, mind, art, and epistemology. Caitlin DeSilvey, Dan O'Brien, Jason Danely https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/753238a2-5d9d-4df3-ad76-49c31892fa88/1/ false Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:00:00 GMT 2554 A conversation between Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, Professor of Japanese Studies and Anthropology at Emory University, and Alistair Ross, Associate Professor of Psychotherapy, Department for Continuing Education, Kellogg College, Oxford. Chikako is an expert on religion, psychotherapy, and empathy, and an award-winning author of The Anatomy of Loneliness. Alistair’s career bridges his training as both a Baptist Minister and a psychotherapist, and he is author of several books including Sigmund Freud: A Reference Guide to his Life and Works. A conversation between Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, Professor of Japanese Studies and Anthropology at Emory University, and Alistair Ross, Associate Professor of Psychotherapy, Department for Continuing Education, Kellogg College, Oxford. Chikako is an expert on religion, psychotherapy, and empathy, and an award-winning author of The Anatomy of Loneliness. Alistair’s career bridges his training as both a Baptist Minister and a psychotherapist, and he is author of several books including Sigmund Freud: A Reference Guide to his Life and Works. Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, Alistair Ross, Jason Danely https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/7ba0c936-fd47-4743-99c3-c2c0930d2e38/1/ false Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:00:00 GMT 2655 A conversation between Rob Simpkins, Social Anthropologist of Japan, and Dinah Roe, Associate Professor of 19th Century English Literature at Oxford Brookes University. Rob’s research interests focus upon the intersection of sound, space, creativity, and the production of self. Dinah is author if The Pre-Raphaelites: from Rossetti to Ruskin, and leads poetry workshops with carers in collaboration with Carers Oxfordshire. A conversation between Rob Simpkins, Social Anthropologist of Japan, and Dinah Roe, Associate Professor of 19th Century English Literature at Oxford Brookes University. Rob’s research interests focus upon the intersection of sound, space, creativity, and the production of self. Dinah is author if The Pre-Raphaelites: from Rossetti to Ruskin, and leads poetry workshops with carers in collaboration with Carers Oxfordshire. Rob Simpkins, Dinah Roe, Jason Danely https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/ejrc https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/c9b1eb8d-b056-47b6-a08e-dd72496fb7d4/1/ false Thu, 29 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT 2774