Explore every episode of the podcast Serious Leisure

In this intriguing episode Rachel O’Connor, Associate Professor in Legal Education, Academic Lead for Personal Tutoring, University of Leeds  and Music Director, Patrick Steed, take us into the welcoming, supportive communities of musical theatre and CrossFit, providing safe yet stretching spaces to find and express our authentic selves and do that difficult thing: make new friends as adults. 

Rachael describes how the CrossFit community switched exercise from a lonely punishment to an exhilarating rush, whilst Patrick explains how singing songs from musicals together can provide a joyful escape but also a safe and empowering place to dig into difficult emotions. Understand more about the freedom of not having to be the best, but instead allowing leisure to be a place to follow your heart. 

Produced at UWE Bristol.   

In this soothing episode Paul Kleiman, Senior Consultant at Ciel Associates, explains how he found a slower pace and a feeling of space and calm through narrowboating. We hear how Paul and his partner renovated a narrowboat, remarkably without previous expertise, allowing the gently-paced restoration process to bring calm, focus and a deepening enjoyment of the simpler things. We explore the importance of small rituals to mark out sacred time for ourselves and help us to focus wholeheartedly on slower moments that can refresh and restore us.  

Trigger warning: Please note that this episode makes reference to child loss.  

Produced at UWE Bristol. 

In this episode, Professor Helen King, Director of Learning Innovation, Development & Skills, Bath Spa University and Richard Bale, Senior Teaching Fellow in Educational Development at Imperial College, share their experiences of diving into new hobbies. From strumming the banjo and playing the violin to lifting weights and hitting the trails, they discuss the joy of being a novice. Learn how to let go of aspirations and self-judgement and simply relish the process of learning something new. Tune in to discover the freedom of being average and the pure enjoyment of the journey.

In this episode, Russell Brookes, Online Futures Manager at Plymouth University, and Jacqueline Barker, Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Operations Management at UWE Bristol, share their delightful cycling adventures. They show how cycling can be a peaceful solo ride or a lively group outing, perfect for everyone from university students to young parents and those navigating menopause. Discover how cycling is not just good for the soul but also a great way to enjoy cakes, coffee shops, and baked treats. Plus, listen for a clever hack to conquer steep hills on your bike! This episode features insights from our guest expert, Tamara Getter, Head of Sport Experience at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). Enjoy the ride! 

Produced at UWE Bristol.   

Trigger warning: Please note that this episode contains references to themes of suicide, fertility issues, and bereavement which some individuals may find distressing.  

The third and final part of An Audience with the Founder of Serious Leisure.

What are the factors that affect our leisure choices? How can we discover new activities for ourselves? In this episode the founder of the Serious Leisure Perspective Professor Robert Stebbins talks through the impact of geography, culture, finance and personal affinity on how we engage with leisure and how we can make it easier to try new things and expand our leisure worlds.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

A 60 second taster of the Serious Leisure podcast to give you a flavour of what we discuss with our fascinating guests.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

This is the second part of An Audience with the Founder of Serious Leisure.

Ever hit a wall with your favourite leisure activity? We can be surprisingly resilient and persistent with our favourite leisure activities. In this episode the founder of the Serious Leisure Perspective Professor Robert Stebbins talks us through the blurry lines between work and leisure, barriers to our leisure and the challenging periods where we might give up. We examine why we keep going and how can we use that resilience to help us balance work and leisure time in our everyday lives. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

Part 1 of 'An Audience with the Founder of Serious Leisure'.

Wondering where the term ‘Serious Leisure’ comes from? What do we mean by amateur or hobbyist and how might these labels help us understand leisure better? In this fascinating episode with the founder of the serious leisure perspective, Professor Robert Stebbins, we explore the origins of his serious leisure perspective concepts starting with elusive concept of amateurism. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

Get to know the hosts of the Serious Leisure podcast in this entertaining reflection on our past episodes, highlighting the funniest and most touching moments so far, whilst explaining a bit more about what Serious Leisure means and why it matters for all of us. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

This episode features the three podcast hosts: Dr Petia Petrova (Associate Director of Academic Practice at UWE Bristol), Kat Branch (Leader of UWE Bristol’s Centre for Music) and Dr Sam Elkington (the co-author of ‘The Serious Leisure Perspective’, Teesside University). We introduce our live audience to the origins of the podcast and the concept of Serious Leisure. We discuss the importance of community and how making time for leisure significantly affects our sense of identity and ability to recharge. We explore in particular the significance of separation between private and work spaces. Finally, we reflect on how our leisure pursuits have been impacted by the Covid pandemic, how we have managed to sustain and grow some but reluctantly given up others.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this episode two people with very serious jobs explain the importance of playfulness and a space to be silly in maintaining personal and professional wellbeing.  Judith Ritchie, Faculty Director for Quality Enhancement and Standards, and Dr Petia Petrova, Associate Director of Academic Practice are both based at UWE Bristol. They discuss the joy and freedom of being allowed to be funny and mischievous as part of their leisure activities! This episode is recorded with a live audience.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

Social Prescribing projects are now being used across the UK to respond innovatively and holistically to our mental health needs through activities typically associated with leisure. We speak to the social prescribing programme co-ordinator at UWE Bristol, Marie Pring, along with Senior Lecturers in Psychology Dr Liz Jenkinson and Dr Nicola Holt who also run a crafting group as part of the UWE social prescribing programme 'Living Well'. They share their personal and professional stories of how leisure activities can directly impact mental health.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this episode we hear from Dr Richard Waller, Associate Professor of the Sociology of Education, and Jon Dovey, Professor of Screen Media at UWE Bristol. They talk to us about their mutual love of fly fishing. Through our guests' intriguing, lyrical stories we enter the hidden world of a fascinating, niche leisure activity whilst hearing familiar tales of the restoration gained from escaping to nature and the joy of losing yourself in the moment.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

What happens when your leisure time involves stubborn personalities (horses!), stormy weather and midnight births (sheep!)? In this episode we hear from UWE Bristol Student Caseworker Amanda Headley-White and Senior Lecturer Dr Alison Miles who share moving stories about the challenges and triumphs of spending time away from work with those with four legs.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

After a hiatus we return with Season 2 of the podcast. We start with a live episode recorded during the UWE Bristol Festival of Learning, featuring lively discussions with Dr Fiona Jordan, Associate Dean – Strategic Partnerships, and the audience about why the leisure conversation is central to our collective wellbeing. Plus we share strategies for protecting leisure time working in Higher Education. This is a great place to start if you’ve never listened to the podcast before and will recap the concept of Serious Leisure and our mission to help each other towards a healthy, sustainable work-life balance.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In Episode 8 ‘Bringing Things to Life’ we meet Dr Matt Wood (Lecturer in Social Psychology at UWE Bristol) who alongside his lecturing career is also a puppeteer. We delve into the wonder and magic of the art of bringing inanimate objects to life and the intense focus and skill of this rare art form. Matt also helps us understand the tensions around having a side career that crosses into leisure and how ensuing personal and professional identities can be negotiated to everyone’s benefit.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this episode we hear from Justin Iriajen about the euphoria and relaxation of spending time on the decks. Whether connecting with a crowd or recharging alone, Justin explains why this unique art form is an essential part of his work/life balance. Not sure how to pronounce the title of this episode? It’s DJ -ing like ‘chick-sent-me-high’, the name of Hungarian-American psychologist who developed the concept of ‘flow’ – the blissful state of being totally absorbed in an activity where worries, stress and even the passing of time fade to the background. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In Episode 9 ‘Ultra Leisure’, Teesside University’s Sharon Gayter (Lecturer at Teesside University Business School), and UWE Bristol’s Jaroslaw Turif (Senior Lecturer - Learning Disabilities Nursing) introduce us to the elite world of ultra-running where races last for days and cross some of the world’s most hostile landscapes. Find out what draws people to these extreme sports, how can they be navigated alongside working life and what are the unique gains that make such a punishing leisure activity so addictive. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

How did two Marketing and Management experts end up as jazz musicians on the side? In this unusual episode we hear how Noel Dennis kept up a lifelong passion for jazz trumpet together with his academic career in marketing and management, importing improvisation skills from music into management training, whilst also running a jazz band. Tim Hughes shares how the journey into retirement has made more space for his lifelong love for blues guitar to blossom, reminding us that it’s never too late to spend more time doing what we love.

Keep listening for a jazz recital by each guest.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

‘Do what makes you happy – possibility or pipe dream?’ We investigate the elusive reality of combining work and leisure interests into a single meaningful approach to life through the life story of social entrepreneur, writer and lecturer Roger Griffith MBE. As a black British man Roger shares his extraordinary story from dropping out of school in Bristol, establishing a successful, traditional career before embarking on a different approach combining his passions, interests and talents into a portfolio of activity that could also be called ‘work’. We discover what it takes to try this approach and how the risks compare to the rewards! You can read more about Roger, his unusual career and inspiring writings here: www.rogergriffith.co.uk/

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this episode we explore the personal journeys and professional breakthroughs of two academics who are also involved in visual arts and crafts. Dr Rob Grieve (Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at UWE Bristol) unpacks his journey initially as a cartoonist to printmaking/painting, and finding the balance between enjoying recognition and creating art for its own sake. Dr Harriet Shortt (Associate Professor in Organisation Studies, at UWE Bristol’s Faculty of Business and Law) explains the transition of her quilting activities from a deeply personal way of processing her PhD to boldly integrating visual methods into her academic life.

You can find out more about Rob’s art on his Instagram account: www.instagram.com/robgrieveart/, and about Harriet’s art and research, on her blog: www.harrietshortt.wordpress.com/.  

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

How does an activity you start doing alone in your home snowball into a vibrant, active group of people, generating, sharing and critiquing ideas? In this episode we hear how Dr Emmanuel Adukwu and Father Immanuel Unekwu-Ojo Ogu journeyed from writing poetry for an audience of one, to creating a dynamic and nurturing writing collective that reaches round the globe, where poets can hone their craft together, even evolving writing into a form of activism. Their story reminds us we don’t always need a clear plan to see where our leisure takes us, just a willingness to share what we have.

Keep listening for a reading of original poetry by each guest.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

What happens if you get the chance to transform your serious leisure into a full time career change? Would you take the leap? In this episode we hear from Sara Hale, Deputy Head of Law, in her final weeks at UWE Bristol. Sara tells us about leaving her academic role to become a full time netball coach. But can we still recharge through activities if they become our full time job? Be inspired by Sara’s story in this unique episode where we take a deep dive into the liminal space where work and leisure blur. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this soothing episode Louise Mighall and Dr Arthur Turner share their stories of escaping offices and lecture theatres for gardens and neglected wild city spaces. Louise describes how her interest in bee-friendly gardens which started by time spent outside with her young family, led to new friendships with neighbours and deeper personal contentment. Arthur recounts the peaceful satisfaction of looking after a patch of unloved land and the enjoyment and connection of seeing the transformation being appreciated by others. 

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

Thought Dungeons & Dragons was so just a cartoon from the 1980s? Maybe you are already familiar with this classic role-playing game with fantasy creatures and many-sided dice! In this episode we hear from Martin Williams and George Howard who show us around this magical world where lifelong friendships and new connections flourish in the laughter and adventure of co-creating epic escapades together.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.

In this reassuringly relatable episode we hear from Emma Wingate and Laura Quick about the often hidden journey of making progress with something, dropping it and picking it up again. Through Laura’s ups and downs with Couch to 5k we explore how leisure gives us a safe space to stop and start whilst still experiencing satisfaction and enjoyment on our own terms. Free from the pressure of achievement, Emma helps us rediscover the value of doing activities for their own sake as a way of reconnecting with our authentic selves.

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Reflecting on ways to balance work and wellbeing via leisure and hobbies.

Produced at UWE Bristol.