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Living With Feeling

Robot Nurses

Season 1, Ep. 2

Unexpected item in bagging area! Machines can provoke many emotions, including rage and anxiety. But can they also care?


In Episode 2 of "Living With Feeling", historian of nursing Sarah Chaney meets some care robots and discusses with experts what these machines are for, and what they can offer. Sarah probes the potential and the limitations of care robots - and looks at historical ideas from earlier eras about emotional qualities, including fortitude and compassion, which would be shown by the ideal human nurse. Sarah and her interviewees also discuss the idea of "emotional labour" and also the racial and gendered stereotypes associated with nursing that are embodied in the way robot nurses are designed. 


Dr Sarah Chaney is a historian of nursing and emotions. Her most recent book is Am I Normal? The 200-Year Search for Normal People (and Why They Don’t Exist). She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions. @KentishScribble

Robots in this episode came from the Can Robots Care exhibition at the Thackray Museum of Medicine (Paro and Miro)

Dr Amelia de Falco, is Associate Professor Of Medical Humanities at the University Of Leeds @AmeliaDefalco

Prof. Rena Papadopoulos is Professor of Transcultural Health & Nursing at Middlesex University, London @irena_pap

Prof. Anna Romina Guevarra is Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Global Asian Studies Program at the University of Illinois Chicago @AnnaRGuevarra 

Amanda Gwinnup is a PhD candidate at the University of Huddersfield researching the post-war experiences of disabled WWI nurses @WW1NurseHist

Professor Pam Smith is Professorial Fellow and former Head of Nursing Studies in the School of Health in Social Science Edinburgh University.


"Living With Feeling" is produced by Natalie Steed for Rhubarb Rhubarb, and supported by the Wellcome Trust. It is brought to you by the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions. Find out more about our work at The Emotions Lab website.

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  • Welcome to "Living With Feeling"

    01:48
    Thomas Dixon introduces our new podcast series about emotions in the 21st century, with some help from Giles Fraser and Philippa Perry.
  • 1. Rethinking Emotions

    44:26
    In this first episode of our new series about emotions in the 21st century, priest and writer Giles Fraser and psychotherapist Philippa Perry join Thomas Dixon for a lively conversation about the place of emotions in modern culture.Philippa, Giles, and Thomas discuss whether people are too ready to interpret painful or difficult emotions as signs of mental illness, and whether it is always true that "Your emotions are valid". Can emotions ever be wrong?Giles confesses to an emotional outburst in the middle of the night, and suggests we should all try to be a bit more like the Queen, while Philippa explains how important it is to be able to live with and contain our own feelings, and those of our children, without necessarily always expressing them.We explore what Christianity and psychotherapy have to say about the idea that we are all emotionally broken or disordered in some way, and Giles and Philippa share their views about smartphones and emotions, and whether they would like to be cared for by a robot nurse, and if not why not.Philippa Perry is a psychotherapist and artist. She is the author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read: (And Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) - and the “Ask Philippa” advice column in the Observer. She says that responding to your children’s feelings appropriately is foundational to their future emotional health. @philippa_perryReverend Giles Fraser is the Vicar of St Anne’s in Kew, as well as being a journalist and author. His most recent book is Chosen: Lost and Found Between Christianity and Judaism, and in 2017 he made a series for Radio 4 - “This Old Heart of Mine” - about the experience of surviving a heart attack and bypass surgery. It gave him the chance to reflect on matters of the heart - physical, emotional, and spiritual. @giles_fraserProfessor Thomas Dixon is Director of the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, the author of Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears (2015), and previously presented "The Sound of Anger" podcast series. @ProfThomasDixon"Living With Feeling" is produced by Natalie Steed for Rhubarb Rhubarb, and is supported by the Wellcome Trust.To find out more about the work of the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, please visit The Emotions Lab website at emotionslab.org
  • 3. Happiness Lessons

    48:05
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  • 4. Childhood Trauma

    42:24
    When it comes to childhood trauma, do our bodies keep the score, and with what emotional impacts?Historian of child psychology Emma Sutton finds out about the recent explosion of interest in "trauma-informed" approaches and their impact on family relationships. She tries out some trauma-informed therapy herself, and discusses with therapists and experts what this approach can mean for dealing with the aftermath of adverse childhood experiences - including the additional harm done to families when someone decides to "go no contact" with a parent.Emma discusses with Reverend Giles Fraser the dangers of overly medicalising painful experiences - and Giles speaks about his own experience of being beaten frequently when at school. The episode ends with a visit to the Kazzum Arts project and its director Alex Evans - who speaks about the powerful influence that adults can have in protecting children from the worst effects of trauma, by being playful, curious, accepting and empathetic in their interactions with them. Steve Haines is a bodyworker and author who is deeply interested in pain, trauma and anxiety.   @stevehaines66Dr Charley Baker is an associate professor of Mental Health at the University of Nottingham. @CharleyBaker1Dr Angela Davis is a historian of motherhood and parenting in twentieth-century Britain. She is the author of Modern Motherhood: Women and Family in England, 1945–2000.Dr Joshua Coleman is psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and a Senior Fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families, a non-partisan organization of leading sociologists, historians, psychologists and demographers dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best practice findings about American families. @drjcolemanReverend Giles Fraser is the Vicar of St Anne’s in Kew, as well as being a journalist and author. His most recent book is Chosen: Lost and Found Between Christianity and Judaism, and in 2017 he made a series for Radio 4 - “This Old Heart of Mine” - about the experience of surviving a heart attack and bypass surgery. It gave him the chance to reflect on matters of the heart - physical, emotional, and spiritual. @giles_fraserAlex Evans is a visual artist, director and creative facilitator living and working in London. He is proud to be the Artistic Director of Kazzum Arts, after taking on the role in June 2017. @KazzumArts "Living With Feeling" is produced by Natalie Steed for Rhubarb Rhubarb, and supported by the Wellcome Trust. It is brought to you by the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions. Find out more about our work at The Emotions Lab website.
  • 5. Emotional AI

    44:21
    Do wellbeing apps and emotional mood trackers make you feel nervous, furious, or happy?In this episode, historian of emotions and author Richard Firth-Godbehere goes in search of the science, technology, ethics, and feelings behind emotional AI. Fellow historian Thomas Dixon acts a guinea pig for Richard, trying out some emotion-tracking apps. with emotionally mixed results, while Richard speaks to historians, ethicists, and others about the theory of “basic emotions” that hampers a lot of emotional AI, and also the ethical dilemmas posed by the ability of big tech companies to harvest and store increasingly intimate information about our feelings and our bodies.Along the way, Richard reflects on the long history of emotional objects - and how bits of technology, old and new, can conjure up strong feelings, as well as encountering a award-winning app designed for children who have lost a loved one, and thinking about how he might have responded to it when he lost his own father.Dr Charley Baker is an associate professor of Mental Health at the University of Nottingham. @CharleyBaker1Professor Thomas Dixon is Director of the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, the author of Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears (2015), and previously presented "The Sound of Anger" podcast series. @ProfThomasDixonLouis Weinstock is a psychotherapist and the author of How the World is Making Our Children Mad and What to Do About ItDr Sally Holloway is Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow in History & History of Art, School of History, Philosophy and Culture, Oxford Brookes University where she researches the histories of emotional culture, love, and heartbreak. @sally_hollowayChloe Duckworth is Co-founder & CEO of Valence VibrationsProfessor Andrew McStay is Professor of Digital Life at Bangor University, and the author of Emotional AI: The Rise of Empathic Media. @digi_ad"Living With Feeling" is produced by Natalie Steed for Rhubarb Rhubarb, and supported by the Wellcome Trust. It is brought to you by the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions. Find out more about our work at The Emotions Lab website.
  • 6. Future Feelings

    44:58
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