The Sensational Museum

This is a podcast episode, produced and recorded by The Sensational Museum Postdocs, Dr Sophie Vohra and Dr Charlotte Slark, introducing listeners (and readers) to the 'two strands' and big concepts of the project.Sophie speaks in a clear and considered way, with a lyrical, soft and lower vocal tone… and occasionally some loud laughs! Putting on her more ‘formal voice’, here she speaks with a ‘non-typical’ north-western accent (aka suspend your disbelief that everyone there sounds like they are from Liverpool, Manchester or Bury), with dropped ‘a’s and stronger enunciation. She often wonders if her different code-switching voices that make up critical parts of her identity (day-to-day, Macclesfield, Yorkshire, academic/telephone, British Indian, Spanish) come through.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Find the full descriptive transcript at: www.sensationalmuseum.org/resources/postdoc-podcast-belfastAlt text: [The image shows the words 'The Sensational Museum', below which is The Sensational Museum ear icon to indicate this is an audio output logo. Below the ear reads 'Postdoc Podcast' to indicate what series it is, and finally, below that reads 'Belfast', as this episode was recorded in preparation for the first TSM retreat there in January 2024.]

Have you tried to describe a sound that makes you feel a certain way?Rather than relying on the sound to do the heavy lifting, Sophie created an exercise where you instead provide a broader contextual scape of not only the sound, but how it changes the space, and how you feel (both inside and outside) about it.Check out the full descriptive transcript below, and why not try out this exercise for yourself?A descriptive transcript of a voice-note by Sophie Vohra, describing her sound of ‘comfort’… a boiling kettleSpeaker’s vocal descriptionSophie speaks in a clear and considered way, with a lyrical, soft and lower vocal tone… and occasionally some loud laughs! Putting on her more ‘formal voice’, here she speaks with a ‘non-typical’ north-western accent (aka suspend your disbelief that everyone there sounds like they are from Liverpool, Manchester or Bury), with dropped ‘a’s and stronger enunciation. She often wonders if her different code-switching voices that make up critical parts of her identity (day-to-day, Macclesfield, Yorkshire, academic/telephone, British Indian, Spanish) come through.TranscriptAt the end of a long day, you go to your parents’ house, come through the door, and your mum has put the kettle on for you to make a cup of tea, or a nice hot drink. And you can feel the vibrations of the countertop as the kettle starts to boil up, pushing the heat through, as it tries to get the water to the temperature, and there's a deep hum, and with the hum there's the vibration, as it does its work. And as it's reaching its peak to get it to that heat, the vibrations get more pronounced.The sound is taking over the space encompassing the space more than it had before. Until eventually you start to hear the sound of bubbles forming but also, the feeling of that as the vibrations of the kettle itself is interrupted with the bubbles that are forming as it gets to the heat. And the space then fills up with a warm as the steam comes out.And all of this deep hum, this voluminous sound, is then interrupted so quickly by the clicking of the switch. Which then leads to the quick dissipation of the sound of the vibration of everything, until there's just a very slight hiss coming out. And the vibration is only really felt through the kettle now.And that moment of waiting until you think it won't scorch your tea bag, or whether that even matters at that point. And the warmth that then comes off it as you pour it into your teacup, the warmth that you feel from the care that you've been given and shown, and the warmth that you will then get as you drink the cup of tea, as you take your big, long sips, or even just holding it there in front of your face for a little while, waiting for the temperature to go down.But all of that comes from the sound, and the actions of that kettle.Now arguably it doesn't really matter what that kettle is, what type, who made it. What matters more is what it provides to the context of you feeling comfort.Alt text: [On a solid peach-coloured background is The Sensational Museum ear icon, in navy blue, to indicate this is an audio output logo. Below the ear reads "Sound of 'Comfort'", in navy blue, to indicate the name of the episode.]

Sophie Vohra (Strand A post-doc) shares her encounter with a peculiar mirror in a bathroom at a writing retreat she attended with Strand B post-doc, Charlotte Slark, noting its various descriptive and evocative, sensory features. She associates the mirror with cultural references, including Harry Potter and spiritualism, and expresses a mix of fascination and unease.Head to our website for the amazing descriptive transcripts: www.sensationalmuseum.org/resources/podcast-bonus-epsiode-2Alt text: [The image shows The Sensational Museum ear and ear icons overlaid on TSM's hands icon, to indicate this is an audio output about an object that is being seen and touched, with the words 'The Mirror' below, the title of the episode]

This is the Multisensory episode of the Sensational Shorts Podcast, produced and recorded by The Sensational Museum post-doctoral researchers, Dr Charlotte Slark and Dr Sophie Vohra.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Sophie speaks in a clear and considered way, with a lyrical, soft and lower vocal tone… and occasionally some loud laughs! Putting on her more ‘formal voice’, here she speaks with a ‘non-typical’ north-western accent (aka suspend your disbelief that everyone there sounds like they are from Liverpool, Manchester or Bury), with dropped ‘a’s and stronger annunciation. She often wonders if her different code-switching voices that make up critical parts of her identity (day-to-day, Macclesfield, Yorkshire, academic/telephone, British Indian, Spanish) come through.Alt text: [On a navy blue background, the image shows the words 'Sensational Shorts' in white in the centre, with the first 'S's using The Sensational Museum's branded logo 'S'. The words are circled by the 5 TSM icons in TSM colours. Moving clockwise, starting at the top: pink hands, peach ear, chartreuse eye, peach book, and chartreuse nose.]

This is the Disability Gain episode of the Sensational Shorts Podcast, produced and recorded by The Sensational Museum post-doctoral researchers, Dr Charlotte Slark and Dr Sophie Vohra.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Sophie speaks in a clear and considered way, with a lyrical, soft and lower vocal tone… and occasionally some loud laughs! Putting on her more ‘formal voice’, here she speaks with a ‘non-typical’ north-western accent (aka suspend your disbelief that everyone there sounds like they are from Liverpool, Manchester or Bury), with dropped ‘a’s and stronger annunciation. She often wonders if her different code-switching voices that make up critical parts of her identity (day-to-day, Macclesfield, Yorkshire, academic/telephone, British Indian, Spanish) come through.Alt text: [On a navy blue background, the image shows the words 'Sensational Shorts' in white in the centre, with the first 'S's using The Sensational Museum's branded logo 'S'. The words are circled by the 5 TSM icons in TSM colours. Moving clockwise, starting at the top: pink hands, peach ear, chartreuse eye, peach book, and chartreuse nose.]

This is a podcast episode, produced and recorded by The Sensational Museum post-doctoral researchers, Dr Charlotte Slark and Dr Sophie Vohra, discussing how they want and need to support lasting mindset changes in museum practice to support the implementation of trans-sensory thinking and practice, as well as fully equitable access the museum collections, content and spaces.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Sophie speaks in a clear and considered way, with a lyrical, soft and lower vocal tone… and occasionally some loud laughs! Putting on her more ‘formal voice’, here she speaks with a ‘non-typical’ north-western accent (aka suspend your disbelief that everyone there sounds like they are from Liverpool, Manchester or Bury), with dropped ‘a’s and stronger enunciation. She often wonders if her different code-switching voices that make up critical parts of her identity (day-to-day, Macclesfield, Yorkshire, academic/telephone, British Indian, Spanish) come through.Find the full descriptive transcript at: www.sensationalmuseum.org/resources/postdoc-podcast-cardiff-retreatAlt text: [The image shows the words 'The Sensational Museum', below which is The Sensational Museum ear icon to indicate this is an audio output logo. Below the ear reads 'Postdoc Podcast' to indicate what series it is, and finally, below that reads 'Cardiff', as this episode was recorded in preparation for the second TSM retreat there in June 2024.]

This is a transcription of the Disability Equity episode of the Sensational Shorts podcast, produced and recorded by Dr Charlotte Slark featuring a special guest host, Kyle Lewis Jordan.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Kyle speaks in a calm and confident tone of voice, his words becoming softer and clearer as he settles into the conversation. He becomes more upbeat and employs emphasis when drawing attention to key concepts and ideas. He has a fairly standardised British accent, described by his friends as "The right amount of posh”; “clever, but not self-important"; "Direct impact, but not like a bell, more like timber”.Alt text: [On a navy blue background, the image shows the words 'Sensational Shorts' in white in the centre, with the first 'S's using The Sensational Museum's branded logo 'S'. The words are circled by the 5 TSM icons in TSM colours. Moving clockwise, starting at the top: pink hands, peach ear, chartreuse eye, peach book, and chartreuse nose.]

This is the co-creation episode of the Sensational Shorts podcast, produced and recorded by Dr Charlotte Slark featuring a special guest host, Amy Thraves-Conner.Charlotte speaks animatedly and talks faster when she’s excited. She has a southern English accent, which a local person would identify as a somewhat polished combination of Slough and Staines upon Thames (think quite hard consonants!). It’s the accent of someone from a working-class background who has spent a lot of time having to fit-in in middle class spaces.Amy has a Midlands accent and speaks in a slow considered, and occasionally deadpan way.Alt text: [On a navy blue background, the image shows the words 'Sensational Shorts' in white in the centre, with the first 'S's using The Sensational Museum's branded logo 'S'. The words are circled by the 5 TSM icons in TSM colours. Moving clockwise, starting at the top: pink hands, peach ear, chartreuse eye, peach book, and chartreuse nose.]