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Absolute Units: 'Queer Rural Lives: Searching the Archives' with Tim Jerrome

Title
Absolute Units: 'Queer Rural Lives: Searching the Archives' with Tim Jerrome
Description
Queer histories of England have predominantly focused on the country's urban centres and cities - especially London. Yet queer and same-sex relationships have always existed throughout English life. Rural England is no exception.

In the first of two podcasts, Joe and Ollie welcome onto Absolute Units former MERL colleague Tim Jerrome (University of Brighton), whose PhD explores the history of same-sex relationships in rural England.

Learn about the challenges of finding queer histories in farm archives, the issues of archivist objectivity, and how museums can develop their practices to better surface and represent stories and relationships that were hidden in the past.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum.

Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Content
View Content
Type
Podcast
Date
2025
Geographical Area
The Absolute Units podcast logo features the black and white photograph of a robust Exmoor Horn ram that became known as the 'absolute unit' through a meme. The title text reads 'Absolute Units' and text at the bottom of the image reads 'A podcast from the Museum of English Rural Life' and 'Arts Council England'.