159: Emma Astra

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Emma Astra, based in Leicester, who is writing a Diary of a Disabled PhD student. We talk about pilgrimage journeys and the notion of doing a PhD as a pilgrimage journey.
Emma talks about her chronic illness and how it impacts on her ability to travel to places. We learn about her three wheelchairs and all the different makes and models she has had to navigate, and Emma talks about an artist who is making a non-disabled person feel like they are in the shoes of a disabled person. Emma also reflects on how technology has opened up a whole new world for disabled people.
We learn how the return to physical meetings and classes has posed a problem for Emma, and we discuss how technology will evolve post-Covid.
We talk about the days of queuing up to use the phone and renting TVs, and Emma shares a wonderful anecdote about hiding from the TV rental man.
We learn about Emma’s PhD and how she has done something really innovative. She talks about referencing academics who wrote about a council estate in Leicester which they had never lived in and which anyone who lived there wouldn’t recognize.
We find out how the creative writing aspect of a PhD appeals and what they teach us about social issues. It will be more of a novel than a traditional PhD, and Emma also talks about how there are many people in the media with hidden disabilities.
Emma tells us why last year was the Year of Death as many people she knows died and Emma talks about Leicester-based Sue Townsend and the letters she received after she opened up about her disability in later life and the added labour that has to be done by disabled PhD students.
Then, at the end of the interview, Emma reflects on how the twists and turns we experience in life make us who we are as a person. We learn what she always dreamed of doing from a young age and we find out whether she looks back or forward and how bad experiences can be put to good use, as well as the importance of exploring.