PODCAST

A Room Of Your Own

I’m Max Moorhouse, and I curate people’s personal libraries for a living. Fairly recently I came to a realisation - that the stories people were telling about how they imagined their dream space and what books they would surround themselves with - said something fairly profound about who they imagined themselves to be. They were weaving their memories with their aspirations and telling me a story about who they thought they were. In A Room of Your Own, I’ll be inviting guests to explore the books

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All Episodes

AROYO 20 // Amy Jeffs

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/08/23

This week I was so lucky to be joined by author, artist and academic Amy Jeffs. Amy’s work centres around the medieval world of the British Isles, and looks to capture and give in her own words the sense of wonder that she finds in the foundations of our own mythologies.Amy's writing takes you deep into the landscape - both physical and psychological - of Medieval Britain. Re-telling myths and legends from the 7th to the 14th Centuries, Amy makes these foundational stories accessible to a modern

AROYO 19 // Ferren Gipson

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/08/15

This week, I was joined by author and Art Historian Ferren Gipson who’s written some amazing books including ‘Women’s Work – From Feminine Art to Feminist Art’ and The Ultimate Art Museum – where she curates 4,000 years of Art History into a dream museum that tells its story – correcting some of the wrongs of the past and highlighting overlooked pioneers.We start off going into her journey into Art History and the objects, artists and books that have inspired her throughout her life. We then go on

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AROYO 18 // Library of Depression

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/08/08

This week's episode will be an unusually personal one for me, on a topic that has been centralto my life and the lives of so many other young people.I'll be constructing an imagined library for someone suffering from depression.I recently came through one of my worst ever bouts - that took me off work for months and in the end completely changed my life. It was at times crippling, desperatley terrifying and all-consuming.Creating and imagining a private safe space filled with everything you need to

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AROYO 17 // Rosie Wilby - The Breakup Monologues &...

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/08/01

This week, I was joined by author and comedian Rosie Wilby. Rosie through her podcast and subsequent book ‘The Breakup Monologues’ has been dubbed the ‘Queen of Breakups’. Her work brings together her own journey as a queer woman in London, the testimonies and stories of heartbroken guests, and the science of love and relationships – to create a relatable and funny approach to how we think about love in the modern world.In the following conversation we discuss some of the places and books that have

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AROYO 16 // Liam Sparkes

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/07/25

In this week’s episode I was joined by tattoo artist, ex-musician, bookshop owner and owner of micro-publisher Moonlight Editions – Liam Sparkes. Liam is best known for his work as a tattoo artist, having set up one of London’s most famous studios – Old Habits.Liam describes himself as a bibliophile, and in this episode we delve deep into the ways that books have influenced his approached to tattoo art. Having roamed around and explored for years, I catch him in a reflective mood, and we discuss the

AROYO 15 // Edward Hollis pt.2

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/06/27

Today’s episode is the second half of my chat with Professor Edward Hollis of Edinburgh University’s Interior Design program.In this episode, we discuss some of his favourite depictions of place in literature and how he thinks we should think of space to make it work for us, before delving into the multi-sensory landscapes of his remembered childhood dreams, and a ‘dream cabinet of curiosities’ to house all of his treasured personal objects and heirlooms.If you want to find out more about the work I

AROYO 14 // Edward Hollis pt.1

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/06/25

I’m so excited for this episode though – it’s a chat that I had a couple of weeks ago with Edward Hollis – who’s the Professor of Interior Design at Edinburgh University, and the author of books exploring the influence of our surroundings on our lives. His work delves into what’s left behind of historic sites that we know throughout history, and re-constructs them so his readers can find new ways of imagining themselves into them. His books include The Secret Lives of Buildings, The Memory Palace –

AROYO 13 // Library of Classics Re-Imagined

A Room Of Your Own ·

2024/06/05

This week sees a return to my themed libraries to look at 'Classics Re-Imagined'. I'll be surveying the ways that authors are updating and bringing new life to the canon. I’ll be exploring the works of writers who have injected new life into the Greek Myths by putting the overlooked female characters at the centre, and taking a very quick run through literary history up to the present - and the future with the reinventions of dystopian fiction.In the first segment, I’ll be exploring the theme and