unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

Our guest in this episode is Professor Manuel Barcia. Professor Barcia is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) at the University of Bath, with responsibility for developing and leading the university’s international engagement. He’s also a world-leading scholar in Atlantic and global history. His work focuses on slavery, resistance, and the legacies of colonialism. Over the years he has been a recipient of multiple research fellowships and awards, including a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2014. His global perspective is deeply informed by both the nature of his scholarship and his extensive experience working with institutions and researchers from all over the world.

Professor Barcia studied History at undergraduate level at the University of Havana in Cuba, then went on to experience life as an international student in the UK when he took a MA in Comparative History (as a Chevening scholar) and a PhD in History at the University of Essex. After concluding his PhD, he taught at the universities of Essex and Nottingham before going to Leeds in 2006.

Manuel is here to tell me about two unfinished books.

One is titled, The Cuban Sugar Kings: The Untold Story of a Minor League Baseball Team and the Cuban Revolution. It tells the story of the Cuban Sugar Kings, better known as the Havana Sugar Kings, a team who made history. Not only did they maintain a historical relationship with the Cincinnati Reds, but also won the most important prize in Minor League baseball, the mini-World Series of 1960, and found themselves immersed in the events that led to and followed the triumph of the 1959 Revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Despite having conducted interviews with members of the team, and having a rich body of research material ready to go, this is a project Manuel has had to abandon and will never be able to finish.

The future of Manuel’s other unfinished book is looking more hopeful. It’s called The First Anglo-Asante War: Colonialism and Abolition in the Gold Coast, 1823-1831. Manuel tells us about this complex (and often gory) period of history, as well as the surprising things he’s found in the archives while researching it.

Links of interest

About Manuel: Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement)

The Havana Sugar Kings: Havana Sugar Kings – Official League

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unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

Our guest in this episode is Chanel Comis, who possibly has the best job ever. Chanel is the co-founder of Wildlife Sense, a conservation and research organisation that specialises in protecting sea turtles on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia.

Chanel talks about how conservation is ongoing, continuous, potentially un-finishable. work. We learn about what Wildlife Sense has achieved so far, what Chanel and her colleagues want for the future, and why sea turtles are always surprising...

You can learn more about Wildlife Sense here: Wildlife Sense - Research & Conservation Organization - Kefalonia

About Chanel: Chanel’s devotion to conservation efforts and scientific research has led her to work with sea turtles since 2010. She's worked with environmental conservation organizations in America and Greece. She earned her B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry with honors from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, NY, while interning at the Bronx Zoo, where she became interested in animal behavior. Chanel graduated from Coastal Carolina University, SC, with a master’s degree in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies. She conducted her research thesis on loggerhead sea turtle hatchling orientation in Kyparissia, Greece. Soon after she co-founded Wildlife Sense where she now enjoys spending her days working with others to protect sea turtles in Kefalonia, where her family is from.

If you liked this episode you can:

1. Give it a rating or a review:

On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.

On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.

2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact This is the best way to stay up to date!

3. Tag us in your social media posts:

Instagram: @unfinishingpod

Bluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.social

Twitter: @TrueBagglerag

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes. If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

My guest in this episode is Fuschia Sirois, a Professor in Social and Health Psychology at Durham University, and a former Canada Research Chair in Health and Well-being.

For over twenty years, Professor Sirois has researched the causes and consequences of procrastination, so she’s the perfect person to speak to about things not getting finished.

We talk about what procrastination is, why we do it, and how we can help ourselves to overcome it. Fuschia gives some brilliant insights into why procrastination is bad for your health, and how it's linked to our emotions.

Fuschia’s advice on what to do when you find yourself procrastinating are at the end of the episode, but she's also developed a tool to help stop procrastination. It's called TEMPO and you can find out more via the link below.

Links of interest

Fuschia’s website: https://fuschiasirois.com/2024/11/12/do-you-or-someone-you-know-struggle-with-procrastination/

Sign up for the TEMPO tool: https://durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJzXFb6SBwNPI46

If you liked this episode you can:

1. Give it a rating or a review:

On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail (the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.

On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.

2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact This is the best way to stay up to date!

3. Tag us in your social media posts:

Instagram: @unfinishingpod

Bluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.social

Twitter: @TrueBagglerag

Micah is an artist, designer, and teacher who’s an expert in punch needle rug hooking - a type of textile craft that can be used not only to create rugs and cushions, but also fashion and art.

Micah’s unfinished projects include a stalled attempt to create a piece of punch needle art every day for a hundred days, and several ideas for punch needle fashion that she’s never quite got round to starting.

We talk about the struggles that have stopped her progressing that work, as well as the complexities of trying to navigate the worlds of art, fashion, craft, and business all at the same time.

If that weren’t enough, Micah has also just released her first book, Punch Needle Fashion, which explains how to make different pieces of wearable art.

About Micah

Micah Clasper-Torch is a Los Angeles-based artist, designer, and educator helping to lead the modern revival of punch needle rug hooking.

With a background in fashion design from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, Micah blends fine art, heritage craft, and wearable design to create one-of-a-kind textile pieces that range from coats and accessories to wall hangings and soft sculpture.

In 2019 Micah launched Punch Needle World, an online community, shop and educational platform dedicated to uplifting the craft and its history, and making high quality supplies and training accessible around the world.

Her debut book, Punch Needle Fashion, came out in June 2025 from Quadrille –– it brings punch needle into the world of contemporary fashion through 15 original projects and a beautifully photographed exploration of the medium.

Links of interest

Punch Needle Fashion - https://www.amazon.com/Punch-Needle-Fashion-Accessories-Wearables/dp/1837832218

Micah’s website - www.micahclasper-torch.com

Micah’s blog, including information on how to get started in punch needle art - Blog – Punch Needle World

Micah’s Instagram - @claspertorch & @punchneedle.world

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete,abandoned, works-in-progress or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson. You can find more episodes and get in touch with us here: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

My guest in this episode is Teresa Stenson, a writer and zine-maker based in York. She’s the creator of My 90s Teenage Diaries, an online project in which she revisits her old diaries and shares extracts alongside present-day thoughts and reflections.

She’s also a published short story writer, with work placed in several literary prizes and anthologies, including the Guardian’s Summer Reads contest.

My 90s Teenage diaries is a work-in-progress, and in this interview with Teresa we talk about the emotional and practical challenges of keeping it going.

Teresa also shares two diary extracts during our interview. One is a letter that her teenage-self wrote to her future husband, and the second is a list of flirting tips.

Towards the end of this episode, Teresa tells me about her day job as a freelance ghost writer and editor, helping her clients all over the world to tell their own stories.

We also talk about the comedy persona Teresa created sometime in the mid noughties – an alter ego called Bella De La Rocher – who by coincidence has published an unfinished novel. Teresa continues, sporadically, to share Bella’s creative works and her inner world online, though sometimes that's just photos of potatoes.

Links of interest

More unfinishing episodes: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

My 90s Teenage Diaries: https://teenagediaries.substack.com/

Teresa’s zines are here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TeresaWrites?ref=profile_header

Teresa’s Insta: @Teresa.Stenson

Most of a Novel by Bella De La Rocher: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Novel-Bella-Rocher-ebook/dp/B07XLP7RB6?ref_=ast_author_dp

Bella’s insta: @BellaDeLaRocher

If you liked this episode you can:

1. Give it a rating or a review:

On Apple: tap on the podcast thumbnail(the logo), and scroll down to below the episodes until you find the ratings and reviews section.

On Spotify: click on the three dots below the podcast art and title (next to settings), and select ‘Rate show’.

2. Check out the website and sign up to the unfinishing newsletter: https://unfinishing.co.uk/contact

3. Share it with a friend!

4. Tag us in your social media posts!

Instagram: @unfinishingpod

Bluesky: @unfinishing.bsky.social

Twitter: @TrueBagglerag

unfinishing is the podcast about projects that are incomplete, abandoned, or not public. It’s presented by Emily Anderson and the artwork is by Graham Oakes.

If you have an incomplete or private project you’d like to talk about, please contact us via our website: https://unfinishing.co.uk/.

This episode features Kenton Rogers, the director and co founder of Treeconomics. Treeconomics is an organisation that uses the best available scientific techniques to understand and improve how trees enrich our urban and rural spaces.

Kenton talks about some of the projects that the team at Treeconomics has completed, and explains why working with trees is always an ongoing, unfinishing endeavour.

Kenton is a Chartered Urban Forester and Environmentalist. He’s worked on a range of commercial, urban and community forestry projects in the UK, Europe and North Africa. Kenton was a Trustee of the International Tree Foundation and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has written for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment and the Springer Handbook of Urban Forests, and co-authored the Haynes Workshop Manual for Trees.

‘Thank the Lord (for Sidmouth Arboretum)’ was recorded by Kelvin Dent and Tess Bisson, musical director of Sid Vale Folk Choir.

Links of interest

Treeconomics website and resources: https://treeconomics.co.uk/resources/other-resources/

Birmingham Tree People: https://birminghamtreepeople.org.uk/

Sidmouth Arboretum: https://sidmoutharboretum.org.uk/