July 2026

July 15th: ‘Stuff Matters’ podcast
Like so many of my geographical recommendations and sources, I found out about this podcast from Alan Parkinson’s incomparable Living Geography blog. This has long been a favourite source of books, podcasts, ideas, resources, events and so much more and I encourage you to start regularly checking it if you don’t already do so! It was through LivingGeography that I found out about this wonderful ‘Stuff Matters’ podcast and have so far enjoyed episodes on how LEDs changed the world, the global banana trade, and the theory that legislation around car seats is partly responsible for the global collapse in fertility rates. As I shared here, we start our Year 7 curriculum with a population unit and so maintaining up to date knowledge in this areas is essential! This is another podcast I’d really recommend listening to.

14th July: ‘On the Ground’ podcast from The Geographical Magazine
I really enjoyed listening to this new ‘On the Ground’ podcast from The Geographical Magazine all about the (proposed) explosion of data centres in and around Iver. I don’t live too far from Iver and regularly pass through it on the Elizabeth Line so was intrigued to learn more about this local (and yet inherently global!) geographical issue. If, like me, you don’t know too much about the issues associated with, and debate around, data centres, I’d recommend a listen!

July 8th: The end of fieldwork season for another year!
Today marked the end of my fieldwork season for another year. Working across 8 schools, I do a lot more fieldwork now than ever before and have really reflected on ensuring it is efficient and effective for all. Ideas and blogs about fieldwork can be found here.