Perspective: Recent Episodes
Magdalena & Beatrice
Welcome to Perspective. A show where every point of view matters. With joined forces of two women from two different countries, we are here to explore different perspectives in our lives. If you have anything you would like to share with us, you can write to us: ourperspective.podcast@gmail.com
My home was where my little corner would be in the apartment. A fixed place in the universe.
In this episode, we'll take a journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and ask a question: is the sorting ceremony a forever choice or rather a momentary one?
The forest is dark and frightening place and on the darkest of nights, witch's voice is coming from the depths of it, especially on the eve of the night of the saints. Nobody knew what creatures were hiding between the darkness of the trees. No one in their right mind would voluntarily walk into its mouth, knowing that would be the last time anyone would see them. [...]
[...] The woods surrounding the village were as dark as ever. No sound of life could be heard, no birds chirping, no leaves rustling, no twigs breaking under the paws of foxes. Even the stream was silent. Only a hissing, low and desolate whisper started now to be audible, as it elbowed its way through the briers to the sky. [...]
[...] For me, this time of year always traps me in between happiness and melancholy. This is the time of “I wish...” and “to be...” - always, always with a mug of tea in my hands. [...]
[...] The seasons change, pass, follow one another, in a flow that doesn’t really take everything they find on their way with them, because everything that is in the way of the seasons also kind of is the seasons actually. [...]
The alternate history moments usually stop at the 10th infinity. Today, it continues. As if, my brain wants to explore every corner of the universe imaginable.
Ella Frances Sanders once wrote: “A lot of people are so busy running about doing nothing of any real importance—so busy that they do not ever notice they are covered in stars.”
In side A and B of this episode, we will make time to notice “we are infinite as the universe we hold inside”.
On a day like this, when the wind is just enough to suppress the city noise, I try to listen to the stories it wants to share.
[...] The average depth of the ocean is two and a half miles. And only about five percent of the ocean has been seen, let alone explored. [...]
This lonely moon observing and wishing, to be able to experience the same emotions and feelings as the lucky ones down below, every night without a doubt. Always different place, always different people but the same emotions shared between them.
[...] while more or less everyone was minding their own business, out of the blue, without a sound, the Moon shattered in a million pieces. And the whole Earth was sprinkled with a light rain of silver dust… [...]
[...] And then you smile. No reason, other that pure joy that is surrounding you - just for a moment, shorter than you might like, but grateful that it’s there. [...]
[...] Can this be hell? Is stillness hell? Or do we look for stillness from hell? [...]
She recognised the boy unsecure and unknown
With the bouquet of flowers, she saw once, before
Colorful and bright, just like the life she has led
The one, once forgotten, unsaid
[...] Once upon a time, one particular violet slowly bloomed out of its bud, and under the tender kiss of the morning dew, realized it actually didn’t feel a violet at all. [...]
This is a special case, and I will try to treat it with the utmost respect, but a case we need to talk about, nonetheless.
[...] There have been times when going to the cinema, into this world of illusion and yet of truth, has affected me for the better in a much more real way than the real world could. [...]
What if that would be possible? What if that happened? We would talk again about anything and everything? About all of the stories and movies and so much more. We would be “us” again.
[...] Perhaps it’s better for dreams and reality to stay in their separate realms.
But then again, which of those two lives is more real, more authentic? In which of those two lives are we more awake? [...]
Silence. A concept that we, small human beings struggle with understanding it. Because what is silence anyway?
[...] Somehow is all this madness of moving from country to country, from being a student to starting to work and having project and ideas and my own life, I have found peace in the motions of making tea. [...]
[...] For me, tea simply creates a special moment of astral coincidence in which absorption and rest are perfectly aligned. You are there, but you can be there without struggle. [...]
I know a strange concept, how can I rest in the constant roar of the cars and horns. Well, my perfect resting city, isn’t perfect, of course. No place is perfect. But it’s perfect to rest because it has all of the things I need to rest.
[...] Cities can break your heart. Or give you peace. A city is a whole universe. They can be ghosts, or dreams. Sometimes I wonder if those two things are the same. [...]
As translation is a complicated topic, even more complicated matter is when you add other means of communication to it. In this old-ish format of the episode, Magda focuses on what really are the elements of this wonderfully complicated mess of translation!
[...] But the conclusion I wanted to get to, in the end, is, in the words of my friend Amruta: “knowing two languages doesn’t make you a translator any more than having ten fingers makes you a pianist.”
And yet, as I sat down thinking what I would talk about, if I had to talk about translation, I realized this wasn’t the conclusion at all. [...]
[...] Today those mountains made me smile appreciating what I have and where I am. While filling my eyes with tears of the things I have lost or never experience again. Have I lost the thing that I wanted to have or is this the step into the right direction? [...]
Let’s make this clear from the beginning: when it rains, you really shouldn’t be in a hurry. Especially if you have to drive. And especially if you have to drive an old and bashed and clangoring car. And especially if, being older than the other cars, your car’s body is also heavier than other cars. And even more especially if your car is so old the tires have glued themselves to the wheel, so the last time you could change them was when you bought the car in the first instance. [...]
The city was like a rainbow. No. Even more so. It was like there is an invisible prism breaking the sunlight into millions of the colours of the world. Standing there in the city centre was like standing in the painting from the impressionism era. (...)
[...] June is the color of bees, of wheat fields, of fireflies, of bicycles, of kites, of silence. [...]
[...] Somewhere in the far distance, there was a splash. Another chunk of ice fell down, disrupting the cold arctic water... [...]
[...] Perhaps, when the archaeologists of the future will rummage in the garbage we will have left behind to give some sign of what it was to live the way we lived, what they’ll find is that we were just too overwhelmed to do or know or feel anything. Too lost to understand, or even just to listen. [...]
[...] There was a big explosion. They called it terrorism. Terrorism is when some humans decide some other humans are not humans anymore. They told me the hands just stood, in shock, where they were. The face transfixed into the exact moment time had stopped. They repaired my friend. Time made the hands flow again. Made the heart tick again. But there’s a difference between a ticking and a beating heart. After years, my friend just couldn’t pretend anymore. Time had to stop. And it did. [...]
[...] Is it something so glorious that we need to call it the art? Is it really something that we need to put in the same category as the da Vinci or Shakespeare. As if the art of letting go is something equally beautiful to the writings or paintings of Michael Angelo or Dante [...]
[...] What I want to say, is that sometimes you need to let go of the things you lose. Because they are lost anyway. Because life needs to go on. Because you can be dead when you’re dead.
But that doesn’t mean that they’re lost on you as you think they are. [...]
[...] How can you ever be sure that if you think about me, when you think intensely about me, I am not at the same time thinking about you from some other dimension?
Will you ever get of rid of me? Do you really want to get rid of me? [...]
We are going back in time to an old format of the podcast, but it just one of us doing the talking! You will hear what witches and vampires are up to in XXI century and a debate on why magic and immortality is still a case with such advanced science.
[...] The way the heat would warm me up was actually making me glad for the night that settled into the meadow. One of the beautiful moments to experience in the winter is the warmth of the fire cracking quietly in the corner of the room. Sitting safely surrounded by the four walls. [...]
[...] It was as if we were all possessed by an intimate realization that there, with the snow all around us brightening up an otherwise cruelly gray city, we were a family of the enchanted. [...]
[...] Sometimes, I wonder how free we’d be, how magical and luxuriant, how honest and unrestrained we’d be, if we let ourselves live like rain. Will we ever have the courage to live like that? To live and not care for anything else that isn’t living? [...]
[...] Ah, that quiet noise of the rain tapping lightly on the window. While staring at the glass surface following the small streaks being pulled down by the gravity, I got lost yet again in the spiral of thoughts, completely forgetting the tea I have made myself. It must be it! After all, I am known to get lost in the simplest things. [...]
[...] So one fine day, as I was laying on a hammock I was looking at the wind lightly touching my hand. Naturally, I would then shift my focus from the wind to my hand and the skin protecting my bones.
We use the word skin to describe many things. Some realistic, some… less possible. [...]
[...] It’s worth it, to stick around, to drown and to float, to sink, shrink, and to rise, with a new thank you wrinkled on your skin: it’s been an honor, every time, to entwine my story with yours, to pour my river into your sea, and be if nothing else one line of the design life has painted, waited on your beautiful face. [...]
'[...] You know, I have grown convinced that human beings are all sources of light. Maybe not in the sense of electromagnetic radiation, although probably that is something Danny would be very excited about, but for sure of radiation of some sort. Call it love, call it halo, call it charm. I think we all are radioactive in some way. For better or for worse. [...]'
With the stroll through memory lane of the busy streets of the city, we try to explore what Light is and can be.
Welcome everyone to the second season of Perspective! This week it's a little break for us to explain to you what we have in store for you in a brand new season and brand new perspectives. We hope you will like it just as much as the first one.
Welcome to a special episode of Perspective. Today you will get a chance to get to know us a little bit closer and see what is our favourite colour, what do we miss the most and a piece of advice we got. This is our take of the "73 Questions with ..." that Vogue does, but with our podcast twist!
This is the last episode of Perspective's first season. So as we approach this ending, we will start reflecting on what kind of beginning we can imagine when things end, what endings can mean, how we can live both beginnings and endings from the best perspective. Thank you so much for having taken part in this wonderful adventure with us, and we hope to find you there for the beginning of season 2!
The word 'perfection' was introduced into the English language more or less in the 13th century, and the etymological origin of the word isthe Old French 'perfection', which in turn originated from the Latin word 'perfectionem'. The original meaning of 'perfection' is actually 'to bring to full development', therefore 'perfect' simply meant 'completed, finished, accomplished'. How many layers of meaning has this word aquired with the passing of time though! Today we're going to explore all that the notion of perfection conjures up for us, its impact in our social and inner lives, and on the way we perceive reality.
What is the time? An abstract man-made concept or clear vision of seconds passing by? In this episode we are trying to explore what time means for us in many different aspects.
Today, starting where we left off in Episode 22, we are going to talk about how democracy can be threatened by censorship and the manipulation of information. Are we educated enough to vote? Are we adequately equipped to make a critical and informed choice? How can we overcome our tribal politics and free ourselves of our distorted perceptions of reality? For more reflections on how easy it is to make people feel threatened by what they don’t know, and on what we imagine would be a more peaceful society, listen to the whole episode!
In this episode, we are talking about the experiences we had during our school years, what education is for us while trying not to get angry at our countries educational systems. At the end we are trying to answer the question: What is school for?
"Separate we are nothing. We are a tiny speck on a flower. We are a needle in a haystack. Alone we are nothing. Literally and figuratively." This is a passage from a letter our Magda has written to our politicians about the importance of not letting fear divide us. Prepare yourselves because in this episode we're going to vent a lot of anger, but also talk about our different experiences of what is currently breaking Europe apart, the heartbreaks politics has given us recently and our hopes for an education to our interdependence, for a better future.
Paying attention. Something that you always here in school. But since we both finished education some time ago we are not going to focus on this aspect. We go deeper - what does it means for us, how we do it while discovering that we have to different definitions.
What is home? Is it a physical place or a feeling? Is it a job, or a person? Is it an impossible dream or an achievable reality? Today in our new episode we're going to explore our contradictory feelings and experiences of what home means to us, our desire to settle into a peaceful dimension and at the same time our incapacity to be satisfied with what we have found until now: the restlessness and the weariness, the fear and the wonder of it all.
We are sorry to exclude men out of this episode, but we tried our best to include all of the questions and perspectives! In this episode, we are trying to answer the question of what is womanhood and are our actions and opinions help the woman or hurt them in some way.
Today, inspired by Yanko Tsvetkov's 'Atlas of Prejudice', we're going to trace a map of our experiences of prejudice and stereotyping, especially when it comes to national identity. Half in earnest, half in jest, we're going to explore the paradoxical nature of stereotypes, how they're often both true and untrue at the same time, and how dangerous they can become if we don't allow a more complex conversation to take place.
The conclusion of our small summer mini-series! This time we are talking about movies. What is our favourite movie? What soundtrack do we appreciate the most? Are there movies we will never, ever watch? You can learn all of the answers plus have a list of movies to watch listening to this episode.
What does it mean to find your voice, and use it to contribute something good to this world? How can we translate silence into language and into action? From the courage of questioning our reality, to that of not compromising ourselves, today we're swimming again in simply complicated waters.
Books, books, books... I think you know by now that we have a very special relationship with them. We decided that on this episode we will tell you how our history with books started as well to give you some summer read - but not only - recommendations from our favourites.
What happens when you receive social validation to pursue your dreams and to be who you are, but then are faced with the fact that there is only a limited number of dreams and identities you're allowed to explore to be 'normal'? How has our notion of normality changed in the recent and also very recent past, and how do we wish it to change in the future? For more about labels, the price of being yourself, and enlarging the categories of our understanding, listen to the whole episode!
In this episode, we are talking about everything nature; powerful creature and a beautiful lady. From literature throughout the years to our feeling and experiences. We are hiking in the mountains and looking from the quiet corner of our house on the foggy days.
Today we're going to explore what music means to us and what are the soundtracks of our lives. From the songs that make us dance to the ones we listen to to find courage, from the music we were raised in to that we're currently obsessed by.
In this beautiful episode - pun intended - we are talking about all things pleasing the eye and the soul. From a cathedral in Canada through nature to small human gestures.
Together with our very special guest Soma, today we're talking about bad guys doing good. From the 501st Legion to inmates protecting their guards from another inmate's attack: should we judge bad or good the person or the choices that person has made? And to what extent are we able to accept that a 'bad person' can change? For more about putting commas instead of full stops on a person, listen to the whole episode!
In this episode, we thought we will delve into the seemingly easy topic of happiness. We all know what happiness is, or do we? We talk about our personal happy moments while trying to come up with accurate definition.
A conversation on gendered stereotypes can be endless, and it can definitely mean navigating through a lot of bitterness. But in this episode we try to explore our own understanding of feminism, and make sense of our own experience of gendered social norms, reflecting on what we can do to make our society a little less mysoginist and a little more human.
In this episode, we focus on the things that make us laugh... or are they? We try to go deeper into the world of comedy and the reasons to why we strive to the direction of humour and laughter.
In this episode, we explore to what extent we sometimes prefer our second language (in both our cases English) to our native languages, how our outlook on the world changes according to what language we're speaking, questions of identity and of cultural misunderstanding linked to language, and more.
In this episode, we were discussing the idea of "right path" in our lives, what is defining that term and presented some examples of people who broke out of this social norm.
In this episode we try to explore the relationship between photography and memory, questions of representation and manipulation of meaning in the visual arts, what makes a subject worthy of being photographed, and much more.
In today's episode, we are focusing on our special guest Soma Szebellédi. We discuss photography, traveling and try to answer important question: are you following your path or does the path follow you?
In this episode we talked about different takes on technology: what do both the digital and the analog worlds add and subtract to our lives, how can we take responsibility for the technology we use, to what extent should we comply with the narrative of normalcy surrounding the ownership of always more advanced devices.
In this episode we talked about our idea of perspective and what does it mean for us. You get to know our history a little bit, and the reasons for our personal point of view.