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The Shift with Sam Baker

Tamsin Calidas: the truth about the "escape to the country" dream

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Personal Journals, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture

4.8525 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2021

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week’s guest is a writer, photographer, sheep rearer (pretty sure that’s not the right word for it), crofter and expert at the dark art of being alone. Tamsin Calidas lived a relatively anonymous life on a small Scottish island, until she wrote her memoir, I am an island, about her experience of moving from London to the comparatively remote Hebrides. In doing so, she was living the dream of every midlife woman I know. Or was she? From her stone croft (no heating - and on the day we talk, bloody freezing!) Tamsin is disarmingly honest about infertility, becoming perimenopausal in her thirties and adapting to life as an older single woman in a community built on family. She also talks about living in nature, how wild swimming saved her and the benefits of choosing the harder path. She was speaking to me from the Hebrides, so apologies for the occasionally shonky sound. CONTENT WARNING: infertility. You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at Bookshop.org, including the book that accompanies this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker and I Am An Island by Tamsin Calidas. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. I'd love to hear what you think - please rate and review, or let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Hannah from the Standard Issue podcast. Join us every Wednesday for rated or dated.

0:05.3

Well, we watch a famous or sometimes infamous film to see whether or not it has stood the test of time.

0:11.7

This week, we watched The Birds, Pretty Woman, Flash Dance, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Casablanca, Rosary's Baby.

0:20.5

It's the 18s in a film, isn't it? None of thieves. Casablanca. Rosemary's baby. It's the 18s in a film, isn't it?

0:23.1

None of this makes any sense.

0:26.8

It's like putting on the comfiest pair of pajamas.

0:30.7

She's like, oh, what could that be?

0:32.7

Oh, what do you think it is?

0:33.8

It's loads of birds.

0:35.1

And they naturally live happily ever after.

0:38.0

Do they?

0:39.3

It's quite a feminist parable.

0:41.0

Terribly, terribly dated, but I did have a nice time watching it.

0:43.8

Absolutely 100% dated.

0:46.1

A triumvirate of rated.

0:47.9

A lot of results.

0:49.1

You can listen to standard issues rated or dated wherever it is you listen to your podcast.

0:54.1

And make sure you follow us to find out what we do on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

0:59.7

Spoiler alert, it's a lot.

1:07.8

Hello and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no-holds-bar truth about being a woman post-40, created and hosted by me, journalist and author, Sam Baker.

1:17.7

This week's guest is a writer, photographer, crofter, and expert at the dark art of being alone.

1:24.7

Tamzin Kalidas lived a relatively anonymous life on a small Scottish island until she wrote

...

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