ArtsBooksPerforming ArtsSociety & Culture

Character Study

Freya Bromley

Everyone plays a character, right? Welcome to Character Study the podcast that explores how creativity shapes our lives. Each episode, author Freya Bromley talks to artists of every discipline about how turning their life into material changed how they see themselves. Whether we’re writing autofiction, standup or lyrics, what can we say in our work that we could never say as ourselves? And what does it cost the people closest to you to make art that mirrors your experience? These conversations explore how seeing yourself as a ‘character’ in your own story can unearth unexpected courage, compassion and curiosity. And maybe even a bit more self-reflection. This podcast isn’t just for writers, it’s for anyone trying to make sense of who they are. Follow Character Study to explore how the art of storytelling shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play

Open in

20 episodes
Avg 23 min
English

Episodes 20

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

August 6 · 19 min
Jem Calder: Passage Reading – I Want You To Be Happy
On Writing Romance, Sensitivity and Quitting Social Media to Write
S1 · E9
August 4 · 45 min
Jem Calder: The Novel as a Gift
On Limbic Capitalism, Unlikable Characters and When a Good Line Curdles
July 27 · 9 min
Will Harris: Passage Reading – Speakee
On Overheard Voices, Belonging and the Danger of Smooth Editing
S1 · E8
July 23 · 44 min
Will Harris: A Brother, and One Big Lie
On Poetry, Identity and Telling Small Truths
July 20 · 21 min
Sufiyaan Salam: Passage Reading – Wimmy Road Boyz
On Method Writing, Hidden Histories and Novels as Questions
S1 · E7
July 17 · 44 min
Sufiyaan Salam: "Someone's Got to Take Shakespeare Out"
On Brotherhood, Bravado and Taking On Shakespeare
July 9 · 13 min
BONUS EPISODE: Prologue to A Real Piece of Work
Listen to the prologue of Freya's new novel for free!
July 4 · 13 min
Sarvat Hasin: Passage Reading – Strange Girls
On Voice, Ambiguity and the Books That Shaped Strange Girls
S1 · E6
July 2 · 40 min
Sarvat Hasin: When a Friendship Falls Apart
On Female Friendship, Grief and Who Gets to Tell a Story
June 29 · 7 min
Lucas Oakeley – Listener Q+A
On Writer's Block, Wikipedia Rabbit Holes and Finding Your Book in a Bookshop
June 27 · 8 min
Lucas Oakeley: Passage Reading – Nearly Departed
On Dreams, Grief and Making the Therapist Laugh
S1 · E5
June 25 · 1 hr
Lucas Oakeley: Why I Wrote a Rom Com About Grief
How the writer you want to be and the writer you are aren't always the same thing
June 22 · 13 min
Hope Tala: Listener Q + A
On TikTok, Kendrick Lamar and the Message That Changed Everything
June 20 · 10 min
Hope Tala: Passage Reading – A Story To Tell
On Songwriting, Storytelling and the Creativity in All of Us
S1 · E4
June 18 · 34 min
Hope Tala: The Art of Feeling Everything
On Music, Vulnerability and Letting Go of Your Art
June 15 · 8 min
Ben Pope: Listener Q+A
Copying Your Heroes, Originality and Knock Knock Jokes
June 13 · 8 min
Ben Pope: Passage Reading — Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
A Recipe for Love and Friction
S1 · E3
June 11 · 51 min
Ben Pope: There's Less of Me Now. But In Some Ways There's More.
On Comedy, Loss and Looking After Yourself
June 8 · 8 min
Hannah Murray: Listener Q+A
Freya puts listener questions to actor and author Hannah Murray, whose memoir The Make-Believe is out now from Penguin. Hannah answers questions from listeners about her time on Skins — including the behind-the-scenes moment she'd most want to relive — and reflects on whether the qualities that made her a good actor, empathy and emotional availability chief among them, also made her more vulnerable to the experiences she writes about. She offers practical, hard-won advice for anyone attempting their own memoir: set strict time limits, move it off you physically, and don't rush — because no one else can tell your story the way you can. Plus, a poet friend's reframe of writing exhaustion that stopped both Hannah and Freya in their tracks. This is a conversation about what it costs to go back — and why the only cure for creative jet lag is getting outside. 🎥 WATCH the full episode here 📘 Buy Hannah Murray's The Make Believe and remember you can now pre-order Freya's novel: A Real Piece of Work. 💛 Follow @freybromley on Instagram for updates and to ask your questions 📚 Join Freya's newsletter at freyabromley.substack.com for behind the scenes thoughts 🎙️And hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
June 6 · 9 min
Hannah Murray: Passage Reading — The Make-Believe
On what happens when your body can't tell the difference between fiction and assault

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes