Uneasy Listening: On Hearing and Being Heard

What makes a good listener?

There are a number of commonsensical ideas about what constitutes doing it well — patience, tolerance, availability, responsiveness, lack of moral judgement — but is it really so simple? Is it a skill one can easily learn or more of a quirk or talent? And why do some people seem to be so much better at it than others?

This event celebrates the release of Uneasy Listening: Notes on Listening and Being Heard by two professional listeners: psychoanalyst Anouchka Grose and violin maker Robert Brewer Young. We are honoured to welcome the authors at the Freud Museum to discuss key themes of the book, ranging from psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, contemporary politics, and culture. The discussion will be complemented with a performance by cellist Matthew Barley, who will also join the panel, chaired by author Devorah Baum.

Originally filmed on: 16 September 2022 Duration: 1hour 32mins

SPEAKERS

Anouchka Grose is a psychoanalyst and writer practising in London. She is a member of The Centre for Freudian Research, where she regularly lectures. Her books include: No More Silly Love Songs: a realist’s guide to romance (Portobello, 2010), Are you Considering Therapy (Karnac, 2011), From Anxiety to Zoolander: notes on psychoanalysis (Karnac, 2018) and A Guide to Eco-Anxiety: how to protect the planet and your mental health (Watkins, 2020). She also writes about art and fashion, and contributes to The Guardian, Radio 4, and Resonance FM.

Robert Brewer Young trained as a luthier in the artists’ studios of Carnegie Hall in New York. He has cared for numerous instruments by Stradivari, Guarnari and other Italian masters. He is now devoted to making signature instruments in the spirit of these Cremonese visionaries and to museum level conservation and scientific research. Robert is also a professor of philosophy at the European Graduate School in Switzerland.

Matthew Barley is internationally known as cellist, improviser, arranger, music animateur, and Artistic Director of Between The Notes. His musical world is focused on projects that connect people in different ways, blurring the boundaries that never really existed between genres and people. His activities in performance, improvisation, cross-disciplinary projects, composition, and pioneering community programmes have developed to form a uniquely eclectic international career.

Devorah Baum is Associate Professor in English Literature at the University of Southampton. Her books include Feeling Jewish: a book for just about anyone (Yale University Press) and the forthcoming On Marriage (Hamish Hamilton). With Josh Appignanesi she co-directed the feature film The New Man and the forthcoming sequel Husband. She guest edited the special issue of Granta #146 on ‘The Politics of Feeling’ and she has written for a range of publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Tate Etc.

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