Oxford Lives

Oxford is a wonderful city in which to live, and If you have the good fortune to call yourself a resident you are probably here because you value its incredible mix of people and cultures. However, whether local or visitor, your own personal network of friends and colleagues can only touch a small proportion of the fascinating people who call this place home.

We set up this podcast to seek out some of the individuals that we find interesting and explore their lives and stories. They are not all celebrated or well-known, but what they do and what they think add another dimension to the familiar narrative of town, gown and tourism. Hopefully you will find it an insight and an introduction to interesting and unfamiliar parts of our community.

So, relax and select someone from the cast below and get to know a bit more about a particular Oxford life.

As a compliment to our podcast we have produced a self-guided tour where we look at Oxford’s links to fantasy literature and the many writers who have lived and worked here. So if you find yourself in Oxford prepare to be whisked away to other worlds full of Hobbits, Orcs and parallel universes!

Literary Legends and Landmarks: A fantasy fiction tour of Oxford

If you have any comments or any suggestions for people to interview, please contact us at: oxford.lives@protonmail.com

Oxford Lives - Episode 19 with David Juler

Dec 23, 2018

Following on from our Remember Them event at Oxford Town Hall we caught up with David Juler, Museum Development Assistant at the Museum of Oxford. The museum is in the process of refurbishment with many exciting developments planned for the re-opening. A micro-museum currently houses a Windrush exhibition and various...

Oxford Lives - Episode 18 Armistice Event Podcast

Nov 26, 2018

A special live edition of the podcast recorded at Oxford Town Hall in conjunction with The Museum of Oxford. To coincide with The Armistice commemorations, Oxford Lives hosted a panel discussion to explore the city’s role in The Great War. Our guests were Margaret Bonfiglioli, Caroline Roaf (previous OL guests) and...

Oxford Lives - Episode 17 with Caroline Roaf

Oct 19, 2018

In the 1960s, a series of letters were found in an attic, chronicling the WW1 experiences of Pleasance Walker, a volunteer nurse who left Oxford to join the French Red Cross. Caroline Roaf discovered the letters a decade later and diligently made photocopies. Now, inspired by The Centenary, Caroline has edited and...

Oxford Lives - Episode 16 with Bill Spectre

Sep 17, 2018

Bill Spectre's award-winning Oxford Ghost Trail has been named as one of the ten best ghost tours in the world by Trip Advisor. Here we ask Bill (real name Bill Ritchie) the secrets of a successful ghost tour and why people are so drawn to ghost stories. We address some deep themes - the supernatural, human...

Oxford Lives - Episode 15 with Tanya and Jason Field

Aug 17, 2018

In this podcast we visit the MINI plant in Cowley to interview Jason and Tanya Field. Jason started as an apprentice on the plant thirty years ago and still works there as an IT/Telecoms engineer. It was here he met Tanya and both share a passion for the MINI brand, not to mention other classic cars. Here we learn about...