Homing

Martha Beck is a sociologist, bestselling author and one of the world’s leading life coaches. Oprah Winfrey has called her ‘one of the smartest women I know.’
Martha grew up in the Mormon community in Utah, in a home that was a source of shame for her and her siblings.
Her childhood was one of profound anxiety and depression, and she’s written openly about the abuse she experienced from her father. Those traumatic experiences led to a lifelong search for safety – and what it really means to feel at home.
In this conversation, Martha shares why beauty became a lifeline during the darkest periods of her life, how she learned to meditate despite finding it almost unbearable at first and why she believes our homes reflect our psychological state.
Martha’s Work:
Martha Beck, PhD, is a Harvard-trained sociologist, world-renowned coach and New York Times bestselling author. She has published nine non-fiction books, one novel, and more than 200 magazine articles.
Inspired by the ideas in her latest book, Beyond Anxiety, this conversation explores how play can be a powerful antidote to anxious thinking. 
To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jinny Blom is one of Britain's leading landscape designers. She has created over 700 gardens – and each one begins, in some way, with a search for security.
Jinny trained as a psychologist and psychotherapist, working for many years in mental health, before a prophetic dream prompted her to devote herself to her lifelong interest in natural landscapes and gardens.

Since then, Jinny has created spaces that promote the relationship between nature and health – from her sky garden at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to a healing garden she created with King Charles.

In this conversation, Jinny speaks openly about a childhood marked by abandonment and abuse, and how those early experiences shaped the way she experiences architecture and landscape. 

We talk about the childhood hiding place that still influences her work today, the unusual rules she follows when designing a garden, and how creating beautiful landscapes became a way of making sense of a very difficult start in life.

This episode was recorded in Jinny's converted sixteenth-century threshing barn in Oxford.
Join us over on Patreon to watch the full home tour.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

Jinny's Current Work:
Jinny’s studio has projects across various continents as well as in the UK.
Her most recent book ‘What Makes a Garden’ won Garden Book of the Year in 2024 published by Frances Lincoln/Quarto. The accompanying self-made podcast series launched in October 2023, with guests as varied as Tim Walker, Skye Gyngell and Brian Eno.
The studio has won prestigious awards for large, completed estates, some of which appear in her new book.
Jinny has launched a bespoke range of English ‘landscape colours’ designed by her specifically for use outside. She has teamed up with Dominic Myland, the owner of the family run paint maker and Royal Warrant holder Mylands. It is a unique plant-based formula for wood, metal and masonry.
To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, https://www.patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jackie Kay is an acclaimed poet and novelist, who was previously the national poet of Scotland – a role known as the Makar. She’s the author of Red Dust Road, a memoir that chronicles a twenty-year search for her birth parents.
Jackie was adopted as a baby by a white Scottish couple and grew up in suburban Glasgow. Throughout her life, she's had to explore questions of identity, belonging and family – themes that run through some of the most celebrated writing of the past forty years. 
 
In this conversation, Jackie reflects on how the love of her adoptive parents helped her navigate racism, what it means to feel at odds with your national identity, and whether it's ever possible to feel completely at home in yourself.

These discussions are intended for general information and should not be considered medical, psychological or professional advice. If you have concerns about your health or wellbeing, please consult a qualified professional.
Jackie Kay is an award-winning Scottish poet and author of Selected Poems 1991-2006, May Day and Red Dust Road.

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Architecture critic and writer Phineas Harper believes that good design and heritage belong to all of us.
Phin lives on Vanbrugh Park, a post-war council estate in Greenwich designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the architects behind the Barbican. It's a home that completely reflects Phin’s ethos: architecture doesn’t have to be fancy to enrich our lives.
Phin is deeply woven into the fabric of the neighbourhood. Together with their neighbours, they've transformed neglected corners of the estate into gardens and trained vines up the old washing posts. Every March, they all come together for a celebration called "Unlocking", where they plant a tree and share some of Phin's homemade rhubarb ice cream.
In this conversation, Phin reflects on growing up on a generic new-build estate, what it felt like to be an outsider and why they've become so passionate about repair.
Phin also reflects on the end of their long-term relationship, and how that experience transformed their understanding of what home really means.
This episode was filmed inside Phin Harper’s Greenwich Estate Flat.
Join us over on Patreon to watch the full home tour.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
More from Phin:
Phineas Harper is a roving reporter for The Modern House and Inigo. Each month, they share a digital "postcard" that celebrates the "friendly, playful, warm, cosy, squishy and joyful" side of architecture.
Follow Phin's escapades at https://www.youtube.com/@themodernhouse_films.

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, https://www.patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Does modern design shelter us, or is it cutting us off from the world? Architect Stefan Behling believes that many of today's buildings have turned us into what he calls "humans in captivity”. They keep the temperature constant, shut out the sounds and smells of the outside world, and misunderstand what it really means to be comfortable. 
 
As a senior partner at Foster + Partners, Stefan has spent more than thirty years exploring sustainable architecture and human-centric design, working on projects ranging from Apple Park in California to experimental habitats for NASA.
 
In this conversation, we explore what the science of the senses and evolutionary biology can teach us about creating spaces that genuinely support our wellbeing.
 
We discuss why constant comfort isn't always good for us, what space travel reveals about our need for nature, and why design should prioritise the psychological over the physiological.
These discussions are intended for general information and should not be considered medical, psychological or professional advice. If you have concerns about your health or wellbeing, please consult a qualified professional.

To hear more from us:
Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★