The Bla Bla Bunker

EP68 How does a polyamorous relationship work - Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir part 2

Available on Youtube with video, The Bla Bla Bunker on YT.

 

This is Part 2 of my talk with Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir in Part 1 we discussed the question "Why do people go for polyamorous relationships" 

 

On this part we discuss the topic of how does a polyamorous relationship work and what is her personal experience of polyamory. We discussed time management in a polyamorous relationship as well as how being polyamorous effects marriage. 

 

Can we love many people at the same time? 

How do you explain polyamory to your children when you are a polyamorous parent. 

 

How are polyamorous couples judged and what are the most common questions about polyamory lifestyle. 

 

Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir is an Icelandic woman who has made a career from her passion for increasing people's happiness by making relationships healthier.

 

https://www.instagram.com/sundurogsaman/

EP67 Why do people go for polyamorous relationships - Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir Part 1

Available on Youtube in video, The Bla Bla Bunker on YT

 

This is Part 1 of my talk with Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir in Part 2 we discuss How a Polyamory relationship works 

 

Þórhildur Magnúsdóttir is an Icelandic woman who has made a career from her passion for increasing people's happiness by making relationships healthier. 

She also knows all the reasons why people do go for polyamorous relationships. The focus of her work with couples is to help each individual grow within the relationship and avoid unhealthy dependencies between couples. 

 

Why do so many marriages end in divorce? 

Do people have unreal expectations from relationships? 

Is it realistic that one partner satisfies all your needs? 

Is a polyamorous marriage a good way for for people to get more of what they need?

 

https://www.instagram.com/sundurogsaman/

EP66 Rock n Roll during Communism and Keith Richard’s drawing a p3nis! - Paul Kowacz (Red Baron Band)

Paul Kowacz lives in the world of music in Prague, he plays guitar for Red Baron Band that he formed in 1993 as well as a band called 333.  

 

Paul is also an avid Vinyl collector with a personal collection of 8000 albums and counting! His passion for collecting led him to start buying and selling used vinyls from all over the world.  The vinyl is making a comeback! 

 

And he told me how his Sticky Fingers album went from being worth 200 EUR to 2000 EUR when he met Keith Richards in Prague.

 

We talked about how it was to be a music fan during the communist era when certain music was not considered appropriate, everything was on the black market and how that created communities based on trust and mutual interest. 

 

But were there some positive sides to communism?

 

We discussed many other things including how Paul can play guitar solos with the guitar behind his back and neck! (it is true, I have seen it).  

 

Who were his idols? 

Who changed music?  

Is Rock and Roll dead?

 

http://redbaronband.cz/

https://www.333band.cz/

https://www.facebook.com/Agentura-Music-69-321418161235629

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpP_iZVIcvQJ5eVKq4kNZkw

EP65 The Opera isn´t over until Adda sings - Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir

Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir (Adda) is an Icelandic mezzo-soprano Opera singer who sings at various opera houses in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

 

We talked about all things Opera, how her performance angst that she had from playing Piano disappeared when she got a microphone in her hand, how complicated Opera can be as you need to act, move and sing all at the same time as hearing the music.  How she once did not speak a word for 3 weeks and wrote everything she needed to communicate down on a paper!

 

We discussed money in Opera, #metoo, when she toured with Björk, how it is to sing at funerals, state support for the Opera and why that is needed, what are the biggest fears of an Opera singer and much much more.

 

https://www.instagram.com/arnheidureiriks/

https://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/en/profile/arnheidur-eiriksdottir-1633489

EP64 Fear and Fun can be your best friends - Jenn Lederer

Jenn Lederer is a New York City based Comedian & Keynote speaker.

Her work has been featured by SiriusXM, Forbes.com, The Huffington Post, Inspiring Lives Magazine, Google Headquarters, Yale and comedy clubs throughout New York City. Performing all over the country (virtually, too!), Jenn emcees, leads workshops and keynotes to help audiences learn how to access their most creative ideas through the physiological effects of laughter.

We discussed how Americans see Europe, how she got to be what she is, her fears, humour, why everyone is offended and how she has never felt safe in comedy which is a reality a lot of male comedians are waking up to in the wake of the Will Smith vs Chris Rock incident.

 

https://www.jennlederer.com/

https://www.youtube.com/c/JennLedererComedy

https://www.facebook.com/JennLederer.Comedian

https://www.instagram.com/jennlederer/

https://www.tiktok.com/@jennlederer

 

https://www.facebook.com/Blablabunker

EP63 It’s like selling Snow in Iceland - Marek Jirovec/Boxxi.cz

The Czech Republic population is one of the smallest consumers of fish in Europe.  So Marek Jirovec and his partners took on a mission most people would compare to trying to sell sand in the Sahara desert or snow to Icelandic people.  

 

But they have managed and built up a great company in boxxi.cz that delivers from "shore to door" some of the best fish in the world amongst others from Iceland.

 

Marek visited my podcast and we talked about Czech mentality, if Czechs should have stood up to aggression in history or if they were just very clever being small amongst giants. 

 

Why do Czechs not like Russia?  But they still have a lot of Russian friends....What about all the refugees from Ukraine?  Will that work out fine with 300.000 people already in the country which has just 10-11 million inhabitants?

 

He explained to me the bizarre Christmas tradition that the Czechs have with bringing a life carb into the home, keeping him in the bathtub for a few days and then eating it!

 

We discussed how it is to do business with Icelandic people and what are the pros and cons of that, we talked Bi Polar disease and other mental health issues which he has first hand experience from and of course how on earth he and his partner came up with the idea to try and sell fish to people who do not eat fish! 

 

https://www.instagram.com/boxxicz/

https://www.facebook.com/boxxicz

https://www.boxxi.cz/en/

EP62 War in Ukraine, Russian Narcissism and ”Baby” Comedians - Mila Kopaeva

Mila is an up and coming Russian stand up comedian living in Barcelona. 

 

***After we recorded our original episode which I had not published yet, war broke out when Russia invaded Ukraine, so I caught up with Mila again to hear what she thinks about it, how it has affected her personally and her relationship with ther family and life on stage.  

 

Mila was born in a small, North Western, Russian town called Kostomuksha which translates to "Black Revenge!" 

 

Mila felt something was off in her family but didn't really understand what it was.  After moving away from there she realised that it was Narcissistic abuse which had a massive impact on her and her way to recovery from it has only just begun. 

 

She loved arts but was forced to study economics which she hated, eventually she became a dancer...but then that career took an unforeseen turn so she started doing comedy.

 

We talked about how she got into it, and what inspires her material.  What she thinks of woke and its influence on comedy.  How are the hecklers, what can you do when the crowd is tough and how it is to be a woman in stand up comedy, what to wear and how that can impact the audience's view on you....

 

https://www.instagram.com/milashauruz/

 

EP61 The Other Jagger - Chris Jagger

Chris Jagger is a musician, actor, writer and explorer who has recorded over 100 songs, acted in multiple films and plays as well as performing music with the likes of Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and of course his older brother Mick Jagger.

 

Born in 1947 in England, Chris got into music at an early age and followed his brother around getting to hear, see and meet all the most exciting artists that were coming up in post War England.  

 

We discussed life and music, the war in Ukraine and how Chris has gone from one end of the world to the other, sometimes hitchhiking his way around.

 

How has the music changed, how was life in the Jagger family, how is it to have a brother in the biggest band in the world? How people keep comparing them. And how it was to be a taxi driver.... And a lot more.

 

You can hear some of his music in the episode.

 

Chris just released an album called Mixing up the Medicine and he also took on the task of documenting the Jagger family's story in his biography "Talking to myself".

 

 

http://www.chrisjaggeronline.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chrisjaggerofficial/

https://www.youtube.com/user/chrisjagger1

https://www.facebook.com/chrisdjagger

 

https://www.facebook.com/Blablabunker

EP60 ”Playing the Violin Gets You No Girls” - Lee Chang

From Taiwan to the American dream

 

Lee Chang is a chef and one of the owners of QQ Asian Kitchen, a family style Michelin guide fine dining restaurant in the center of Prague in the Czech Republic.

Lee grew up in Colorado where his parents emigrated from Taiwan to live the American dream.  He was supposed to be the pride of the household as the only child.  They made him play violin which was not exactly the coolest thing to do in his eyes so he gave that up and then later he surprised them by telling them he wanted to do a degree in English to which they responded "don't you speak english already?"

Through a series of random decisions Lee ended up in Prague where he opened his restaurant.

He told me how it was being the only Asian kid on the block and how Asians are doing as a minority in the US of A.  Their history is not held high as the US authorities treated Asians in ways that most people do not know about.  We discussed why Asians are so successful and how they are being used as examples of success in ways that might make them targets for hate. Lee explained to me how he used the fact that he was teased for being different as a drive to get better and stronger instead of giving up.  

And we discussed my brief adventure with Jenna Jameson

 

https://www.facebook.com/qqasiankitchen

https://www.instagram.com/qqasian/

https://www.instagram.com/qleechangq/

EP59 Uncomfortable History, Geopolitics, Ukraine and Russia - Vojtěch Ripka

Vojtěch Ripka is a Ph.D. in Political Science who specialises in the pedagogy of history, comparative social politics, methodologies of social science, communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe and transitional justice.

In this episode we discussed how history is being used as an indicator of the now and future and how people sometimes tend to want to edit history when it is uncomfortable and brutal.

We also discussed the geopolitical circumstances surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role of the EU and Nato as well as how Putin's Russia works.  Are we looking at a shift in power in the world, are democracies deteriorating and where will we go from here?

 

 

Vojtěch is involved in two interesting projects

https://historylab.cz/

 

An application that supports research teaching with historical sources in history. It focuses on the 20th century. It offers teachers and students a safe environment in which they can work creatively and not be afraid of mistakes. As a result, they acquire the skills and principles of historical thinking in a playful way, thus developing their historical literacy.

 

and 

 

https://www.socialismrealised.eu/

 

The communist experience is part of the common European identity, and therefore we have created Socialism Realised – an online learning environment that presents content aimed at a deeper understanding of the lives of the people in these regimes and a comparison of these experiences to the present.