About Josefine & Claire

Diving into the foundations of their friendship, Josefine and Claire reflect on advice that they have given to one another in the form of voice recordings, sent each morning and night over an apocalyptical year.

 

Eying each other up over large beakers of white wine and a boy-best-forgotten, Josefine and Claire began a friendship marked by no holds barred honesty and cemented by unexpected proximity – their homes overlooked the same Birmingham canal. Then came the pandemic.

 

Facing immunocompromised health (Josefine) and border uncertainty (Claire), they returned to their respective family homes in Denmark and Australia.

 

Their voice recordings begin on the first plane journey, one offering encouraging words for the other to arrive to, ending with ‘keep to yourself, I have heard there is a nasty flu around’.

 

From there, given the challenges in speaking in real time due to time differences, Josefine and Claire recorded at least one message every day for the other to wake up to. 

 

This podcast sees them reflect on their recordings, asking each other questions such as: ‘Why did you ask for that advice?’ ‘Why did you give it?’ ‘Would you still give me the same advice?’ and ‘What advice did you want to hear?’ 

 

The outcomes are moving and exposing. They critique and contradict themselves, discuss the dimensions of grief and celebrate an extraordinary friendship.

 

The recordings podcast is released mid-2022 via all major podcasting platforms. Until then, feel free to click around and learn more about Josefine and Claire.

 

Contact the authors: Dr Josefine Baark | Copenhagen, Denmark | jbaark739@gmail.com & Dr Claire French | Perth, Australia | claire@clairefrench.com