Bedside Reading

Many Different Kinds of Love

March 28, 2023 Bedside Reading Podcast Season 4 Episode 6
Bedside Reading
Many Different Kinds of Love
Show Notes

Tuesday 28th March 2023 marks the third anniversary of poet, writer, broadcaster and all round national treasure Michael Rosen's admission to hospital with Covid-19. It felt only right therefore to release this episode today.

I'm talking to GP Kirsty Shires about Michael Rosen's wonderful Many Different Kinds of Love  which documents his experiences of that time. It is such a moving and engaging book and one I'm sure I'll come back to repeatedly for teaching, for reflection and for enjoyment.

follow Kirsty on twitter https://twitter.com/shireskirsty

It's a celebration of love in some familiar different forms: Eros – Romantic love, Philia – Affectionate love. Storge – Familiar love, Pragma – Enduring love, Agape – Universal love. At the heart of the book is Michael Rosen's story told in his own voice and in the recollections of so many others from so many walks of healthcare who looked after him during that terrifying time.

Kirsty and I do talk about illness, about uncertainty and fear and of course Covid-19 itself, we hope we are celebrating the wonderful diversity of those NHS teams who worked together to care for (and love in the sense of agape and pragma) so many patients and we remember those who didn't make it too.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of those healthcare professionals who didn't make it through the pandemic. The WHO estimate there are 180 000 of you, we want to say thank you, and we remember you.