Medi-Culture Conversations

Medi-Culture Conversations

Series 2 Episode 3: Laura Tyas from the Florence Nightingale Museum

Host: Ilsa Jones

Medi-Culture Conversations is the official podcast of the Medi-Culture Festival, celebrating health, science and wellbeing in the heart of London Bridge this Autumn. Across a series of short episodes, we go beyond the festival programme to explore the ideas, research and people behind the events. From poetry and stand-up comedy to Pilates, women’s health, the science of death and the wellbeing of NHS nurses, each conversation uncovers the stories and ideas shaping how we understand health today.

Hosted by Team London Bridge, the podcast features interviews with poets, comedians, museum directors, festival organisers, local business owners and healthcare professionals. Together, we explore how culture, creativity and community can support healthier lives, and why London Bridge, from Keats’s medical training at Guy’s to Florence Nightingale’s legacy, has long been a place where medicine and innovation meet. Whether you are attending the festival or simply curious about the intersection of health and culture, Medi-Culture Conversations offers a space to slow down, learn something new, and connect with the ideas behind the programme.

In this episode, Ilsa is joined by Laura Tyas, Director of the Florence Nightingale Museum, to explore the legacy of Florence Nightingale. Laura reflects on growing up in a family of nurses, Florence’s pioneering use of statistics to change health policy, and what her own long illness might tell us about how women’s health has been understood. They also discuss Bits and Bobs, the museum’s space for conversations about women’s health, and the museum’s work with school groups.