Medi-Culture Conversations

Medi-Culture Conversations

Series 2 Episode 1: John Hegley

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 John Hegley, performance poet, comedian and former poet in residence at Keats House, to explore what John Keats means to him. John reflects on how his time at Keats House became a lifeline for his wellbeing, why Keats is still celebrated two centuries on, and where science and art meet. They also look ahead to Keats at the Kirk, John’s annual birthday celebration of the poet who trained as a surgeon-apothecary at Guy’s, held in Guy’s Chapel, just metres from Keats’s statue, with friends, music and a healthy dose of the absurd.