Elizabeth Alker on Fairness, Foster Care, and Accent Stigma

Elizabeth Alker is a BBC Radio 3 presenter, and previously spent several years working at BBC Radio 6 Music.
Elizabeth spoke about growing up with parents who fostered, the role of faith in her life, fairness as a sacred value and her reflections on being northern.
Read the full transcript here: www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comm...
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:49 What is sacred to you? Elizabeth Alker answers
4:45 Growing up in Rochdale and having an open house
8:10 Questioning faith at university
11:29 How did you get into music and music journalism?
19:22 Being influenced and shaped by the people around us
21:55 Finding your way into the music industry without contacts
25:44 Highlights from your time at 6 Music
28:10 Being a Christian at the BBC and living by your values
33:19 Class, championing the North and accent prejudice
40:36 The exclusivity of classical music
43:35 Value of respect for community to flourish
45:03 Reflections from Elizabeth
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[@stephenwinter5958]

I am a big fan of Elizabeth Alker's Saturday morning show on Radio 3 and after listening to this I will be an even bigger fan. I loved the way that her camera kept jumping around. It seemed to express her engaging personality. And I loved the way that she was so natural. I would argue that being natural is hard won and I mean that in a good way. My mother was the daughter of a Cumbrian mjner and my father the son of a London black cab driver and when, thanks to a brief window in which our education system was incredibly generous I found myself at the same school as such luminaries as Roger Scruton, Paul Kingsnorth, Ian Dury and family members of cabinet ministers I put all my energy into fitting in while always feeling like an outsider. And then when I visited family in my mother's home village I walked into a chippy with my cousin chatting naturally I found that the whole place suddenly stopped to stare at me.

[@thesacredpodcast]

There have been a number of really raw conversations this series, and this has definitely been one of them. And you're right to notice that it brings out something deeper and more engaging in the conversation. Elizabeth is such a treat! Thanks for engaging and sharing your story!