Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

It was a huge pleasure this week to interview Jessica Frazier from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. We talk about representing the exotic, teaching religion and Jessica’s fascination with the meaning of life. Jessica was born in Washington D.C. and came to England when a child. Jessica reveals her apprehension of the different seasons, how she fantasized about going to Narnia as a kid, and we learn about the appeal of Thailand where it is always summer – indeed, a portal into something magical. Jessica talks about her love of ‘place’ and compares it to the love of a person. We talk about why she thinks humans are meant not to live in just one place, and we discuss idea of a place vs. the actuality. She reflects also on whether it is possible to impose nostalgia on an experience and how a change of perspective can reveal as well as romanticise the past. We talk about what solitude does to certain experiences and Jessica reflects on the notion of belonging and why she rues the day she first bought a c