Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Francis Stewart, Implicit Religion Research Fellow at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. Francis was born just outside Belfast and we learn how she had to leave Northern Ireland in order to study World Religions. She moved to Scarborough where Theology and Religious Studies were taught at different campuses, and we discover the reason why she and her fellow students didn’t want to graduate at York Cathedral. Francis explains that she was drawn to Implicit Religion because of the fluid boundaries involved, and she talks about how in her research she has looked at how this is navigated via punk rock. Francis has written a wonderful book on this subject, called ‘Punk Rock is My Religion’, and in our interview she talks about her working class punk identity and considers the question of what she would consider to constitute ‘home’ and how her family have not always understood what ‘straight edge punk’ is. Francis’ earliest memories involve a record player and a fireplace and her