Age of Love – Podcast

A light-hearted, sensitive look at sexuality in older age, this audio-play is a touching tribute to Frank and Joy, and all who experience sexual difficulty. Recorded as a podcast within a podcast, it explores sex and intimacy – topics that are difficult to talk about.

Don’t blush! This podcast contains mature themes and sexual references.

The project

Sex is a sensitive topic. It’s deeply personal and, when it comes to older age, taboo.

Cultural attitudes towards sex in older age are rarely celebratory. Instead, the sexuality of older adults tends to be ignored, dismissed, or misunderstood. Such age-related discrimination can have serious implications for people’s quality of life.

The Age of Love has already turned academic research into brilliant art, when Pete McKee brought Dr Sharron Hinchliff’s research to life through his much-loved illustrated characters Frank and Joy.

For Festival of the Mind 2020, Sharron approached writer and performer Christopher Green to produce an audio play about Frank and Joy’s story.

Being asked to give them a voice was a daunting thrill. I prepared by absorbing the emotions from Pete’s work, and then reading Sharron’s original academic papers. These are full of quotations from the participants in her studies. Their voices communicate loud and clear: honest, direct and full of life. I created the podcast framework and then channelled those emotions and those voices into my version of Joy and Frank.

Christopher Green

The team