Homing

Artist Sue Webster built a career and a home by refusing to fit in — it’s why she identifies with the Mole Man so much. 

She found fame alongside her husband Tim Noble, as part of the post-YBA generation — their anarchic self-portraits, made from found objects and discarded rubbish, made them the “rock stars” of British art. Together they built the Dirty House in Shoreditch, which helped define the area as the epicentre of London's art scene.

More recently, Sue has created an equally radical home for herself: the Mole House in Hackney, built on top of the tunnels where the so-called Mole Man spent forty years digging underground. Where some saw an oddity, Sue saw something worth preserving. The house is a love letter to eccentricity, and a rare pocket of creative chaos in an increasingly polished city.
From growing up in a caravan in Leicester to carving out a place in the art world and becoming a mother at 52, Sue’s story is one of fierce independence and how to live a life that is truly authentic to yourself.

Sue's first solo exhibition, Birth of an Icon, is on show at Firstsite in Colchester.
A full tour of The Mole House is available to members on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

To hear more from us:

YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at [email protected]

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office 
Produced by @podshoponline

The full video home tour is available to members on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Most of us think we need more — more space, more things, more possessions. Japanese architect Takero Shimazaki believes we may already have enough.
Takero has designed some of the most elegant private houses in Britain, including one that was nominated for the Stirling Prize. His buildings are never grand or showy. Instead, they are thoughtful and restrained.

He grew up in Japan, where there’s a long tradition of embracing imperfection and accepting that materials age naturally. His grandfather — also an architect — taught him that light and proportion shape not just a building, but how we feel inside it. It’s a philosophy Takero has carried with him ever since.

When his father died two years ago, he found himself confronting a simple but liberating truth: we don’t really own anything. Today, he tries not to own much. He still wears the cashmere jumpers he inherited from his grandfather.

In this conversation, Takero reflects on the Japanese idea of “enough” — the belief that most of us already have what we need. He speaks about his own modest Victorian house and about how good design can create spaces that feel calm and private even in the middle of a dense city.

This is a conversation about impermanence, intention, and how taking care of the things around us allows them, in turn, to take care of us.
To hear more from us:

YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
TikTok: @homing.with.matt
Contact: Email us at [email protected]

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office 
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

For fashion designer turned ceramicist Henry Holland, reinvention isn't about starting over – it's about evolving on your own terms.
Henry first made his name with the cult fashion label House of Holland, famous for cheeky slogans like 'Do Me Daily Christopher Bailey' and 'Let's Breed Bella Hadid'. But in recent years, he has pivoted to making homewares and contemporary ceramics, using the Japanese technique of nerikomi.
With his East London house currently being refurbished from top to bottom, Henry is living in a home of two halves. It’s the perfect metaphor for this transitional stage of his life.
His parents separated when he was young, and he split his time between the two households. One was ordered and structured, while the other was more creative. It’s clear that he lives his life today with the influence of both.
There’s the playful version of him that we’ve seen pictured at parties. But there’s also a deeply determined side that’s about proving people wrong, which partly stems from the bullying he experienced when he was young.
 
Henry is not afraid to reveal his sensitivities, opening up about everything from panic attacks and imposter syndrome to the disappointment he felt when his fashion brand closed down in 2020.
 
This is a conversation about reinvention, resilience and the tension between who we’ve been and who we’re becoming.
This episode was recorded inside Henry’s home in East London.
A full tour of the house is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
To hear more from us:

YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at [email protected]

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office 
Produced by @podshoponline

The full visualised home tour is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We think of home as our ultimate refuge – a sanctuary from the noise and pollution of the outside world. But what if the space meant to protect us is actually the one we should be questioning most?

Dr. Jenny Goodman, a practitioner of ecological medicine, has spent years examining how modern life exposes us to toxins and sharing practical steps we can take to reduce exposure.

Jenny breaks down the "cocktail effect" of everyday cleaning products, the common mistakes we make with food storage and the reason she chooses a Wi-Fi-free domestic life.

This isn’t a conversation about getting everything right. No home is entirely free from toxicity, and it’s about personal choice. But Jenny teaches us the importance of paying closer attention to our surroundings – and making small, considered changes that may have a positive impact in the long term.

Please note: the views expressed in this episode are those of the guest and are not intended as medical advice.

To hear more from us:

YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
TikTok: @homing.with.matt
Contact: Email us at [email protected]

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office 
Produced by @podshoponline

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Beyond the whirlwind of galleries and exhibitions, Tate Director Maria Balshaw's home holds the quieter, deeply personal moments of her life.
Growing up in Northampton, she longed to escape her characterless new-build house and nurtured a desire to be different. Her current home in Kent is a reflection of that creative rebellion, with medieval beams at its centre, classical sash windows on one side and Crittalls on the other.
Maria grows vegetables in her garden year-round, swims in the sea nearby, and measures time by what’s coming into flower – a way to be at one with nature and shed the stress of an urban working week.
Her mother spent her final months in this house, sitting on the terrace in the sun, watching buzzards circle the valley, convinced one of them was her late husband waiting for her.
At the end of March, Maria is stepping down from her position at the Tate after nine years, signing off with a major Tracey Emin exhibition. She knows exactly where she’ll be the following morning: in the garden, in her wellies, at the start of the growing season.
This is a conversation about movement and rootedness – and about what it means to build a home that can hold both.
This episode was recorded inside Maria’s home in Kent.
A full tour of the home and garden is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
To hear more from us:

YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version
Instagram: @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at [email protected]
Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496
Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office Produced by @podshoponline
The full visualised home tour is available to our Patreon community.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★