Petra Barran

Petra Barran is a pavement pounder and juice seeker whose life and career has been driven by her love of people and following her gut. From sailing the seas as a stewardess on superyachts to exploring the UK in her choc-mobile; geeking out on cities via an Urban Studies masters to creating the UK’s first street food collective. She then founded street food organization, KERB, in 2012 and stepped away in 2023, following a pull to get closer to the ground. She is the host of Lowlines, where she is building a place to explore this.

In 10 words or less, what is Lowlines? 
A sonic scrapbook that tunes into the pulse of place

If you could describe your emotion before Lowlines in one word, what would it be? What would it be like after the show? 
Before making it/getting back out there in the world? Hollow 

After making it/releasing it? Reconnected

What was the most challenging thing when making this show? How did you overcome it?
Making it reality - before I found a team, trying to do it alone, just my own sense of wanting to share these stories in a natural and immersive way and realizing how tenuous that was with nobody but me expecting it. But I didn't want to be that guy who had gone round and given it the biggun to all my interviewees and hadn't come through. I doubled down and found my team and then the opportunity/challenge was shared/alive! Moral of the story: isolation is a dream killer

What are you hoping listeners take away from Lowlines? 
A feeling, a reverb, a reminder of the joy of strangers and of following what magnetizes you

Who would your dream podcast collaborators be?
Sophie Strand, Emma Warren (author Dance Your Way Home), author Hanif Abdurraqib, urbanist Richard Sennett

What are you listening to, that you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Honestly, I'm in a bit of a podcast lull right now. I need recommendations! I'm longing for more Home of the Brave installments - or Bottom of the Map with Regina Bradley. I keep an ear out for interviews with any of the people in the previous question. I love the spaciousness of the interviews Rick Rubin does. On audiobook, I enjoyed Questlove's Creative Quest for a dynamic listen. Currently I am eating up Humanize by Thomas Heatherwick.

Thanks, Petra!