S8 E3: Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva on Sharing Silences

“I learned to share silences, paying attention to things that I did not understand, and there was no chance to ask, but just being there was enough to enjoy it. This was deeper than any words I wished to use. Life was suddenly filled with humble adventures.” Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva

When Graciela first shared this reflection with me during our 2023 conversation on Tea, Toast & Trivia, I sensed that she was speaking from a place beyond explanation. Not offering conclusions. Not trying to persuade. Simply describing what happens when we learn to stay present long enough for meaning to emerge on its own.

She is an Argentine artist now based in Los Angeles, with murals and public works spanning cities across the world. Her characters, colours, and stories live not only on walls, but in the daily rhythms of the communities that encounter them. Whether in bustling urban centres or quieter neighbourhoods, her work invites pause, recognition, and gentle curiosity. Since that conversation, Graciela’s creative life has continued to unfold on a truly international scale.

I’ve recently reconnected with Graciela, and once again I’m struck by how naturally she moves between inner reflection and outward action. Her practice still begins with characters and story, but it is grounded in a deep respect for the shared space of public art and the people who live alongside it.

Graciela has just completed a major new mural as part of the Doha Walls Festival in Qatar. Alongside the finished work, she developed a thoughtful public workshop, a kind of “warm-up”, designed to help people cultivate what she calls Explorer’s Eyes. Her intention was both generous and quietly radical: to offer viewers tools for seeing more deeply, even if they encounter the mural later online, far from the wall itself.

For Graciela, street art has always been collective. Once a mural enters the world, it no longer belongs solely to the artist. It belongs to the people who walk past it, live with it, and carry it forward in memory. This recent project reflects that philosophy beautifully, extending the conversation beyond the wall and into shared reflection.

For those discovering her for the first time, this republished podcast episode offers a gentle introduction to her way of thinking, creating, and listening. And for those who have followed her work over the years, it feels like a return, not backward, but deeper.

I’m delighted to share that Graciela has promised to come back for a new conversation, where we’ll talk about this latest project, her evolving practice, and how creativity can hold wonder, compassion, and fragility all at once.

So I invite you to put the kettle on. Settle in. And listen with the part of you that knows how to share silence and recognize a humble adventure when it appears.

Rebecca

Music by Epidemic Sound

Finding Rain by Emily Rubye

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/2bb07938-482d-34c5-9103-17827c3ae792/

A Conversation with Eglund

Welcome to Tea, Toast & Trivia.

I’m Rebecca Budd, and I’m so glad you’re here. I look forward to sharing this moment with you.

Today’s conversation marks the beginning of a new journey for us. One that reaches across generations, languages, and lived experience. We are beginning a series titled Faust: Unravelling the Great Enigma, and I can think of no better person to open this exploration with than our guest, Eglund, joining us from Germany.

For Eglund, Faust is not simply a great literary work encountered later in life. It is part of the cultural air he grew up breathing. Like every German schoolchild, he learned Faust in school. He recited passages in class. He absorbed its presence long before he could fully grasp its depth.

But Faust did not remain a school text for him.

The copy Eglund owns today once belonged to his mother, a quiet, tangible inheritance. And it was only years later, as an adult, that he truly understood what Faust was asking of him. Not as an examination subject, not as a cultural obligation, but as a living work, one that speaks differently at different stages of life.

That, to me, is one of Faust’s great truths. This is not a work we “finish.” It is a work we return to.

In this first conversation, Eglund shares what it means to grow up with Faust, to carry it unconsciously for years, and then to meet it again, awake, questioning, and deeply aware of how urgently it speaks to our modern moment. We talk about inheritance, memory, education, and the strange way certain books wait patiently until we are ready to hear them.

This podcast is not about mastery. It is about companionship. We are entering Faust slowly, thoughtfully, and together, allowing it to ask its questions without rushing toward answers. If you are new to Faust, you are welcome here. If you have carried it quietly for years, you are welcome too.

Let us begin.

Rebecca

Music by Epidemic Sound

Whisper of the Pines by Howard Harper-Barnes

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/8b2cd55e-c124-37a8-87a0-d1df75911e12/

S8 E2: Dave Astor On Books Keep Us Centered

In a world that moves quickly, speaks loudly, and rarely pauses for reflection, books continue to offer something quietly radical: steadiness. They slow us down. They ask us to listen. They remind us that complexity has always existed and that human beings have long turned to stories, ideas, and language to make sense of it all.

Today on Tea, Toast & Trivia, I’m delighted to welcome back Dave Astor for a thoughtful conversation about how books help keep us centred in uncertain times. This is not a discussion about reading lists or literary trends, but about reading as companionship, as a way of orienting ourselves when the world feels fragmented, overwhelming, or simply too fast.

Together, we explore why books still matter, how reading creates inner stillness, and what happens when we give ourselves permission to step away from the noise and return to the page. It’s a conversation about humour, empathy, attention, and the deep human need for stories that help us live with greater clarity and care.

So pour yourself a cup of tea, settle into a comfortable chair, and join us. This is a gentle reminder that even in a complex world, there are places we can return to, and books are often among the most faithful.

Rebecca

Music by Epidemic Sound

“No River Wide Enough” by Airae

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/25d1f5fb-ac34-3626-981a-a57d2740a1eb/