Explore every episode of the podcast Reasons Revisited

In its first King's Speech, the Labour government said that "greater devolution of decision making is at the heart of a modern dynamic economy and is a key driver of economic growth."

Historically, why has the UK been so insistent on hoarding power centrally? And what's the potential in Westminster giving away power?

With Tony Travers (LSE), Sarah Longlands (IPPR North) and Neil McInroy (The Centre for Local Economic Strategies)

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Ed has departed for government, and Geoff is left as custodian of the archive. As the Labour government makes its first raft of announcements and appointments, we delve into our back catalogue to find the ideas which might have influenced them. 

In this episode, we look at Rachel Reeves' announcement of the National Wealth Fund. What are public wealth funds? What different forms can they take? What are the potential benefits to our country?

We revisit our episode Investment for the People from October 2022. First, we get the beginner's guide from UCL Associate Professor Josh Ryan-Collins. Then we hear from Professor Karin Thorburn about Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, which (due to specific historical circumstances) is very different to the one proposed for the UK, but illustrates how a public wealth fund could transform the way we finance Government spending. 

More info

Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

UCL IIPP Report on Public Wealth Funds

Guests

Josh Ryan-Collins, Associate Professor in Economics and Finance, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (@jryancollins) (@IIPP_UCL)

Karin Thorburn, Professor of Finance, Norwegian School of Economics (@karinsthorburn) (@NHHnor)

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We lament the passing of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and delve into the Chatteroo postbag.

We'd love to hear from you - it's your Chatteroo, too: chat@cheerfulpodcast.com

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Hello! This week we’re back to school and learning all about character education. But what is it and why is it relevant beyond the classroom too? One of the leading authorities on the topic (the Jubilee Centre) defines character education as all explicit and implicit educational activities that help young people to develop positive personal strengths or ‘virtues’. We explore what ‘good character’ means, the impact of adverse life experiences, and whether character is the key to a fairer and more compassionate society.

We speak to Bec Tigue, Head of School at the University of Birmingham School; Alex Hanratty, co-founder of ReconnectEd; and author and podcaster Bruce Daisley, who questions our typical understanding of resilience.

Plus: Has Ed finally outfoxed the fox?

Our guests

Bec Tigue, Head of School, University of Birmingham School (@UoBSCharacter)(@JubileeCentre1)

Alex Hanratty, Co-founder, ReconnectEd (@ReconnectEduc)

Bruce Daisley, Author and podcaster (@brucedaisley)

The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues

Learn more about the Jubilee Centre’s Framework for Character Education in Schools

Alex’s social enterprise ReconnectEd, helping young people at risk of exclusion

Timpson Review of School Exclusion (2019)

Buy Bruce’s book Fortitude: Unlocking the Secrets of Inner Strength 

Find out more about Bruce’s work at his website Eat Sleep Work Repeat

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Hello! Normal service has resumed on Reasons to be Cheerful following our summer break, and this week we're talking all about the charity sector. But what the heck is it? Ed and Geoff try to find out by talking to Daniel King, Professor of Organisation Studies at Nottingham Trent University. We also talk to Mita Desai, CEO of the Young Trustees Movement about why the sector needs to be more diverse at board level, and to Sarah Woodcock, CEO and Founder of the Kids Network about her journey to set up a charity.

Plus: Ed revives his Wordle obsession.

Our guests:

Professor Daniel King

Mita Desai

Sarah Woodcock

Learn more about the Young Trustees Movement

Become a mentor volunteer at the Kids Network

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Hello! For the final episode in our Existential Cheerful Summer series we’re talking to Oliver Burkeman: author, journalist and self-proclaimed ‘reformed productivity geek’ for the Guardian. We talk to him about his new book Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It which is all about why it’s empowering for us to confront our ‘finitude,’ i.e. the limited amount of time we are on this planet for. Why are we obsessed with getting everything done? Why is our modern ‘task-oriented’ relationship with time so unhelpful? And what can we learn from Rob Stewart’s love of model railways?

Buy Four Thousand Weeks here

Follow Oliver on Twitter

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Hello! This week's summer episode is all about music and our powerful relationship to it. Ed is a latecomer to music's joys, but critic, journalist and interviewer Jude Rogers has been a life-long devotee. Jude's new memoir The Sound of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives traces the pivotal moments of her life soundtracked by twelve songs. Along the way she asks psychologists, neuroscientists and sociologists why music has such an influence on our lives. Jude joined us to discuss why music activates memories, fuels self-expression and connects us to other people. 

Buy The Sound of Being Human

Read Jude's writing for the Guardian

Follow Jude on Twitter

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Hello! In the second of our summer episodes we're talking to environmental activist, author and journalist George Monbiot. Farming is the most environmentally damaging industry in the whole world, and great swathes of the Earth's surface are given over to the production of our food, particularly through grazing and feeding livestock. In his new book Regenesis: Feeding the world without devouring our planet George explores how we can develop healthier, cheaper and less damaging versions of familiar and accepted foods through the 'counter-agricultural revolution.' What is the secret to delivering radical change? And why might a pancake hold the solution to our problems?

Buy Regenesis here

Read George's columns for the Guardian here

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Hello! To kick off our season of Existential Cheerful Summer interviews we’re talking to Professor Brian Cox ahead of his UK tour ‘Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey’. Ed and Geoff chat to Brian about the big questions: black holes, how we came to be here, what it means to be human, and what we can become. What does the climate crisis mean if we’re the only civilisation in a galaxy of 400 billion stars? To bring things down to earth, Brian tells us about his music career, car parks and his pivotal role in soundtracking 1997.

Buy tickets to Brian's Tour: Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey 

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Hello! This week we're revisiting the issue of plastic pollution, something we explored for the first time in 2018. Plastic pollution affects everyone, but not equally. While progress is being made on the international stage with the recent agreement of a UN resolution to end plastic pollution, there's still a long way to go. We talk to Zaynab Sadan from WWF South Africa about how ambitious a future global treaty will be, to Jill Farrell from Zero Waste Scotland about their Deposit Return Scheme, and to Rachel Edwards from Surfers Against Sewage Port Talbot about how the issue is being tackled locally, and whether that's enough.

Plus: We find out why Ed is moderately outraged after an encounter at a Sam Fender gig.

WWF South Africa

Learn more about the UN's recent resolution to end plastic pollution

Information on Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme

Surfers against Sewage

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Hello! This week we're talking about the Climate Change Committee's recent progress report on the UK government's Net Zero targets. While they say the UK is doing well at setting targets, what about delivery? Where do we need to improve? And why are workers' rights, delivering zero carbon jobs and public engagement so crucial in our work to reduce emissions? We talk to Mike Thompson, director of analysis and chief economist at the Climate Change Committee, Mika Minio-Paluello, policy officer for industry and climate at the TUC, and Jacob Ainscough, senior research associate at Lancaster University.

Plus: Enjoy Ed and Geoff's speculation about Boris Johnson’s fate, 24 hours before (spoilers!) he resigns.

Buy tickets for Ed Miliband's Cabinet of Chaos

The full 619 page CCC report 

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Hello! This week we're talking about museums and the role they have in shaping social and political issues. Many in the museum community agree that our museums are not neutral, but what does that mean when it comes to addressing issues such as climate change, colonialism and corporate influence? We talk to Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum, Professor Laura Van Broekhoven, Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum and Professor of Museum Studies, Ethics and Material Culture at the University of Oxford and Dr Chris Garrard, Co-Director of campaign group Culture Unstained.

Plus: Geoff delves into the archives and quizzes Ed on 250 episodes of RTBC history. How well does he do?

Show notes:

Buy tickets to our live show here

Natural History Museum

Book a ticket to see Dippy

Pitt Rivers Museum

Culture Unstained

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Neuroscientist and author Tali Sharot has joined the Chatteroo to talk about her excellent new book, 'Look Again - The Power of Noticing What Was Always There' (co-written with Cass R Sunstein.) It's the habituation sensation that's sweeping the nation.

Email us! chat@cheerfulpodcast.com

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Hello! Fungi are everywhere, but most of us have never given them much of a second thought. From mushrooms to moulds, they may have the power to help with some of our trickiest problems. We talk to Merlin Sheldrake about why ignoring fungi is dangerous and what we can learn from them. Dr David Erritzoe from Imperial College discusses the potential therapeutic applications of psilocybin on depression and Fern Freud tells us about her passion for foraging for mushrooms on her doorstep.

Plus: Life is too short to stuff a mushroom it seems, as Ed stuffs peppers instead.

Buy tickets for our live show

Merlin Sheldrake

Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures

Check out the work of Imperial’s Centre for Psychedelic Research

Go on a foraging walk with Foraged by Fern

Fern’s Tik Tok page

What's Ed's mystery fungus?

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Hello! This week we’re talking about women in prison. Women make up a tiny proportion of the prison population - less than 5% - and yet their imprisonment can wreak lasting and far-reaching damage. Addressing the needs of this minority could have a significant positive impact, say Kate Paradine, CEO of Women in Prison, Paula Harriott, Head of Prisoner Engagement at the Prison Reform Trust and Mel Evans from No Births Behind Bars.

Plus: Ed’s gearing up for a festival special.

Buy tickets for our live show here on 17th July here

Women in Prison

Prison Reform Trust

Paula’s podcast the Secret Life of Prisons

No Births Behind Bars, sign the petition 

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Hello! This week we’re revisiting a topic we’ve examined before: the role of the ultra-wealthy in our society. The Patriotic Millionaires movement recently lobbied in Davos for governments around the world to tax them more. We talk to Gemma McGough from Patriotic Millionaires about why it’s important for the rich to speak up, to Stephanie Brobbey about how wealthy people can become ‘good ancestors’, and to Derek Bardowell about taking funders and philanthropists on an educational journey to see the light about systemic change.

Plus: Ed admits the real reason he likes cycling to work and Geoff’s personalised number plate secret is finally outed.

Buy tickets for the live show on 17th July here

Listen to our 2017 episode ‘Who wants to tax a millionaire’

Listen to our 2019 episode ‘For richer, for super richer: taxing the ultra wealthy’

Patriotic Millionaires UK

The Good Ancestor Movement

Ten Years’ Time

Why Philanthropy Isn’t The Answer (with Anand Giridharadas), Pitchfork Economics Podcast

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Hello, as part of Cheerful Book Club we're welcoming our first ever Pulitzer Prize winner onto the show. Andrea Elliott talks about her new book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in New York City. Almost a decade in the making, the book follows a young girl, Dasani, as she grows up without a home in New York City. We talk to Andrea about what it's like to win a Pulitzer, the role of the journalist, Obama and her reasons for hope and optimism.

Plus: Ed has crossed the pond and we hear about an improbable new sport for Geoff to turn his hand to.

Buy tickets for our live show here: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/reasons-to-be-cheerful-live/

Andrea's book, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in New York City https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1447200/invisible-child/9781529151169.html

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Hello! This week we’re talking about the accessibility of public land and the Right to Roam campaign. Only 8% of land in England is accessible to the general public and one-third of land is still owned by the aristocracy. We talk to Nick Hayes about the history of this archaic system and the Right to Roam Campaign; Nadia Shaikh about barriers to accessing nature and the countryside for people of colour; and Jon Moses about how we get to a future where more of our land is accessible to all.

Plus: Ed and Geoff bring kleptomaniac seagulls and fugitive flamingos to justice and why the aubergine revolution is now in motion

Right to Roam Campaign: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/

Kinder in Colour: https://kinderincolour.land/

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Hello! This week we’re talking about health inequalities. The evidence has long been clear that your life circumstances determine how long and how healthy your life will be. Over the last decade, life expectancy has stalled and the pandemic has amplified existing inequalities. In the face of this bleak prognosis, we look for optimism with the leading academic on the topic Professor. Sir Michael Marmot, who tells us about the social factors that determine health; Christina Gray, Member of the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and Director for Communities and Public Health for Bristol on the importance of community cohesion; and Chris Thomas, Principal Research Fellow at IPPR about the links between health and economic prosperity.

Plus: Geoff talks Star Wars and Ed tells us about his run-in with the Chancellor.

Show notes:

Buy tickets for the live show on 17th July here: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/reasons-to-be-cheerful-live/

Ed's speech in the Commons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjtXbwi-2Qg

Fair Society, Healthy Lives (The Marmot Review, 2010): https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review

Marmot Review 10 Years On (2020): https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on

Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review (2021): https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/build-back-fairer-the-covid-19-marmot-review

Ambition Lawrence Weston: https://www.ambitionlw.org/

IPPR: Introducing the Commission on Health and Prosperity (2022): https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/health-and-prosperity

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Hello! This week we’re talking about dyslexia—how we need to improve its recognition in our society and understand the contribution people with dyslexia can make. At least 1 in 10 people in the UK are estimated to have dyslexia and are still facing barriers to inclusion in the classroom, the workplace and society more broadly. We speak to Andy Cook from the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Kate Griggs from Made by Dyslexia and Rob Jennings from the Dyscalculia Network about the power of dyslexic thinking, celebrating neurodiversity and how it’s not just about facing challenges with spelling.

Plus: Ed has been interacting with rogue birdlife again and we hear about Geoff’s time moonlighting as an estate agent.

Links from the episode

The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity: https://www.helenarkell.org.uk/

Dyscalculia Network: https://www.dyscalculianetwork.com/

Made by Dyslexia: https://www.madebydyslexia.org/

Kate's TEDx talk: The Creative Brilliance of Dyslexia | Kate Griggs | TEDxBrighton

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we’re looking at the government's proposal to sell off broadcaster Channel 4. Started in the 80s with a remit to commission unique and original programming from independent production companies, Channel 4 has been informing and entertaining us for decades. To find out why the government would want to privatise Channel 4 now, and how it will impact both audiences and production companies, we’re joined by Guardian Media Editor, Jim Waterson, Former Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 and now President of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, Dorothy Byrne, and founder of True Vision production company, Brian Woods. 

Plus, Geoff is home alone ...

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we’re looking at the huge cost of childcare, an often ignored part of the cost of living crisis. New research has found that almost two thirds of families are paying more, or the same, for their childcare as they do their rent or mortgage, with one in four parents saying they had to cut down on food, heat and clothing to afford childcare. To find out how this compares to other countries and discuss what can be done to help parents, we’re talking to friend of the pod and researcher Christine Berry, Dr Kate Hardy from the University of Leeds, and Joeli Brearly, who founded the charity Pregnant Then Screwed.

Plus, Ed’s Make Your Own Sandwich shop gets a reinvention

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Hello! America has seen a wave of recent union victories by Amazon and Starbucks workers, and this week we’re looking at why they’ve succeeded where many others have failed, and what UK unions can learn. We’re joined by Starbucks organiser Casey Moore, Director of CLASS, Ellie Mae O’Hagan and General Secretary of Prospect Union, Mike Clancy.

Plus, Geoff celebrates his birthday! 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Includes a Presidential belch, life lessons from toddlers, the grace of a giraffe, and the Village People.

We need your email to fuel the Chatteroo! chat@cheerfulpodcast.com

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Happy Easter! To celebrate, we have a special episode on the magic of the wildlife on our doorstep. 83% of us live in urban areas and are surrounded by myriad known and not-so-well known wildlife wonders including birds, insects, hedgehogs and yes, foxes and rats. 

But our furry and flying city-dwellers are vital to our ecosystems, and there are untold joys and benefits of paying more attention to them, so says author of Wild City, Florence Wilkinson and the one and only David Lindo, also known as the Urban Birder, who joined Ed and Geoff this week. 

Find out why foxes are causing Ed a headache and birds are staying away from Geoff’s garden. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Newsround, and finding out how the way our children get their news has changed over the years. To celebrate the milestone, we’re joined by Newsround Editor Lewis James, and to hear more about other ways kids access current affairs, we’re joined by Anna Bassi, Editorial Director of The Week Junior, and founder of Picture News, Kate Harrison.

PLUS we have a very special dispatch from our local correspondent, Gene (Geoff’s son).

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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This week we’re going behind the headlines on the so-called Great Resignation - which has seen record numbers of job vacancies advertised as people leave and move roles. 

Has Covid really revolutionised the world of work? And who is benefiting from the changes?

To find out, we’re joined by Joe Fuller from Harvard Business School, David Zentler-Munro from the University of Essex, and Abigail Adams-Prassl from the University of Oxford. 

Plus Geoff is back (sat down) at a gig.

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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This week we’re giving Ed another reason to talk about his swimming, and diving into our rivers. Rivers are such an important part of our landscape, ecosystems and communities. They provide two thirds of our water supplies and support a vast array of wildlife, but are in bad shape. Only 14% of our rivers pass the bar for ecological health, and farming, water industry and the climate crisis are all making things worse.

To find out more and hear what’s being done to protect and preserve our rivers, we’re joined by Alastair Chisholm from the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management, Christine Colvin from the Rivers Trust and Alec Taylor from WWF.

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week Ed and Geoff are off to the pictures, as they find out how cinemas have survived covid, and why they’re still so important to our communities and culture. To usher them through the episode they’re joined by Phil Clapp, CEO of trade body the UK Cinema Association, Kevin Markwick, who runs 2 independent cinemas successfully, and star of stage and screen, Fiona Shaw.

Plus Ed and Geoff share their earliest cinema memories. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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This week we’re looking at energy storage, and the technologies being developed to improve how we store and use renewable energy. Clean energy storage is vital to decarbonising the economy, so to get to grips with it we have Jillian Ambrose, energy correspondent at the Guardian, Simon Skillings from E3G, and Nina Skorupska from The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean technologies.

Plus, Ed’s been bothering people on public transport (again).

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we’re joined by podcasting royalty, as David Runciman, host of Talking Politics, joins Ed and Geoff for his victory lap. After 6 years, David and co-host Helen Thompson are hanging up their headphones on one of the smartest political podcast of our time. Ed and Geoff find out why they’re stopping in the middle of arguably one of the most important political moments of a generation, who David’s favourite interview was, and why his love for audio means this is far from the last we’ll hear from him. 

Plus, Geoff can’t get unstuck. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we're looking at the legislation passing through parliament which would have British Sign Language recognised as an official language in the UK. Eighty-seven thousand people in the UK say BSL is their preferred language, but they are discriminated against in everyday life, from using essential services to speaking to doctors, their local council or at work. 

To find out how this Bill could help make the UK more accessible to BSL users, we're joined by David Buxton, Chair of the British Deaf Association, Ben Fletcher, who was the first deafblind candidate for MP, and Chloe Smith MP, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work.

Plus Ed reveals his missed opportunity is Silicon Valley. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

A full transcript of this episode is available on our website, and the interviews will be uploaded to our YouTube channel this week. 

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Hello! This week we’re talking about the crisis of fuel poverty as people are hit by rocketing energy bills.

Torsten Bell from the Resolution Foundation sets the incoming energy bill rises in context, Adam Scorer from National Energy Action tells us how people are facing the crisis up and down the country, and Dr Elizabeth Blakelock shares some interesting solutions which have been trialled to help those most in need. 

Plus Geoff drops a Wordle brag on Ed. 

And here's the link to Gabrielle Shammash's article about UK Politics as breifly mentioned in the episode https://www.theindy.org/article/2578

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we're discussing the impacts of the climate crisis on our mental health, and how we can support ourselves and each other in response. 

From the trauma of the effects of extreme weather events like floods and droughts, to worrying about climate change in our every day lives, there’s a growing body of evidence which shows more and more of us are struggling.

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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The calm before the swarm, your email, and Ed shares his music lesson trauma.

Email us! chat@cheerfulpodcast.com

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/mar/14/theres-joy-i-havent-felt-for-years-how-i-got-hooked-on-the-piano-craze

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Hello! This week we’re looking at the role of Magistrates in our justice system. Little is widely known about the volunteer system which presides over 90% of criminal cases, and as the government launches a campaign to get 4,000 new magistrates to apply, we find out how what more can be done to raise awareness and increase diversity. We’re joined by chair of the Young Magistrates Network, Luke Rigg, criminal lawyer Raj Chada and Penelope Gibbs, founder of Transform Justice. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we're looking at the circular economy, a system that could transform our lives and contribute mightily towards reducing carbon emissions. In the UK, per person we produce the second highest amount of electronic waste by throwing away our unwanted phones and laptops.

In a circular economy, we reduce usage of materials, reuse them and recycle. To help us understand the circular economy we're joined by Patrick Shroeder from Chatham House, Susan Evans from the Green Alliance, and Malena Sell from Sitra, the innovation company helping Finland towards its goal of eliminating waste by 2050. Plus, Ed's got a new thermometer and Geoff's becoming a social butterfly.

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Hello! This week we’re joined by the wonderful Jon Ronson for a special episode. The acclaimed journalist, documentary maker and author, talks to Ed and Geoff about his new podcast series ‘Things Fell Apart’, which explores the extraordinary human stories behind the origins of what have become known as the culture wars. Ed gets into the kitchen, and Geoff develops an unlikely crush. 

Email your comments, questions and episode ideas to reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or at www.cheerfulpodcast.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

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Hello! This week we head for the peatlands, get in the sea, and go in search of UK's lost rainforests to explore ecosystems beyond the trees. Could restoring these habitats play a significant part in achieving net-zero? And what else needs to be done to tackle the UK's nature crisis?

Joining us are Kate Jennings (with a canine cameo), Guy Shrubsole and Richard Unsworth. 

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Happy New Year! To start 2022, Ed and Geoff talk to one of the UK’s most acclaimed and prolific scriptwriters, Jack Thorne (Help, Kiri, His Dark Materials, The End of History, This Is England.) Jack is a co-founder of Underlying Health Condition - a pressure group campaigning for proper inclusion and representation of disabled people in the entertainment industry. Jack talks about his own experience of disability, his career, his politics, and he gives Geoff a break from being Ed’s personal TV recommendation service. 

Read Underlying Health Condition’s report: https://underlyinghealthcondition.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/finalised-underlying-health-condition-report-tv.pdf

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In the fourth and final episode about how progressive victories were won, we're taking a look at the introduction of the national minimum wage. It feels unthinkable now that there shouldn't be a minimum rate that workers are paid, but it wasn't too long ago that hourly rates of £1 or £1.50 were commonplace. The road to a national minimum wage was long and winding but campaigning, persuasive leadership, new academic thinking all helped to create something that's become part of the fabric of working life in the UK.

To help us understand the history of the labour market, what pre-minimum wage Britain was like, and who the key players were in the fight we're joined by historian Sheila Blackburn, Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool. We're also honoured to be joined by Margaret Beckett MP who served as Secretary of State for Trade & Industry under Tony Blair from 1997 and also by Gavin Kelly, Chair of the Living Wage Commission who joins us to talk about where the minimum and living wage conversation goes from here.

Plus, Geoff asks Ed for advice on some split loyalties between his wife, and the dry cleaner.

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In the latest episode of our series about progressive advances, we're taking a look at the history of the fight for race equality in the UK. It is one that goes back centuries but we want to explore what progress has really been made in modern times and what have been the drivers--the combination of activism, movements, law and cultural change both in the UK and abroad.

This week's guests are historian and activist Patrick Vernon, Sunder Katwala director of the think tank British Future and Diane Abbott ---we hear her story of being the first black woman to be elected to Parliament. 

Plus, Ed and Geoff discuss hair salon etiquette.

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A flurry of email prompted by last week's episode, plus cheerful nuggets from John Kerry's New York Times exit interview, the age at which jeans become inappropriate, and an Oscars-themed quiz.

Send us an email: chat@cheerfulpodcast.com

John Kerry: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/opinion/john-kerry-climate-change-china.html

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In the second of our episodes about how progressive victories were won, we're looking at gender equality and why the Nordic nations seem to be so far ahead of most of the world. What is it about the culture, society, and politics of the region? What role did women's movements play? And is there something in the water/snow, or can it inspire us to do better?

To help us understand the history and policy of the region, we're joined by Mari Teigen - a research professor at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo. Kristín Ástgeirsdóttir, a former member of Parliament and member of the famous Red Stocking Movement joins us from Iceland, and we're joined by Dr Alison Parken lecturer at Cardiff University Business School and an independent research consultant to understand how the UK can learn from the Nordics—- and how Wales already is.

Plus, Geoff quizzes Ed for some advice on a sensitive matter

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We're doing a little shimmy, into the past. In the first part of our mini-history series on how progressive victories were won, we're looking at the NHS. How did this complex institution, that's beloved in the UK and revered around the world, manage to even get off the ground? Who were the key players? How did they win over opposition (and why was some of that from doctors)? And what role did the crisis of world war play in shifting hearts and minds?

To help us unpick the past we're joined by historians and experts on policy Sally Sheard from the University of Liverpool and Nick Timmins, author of The Five Giants, A biography of the Welfare State, then to help understand where the NHS goes from here is Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation.

Plus, find out about Ed's latest sartorial swimming accessory as we welcome him back to earth from planet Cop and spare a thought for Geoff as he very publicly misjudges his choice of outfit.

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