Stay ConnectedAn occasional series revisiting conversations and ideas from Reasons to be Cheerful (2017-2024), formerly hosted by ex-Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, and Sony Award-winning radio presenter Geoff Lloyd.
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Copyright: © Cheerful
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:
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?
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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.
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.
Learn more about the UN's recent resolution to end plastic pollution
Information on Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme
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Hello! For the first time in over two years, Ed and Geoff are back together for a live show! It's been a quiet few weeks in British politics, so we thought we'd take the chance to think nostalgically about what chaos with Ed Miliband might look like. To dissect the current political situation, what's next for the Conservatives and how progressives should respond, we spoke to Rosie Carter, David Gauke, David Runciman and Faiza Shaheen. Ed and Geoff are also joined by special guest, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. He discusses collective city action on climate change, buses and of course, Luna, his canine sidekick.
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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
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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
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