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! Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, Oh I do....BUT, 11 million people live in coastal communities across the UK but for too long they’ve been getting a bad deal. This week we’re exploring the New Economic Foundation’s plans for a major coastal industrial strategy: the ‘Blue New Deal’. We’re joined by Fernanda Balata from the NEF to explain the proposals. Then Nick Taylor from Scarborough and Sam Scriven from the Jurassic Coast talk about how investing in coastal economies and the natural environment can work in practice.
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Comedian and impressionist Jess Robinson brings us new rules for the Geoffocracy, all difficult topics are now sung, no more automated called, no more dill, no more seeds in raspberries, no more confusion about how many kisses during greetings
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Hello! Facebook, Amazon, Ed and Geoff… some empires are in the public interest, some not so much.... In this episode we explore an idea gaining traction in the US: using competition laws to break up the tech giants. From the Open Markets Institute, we’re joined by the ‘Captain America of anti-trust’ Barry Lynn and former anti-trust enforcer Sally Hubbard who explain the proposals. Then LSE law expert Niamh Dunne talks us through how it could all work in the UK.
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Comedian Fin Taylor drops by to plug his upcoming wedding, and asked the Geoffocracy to consider national Service to work to save the environment, takeaway breakfasts, ban on chain stores in towns, #hashtagtattoo and quiet carriages in pubs
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Hello! What can we do about the scandal of growing in-work poverty in the UK? This week we hear inspiring stories from campaigners both here and across the pond who have pushed employers to end low pay. Tyree Johnson from Fight for $15 talks about winning a $15 minimum wage in Illinois. The Living Wage Foundation’s Lola McEvoy tells us how we can get involved in the living wage campaign in our workplaces. And Ed’s ParkRun pal (and director of the Resolution Foundation) Torsten ‘Torstiekins’ Bell explains what government can do to tackle the problem.
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Comedian Pierre Novellie takes away free journalism, makes statistical lessons compulsory, mouth noises are now banned and cars are licensed like guns now
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Hello! Do you know where your pension is being invested? The divestment movement has a simple idea: persuade pension funds and others to get out of fossil fuels to meet the climate emergency. Its grown from a student campus campaign to one involving trillions of dollars worth of assets. We discuss divestment and shareholder engagement with Adam Matthews, Director of Ethics Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, Yossi Cadan, Global Senior Divestment Campaigner at 350.org and Catherine Howarth, Chief Executive of ShareAction who explains how you can be part of this global movement.
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Beatboxing comedian Beardyman wants to reset the Earth, change up democracy... and get Ed and Geoff beatboxing
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Hello! It's taken us 70+ episodes but we're diving into the question of drink--our country's (unhealthy) relationship with alcohol, which is costing billions of pounds a year and ruining lives. Angela McShane, alcohol historian at the Wellcome Trust, gives us a fascinating history lesson, then Jon Ashworth MP, Shadow Health Secretary, tells us his personal story of having an alcoholic parent (a problem that affects at least 200,000 children today) followed by Richard Piper CEO of Alcohol Change with the solutions--from minimum pricing to investing in alcohol services to the end of sober-shaming of non-drinkers by too many people...you know who you are. Bottom line: it's not about preaching but about a massive change in culture and policy.
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Hello! Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to Iceland they go. Geoff and Ed went for a weekend and came back with tales aplenty to be cheerful about. World-leading gender equality six-hour working day experiments, punk rockers turned politicians and stories of trolls, elves and the ‘hidden people’. Hear the lessons we should learn from the Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, and many others in this special episode.
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Hello! We got out of Geoff's loft and onto Parliament Square to join the many thousands of young people worldwide protesting about climate change and we also talk about what could be a big part of the answer: A Green New Deal (GND). We explain what it is and how it seeks to put economic and social justice at the heart of the fight against climate change with Ann Pettifor, one of the originators of the idea more than ten years ago and Zack Exley, US Co-Founder of Justice Democrats that supported Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has put the GND on the map in the US,
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Comedian Olga Koch is rebranding cooperation tax, applying the impartiality of football referees to combat fake news and incentivising voting with prizes.
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Hello! What should we do about the gaping inequalities in our society and the top 1 percent? Can we get them to pay more tax and how? We hear from a member of the top .01% US entrepreneur Nick Hanauer who wants radical measures aimed at people like him and Rutger Bregman, author and historian, who went viral when he called out ‘Davos man’ a couple of weeks back.
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Comedian Rosie Jones wants everyone to have to experience 24 hours of being disabled, Segways for all and a roof on the country
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Hello! This week we're looking into the chasm in our divided nation and wondering if there is a way to bridge the gap...if anyone can help it’s our guests. Jo Hiley who worked for Hope Not Hate helped bring together people from Brixton in London and Boston in Lincolnshire, divided by Brexit, but united by much else. Ciaran O'Connor & John Wood Jr from Better Angels in the United States tell us how they use methods from family therapy as their technique for getting political opponents to find common ground. Plus Marina Cantacuzino from The Forgiveness Project.
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Comedian Imran Yusef wants financial education, first aid taught in schools and a zero tolerance on public nuisances
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Hello! Around 7% of the population is educated in private schools but they are disproportionately represented at top universities and in society's most coveted professions. What is the impact of private schools on our overall education system and our society and what, if anything could or should be done about it? David Kynaston, author of new book "Engines of Privilege: Britain’s Private School Problem" and Melissa Benn, author of 'Life Lessons' join us. Plus we hear from renowned educationalist Pasi Sahlberg on how Finland dealt with its private school issues and succeeded in achieving both greater equality and educational excellence.
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