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Funny Old World with Juliet Kinsman
Funny Old World with Juliet Kinsman episodes
- Funny Old World x Asylum Speakers
Making magic from the movement of people
Who gets to travel freely, and who is forced to leave home? Tourism and migration are two sides of the same story, yet the travel industry rarely talks about refugees, asylum seekers and displacement.
In this special edition of Funny Old World, Juliet Kinsman and Jaz O'Hara, founder of Asylum Speakers, share voices from a roundtable they hosted at PURE Life Experiences in Marrakech. Hoteliers, tour operators, guides and people with lived experience of displacement – from Syria, Rwanda, Colombia, Jordan, Mongolia, Morocco, Turkey, Cyprus and beyond – on how travel can break down prejudice, create jobs and change who gets to tell the story of a place.
Supported by Intrepid Travel.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR
– Why most prejudice comes from ignorance, and how travel tackles it
– The women-led London tours built around Ethiopian and Albanian heritage
– How Jordan's story has been shaped by Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian and Armenian communities
– Why Rwanda understands what it means to be displaced
– A Colombian eco-lodge creating opportunities after 17 years of conflict
– A Cyprus hotel where refugees have become part of the story guests come back for
– The hotel groups pledging to train and hire refugees
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Welcome – Juliet Kinsman and Jaz O'Hara
01:00 Why this conversation belongs at a travel event
02:16 Thomas Reilly (UK) – tourism is all about migration
04:09 Lubna Kayyali (Syria) – the media narrative around refugees
06:25 Undraa Buyannemekh (Mongolia) – history is the story of migration
07:03 The power of human stories
08:16 Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid Travel (Morocco) – travel as a route into work
16:45 Muna Haddad, Baraka Destinations (Jordan) – who gets to tell the story of a place?
19:38 Bosco Munga (Rwanda) – recovery after displacement
23:07 Santiago Giraldo Diaz, Cannua (Colombia) – returning home to rebuild
25:47 Figen Ayan (Turkey) – home is where your belly is filled
27:18 Patrick Dessy (Cyprus) – refugees at the heart of a hotel
29:21 Natalie (Ireland) – hotel groups hiring refugees
30:47 Thomas Reilly and Mike McHugo, Education For All – the courage to speak up
32:59 Closing words and thank yous
LINKS
Bouteco's podcasts: https://www.bouteco.co/podcasts
Asylum Speakers: https://www.asylumspeakers.com/
PURE Life Experiences: https://purelifeexperiences.com/
Intrepid's women-led Ethiopian flavours tour, Shepherd's Bush: https://www.urbanadventures.com/en/london/london-private-women-led-ethiopian-flavours-in-shepherd-s-bush-with-coffee-ceremony
Baraka Destinations' Amman walking tour: https://barakadestinations.com/tour/amman-city-tour/
Cannua Lodge, Colombia: https://cannua.com/
Tent Partnership for Refugees: https://www.tent.org/
Greater Action, supporting Afghan refugees in Kuala Lumpur to upskill and make a living: https://greateraction.org/about-us/
THANK YOU TO
Lubna Kayyali (Syria)
Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid Travel (Morocco)
Undraa Buyannemekh (Mongolia)
Thomas Reilly, geopolitical consultant (UK)
Muna Haddad, Baraka Destinations (Jordan)
Bosco Munga (Rwanda)
Santiago Giraldo Diaz, Cannua (Colombia)
Charukesi Ramadurai (Malaysia)
Figan Ayan (Turkey)
Patrick Dessy (Cyprus): https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickdessy
Natalie (Ireland)
Mike McHugo, Education For All
Ariella and Isabella at PURE Life Experiences
And to the many others who took part, born in and living in countries all over the world. We couldn't cover every aspect of these two incredible conversations on this enormous topic.
Read more about the roundtable in our article on adventure.com.
If this episode moved you, please share it with someone in travel who needs to hear it. Follow Funny Old World wherever you listen.
Follow Juliet Kinsman @JulietKinsman with Jaz O'Hara of @AsylumSpeakers
35 min - We Protect What We Love, Insights from London Climate Action Week
In the midst of worldwide weather chaos, London Climate Action Week reminded us that loving nature is a powerful form of climate action.
This special episode includes two talks introduced by Juliet Kinsman at the Nature in the City live event, hosted by Bouteco during London Climate Action Week at Sea Containers London with our friends at The Long Run. It took place in a week when several extreme heat events were cancelled — because of extreme heat.
We hear from two brilliant speakers: Brynn Garner of Rainforest Trust, speaking from the heart about biodiversity and why loving nature might be one of our most powerful climate tools. And Aisling Creevey, TV weather presenter and co-host of For the Love of Weather alongside Gemma Plumb, on El Niño, the AMOC, and what it's really like to live through the personal effects of the climate crisis.
We also share soundbites from the biggest voices at London Climate Action Week: UN Secretary-General António Guterres — and his warning that "the Earth's tipping points are like objects in a car mirror: they are far closer than they appear.” And wise words from Prince William, speaking at Guildhall, on the responsibility of this moment and the question future generations will ask of us.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at Sea Containers London. If this episode makes you feel something — please listen, follow, and share. It genuinely helps.
In this episode:
Live talks from Nature in the City, our London Climate Action Week event with The Long Run
Brynn Garner (Rainforest Trust) on biodiversity and loving nature as climate action
Aisling Creevey (For the Love of Weather) on El Niño, the AMOC, and living the climate crisis
UN Secretary-General António Guterres's tipping-points warning
Prince William’s wise words from LCAW 2026
With thanks to
Aisling Creevey & Gemma Plumb, For the Love of Weather: https://www.fortheloveofweather.com/
Brynn Garner / Rainforest Trust; full talk available here https://www.bouteco.co/
Follow Juliet on Instagram @JulietKinsman\
The Long Run: https://www.thelongrun.org/
Funny Old World is produced by Juliet Kinsman, edited by Jon Weeks.
20 min - Can The Climate Crisis Actually Be... Funny?
If our biggest problem in the climate space is communication, then maybe climate scientists doing stand-up are the messengers we need. In this episode of Funny Old World — the podcast that looks the climate crisis in the eye and tries to stay light-hearted — Juliet Kinsman has a gentle, soothing, serious chat with the refreshingly real Dr Matt Winning: climate-policy academic at UCL and stand-up comedian, and quite possibly the only person whose research has been cited by the IPCC and whose jokes have been heckled in a comedy club.
WHAT IS SOLASTALGIA?
We talk about Matt's show Solastalgia at Soho Theatre during London Climate Action Week — solastalgia being the grief caused by environmental loss, a concept Juliet has written about for Condé Nast Traveller. Matt is also a closing speaker at the Nature in the City event with LORE Group and The Long Run at Sea Containers London on Sunday 21 June.
Dr Matt Winning has a PhD in climate change policy, has advised the UK Committee on Climate Change, and was formerly Head of Climate Research at Oxford Economics. He knows his stuff — and he wants us to think about how we might make people think about that, and laugh about it.
We cover nominative determinism, why milk in your coffee doubles your carbon footprint, and why climate solutions need reframing:
"What people want is a menu of climate solutions, but actually we need to give them a list of ingredients."
"Be curious, be creative, make your action part of your community… Everybody can do something."
PODCAST RECOMMENDATION
WILD with Sarah Wilson — New York Times bestselling author, activist and former journalist.
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
Juliet Kinsman: instagram.com/julietkinsman
Dr Matt Winning: instagram.com/mattywin85
Funny Old World is supported by The Long Run — a global community of nature-based tourism businesses united by the 4Cs Framework: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce.
29 min - Food, Farming & Ploughing through the BSFunny Old World | Food, Farming & Ploughing through the BS
🌱 What are we actually eating — and what does it cost the earth?
This bite-sized episode digs into ethical food systems, regenerative farming, and what all of us as consumers can actually do. It covers politics, environmental hard truths — and yes, it ends on an erotica note. You've been warned.
Star guests this episode:
🍺 Geetie Singh-Watson — founder The Bull Inn in Totnes and the UK's first certified organic pub. Co-founder of the Riverford Field Kitchen. The poster human for hospitality which can genuinely heal land and community. → bullinntotnes.co.uk
🌾 Ed Faulkner — founder Sapling Spirits. Environmental policy meets award-winning spirits made with regenerative agriculture and minimum waste. (Did you know what's in your glass matters as much as what's on your fork?) → saplingspirits.com
Your host: Juliet Kinsman — journalist, author, broadcaster, Bouteco founder — sharing stories that inspire impact. → bouteco.co/podcasts
Brought to you by The Long Run — the membership organisation for tourism businesses committed to positive impact. → thelongrun.org
📍 MEET US IRL — 21 June 2026, Sea Containers, London, Nature in the City is a live event during London Climate Action Week. Come and continue this conversation with Geetie, Ed and Juliet — with food, drink, and proper debate. Ticket proceeds support Farms for City Children on their 50th anniversary.
🎟 eventbrite.co.uk/e/nature-in-the-city-at-sea-containers-london-tickets-1987679926166
Next up: Dr Matt Winning (comedian, environmental economist, BBC Radio 4) and Shakira Mobarak, nature-positive storyteller at The Datai Langkawi.21 min - What's Giving Us Hope?…SOLUTIONS-LED STORYTELLING IN TRAVEL is giving us hope.
In this new episode of a new format, Juliet Kinsman — sustainability expert and solutions-led storyteller — shares lightbulb moments from a 30-year career in journalism and why she believes storytellers are the keystone species for a better world…
Radically honest, as ever, in her talk given for the British Guild of Travel Writers’ Better World Symposium in London, she makes the case for solutions-led storytelling over greenwashed marketing spin, for authentic human authority over AI-generated content, and for a kind of travel writing that doesn't just document the world — it advances the narrative and cultivates empathy. Just watch out for those Passport Bros… What are those? Listen in and find out… A must-listen if you’re anyone sharing stories from your travels.
Follow your host Juliet http://instagram.com/julietkinsman/ founder
or Bouteco http://bouteco.co
For more information, this episode features:
https://www.thedatai.com/sustainability/
https://www.andbeyond.com/
https://uxua.com
http://fogoislandinn.ca
http://shorefastinstitute.org
https://www.instagram.com/mandalaire_finca
http://asylumspeakers.com
https://www.inntravel.co.uk/getmedia/dcc19a67-2875-4ca9-8d6a-5bdfcb0c70e6/travel-writers-manifesto-spread.pdf
Topics covered: sustainable travel · biodiversity · keystone species · solutions-led storytelling · regenerative tourism · the future of journalism · authentic brand communications · impact reporting · the Datai Langkawi · coral bleaching · deforestation · Fogo Island · asylum seekers · Ikigai · AI and human connection37 min - The Earth Month Special. Sharing Stories to Inspire ImpactYour Funny Old World hosts — Juliet Kinsman and Simon London — return with special guests from Campaign for Nature and Asylum Speakers to explore the transformative power of exponential storytelling at the nexus between nature and climate justice. They don’t shy from some of the toughest topics — managing to elicit a little laughter along the way. Recorded in Dover Yard at 1 Hotel Mayfair in London.Special guests Katy Roxburgh from Campaign for Nature — helping to protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030.Giel Malual of Asylum Speakers — model, law student, advocate for refugee rights, South Sudanese speaker.Discover why…Biodiversity is so important in the climate conversation. The water crisis is one of our most urgent challenges today.Better gender equality benefits everyone.Migration and the movement of people affect us all. …And why Juliet has a climate denier to thank for bringing home one of the most important messages: how can we help humanise those people already at the sharp end of the climate crisis?
Thanks to Andy Hughes for audio editing.
1 Hotel Mayfair, 3 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DL Asylum Speakers — buy the book and listen to the podcast by Jaz OHara which takes you on a journey across the world… without you having to go anywhere.
Event produced by Bouteco | Follow @JulietKinsman36 min - Wild, Water, Women, Wit — WTF?Welcome to this special What the…? LIVE episode of the climate-solutions podcast with stories from sustainable travel recorded in Marrakech at PURE 2024 with Juliet Kinsman, journalist and founder of Bouteco, who returns with broadcaster Simon London who plays quizmaster in this entertaining interactive 40-minute session from Open House at the trade show in Morocco, September 2024.
Key climate topics are tackled: the importance of biodiversity, water solutions, and gender equality in the context of the power of sustainable travel to do more good, and how to harness the power of comedy and storytelling for impact — with lots of stats, science and heart-tugging stories and a little much-needed laughter along the way.
Experts include Portia Hart, founder of Blue Apple in Colombia and Intrepid’s Zina Bencheikh, a big supporter of the charity Education for All which is what Bouteco’s 2019 documentary Changing Worlds in the Atlas Mountains is all about. Intriguing and inspiring sustainability studies from hospitality in relation to The Datai Langkawi in Malaysia, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Rio Perdido in Costa Rica which features in Small Luxury Hotels’ Considerate Collection,
For more episodes and full information, go to http://bouteco.co/podcasts
What To Do And How To Think in a Crisis https://www.bouteco.co/sustainable-luxury-travel/2023/11/17/guidelines-for-action-after-a-disaster
Make My Money Matter https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/
Comedy clip from Mark Maron https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ug6py7PoHR8
Cartoon by Tom Toro from The New Yorker https://www.insidehook.com/culture/story-tom-toro-new-yorker-climate-cartoon
Please listen, subscribe, review — and catch up with our first series of Funny Old World — spread the word to help us up climate awareness in a way that we hope also inspires a few smiles.
Edited by Jon Weeks. Sound Engineer Andy Hughes. Published by Mark Machado of 11-29 Media.
Thank you to http://purelifeexperiences.com — Serge Dive, Eve Browning, Isabella Carington, Ariella Durban, Sarah Nevard and all the passionate hoteliers and travel professionals that make PURE such a special place to spark more two-way conversations.45 min - The Africa Edition. Inspiring climate-friendlier travel on the continent (Part two)In part two of two extra episodes of these edutaining easy-listening podcasts where the conversationalists aren’t shy about exploring the causes, symptoms and solutions when it comes to the climate, you’ll find Juliet and Simon, as ever, discussing serious topical sustainability stories and cultural affairs while they chat with thought-provoking experts — in this case, thought leaders from the luxury travel industry.Topics included…How Women Are Transforming Conservation with Suzanne Bayly of Classic Portfolio and Nwabisa Mjjoli of WeevaWhy The Best Guest Experiences Also Achieve Impact with Louise Cottar of Cottar's SafarisThe Secrets to Sustainable Luxury Success with Ruth Crichton and Clayton Niemand from GrootbosThe Importance of Having a Sustainability Manager with Prince Ngomane from Tswalu Kalahari
Simon, as ever, asks the burning questions — and is there to ensure every conversation also leads to much laughter — however sober the subject matter!
Funny Old World is powered by Weeva — visit weeva.earth to discover more about this sustainability management platform.
We Are Africa took place in Cape Town's DHL Stadium, May 2023.Connect with us on socials:@julietkinsman @boutecohotels@slondonuk@weareweeva
In this episode we also referenced…Uthando’s work connecting tourism with community development projects https://www.uthandosa.org The book 'Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend' by Christo BrandElizabeth Wathuti https://www.instagram.com/lizwathutiWangari Maathai https://www.instagram.com/wangari_maathai/Vanessa Nakate https://www.instagram.com/vanessanakate1
Maybe you’re wondering: how can international travel ever be sustainable?
Juliet says: "There are 54 countries in Africa, and collectively they are responsible for less than 4% of the world's CO2 emissions — and yet this is the most vulnerable region in the world when it comes to the climate emergency. The UN puts this down to restricted socio-economic growth in the continent: and when it comes to this community of impact-driven luxury travel hosts, their work bringing in visitors from around the world can and does make a huge difference, since the result of those in the Global North making better travel decisions can mean vital wealth distribution in the fight for better socio-economic uplift in communities that are the most vulnerable to climate change.”41 min - The Africa Edition. Shaping sustainable travel on the continent. (Part one)In part one of two extra episodes of these edutaining easy-listening podcasts where the conversationalists aren’t shy about exploring the causes, symptoms and solutions when it comes to the climate, you’ll find Juliet and Simon, as ever, discussing serious topical sustainability stories and cultural affairs while they chat with thought-provoking experts — in this case, thought leaders from the luxury travel industry.Tell don’t sell: why storytelling matters, with esteemed journalists Jane Broughton, Harriet Owalla and Noo Saro-Wiwa Let’s clean wash the Greenwash with Julie Cheetham, MD of WeevaRedefining luxury with Melony van der Merwe, Trade Ambassador for Weeva
Maybe you’re wondering: how can international travel ever be sustainable?Juliet says: "There are 54 countries in Africa, and collectively they are responsible for less than 4% of the world's CO2 emissions — and yet this is the most vulnerable region in the world when it comes to the climate emergency. The UN puts this down to restricted socio-economic growth in the continent: and when it comes to this community of impact-driven luxury travel hosts, their work bringing in visitors from around the world can and does make a huge difference, since the result of those in the Global North making better travel decisions can mean vital wealth distribution in the fight for better socio-economic uplift in communities that are the most vulnerable to climate change.”
Simon, as ever, asks the burning questions — and is there to ensure every conversation also leads to much laughter — however sober the subject matter!
Funny Old World is powered by Weeva — visit weeva.earth to discover more about this sustainability management platform.
We Are Africa took place in Cape Town's DHL Stadium, May 2023.Connect with us on socials:@julietkinsman @slondonuk @weareweeva59 min - ACTIVISM. How to be a Good CitizenA snapshot of our guestsIn this hour-long special, Juliet and Simon speak to Climate justice crusaders Kevin Lunzalu in Kenya, co-founder of Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Net and Eyal Weintraub, co-founder of Jóvenes Por El Clima Argentina.Hans Pfister — a straight-talker in how to walk all the eco talk when it comes to sustainability and what it means to be a sustainable business. Hans is the Co-founder, CEO and Marketing Director of the Cayuga Collection of Sustainable Luxury Hotels and Lodges in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. He has served on the Advisory Board of the National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World and as the Regional Vice President for Mexico, Central and South America for the Cornell Hotel Society. He has more than 30 years of experience in hospitality in Europe, Asia and the Americas.Sophie Morgan — radically changing the representation of disability, Sophie is a respected advocate for accessibility. Host of Channel 4 television show 'Living Wild: How to Change your Life', as well as ground-breaking documentaries such as Dispatches and Unreported World, the presenter of London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics explains why inclusion is key to every conversation.
Jon Alexander — author of 'CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us', Jon explains how to involve people in the decisions that affect their lives as citizens. The co-founder of the New Citizenship Project began his career with a decade in the advertising industry, before making a dramatic change. Believing humans are collaborative, creative, caring citizens by nature, if we give each other the chance, we can fix things together as citizens.59 min
About Funny Old World with Juliet Kinsman
From the publisher's feed
An edutaining easy-listening podcast about all things eco, hosted by Juliet Kinsman. Our mission is to engage people with the WHY it matters and the how and what to do when it comes to sustainability and tackling the climate emergency — but in simple terms, with a little laughter along the way. In each episode, Juliet discusses serious topical sustainability stories and cultural affairs and chat with thought-provoking experts. And let’s face it, everyone’s feeling a little sustainability fatigue, and while we also need to know the facts, goodness knows we also need a little joy in our eco-anxiety-riddled lives.
Funny Old World is powered by Bouteco.