Getting Board

Getting Board

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Getting Board episodes

  • Poorna Bell - Discovering your strength

    Journalist and Author Poorna Bell has been on a fascinating journey of strength. While dealing with the grief of losing her husband, she realised that she had always relied on him for physical strength, and wasn't able to flip her own mattress. She was inspired to get strong, and powerlifting became her medium.

    As a 5ft 3 South Asian woman, she talks us through adapting, growing and changing what her idea of strength is.

    Poorna's new book 'STRONGER: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength' is a brilliant read for anyone looking for inspiration.

    Poorna's powerful stories of the importance of unlearning what we were told as a kid will inspire anyone; how we need to forget what we were once told we couldn't do. She also thinks we need to change how we as a society view strength. As part of that, she says that fitness has a huge lack of diversity and that physical strength should be more accessible to women.

    A big part of Poorna's journey started when she turned 40 - something she had been dreading. She had to reframe the experience of getting older and discover that potential doesn't stop when you age. She believes we need to identify places and communities that will help us on our journey. 

    Now a competitive amateur power-lifter who can lift over twice her body weight, Poorna strongly believes that people are stronger than they realise. She says we rarely give ourselves credit for what we've overcome, to get to where we are.

    42 min
  • Amar Latif - Building what doesn't exist for the sake of inclusion
    Explorer and Entrepreneur Amar Latif lost 95% of his sight by the age of 18, but he didn't want that to stop him seeing the world. But he found that travel companies wouldn't cater to him, and most airline websites were inaccessible.
    His refusal to be stopped by his sight led to him launching Travel Eyes, the world’s leading commercial tour operator offering independent group travel for both blind and sighted travelers.
    His life now as an Entrepreneur, TV Presenter and world traveller has led to him meeting some incredibly interesting people and being humbled by humanity.
    He talks us through his career from his first business venture aged 12, through to working on the "sexy side' of accounting and becoming a successful business owner.
    He also teaches us about the language around visual impairment and why it's always best just to ask, and how we can be better allies to the visually impaired.
    Our chat with Amar was funny, inspiring, energising and incredibly heartwarming.
    47 min
  • Emma Dabiri - When was race & ethnicity invented?
    This week on The Speakeasier we’re joined by author, academic and broadcaster, Emma Dabiri. Through years of research and interrogation of narratives around race and class, Emma has positioned herself as an essential point of reference on the subject, which is why we were so excited to bring her into our conversation.
    In the episode, Emma gives us possibly one of the most condensed but fascinating history lessons we’ve ever had. Drawing on ideas from her debut book ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ (2019) and her most recent release ‘What White People Can Do Next’ (2021), her incredible research delves into our history and how we look at racism. Rather than creating constructive conversations, she believes a lot of the narrative around race actually adds to division. For example, we’re reminded that ‘race’ itself is merely a fictional construct, invented in 1661 through a set of slave laws in colonial Barbados. Understanding where this construct originates helps us to visualise a world without it.
    In fact, Emma says there is no truth in racial categories, and that in order to really change we need to unpack the idea of 'whiteness'. She suggests that instead of focusing on anti-racism as an action, the spotlight should be placed on liberation.
    Towards the end of the episode, we ask Emma what changes she would like to see in order for us to create liberation, closing a fascinating conversation which is sure to spark many, many more.
    42 min
  • Nazir Afzal - What can crime teach us about inclusion?
    This week we’re joined by former Chief Prosecutor for the North West of England, Nazir Afzal OBE.
    Nazir was the first practising Muslim to be appointed as Chief Prosecutor, putting him at the forefront of some of the UK’s most violent and harrowing legal cases. He was instrumental in getting justice for victims of grooming, sexual violence and child abuse, in cases including the Rochdale grooming gang and the earliest prosecution for so-called honour killing and modern slavery.
    In the episode, Nazir talks to us about learned hate - the notion that racism, misogyny, homophobia etc are all learned and can therefore be prevented. Learnings which can lead to what he calls 'gender terrorism' - violence against women and girls as the result of the slow radicalisation of men. Misogyny and toxic masculinity being the learned thought-cycles which allow and encourage violence. Nazir explains how we can use our experience in tackling radicalisation to effectively fight gender violence.
    He also talks more personally about his career, telling us about how he has had to battle with other people's attempts to pigeon hole him, how he navigates the pressure of being the voice for an entire community and why that makes it even more important that more people of colour are seen in high profile roles.
    Nazir also mentions being on an Al-Qaeda death list, and keeping a panic alarm in his house. This is not your ordinary diversity conversation, that's for sure.
    57 min
  • Marcus Ryder - Why we can't hide behind diversity
    In this episode of The Speakeasier we're joined by Marcus Ryder MBE. Formerly Chair of the Royal Television Society’s Diversity Committee, Marcus has over twenty-five years’ experience working in television and journalism and is a leader on the issue of diversity in the media, making him a more-than-credible Speakeasier guest. We say this even before acknowledging his impressive portfolio of awards to date, including multiple BAFTAs and an MBE for services to diversity in the media. As if all that wasn’t enough, he was recently named Head of External Consultancies at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University.
    While we can expect plenty more from Marcus in the future, already this year he has released a new book, Access All Areas - The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond with Sir Lenny Henry. Combining the expertise and experience of the two, it has been considered a revolutionary manifesto, revealing why diversity in the media has such significance and how we can set about strengthening it.
    We chatted to Marcus about what he thinks about terms such as ‘BAME’ and ‘diversity'. In fact, despite including the word 'diversity' in the title of his recent book, he actually thinks it's overused and that it often covers up much deeper issues, with a direct correlation between the uptake of the word 'diversity' and the downplaying of racism.
    We also talk about the history of language, where Marcus helps us understand why small adaptations are often representative of a much bigger historical narrative.
    Moving from language to the physical representation, we discuss the importance of representing an authentic picture of Britain, which Marcus reminds us is typically shown as white, heterosexual, able-bodied, cisgender and male, despite that making up only 3% of the nation’s capital.
    51 min
  • Mr Motivator - How can fitness be more inclusive?
    Kicking off season two of The Speakeasier, we were thrilled to be joined by the original man of lycra, Mr Motivator AKA Derrick Evans MBE.
    The man known as much for his bright unitards and impossibly enthusiastic personality as he is for his exercise routines, talks about the fitness industry and how it can leave people feeling left out; how it's become too expensive, too exclusive and too impersonal.
    From the very beginning of the episode, Mr Motivator’s passion is obvious and his energy infectious. He explains why exercise needs to become part of our everyday lives in order for us to become the best possible versions of ourselves, and the inclusive environment this can create.
    He talks us through the very start of his career; where he got his name and energy from and the secrets for his longevity. He is also open about the racism he faced early on in his career, some more blatant than others. We hear about how he converts this into an opportunity for positive change and success. With the obstacles he was up against, including being told a black man doing fitness on TV would never work, it took Mr Motivator ten years to get into television.
    Looking ahead we ask if anything has changed and what he hopes to see for future generations. Among his answer, he doesn't want to be compared to Joe Wicks and has one thing to thank former US President Donald Trump for...
    48 min
  • Sathnam Sanghera - Colonisation. Empire. British History: are the things we never learned holding us back?
    Our first episode of 2021 welcomes the author and broadcaster, Sathnam Sanghera. With the recent release of his new book, Empireland: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past, we look to Sathnam to help us understand how the things we aren’t taught about Britain are holding us back from a more inclusive future.
    Sathnam talks unapologetically about our right to criticise the country we live in order to learn, accept and progress, and how to reach this point, our education systems must make radical changes to the way they approach British history.
    We also discuss the perceptions of Britain from the outside, which aren’t as starry-eyed as they used to be. With major shifts in prosperity, Sathnam points out that - although it may come as a shock - people in India are not obsessed with the UK. A past notion which we are yet to shake.
    Building on this, we discuss the right-wing’s war on wokeness, the role of business in picking up where government fails and how criticism of language can distract from what actually matters. Plus a lot more which it just wouldn’t be fair to condense into one paragraph.
    Throughout the episode, Sathnam shows why an inclusive Britain can only be built by uncovering the multicultural foundations which are already there. We just haven’t been taught about it yet.
    53 min
  • Greg Bunbury - do we need more diversity in design?
    During a year that many businesses and individuals have been forced to reevaluate the way they think and act, how can we carve out a more diverse, purpose-driven design industry? On this episode of The Speakeasier we’re joined by award winning graphic designer and consultant, Greg Bunbury, to discuss the intersections of diversity, design and activism. We look back at some of the most active moments of 2020; the momentum of Black Lives Matter, the amplification of Black History Month and the shared experience of a national lockdown, to find out what lessons we can learn about the power of design activism, and how to carry them forward next year.
    45 min
  • Samantha Renke - how can disability make business braver?
    In this week’s episode of The Speakeasier we’re joined by actor, columnist, public speaker and disability campaigner Samantha Renke, to talk about why brands should stop holding back when it comes to the representation of disability in comms and campaigns. Throughout the episode, Sam injects endless humour and passion, drawing on her personal and professional experience to explain how optimised accessibility can benefit everyone. We also discuss the role that ego has in preventing true inclusion, and how a little bit of bravery can take business a long way.
    45 min

About Getting Board

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Getting Board is the podcast that opens up space for honest and relevant dialogue about the societal issues shaping our world - one game at a time.