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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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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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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