Is the climate crisis a children’s rights crisis? It’s a great injustice that children and young people are the most affected but least responsible for the climate and nature crises. Is there a way to give them more power to shape future decision making? Scotland and Ireland have tried to do just that, and we speak to Katie Reid and Diarmuid Torney, who have played a central role in leading children’s participation in two citizens’ assemblies. We also check in with young assembly members Mikey and Esther, and young assembly adviser Niamh, to hear how they found the process of being involved, and why children's assemblies could be the future of democracy.

Guests

Katie Reid, Children’s rights and youth participation specialist (@katiereid19)

Diarmuid Torney, Associate Professor in Politics at Dublin City University and Project Lead for the Children and Young People's Assembly on Biodiversity Loss 

Niamh, young adviser at the Assembly, and Esther and Mikey, members of the Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss

More information

Find out more about Scotland’s Children’s Parliament and Climate Assembly (October 2020-March 2021)

Final Report from Ireland’s Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss (October 2022) including the 58 Calls to Action

Learn more about the UN’s General Comment on Children's Rights and the Environment with a special focus on Climate Change

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All aboard! Last weekend, Greater Manchester made history as the first place outside London to bring its bus system into public control. Since 1986 - when buses were deregulated - fares have almost doubled, routes have been cut and fewer people are taking the bus. The Bee Network is Mayor Andy Burnham's answer to the problem. We spoke to him in 2021 about his commitment to make the region's buses better. We also talked to transport expert Nicole Badstuber about why London's buses never suffered the same fate as elsewhere in the country, and to Ian Taylor about visionary public transport systems in Europe and further afield. Will other parts of Britain soon see their buses back in public hands?

See you on Monday for our next episode of Reasons to be Cheerful!

Guests

Nicole Badstuber, Transport Expert (@nicolebadstuber)

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester (@AndyBurnhamGM)

Ian Taylor, Transport for Quality of Life

More information

Listen to RTBC Episode 23: Ding, ding, next stop: sorting out the buses

Listen to RTBC Episode 192 Ticket to ride: buses, Burnham and public control

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Happy 6th birthday to us! And just like a young child who hasn’t learned a sense of self-restraint we’re reaching for the Ferrero Rocher with restaurant critic Grace Dent. Join us for a conversation about comfort eating, the title of her podcast and new book. What do we eat when nobody else is watching? And why are some foods so steeped in nostalgia?

PLUS: Geoff and Ed reminisce about the past 6 years and Ed has been checking out a new band

We’ll be back with another episode next Monday, but keep your ideas and suggestions coming in. Get in touch with us via our website or on our social media. We love to hear from you!

Guest

Grace Dent, columnist, broadcaster and author (@gracedent)

More information

Pre-order a copy of Grace’s book Comfort Eating, published by Faber & Faber on October 5th

Read Grace’s restaurant columns in the Guardian

Listen to Comfort Eating the podcast, new season starting on Tuesday 26th September!

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How do we tackle the housing crisis? It’s a question we’ve looked at several times over the years, but it hasn’t become any less pressing. This week, new statistics showed that rents are rising at their fastest rate in almost a decade. We delve into some of the potential solutions, from rent control to long-term tenancy agreements. We hop into our RTBC time machine and go back to 2017, where we speak to Grace, a tenant in a rent-controlled flat and Greg Beales from housing charity Shelter. Last year we also talked to Maria Vassilakou, the former deputy mayor of Vienna, to ask whether we can learn anything from the city’s approach to social housing.

See you on Monday for our next episode of Reasons to be Cheerful!

Listen to RTBC Episode 4: Take back (rent) control: All power to the tenants! (2017)

Listen to RTBC Episode 265: Home sweet (social) home (2022)

Learn more about the work of Shelter and their recent research, including information on the Renters Reform Bill

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Depending on who you speak to, AI is either going to plunge us into the abyss or improve every aspect of our lives immeasurably. The hype around AI can be disorientating, so let the RTBC team steer you away from the grim end-of-humanity inevitability, as we explore a more nuanced version of the AI story. Our guests Mustafa Suleyman, Dr Mhairi Aitken and Lauren M. E. Goodlad discuss whether the benefits of AI will ever outweigh the risks, why AI hype can serve as a distraction from some very pressing issues, and whether Geoff can ever replace Ed as a more obedient podcast host.

Plus: Despite the technological advances of AI, why are Ed and Geoff still hung up on Ceefax?

Guests

Mustafa Suleyman, Co-founder of Inflection AI and author of The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma (@mustafasuleyman)

Dr Mhairi Aitken, Ethics Fellow, Alan Turing Institute (@mhairi_aitken / @turinginst)

Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Chair of the Critical AI Initiative at Rutgers University (@CriticalAI)

More information

Buy a copy of Mustafa’s book here

Learn more about Inflection AI here

Learn more about the Alan Turing Institute and the work Mhairi is doing on children’s rights and AI

Learn more about Rutgers University’s Critical AI Initiative with the journal’s inaugural issue to follow in October 2023

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Stop the press! We're bringing you an extra dose of RTBC each week, as we dig back into our audio archives and brief you on a big idea that's having a moment. This week the UK's GDP estimates showed the economy shrunk in July, sparking fears of a recession. But what if there was a different way to measure a country's economic success? We spoke to Katherine Trebeck, Annie Quick and Kate Raworth about the alternatives, from doughnut economics to New Zealand's Wellbeing Budget. Can we move beyond our obsession with growth? And where do we go next?

See you on Monday for our next episode of Reasons to be Cheerful!

Guests

Katherine Trebeck, from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (@ktrebeck)

Annie Quick, formerly at the New Economics Foundation (@anniequick)

Kate Raworth, founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab (@KateRaworth)

Listen to RTBC Episode 91: Who's Afraid of GDP (2019)

Listen to RTBC Episode 195: A Big Idea to Rethink the Economy (2021)

Let us know what you think about Reasons Revisited! Get in touch with us via our website or on social media (@cheerfulpodcast)

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We’re back! Over the summer the Youth Hostel Association announced it was selling off some of its properties in a bid to stay afloat. It seems like a cruel irony at a time when many of us had reconnected with nature over the lockdowns. The charity has long been committed to opening up the outdoors to more people, especially children and young people, says Sally Nutland. But is there a way to save the YHA hostels? We talk about what the loss of these hostels means with Talia Randall and Haroon Mota, and why it's so important that everyone can access nature in rural and urban Britain.

Plus: What made one listener throw up in their cornflakes??

Guests

Sally Nutland, Communications Manager, Youth Hostel Association (@YHAOfficial)

Haroon Mota, Founder Muslim Hikers and the Active Inclusion Network (@Haroon_Mota / @Muslim_Hikers)

Talia Randall, Writer, performer and podcaster (@TaliaRandall)

More information

Read more about the sale of the 20 YHA properties in this John Harris column (Guardian)

Support the YHA's No Child Left Behind Campaign for children who are unable to afford a school residential

Visit YHA Boggle Hole

Learn more about and support Muslim Hikers

Listen to Talia’s podcast 'Blossom Trees and Burnt Out Cars' on BBC Sounds

Learn more about the Right To Roam campaign and listen to our episode on it 

Read more about the benefits of parks and green spaces and research by Natural England on engaging under-represented groups in nature

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Ben Goldsmith’s daughter Iris was killed in a tragic accident when she was only 15 years old. Hopeless in grief and searching for answers, he turned to nature in his darkest moments to find a way through. Ben speaks movingly about his grief for Iris, how he sought connection to her in the year after her death, and why he's hopeful that nature restoration will not only be a central part of tackling the climate crisis, but for finding solace and healing for ourselves too.

Guest

Ben Goldsmith, financier, environmentalist and author (@BenGoldsmith)

More information

Ben Goldsmith is the author of God Is An Octopus: Loss, Love and A Calling to Nature, published by Bloomsbury Wildlife. You can buy a copy here.

Listen to his podcast series 'Rewilding the World with Ben Goldsmith' here.

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Crispy duck, chow mein, and sweet & sour pork. Many of us have a narrow understanding of Chinese food, its rich history, and the sophisticated culinary culture surrounding it. Chef and author Fuchsia Dunlop is on a quest to show us that there's so much more to Chinese food than our usual Friday night takeaway, and that there's immense joy (and health) to be drawn from it too. Fuchsia tells us about how her love of Chinese cookery began, her experience as the first westerner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine and her recommendations for how to order in a restaurant. And can she really salvage Ed's doomed tofu cookery?

Guest

Fuchsia Dunlop, Chef and Author (@fuchsiadunlop)

More information

Pre-order a copy of Invitation to a Banquet: The story of Chinese food here, published by Particular Books on 31st August

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The global food system is one of the most destructive industries on earth. Of course, we all need to eat. But is there a way of doing so that doesn’t come at a cost to our health and to our planet? If that's all sounding a bit heavy, then step forward: Henry Dimbleby. Formerly the government’s food tsar, he’s been exploring the secrets of the global food system for decades and he's hungry for change. Henry talks to Ed and Geoff about the secrets behind the ultra-processed egg sandwich, the glory of Japanese food culture and why Liz Truss once banned him from attending meetings. What's changed about the food we eat today, and what can we do about it?

Guest

Henry Dimbleby, author of Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet Into Shape (@HenryDimbleby)

More information

Buy a copy of Henry's book, published by Profile Books

Read the National Food Strategy and the School Food Plan 

We love hearing from you. If you have views on this episode, or ideas for future shows you can contact us via our website, our social media (@cheerfulpodcast) or write us an email ([email protected])

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