This week's guest is Homa Dashtaki, founder of the White Moustache yoghurt company in Brooklyn, New York and author of a brilliant new cookbook Yoghurt and Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life.

I first met Homa back in 2016 and fell in love with her authenticity, her quirky humour, her love of cursing and her mind-blowingly good yoghurt. I also find her approach to running a small business incredibly inspiring with it’s zero waste approach which puts heritage and the health of the planet at the heart of everything the company does.

In this episode we talk about

- Homa’s passion for sharing the traditions of her Zoroastrian heritage

- The comfort and joy that can be found in making your own yoghurt

- How to run a business in line with your values

- Where Homa finds the resilience to navigate the trials and tribulations of modern life

All of this is shared with her trademark wit, plenty of swearing and, because we are two people of Iranian heritage, lots of FEELINGS.

I hope you enjoy the episode and find Homa's approach to life as inspiring as I do! Let me know what you think over at risingup.substack.com

This episode was produced by Lina Prestwood at Scenery Studios

Yasmin speaks to Fiona Buckland, life coach and author of the new book Find Your Own Path - A Life Coach's Guide to Changing your Life.

They discuss

* What to do when you get that niggling feeling of dissatisfaction in your life

* How what’s important to us can change over time and how to navigate changing values

* The difference between First Adulthood when we learn how to be successful and Second Adulthood when we discover we want more meaning in our lives

* How to boost our energy when we feel tired or depleted

* Fiona's top tip for cultivating resilience during periods of change

Fiona Buckland is a life and leadership coach, passionate about helping people develop deeper, wiser leadership of themselves and their lives. She works with individuals and corporate clients to help them lead lives and organisations of greater purpose, connection and positive impact. She also facilitates Guardian Masterclasses, as well as running her own courses and workshops and is on the faculty of The School of Life, a global organisation devoted to teaching people how to live a more fulfilled life. You can connect with her work over at www.fionabucklandcoaching.com

If you enjoyed this podcast visit risingup.substack.com to subscribe to follow the conversation!

This episode was produced by Lina Prestwood at Scenery Studios

Yasmin sits down with Nick Dearden, director of the radical campaigning NGO Global Justice Now, and Asad Rehman, director of the human rights and global justice charity War on Want, to discuss the 20th anniversary of February 15th 2003 – the largest demonstration in history - when 14 million people marched in 600 cities around the world to try and stop Bush and Blair invading Iraq.

At the time, the New York Times said of the demonstrations: “There may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion.” But just over a month later on March 19 2003, the Bush Administration sent U.S. military forces into Iraq - the beginning of a violent occupation that would last nearly a decade.

Yasmin, Nick and Asad discuss how this unique day and unprecedented mobilization was organized, how it felt on the streets of London that cold February day, and the legacy of the movement which might not have stopped the war, but certainly changed history. 

They also talk about how they each navigated their own feelings of despair after the war began and what lessons to take from that moment on how we cultivate resilience after huge political defeats.

Did you take part in the anti-war demonstrations? What do you remember? To follow the conversation, subscribe to risingup.substack.com to connect with Yasmin and leave your comments about the episode.

This series is produced by the team at Scenery Studios.

In each episode I’ll be talking to eminent guests from the worlds of politics, culture, psychology and wellbeing about how they navigate the challenges of modern life – be they personal, or political.

The first episode comes out next week and is on a topic very close to my heart – the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war and, more specifically, the February 15th 2003 mobilisations which to this day remain the largest demonstrations in human history.

I was deeply involved in the anti-war movement and to reflect on this historical moment, it’s legacy and its lessons, I sat down with Nick Dearden, director of the radical campaigning organisation, Global Justice Now and Asad Rehman, director of the charity War on Want both of whom were organizers of the anti-war movement. Together we discuss what lessons we can learn from that period of history about how we rise up after political defeat.

Please subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and let me know who you are interested in me interviewing!