Areeq Chowdhury is the CEO of WebRoots Democracy, which he founded 4 years ago. It’s a youth-led think tank focused on the intersection of technology and democratic participation. As CEO he’s been leading the campaign for online voting and has been working with politicians, charities, think tanks, and technology companies on researching the benefits and challenges of a digital democracy.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Dr Sue Black has a truly remarkable story. Aged 25 and a single parent to 3 children, Dr Black decided to go back to university and gain a degree in computing and a PhD in software engineering. She is perhaps most famous for creating one of the first social media campaigns to save Bletchley Park.She is now a UK government advisor, thought leader, Honorary Professor of Computer Science at UCL, social entrepreneur, writer and public speaker. Notably, she is teaching mums technology skills so they can continue their education, or go into entrepreneurship or employment through her social enterprise #techmums.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Matthew Bolton is Deputy Director of Citizens UK and Lead Organiser for London Citizens. He has built a nationwide alliance of thousands of community campaigners who have driven two of the most effective, strategic and widest-reaching campaigns in the UK of the past two decades: the Living Wage and the Refugee Welcome and Safe Passage campaigns. 

He’s recently written a guide on how ordinary people can create social change in their communities called ‘How To Resist’.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Reni Eddo-Lodge is a black feminist award-winning journalist, historian and philosopher.

Her latest book comes out on June 1st and is called: “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race“.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Useful Links mentioned in the podcast

David Olusoga series on the BBC: “Black and British – A Forgotten History”

See the Wiki on Stuart Hall here

See the Wiki on Angela Davis here

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Alberto Alemanno is an academic, civic entrepreneur and public interest lawyer. He is currently Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law at HEC Paris and Global Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. In 2015 he was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

He is the co-founder of The Good Lobby which is a community where individuals can share their skills to lobby for the public interest and on this theme, his book ‘Lobbying for Change’ is out now in the English speaking world.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Useful Links mentioned in the podcast

You can get Alberto’s book from Amazon here: Lobbying for Change

 

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Julia Hobsbawm is founder of Editorial Intelligence. She was the first ever professor of networking at London Cass Business School. Her new book “Fully Connected: Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Overload” is out now in the UK and comes out in June in the US.

We chat about the values that come out of the book, the way Julia believes that societies should be governed, and how to make connected structures truly functional.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Useful Links mentioned in the podcast

Anne-Marie Slaughter – The Chessboard and the Web

Geoff Mulgan of Nesta – Connexity

Editorial Intelligence – subscribe to the digest here

Brainpickings by Maria Popova

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Kris De Meyer is a neuroscientist who is currently a researcher at Kings in London. He’s produced a significant amount of work on cognitive dissonance, and is a filmmaker who produced the film ‘Right Between Your Ears’ which tells the story of how people from different walks of life came to the extraordinary belief that the world would end on a given date, took a public stand for it, and how they coped when nothing happened.

N.B. We recorded this podcast on Skype so there is a bit of background noise towards the end of the podcast.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Useful Links mentioned in the podcast

Pew Research Centre polarisation study from 2014

Jonathan Haidt – The Righteous Mind (from Amazon)

Jonathan Haidt – referenced YouTube lecture to the academic community

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Matthew d’Ancona is a celebrated British columnist currently writing weekly for the Guardian on current affairs. He’s was the editor of the Spectator from 2006-2009 and he was deputy editor for the Telegraph and has also contributed significantly to New York Times, GQ and Evening Standard.

He is an author and his latest book is coming out in May called: “Post Truth – The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back”.

Subscribe to the ECC Podcast on iTunes

Useful Links mentioned in the podcast

You can preorder Matthew’s book from Amazon here: Post Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back

Matthew has also edited a book in 2009 searching for British values – you can get that from Amazon here: Being British: The Search for the Values that Bind the Nation

Our podcast with Bex Stinson can be listened to here.

The Casey Review: a review into opportunity and integration

Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford

Independent Think Tank Bright Blue – of which Matthew is the chair

Homo Deus – Johan Harari

Only Humans Need Apply – Thomas Davenport and Julia Kirby

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

Subscribe on iTunes

Jacob Hill is the founder of Offploy, a recruitment company that aims to get 250 ex-offenders into meaningful, mentored and sustainable employment by July 2019. He is an ex-offender himself, as he served time in prison after dealing drugs at a music festival when his first start-up got him into significant debt. Given everything he does, and his experiences, we wanted to find out what his take on justice is, and how both victims and ex-offenders can be served justice in 2017.

Useful Links

Offploy – please do get in contact if you think you would like to know more about employing ex-offenders

Panorama documentary – Behind Bars: Prison Undercover

State of mental health in prisons – from the Prison Reform Trust

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.

 

Bex is the Head of Trans Inclusion at Stonewall – the charity that campaigns for LGBT equality and offers support to individuals in the UK and abroad. She wants to empower individuals, transform institutions and change laws. Given she holds a first class Masters in Law – and is also a trained barrister – she’s a great person to speak to about the law and trans rights.

N.B. On the show, we use the word ‘cisgender’. This applies to people who sense of personal identity conforms to the sex they were born with.

Recommendations by Stinson for further research and reading

Stonewall and their Twitter feed

Gendered Intelligence

Mermaids

Bex’ Twitter feed

Museum of Transology (at the London College of Fashion from January 20th 2017 – 22nd April 2017)

Kicking the Kyriarchy

Thanks to…

Rebecca Huston – Producer and Editor

Roof Now – Music

What is the Echo Chamber Club Podcast all about?

In contrast to our newsletter, which seeks to show liberal and progressives a robust version of opposing points of view, our podcast seeks to strengthen our own ideology. We interview key thinkers; philosophers, journalists, academics and politicians about what their values are, and what it means to be anti-extremist and ‘centrist’ in 2017.