The Speakeasier

Asad Dhunna and Simone Marquis speak to journalist and co-founder of Creative Salon, Sonoo Singh about advertising's role in culture and the state of representation in the industry.

Asad Dhunna and Simone Marquis speak to Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett about creative and inclusive leadership.

Asad Dhunna and Simone Marquis speak to Marty Davies, joint CEO of Outvertising, about trans+ representation in advertising.

On the first episode of our new season of The Speakeasier, hosts Asad Dhunna and Simone Marquis caught up with Simon Cook, CEO of Lions to talk all things inclusion and creativity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...