What would a fairer, more equal, more sustainable society look like? How could it be brought into being?
These are the questions this podcast is here to answer.
On Manifest[o], I ask economists, environmentalists, activists, theorists, designers and social entrepreneurs what the future could look like if we were to get serious about tackling injustice, and to commit to building a world that puts people and planet before profit.
Those who criticise the status-quo are often accused of failing to present viable alternatives for organising society. Not anymore.
Real Bread for Real Change, with Jeff and Debra from Breadshare
"We shouldn't put our most basic foodstuffs in the hands large corporations who don't care about what it's doing to us." That's what co-founders of Breadshare, Jeff and Debra, say. For over 10 years, they have been on a mission to make real, nutritious bread accessible to everyone through their community bakeries, whilst raising awareness of the numerous problems industrially produced bread brings with it.
Why are we importing grain from Kazakstan when we grow perfectly good grain here? Why does bread we buy in the supermarket contain 30 ingredients when you only need flour, water and salt to make a loaf? The short answer is because large companies put profit above all else. As a social enterprise, this is exactly the kind of thinking that Breadshare is determined to avoid. They are purpose-driven, and put people and the planet at the centre of everything they do.
The core principle of social enterprises is that economic activity should work for the common good, rather than the unlimited private gain of a few. For decades we've taken for granted that part of business involves someone sitting at the top creaming off all the profits, and as such making all decisions based on financial objectives. But by re-investing all their profits back into the organisation and putting social and environmental objectives first, social enterprises like Breadshare are showing there is an alternative model that can be productive without exploiting people and the planet.
Jeff and Debra were both very insightful and fun to talk to. They were sitting in the bakery during the interview, so please excuse the timer beeping occasionally in the background! I hope you enjoy the episode, please review and subscribe :)
16 Jan 2021
"A feminist transformation of the city" with Leslie Kern
We live in the city of men. Our public spaces are not designed for female bodies. There is little consideration in city planning for women as mothers, workers or carers. The urban streets are often a place of threats rather than community. Gentrification has made the everyday lives of women even more difficult.
These are the issues that Leslie Kern takes on in her book Feminist City, while asking the quesiton: “What would a metropolis that considered working women look like?”
Drawing on history, personal experience and popular culture to unpick the profound link between gender inequality and the physical design of cities, Kern offers a vision of a different kind of city: a city of friendships beyond Sex and the City, a transit system that accommodates mothers with strollers on the school run, a public space with enough toilets, a place where women can walk without harassment. In short, a place where all bodies are welcomed and accommodated.
It is time to dismantle what we take for granted about cities and to ask how we can build more just, sustainable, and women-friendly cities together.
I really enjoyed my discussion with Leslie and I hope you do too. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to listen to and learn from such an inspirational thinker.
Please like, share, review, subscribe, all that jazz :)
18 Dec 2020
The sustainable fashion revolution with Project Cece
The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, producing an estimated 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2 every year. The rise of fast fashion giants, both on the high-street and online, has made clothes cheaper - but it's the environment that has paid the price.
On top of the huge environmental impact, the fast fashion industry is propped up by the exploitation of workers in the Global South, who often work long hours in terrible conditions for a terrible wage. Shockingly, only 1% of all clothing is produced under fair working conditions.
Enter Project Cece, the sustainable fashion search engine trying to make eco-friendly, fair-trade clothing and accessories more accessible.
Project Cece was created by sisters Melissa and Marcella Wijngaarden, and their friend Noor Veenhoven, who met whilst studying in Amsterdam. Their mission statement is "to change the fashion industry for good by making sustainably made clothing the norm".
In this episode, I chat to co-founder Noor about the desperate need for us to start shopping sustainably, how platforms like Project Cece might help, and what our reaction to people coming too close to us in the supermarket now might tell us about humans' capacity to quickly change their habits...
I hope you enjoy our discussion! Please like, subscribe, follow, review and share xxx
11 Dec 2020
What is a "Wellbeing Economy"? with Milo Costanza from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance
What if we were to take into account wellbeing, both of people and the planet, when measuring the success of our economies? What affect could placing far less emphasis on GDP growth have on society's priorities?
For far too long, economic growth has been prioritised by capitalist governments above all else, with human beings and the planet's resources seen solely as expendable tools for producing masses of wealth for an elite few.
In contrast, a "wellbeing economy," says Milo Costanza, is "one that seeks to deliver human and ecological wellbeing, rather than simply corporate profit." Thanks to the work of organisations like The Wellbeing Economy Alliance that Milo works for, this idea is starting to gain traction around the world, with the Scottish government founding The Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership in 2019, and the New Zealand government publishing their first "Wellbeing Budget" in the same year.
I really enjoyed this conversation with Milo and I hope you do to! It filled me with hope to hear that some governments are getting serious about putting wellbeing at the top of the agenda when it comes to thinking about what the economy is for.
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