People Just Do Something (The Bristol Cable)

What is meant by the term reparations? How do the aims of the reparations movement – which aims to repair the many and vast injustices meted out by slavery and colonialism – differ from more well-known racial justice campaigns such as Black Lives Matter? And what would real progress on reparations actually look like anyway?

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Content warning: This episode tackles issues to do with sexual violence.

Burned out and disillusioned by their experience of working in mainstream charities for women who have survived sexual violence, Megan and Bryony took some time out before deciding they could do better. So they set up SLEEC (Survivors Leading Essential Education & Change), a radical support organisation that seeks to change the system and dismantle the roots of male violence. How does that all work then? And why the hell can so few men express how it feels to be male? Your hosts, Priyanka Raval and a squirming Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins, dive into some uncomfortable questions.

SLEEC's upcoming men's course
Apply/donate to The Resilience Fund

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Crypto is everywhere just now, after reinstalled President Trump’s recent pronouncements on the subject – including launching his own meme coin, which has soared in value. That’s great, because it gives PJDS a rare aura of being bang on the news agenda, as we sit down with Joshua Dávila, author of Blockchain Radicals, How Capitalism Ruined Crypto And How We Can Fix It. Join ‘crypto-naive’ Priyanka and Silk Road pilgrim Isaac as we ask whether these digital tools can be put to positive uses – and whether it’s time to put the Cable on the blockchain.

Josh's book, Blockchain Radicals
Bread Chain Cooperative

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In 2018, four friends in a Stoke Newington pub, frustrated by post-Brexit chaos, had an idea. Weeks later, they were plastering a giant tweet on a billboard. The stunt went viral, and Led By Donkeys was born. Known for bold, satirical interventions, they’ve taken on hypocrisy with billboards, projections, pranks, and daring campaigns. Join Priyanka and Isaac as co-founder Ben unpacks their journey in Season 2.

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Oud

What does it take to organise a pro-Palestine student encampment and resist being dispersed? And how can we force universities to stop funding firms complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza?

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Of all the controversial police powers, why does stop-and-search matter? What are your rights? And can communities targeted by stop-and-search do anything to push back? With Habib Kadiri from stop and search campaign group Stop Watch.

The Bristol Cable's No to section 60 petition

As pro-Palestine marches began ‘shrinking’ last year, St Paul’s residents Matt and Sasha drew on their experiences community organising with the ACORN union to try a different way of influencing public opinion. Inspired by their neighbourhood’s history of mobilising against South African apartheid, they hit the streets to knock on doors and chat to shopkeepers, in a bid to make areas of Bristol no-go zones for Israeli produce. So what’s the reception been like, and what do they hope to achieve? Don’t miss this week’s episode, for a hands-on lesson in how to push for change…

Bristol Apartheid Free Zone website

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Producer George is having a week off and the team is busy planning the next batch of guests and an exciting development for the series...

Mystery button

Gen Z listeners, do you actually know what a strike is? If not, we’ve got just the episode for you. PJDS this week features Bristol teacher Nik, National Education Union rep and co-host of the Requires Improvement podcast, who joins Isaac with his feet still freezing cold from standing on a picket line in January. So how does one go about organising workers? What is the point of industrial action – and what are the key ingredients to make it successful? Tune for an authentic union bro love-in…

Requires Improvement Podcast

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How did hearing the Specials’ ‘Nelson Mandela’ as a teenager set future Faithless guitarist Dave Randall on a lifelong journey into music and activism? And in an age of streaming services and corporate-sponsored festivals, has music lost its political bite?

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Sound System: The Political Power of Music by Dave Randall
Hold on by Barbarella
Counterfire

We launch the series with the fabulous Grace Blakeley, live at the Cable’s 10th birthday party. A lethal combination of jargon, banter, big ideas and small ones.

Buy her new book ‘Vulture capitalism’ here: www.graceblakeley.co.uk

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“I’m definitely not an activist,” says Jake Hanrahan at the start of this week’s episode, pushing back hard on People Just Do Something’s tagline of being about people who might identify as one. Either way, Jake, who founded grassroots conflict media organisation Popular Front, is a fascinating character. What led him in his twenties to decide to be a war reporter? What does he see as rotten in the state of modern journalism? And will he kick off at Priyanka for comparing him to “a gritty version of Louis Theroux”? Listen in to find out…
Popular front
The Women's War
Away days
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to The Bristol Cable wherever you get your podcasts.

How did Bristol mum Fadumo Farah end up confronting Holiday Inn staff with a ‘horrendous’ mattress after being forced out of her home last year? And why has community union ACORN been so successful at organising among Bristol’s high-rise communities?

Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to People Just Do Something wherever you get your podcasts.