Audio Stories by The Spill

It was during a trip to South Asia in 2018 that eTHikel founder Amerjit Briah saw the devastating consequences of plastic pollution first-hand. It was an instant awakening. What was portrayed to be paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean was in fact a catalyst for mountains of pollution, created mainly by luxury holiday dwellers, threatening the beautiful coral reefs and sea life. Author: Jenni...

Netflix’s hit series Never Have I Ever has received quite the fanfare in pop culture last month with the release of its latest season, which features the return of our favorite Indian-American teenager, Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan). While most of the reactions comprised shippers who broke out into Team Paxton vs. Team Ben, a fair share of them included viewers’ frustrations with the po...

The violence in Palestine may not be appearing on mainstream news outlets anymore, but the lives of Palestinians under a colonial apartheid system, in the form of the Israeli state, is still ongoing. On Monday 2nd August, the Israeli Supreme Court heard the delayed appeal from four Palestinian families, which totalled around 70 people, who are fighting against the forced expulsion from their homes...

In July 2021, and to widespread criticism, the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined by the European Handball Federation (EHF) for wearing “improper clothing”. Read: shorts, similar to their male counterparts, instead of bikini bottoms. In the same week, Germany’s female gymnasts wore full bodysuits instead of leotards at the Tokyo Olympics. The team explained they wanted to feel comfort...

Simone Biles’ recent withdrawals from many of the gymnastic events she was tipped to win have sparked a global conversation about mental health. Biles was effectively the headline event for the whole competition, and her decision to withdraw sent shockwaves across the world. There was an outpouring of support from the public and many fellow sporting stars, as likely the greatest gymnast of all tim...

In July 2021, US Paralympic swimmer Becca Meyers pulled out of competing, after her mother and Personal Care Assistant (PCA) was denied access due to Covid regulations. The Olympic Committee is standing firm in their decision, and the ableism - as surprising as it was coming from the Paralympics officials - felt all too familiar. Author: Dayna Latham Listen to the full story, or read it online - a...

I’m sitting in the living room of my friend’s house, where she lives with her boyfriend. It’s just me and two couples, including my brother and his girlfriend; we’ve ordered noodles and sushi, and we’re watching the second season of Too Hot To Handle . The conversation has moved to the topic of coming out, of the idea of people presenting as ‘visibly queer’. Author: Sam Moore Category: SELF Listen...

Every single day, around 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million pads, and 700,000 panty liners are flushed down a toilet in the UK - with 200,000 tonnes of menstrual waste landfilled each year in the country (Source: City to Sea). I’ve never been a fan of single-use menstrual products anyways. I don’t feel comfortable wearing tampons. This is just my experience, and I know others may have different feel...

This year, I decided to watch Love Island for the first time. Being both bisexual and slightly tomboyish, the show represents a slight enigma: I’ve never quite understood the motivations of the demographic it represents, which, let’s be honest, is straight, slim, and largely white. I’ve never wanted a guy who “goes gym”, and I’ve never been bothered about fake tanning. Author: Eleanor Noyce Catego...

Designing for people living with disabilities is a necessity, not a trend, as the adaptive clothing market is forecast to be worth nearly £280bn by 2026 (Coherent Market Insights). We talked about all things adaptive clothing with Funmi Lawal, the founder of Clip-Knix, the premier retailer of clip-on underwear in the UK, as well as her personal journey finding adaptive undergarments when her own m...

From today, all covid restrictions are being pulled back in England. People are no longer required to social distance, nor do they have to wear a mask indoors or on public transport. There are no more limitations to how many people you can meet indoors and outdoors. The day is being touted as "freedom day", but for those of us with disabilities and chronic illnesses, it's anything but. Author: Rac...

(Trigger Warning: Mentions of violence, deaths, explicit language) On the first sunny day of 2021 in London, Victoria Park is alive and packed. Large families stroll with frolicking dogs. A group of friends huddles over cigarettes by the canal. Cyclists brush past people’s shoulders. No one wears a mask. An air of anticipation. The pandemic, now in its second year, has an end in sight. When all th...

(Trigger Warning: References of violence, sexual assault, and rape) In December 2020, fashion designer Alexander Wang faced multiple accusations of sexual assault. It began when male model Owen Mooney shared a series of TikTok videos detailing a 2017 incident where Wang allegedly groped him in a New York nightclub. The story went viral after being shared on Instagram by Shit Model Management and f...

The past year has been the era of online interactions. Perhaps like many, I have found a community on Twitter to fill the void of what I wasn’t receiving in real life. And over time, people who were initially strangers have become my friends. Friends I may have never met in real life, but whom I have formed a genuine bond with nonetheless, rooted in our mutual understanding of various topics from...

Welcome to the new instalment of My Coming Out, a monthly interview series sharing the unique stories of people all over the world, who came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or questioning. This month we chat with Eleanor Noyce (she/her), a 23 year-old freelance journalist, who identifies as bisexual. Eleanor’s work can be found on Metro, Refinery 29, Diva, and...

Every few weeks, the internet tells me I don’t exist. I’m a bisexual woman in a monosexual world, and that means I am constantly fighting for my identity to be recognised and taken seriously. Bi+ erasure takes many forms. More so than any other orientation, we bi+ folks face demands to “prove” our identity (often by disclosing our sexual histories.) If we refuse these invasive questions, or if our...

The ‘Period Positivity’ movement is creating space for more open and honest discussions about periods, but for some, menstruation can be a traumatic experience - which is why Natracare is encouraging a more nuanced conversation. ‘Period Positivity’ is a progressive movement for many, and in the last few years, we’re seeing more conversations than ever about periods. You only have to quickly flick...

As more and more people around the world receive their vaccinations against COVID-19, it feels like an end to the pandemic is finally in sight. Images flash through my mind of a world where masks exist only as dust-covered relics, stuffed haphazardly into a random drawer, entangled in a mess of black and white cables. Life suddenly feels like it’s about to go back to normal, and the sense of freed...

Over the past year, you may have picked up a brush or baked your own bread, or you may have enrolled in a virtual arts and crafts workshop. Craft has played a major role in our lives while we were stuck at home, which is also proven to be good for our mental health - with psychological benefits ranging from stress relief to enhanced confidence. Tabara N’Diaye, founder of La Basketry, hosted many o...

When you hear the word ‘K-Pop’, you may think of talented singers with bright hair and unrivaled dance moves. At some point during the past year, you may have taken a dive into the K-Pop side of ‘stan Twitter’ (where millions of accounts of K-Pop superfans reside), and seen countless fancams of BLACKPINK’s Jisoo or BTS’s Jimin, littered under top trending hashtags. On that day, without realising i...

Not long ago, I came across an image on Instagram. It featured 5 different elements within the ‘female reproductive organs’ map, with letters attached to them, to match with their actual names: womb, vagina, cervix, ovaries, and vulva. Alongside the picture came a simple question: “Can you name these?” And it got me thinking. Why? Because I wondered, could I confidently say what was what? And if t...

Every June, Canadians celebrate National Indigenous History Month, to honour the heritage, contributions, and cultures of First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities across the country. The US celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day every 11th October, while the rest of the world commemorates World Indigenous Day each 9th August, raising awareness of the needs of Indigenous peoples -  their traditi...

In Black Transhuman Liberation Theology, published in 2019, author Philip Butler evokes “the construction of a practical approach to liberation for Black folks through the combination of technology and spirituality”. In the book, Butler explains how this theology must engage current and emerging technologies to dismantle systems of oppression. That Black spirituality, Black biotechnology, and tech...

Since Seaspiracy came out, millions of people have been considering giving up fish or changing the way they consume it, and the conversation around overfishing has finally opened wide. We talked to Shameek Upadhya, co-founder of Omvits, a British vitamin and supplements brand that creates sustainable and cruelty-free Omega-3 from algae that will protect our planet for future generations. Author: T...

Welcome to the fifth instalment of My Coming Out, a monthly interview series sharing the unique stories of people all over the world, who came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or questioning. This month we chat with Emma Flint (she/they), a 30 year-old freelance writer and journalist, who identifies as genderfluid and abrosexual. Author: The Spill Category: SEL...