Spare a Thought

Tom started this podcast in October 2024, believing it would remain online only — but this month, that changes. On 16th July, Tom will be holding his first ever live podcast recording, as part of the Be the Change Media Academy's Digital Storytelling Workshop roadshow. He'll be joined by Lily Mott, CEO of Be the Change Media Network, to co-facilitate a workshop on media literacy and storytelling,...

Spare a Thought is the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. About the episode CONTENT WARNING: This episode makes reference to suicide and attempted suicide To celebrate Windrush Day (22nd June), Tom is joined by Leonora Cartman to explore the history, the legacy, and the deeply moving human stories of the Windrush generation. Leo details the post-w...

Spare a Thought is the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. About this episode To celebrate Refugee week (15th - 21st June), Tom brings together voices from three previous episodes of the show. Rosa Brown of the Welsh Refugee Council reflects on Wales's Nation of Sanctuary approach and the small daily acts that make welcome real.  Dr Samantha James,...

Spare a Thought, the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. About this episode Tom interviews Chris Brian, Rhiannon White, Bianca Ali and Taylor Edmonds about the making of Demand the Impossible, part performance, part punk gig, part sensory experience exploring police injustice and the undercover infiltration of activist networks. The play ran at New...

Spare a Thought, the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins.  About this episode Tom interviews Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice, a US based racial justice organisation that advances the media and technology rights of people of colour. They discuss MediaJustice's report Media Capture: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future, explo...

In this episode, Tom reviews Olivia Dean's live show at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 14th May 2026. Featuring excerpts and clips recorded on the night, Tom reflects on Dean's extraordinary rise from the Brit School to record breaking artist, and on a concert that was, in his words, joyous and healing. The episode explores Dean's music, her message of love, heritage and community. All...

In this episode, Tom is joined by writer and creative facilitator Taylor Edmonds to explore the therapeutic power of words and the inspiration behind her creative company, Writing for Joy. Taylor shares her journey from anonymous Tumblr poet to academic creative writer, and how moving from her hometown of Barry, Wales, to England unexpectedly sharpened her sense of Welsh identity. She discusses wo...

There isn't a full episode this week as Tom is taking a break, however now is the change for you to catch-up on some previous episodes. In this edtion of Spare a Thought, you'll hear clips from the following episodes: Tadao Ando: to Create is to Live - Tom is joined by his friend Bee, together they explore the extraordinary life of Japan's self taught architect who started his career as a boxer. L...

In this episode, Tom is joined by multidisciplinary designer and architecture graduate Bee Yogasivam to explore the life and legacy of Tadao Ando, one of Japan's most celebrated architects. This episode is released during Golden Week, one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons. Ando grew up in working class Osaka, unable to attend university, he taught himself architecture from second hand unive...

Spare a Thought returns with a refreshed format. The podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. In this episode, Tom explores the recently published essay anthology The Waters that Raised Us, a powerful collection of unique stories, histories and imagined futures for the waters of Wales. Tom is joined by some of the books' authors. Taylor Edmonds, who is...

In this episode, Tom turns his attention to the student loan system in the UK, asking whether it is fit for purpose. You'll hear from six Plan 2 graduates: Josh, Tom, Emily, Alex, Brie and Bee, who share their experiences of a debt that keeps growing. Tom also speaks with Ollie from Rethink Repayment, a campaign pushing the UK government to fundamentally reform the system. Tom draws on a decade wo...

Reforming Tuition debt repayments in the UK  There is no episode of Spare a Thought this week, but I do need your help. I am currently developing an in-depth feature regarding the necessity of a fairer student loan repayment system in the United Kingdom. In collaboration with Rethink Repayment, this upcoming episode aims to highlight the financial realities faced by those under the Plan 2 repaymen...

In this episode, Tom sits down with filmmaker Dan Freeman to ask the question: Was King Arthur Welsh? Dan is currently in production on Excalibur, an epic fantasy film set in Wales, centred on King Arthur and his knights. Tom and Dan explore the origins of the King Arthur myth and its relevance today, the innovative funding model behind the film, and how listeners can follow the production as it d...

In today's episode, Tom and Ben Kitchener step back from modern policy and into the history that still shapes the Welsh language today. This is Part 2 of 2. From the Blue Books to the Welsh Not, this episode explores the policies that explicitly tried to stigmatise Welsh and shame its speakers — and the psychological weight that legacy still carries today. To close this two-parter, Ben also shares...

In today's episode, Tom tries something different. Instead of a guest interview, this is the first in a series of short essays, just Tom, in his own words, reflecting on issues that matter. This episode marks Long Covid Awareness Day 2026. Six years after lockdown began, an estimated two million people in the UK are still living with Long Covid, and most of us have moved on as if the pandemic is o...

In today's episode, Tom and Ben Kitchener look past the St David's Day celebrations to explore the real mechanics and politics of the Welsh language - Cymraeg. This is Part 1 of 2. With an ambitious target of a million Welsh speakers on the horizon, this episode gets into the gap between policy and reality - specifically the "usage gap": the difference between having the ability to speak Welsh and...

In today's episode, Tom and Emily Merry conclude their two-part exploration of monumental Welsh women whose contributions to history are finally being recognised in bronze. From Elizabeth Andrews, the socialist activist who fought tirelessly for the rights of miners' wives, to Cranogwen, the extraordinary master mariner, poet and preacher who declared "gender difference is nothing in the world," t...

In today's episode, Tom and Emily Merry explore the lives of several monumental Welsh women whose contributions to history are finally being recognised in bronze. This is part 1 of 2.  From Princess Gwenllian, the 12th century warrior princess, to the modern-day campaign to commemorate her, this episode explores why representation in public spaces matters and how the Monumental Welsh Women project...

Tom delves into the Spare a Thought archives for the Rewind to celebrate St David's Day on 1st March with conversations focused on Wales and Welsh identity. In this episode, you'll hear from four guests recorded in Spring 2025: Gwern Gwynfil, Director of New Wales and former CEO of Yes Cymru, discusses how St David's Day traditions have evolved, the changing attitudes towards the Welsh language, W...

Tom delves into the Spare a Thought archives for the Rewind to return to the show’s most downloaded episode Paternity Leave, released on 18th November 2025 to celebrate International Men’s Day.  In this episode, Tom profiles the work of The Dad Shift and its co-founder George Gabriel.  The UK has the worst paternity leave in the UK, the Daft Shift is looking to change that. A not-for-profit, the D...

Tom delves into the Spare a Thought archives for the Rewind to return to an episode from 23rd September 2025, A Matricentric Future. Tom interviews friend and founder of Womb CIC , Sinnead Ali. Sinnead opened a new studio space in Cardiff last summer. The conversation covers Sinnead's journey from working at Cardiff Students' Union with Tom to traveling and becoming a yoga teacher. They discuss th...

In today’s episode, Tom speaks to five members of the Friday Writers Club run by Briony Goffin at Cardiff Writers Studio. Together they discuss the radical act of writing. Writing as an act of defiance, in dark times, in dark months.  In a world where AI can generate text instantly, what does it mean to sit down and put your own words on the page? What drives us to create? And how do we keep going...

In this rewind episode, Tom revisits a conversation about creativity with Briony Goffin, originally released on New Year's Day 2025. As we continue to navigate creative expression in 2026, this episode offers timeless wisdom on where ideas come from and how to sustain a creative practice. Briony Goffin is a writer, tutor, and mentor who teaches creative writing at Cardiff University and specialise...

This is the final episode of Curly's War, a mini series of the Spare a Thought podcast based on the self-published book by Tom's grandfather, Walter George Blaza. In this concluding episode, Tom is joined by his brother Matt and cousin Alex to share their personal memories of Walter - the grandfather they knew. They discuss the war memorabilia cabinet that fascinated them as children, Grandad's re...

This is Episode 4 of Curly's War, a mini series of the Spare a Thought podcast based on the self-published book by Tom’s grandfather, Walter George Blaza. In this episode, Tom and Emily cover the final months of the conflict, from the brutal raids at Waspik through to the liberation of occupied Germany. Walter details the harrowing reality of winter warfare along the Maas, including high-stakes pr...