Two and a Mic - The Social Podcast

During the talk Tania mentioned a number of different links and activities and websites and she has very kindly supplied with the following starting points for the curious listener: A list of all the nationally recognized Scout Associations can be found on the WOSM site here: WS Members Portal ( scout.org ) Kandersteg International Scout Centre: Kandersteg International Scout Centre ( kisc.ch ) UK...

We have all used the adjective “inspiration” to refer to someone or something at some point in our lives. It is then followed by a brief period of gaiety, energy and positivity. How long that lasts probably depends on too many factors to name, it could even be completely random. Yet would that same gaiety, energy and positivity have occurred without the sense of ‘inspiration’ from whatever had app...

We live in a society where bad people do horrendous things and are rewarded for doing them. We see it in every society played out on varying levels of insanity, like a video game going from Big Boss to Big Boss, without end. The topic for this episode refers to Azerbaijan and Aliyev’s bloodthirsty policy towards the Armenians native to Kharapagh. He had their towns and villages bombed, the soldier...

It is with pleasure I return to Melville’s short form. Are salespeople ever welcomed more heartily than this one here? I would think not and yet, having been so welcomed, he sets about displaying the exact characteristics that have always turned me away from a career in sales (not forgetting that I am a terrible salesperson anyway). In addition, the salesman is only too happy to speak of his own s...

How did people of African countries see themselves in the past? How do they see themselves today? It’s an interesting perspective to consider especially as so much of the history about people from Africa has been written by non-natives. Yet those false narratives continue to shape perceptions of Africans. When we consider the slave trade, historical references list slaves as objects of trade and t...

What follows is an introductory analysis into a term I first picked up in Germany, which in being in German makes complete sense of course – Fehler Kultur. Despite my falling into the trap of assuming the English false friend of ‘failure’ of course I had in mind, ‘mistake,’ which is naturally what the word ‘Fehler’ would signify, given a choice between the two…but on the meaningful side of the iss...

The sci-fi juggernaut that is 3 Body Problem has left a multidimensional impact on the landscape of storytelling. It throws the reader into the past and picks them up again feeling relatively queasy at some point in the present, with a few notes of futurism thrown in for good measure. It’s a sci-fi story with a lot of science and a lot of story, and a thick pinch of fiction. It is not for the fain...

Continuing with the corruption theme I began some weeks ago, here is a short analysis on democracy. Yes I know, for everyone democracy is the holy grail of political ideologies. I understand that we cannot mess with your prized baby when it comes to the champion of liberty. Yet when was the last time you stopped to question exactly whether what we have is a democracy at all? From a certain point o...

Amber has fast become the go to person for all things new and fantastical on TV. She has successfully negotiated 3 Body Problem, Fallout, WoT of course, and also Shogun. She has also spoken a lot about The Expanse, and I am sure there are some others I can’t think of off the top of my head. What is extremely impressive remains the dedication, professionalism and ever-increasing regularity with whi...

How do we achieve peace from chaos? How do we find a path to respect and understanding when society is pushing us towards anger, frustration and playing the blame game on unsuspecting people. How do we speak with our native wisdom and receive answers? If I could answer those questions I’d be a much wiser person than I really am. We don’t all possess the same set of keys, we don’t find ourselves on...

When we use words we learned as children, we feel safe in their usage, because they were taught by trusted teachers in a trusted institution. We don’t always reflect on where they come from, what they signify, or how they may be interpreted by others. For some it doesn’t even matter. For many it matters more than they know. Breaking down biases that have built up walls in our minds can be an arduo...

This is a podcast about basketball. It is about sporting greatness and about NBA history. It is about what sport means to a young person growing up and being surrounded by people who love sport and want to share in that with you. It’s about what that sport represents to a person. It’s about disappointment when someone big does something you can never reconcile yourself with. This podcast looks to...

This is one of my favourite poems because it speaks to me of a parent’s love for their child and of a person wishing to impart wisdom in an affectionate manner. It is a little dated, yet the words remain delicately selected and impressive. It was written in the 19th century as a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson, from whom Kipling hoped his son would draw inspiration. It is perhaps here that my dis...

Writers so often take the most mundane and show us the potential depths to their apparent shallowness. So it is with Marquez here. Not only does he dramatize the mundane, he does so in under a thousand words. The themes he calls upon us to consider are corruption, power, vengeance. They sway, they comingle, they wrestle and then they simply drift apart. Enjoy! I welcome opinions of every kind so p...

This podcast asks why it is we can today accept such poor leadership. It’s about how we have allowed ourselves to be so poorly managed. It’s about we don’t demand more. This is the first part of a few podcast monologues I will be throwing out there to add my voice to the clamour of voices demanding more, better, and damn quickly too. Enjoy! I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find...

Mischka and I cover a variety of topics under the very general title of feminism and patriarchy. As this episode is released on the eve of International Women’s Day, activists are still fighting for women’s equality and it is important to remind everyone of some of the original characters in the suffragette movement and the various waves of feminism over the last 100 years. Injustice is the relent...

I often went to bed thinking “I don’t know if they’re going to make it.” In June last year a chance meeting allowed Dr Boshart to solidify plans for a dream that she has had as a medical doctor in providing her community, the Anishinaabe people, the kind of healthcare that addresses their needs. As Dr Boshart explains, that goes beyond the purely medical and physical needs. It addresses social, sp...

In this glorious poem, T S Eliot shows not only his depth of thought, but also the breadth of his reading and the respect he had for those who came before and who stepped alongside. It was first published in 1915 in the magazine Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. The poem did not receive the plaudits it deserved at the time, but in retrospect it is given great respect. Enjoy! I welcome opinions of every...

How do we envision our futures? Politicians are really lacking in this area. There is no vision for the future. Communities need to decide what they need, and we need decentralised systems to provide us what we need. The SDGs are a wonderful set of ideas and principles, but they are not a rule book and they do not provide nations, regions or governments of any size a playbook by which to mitigate...

A special Valentine’s Day episode offering. Kenyan artist Omish Njash presents his adaptation of the great romantic classic. For the uninitiated this episode is a journey through love, despair, corruption, hate, and more love, and more pain. Omish presents Romeo and Juliet with a uniquely Nairobian tale, substituting Verona with Kenya’s bustling capital, thrilling us with the undertones of Nairobi...

It is not often I get to talk with people actually making a difference somewhere in the world. I have spoken with some, of course, and that is one of the main reasons I do these podcasts. Today is extra special because I am joined by two people who both bridge worlds, business to charity, urban and rural, city and village, west and east, capital and agricultural and more besides. Saroj, with the g...

Under the spotlight in this edition of our book review series is Demon Copperhead written by Barbara Kingsolver. Based loosely on Charles Dickens’ classic David Copperfield, Demon Copperhead is an updated, f-bombing, beer-guzzling, drug-taking, abusive, bruising, cruising, heart-in-your-mouth dramatic mega-ride. It is not a retelling of the 19th century masterpiece, but a literary masterclass in i...

In this episode Tatiana talks about her work with the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network, an alumni shared interest group, who were invited by the G20's Women20 (W20), led by India in 2023, to participate in the drawing up of policy recommendations. We talk about her work at the Economist Group, in particular, the World Ocean Initiative, and finally, her observations as an attendee of COP28. T...

When I asked Karin why, when a woman breast feeds in a public place, do some people find it discomforting? Her immediate response was that “breasts are sexualised”! The misrepresentation of numerous natural events, important natural events, in mainstream media, movies and so on, like childbirth, like bodily fluids, like menstruation, makes it more challenging than needs be, to talk about them. As...

Mischka is standing at an important juncture in her life. Having studied history and sociology it is her career in music that is opening doors. She is an amazingly talented pianist and composer, and these talents are being recognised by an ever-growing community of people. Her music has taken her to New York, she will be a regular performer in circles of Slovakian culture, and she is co-producing...