Things Worth Fighting For
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -Blaine Harrison from Mystery Jets explores stories of resilience from writers, musicians, comedians and activists who have not only had to overcome adversity but used their voice to empower others in the fight for social justice.
Each of the ten episodes centres around a conversation with a special guest and features an accompanying song from Mystery Jets’ critically acclaimed new album ‘A Billion Heartbeats’.
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Episodes
THANK YOU NHS (with Captain Sir Tom Moore and Dr Rachel Clarke)
December 30, 2020 10:02 - 1 hour - 260 MBAneurin Bevan established the National Health Service in 1948 on three core principles: that it meets the needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery, and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. 72 years later it continues to carry out that promise, day in, day out. But how many more storms of austerity cuts can it endure? Blaine meets paediatric doctor and Sunday Times best-selling author Dr Rachel Clarke, to hear how her sleepover protest outside the Departm...
TELL THE TRUTH (with Bella Lack and Noga Levy-Rapoport)
November 20, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 222 MBThroughout modern times, some of the most effective campaigns for positive change have been led by young people. It is estimated that over 6 million people took part in the Global Climate Strikes in September 2019, and at the helm were School Children marching for their future. Whether environmental justice is being called for at a geo-political level or in the streets, history has taught us that rarely is one effective without the other. Blaine sits down with 17 year-old Bella Lack, an a...
BIG BOYS DON’T CRY (with Joe Talbot and Frank Carter)
October 10, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 201 MBThe term ‘Toxic Masculinity’ has come to represent society’s expectation that men be active, aggressive, tough, daring and dominant. Some believe this narrative to form part of a politically-motivated war on men, whilst others argue men should be encouraged to share their vulnerabilities, failures and doubts, so as to spark a bigger conversation. With Suicide the most common cause of death for men under the age of 50 in the UK, are we having enough of these difficult conversations? Blaine t...
IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: #IWEIGH SPECIAL Part 2 (with Jamie Windust and Jameela Jamil)
September 17, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 151 MBStudies show that the average smartphone user checks their screen up to 150 times per day, scrolling through an Eiffel Tower’s worth of posts. Meanwhile rates of anxiety have soared in young people, and scientists tell us that we’re lonelier than ever. But movements like #MeToo and BLM have shown that social media can also be a powerful tool in the fight for inclusivity and social justice. In Part Two of this special bumper episode of the pod, Blaine catches up with actor, broadcaster and a...
IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: #IWEIGH SPECIAL Part 1 (with Jamie Windust and Jameela Jamil)
September 14, 2020 09:03 - 1 hour - 181 MBStudies show that the average smartphone user checks their screen up to 150 times per day, scrolling through an Eiffel Tower’s worth of posts. Meanwhile rates of anxiety have soared in young people, and scientists tell us that we’re lonelier than ever. But movements like #MeToo and BLM have shown that social media can also be a powerful tool in the fight for inclusivity and social justice. In Part One of this special bumper episode of the podcast, Blaine sits down with non-binary activist a...
MAN ON BENCH: A SOLDIER’S STORY (with David Tovey and Bastille’s Dan Smith)
July 23, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 215 MBThe number of people sleeping rough in London has almost trebled in the last ten years, with an estimated two in ten ex-servicemen ending up on the streets. Users of food banks in the UK have more than doubled in the same period. Why is our society failing it’s most vulnerable so badly? Blaine sits down with David Tovey, a former chef in the armed forces and survivor of homeless, to find out what led him to set up the One Festival of Homeless arts. David also recalls the heartening story of...
THE SPIRIT NEVER DIES (with Billy Bragg and Ed O’Brien)
July 08, 2020 09:58 - 1 hour - 210 MBMeeting your musical heroes isn’t something that happens everyday, and rarely are they as engaging or open-hearted as our incredible guests on this week’s episode of the Pod. Blaine sits down with one of his favourite guitarists, Ed O’Brien from the Oxford band Radiohead, to discuss feeling re-politicised for the first time since both attending the ‘Stop the War’ March in 2003, the social significance of Acid House, and ‘finding your tribe’ at Glastonbury. It’s a heart-warming conversation ...
FIGHT THEM WITH LOVE (with Reni Eddo-Lodge and Nikesh Shukla)
June 22, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 177 MBGeorge Floyd’s brutal murder at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis has ignited a global conversation about structural racism in America. But how does Britain compare today? And how far have we really come in reconciling our dark colonial past? Blaine sits down with author Nikesh Shukla, named by Time Magazine as ‘’one of the twelve leaders shaping the next generation of artists’’ to find out how ‘The Good Immigrant’ has helped change the face of publishing in the UK, and rec...
THE FEMALE GAZE (with Elizabeth Acevedo and Florence Given)
June 15, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 143 MBThe Womens’ March in 2017 took place the day after President Trumps’ inauguration and was the largest single-day protest in U.S history. How have #MeToo and #TimesUp shaped the landscape of gender politics? What does it mean to be a feminist today? Blaine sits down with artist and influencer Florence Given to find out the answers to these questions, and learns what steps men can take towards becoming better allies within intersectional feminism. This week’s opening thought features New Yo...
JUSTICE FOR GRENFELL (with Judy Bolton and firefighter Ricky Nuttall)
June 08, 2020 09:00 - 43 minutes - 99.7 MB72 people died in the fire at Grenfell Tower, a building recently refurbished in non-compliant, highly flammable cladding. Three years later, still no arrests have been made. How come? What is the legacy of the tragedy and will justice ever be done to those who lost their lives? Blaine sits down with Justice4Grenfell director Judy Bolton to find out the answer to these questions and hears how the community came together in the wake of that devastating night in June 2017. This week’s openi...
Refugees Welcome Here (with Lord Alf Dubs and Josie Naughton)
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 103 MBHow welcoming is Britain as a country today? What part does climate change play in the refugee crisis? What does it mean to choose love? Blaine sits down with his friend Josie Naughton, co-founder of ‘Help Refugees’ to find out the answer to all these questions, and learns how the NGO have gone on to help over a million displaced people since they first drove a van out to ‘The Jungle’ camp in Calais, in 2015. This week’s opening thought features Lord Alf Dubs reading the poem ‘Refugee Blues...
REFUGEES WELCOME HERE (with Lord Alf Dubs and Josie Naughton)
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 103 MBHow welcoming is Britain as a country today? What part does climate change play in the refugee crisis? What does it mean to choose love? Blaine sits down with his friend Josie Naughton, co-founder of ‘Help Refugees’ to find out the answer to all these questions, and learns how the NGO have gone on to help over a million displaced people since they first drove a van out to ‘The Jungle’ camp in Calais, in 2015. This week’s opening thought features Lord Alf Dubs reading the poem ‘Refugee Blues...
Things Worth Fighting For (Trailer)
May 26, 2020 07:00 - 2 minutes - 2.64 MB"Things Worth Fighting For" is a brand new podcast, hosted by Blaine Harrison from Mystery Jets, which explores stories of resilience from writers, musicians, comedians and activists who have not only had to overcome adversity but used their voice to empower others in the fight for social justice. Each of the ten episodes in the series centres around a conversation with a special guest and features an accompanying song from Mystery Jets’ critically acclaimed new album ‘A Billion Heartbeats...