Radicals in Conversation

Strike!

We discuss new forms of union organisation undertaken by workers today – and how new types of employment, from zero-hours contracts to the gig economy can actually pave the way for creative, successful forms of organisation. We also discuss the Picturehouse and Deliveroo strikes, (anti-)trade union law, Corbynism and renters’ unions.

With special guests Callum Cant, a former Deliveroo rider and organiser from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB); Kelly Rogers, one of the key organisers in the ongoing Picturehouse strike; and Jamie Woodcock, author of Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres.

For more information about the Picturehouse strike, go to: picturehouselivingwage.com

Student Revolt

We talk to special guests Matt Myers, author, and Malia Bouattia, former president on the NUS, about Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation - a lively oral history of the '2010 Generation', bringing together activists, students, politicians and workers. We discuss the significance of the 2010 student protests and how, seven years later, they continue to reverberate through UK politics - both in Parliament and on the streets. 

Books for Prisoners!

We talk to special guests Charlie Gilmour and Luke Billingham about the importance of reading for prisoners. Luke works for Haven Distribution, a charity that provides books to prisoners, and Charlie spent time in prison after protesting at a student demonstration in 2010. We discuss the politics and the pitfalls of the UK's prison system and how books can 'open windows' to those inside.

For more information about the important work Haven does, go to havendistribution.org.uk.

CW: suicide

Voices from the 'Jungle'

This episode features the story of 'Africa' - one of the many people who lived, for a time, in the Calais Refugee Camp - the 'Jungle'. 

Africa grew up in Sudan. He tells us about his childhood and adolescence as a student in Africa; his journey across two continents, and ultimately about his experiences of life in the 'Jungle'. It is a story of terror and lost dreams, as well as of solidarity and community.

The podcast is narrated by Dr Tahir Zaman.

Voices from the Jungle: Stories from the Calais Refugee Camp is available from plutobooks.com

Homeless in Cardiff

Tom Hall, the author of Footwork: Urban Outreach and Hidden Lives, reads an extract from his book.

Footwork is a street-corner ethnography of the homeless living in Cardiff in Wales, drawing on the themes of urban regeneration, lost space and the 24-hour city. It’s an insightful and at times very funny portrait of hidden lives, an ‘erudite book about city life that exudes a deep but irreverent sense of humanity.’