Spare a Thought

Content warning: This episode features personal experiences of living with long Covid. While some listeners may find aspects of this discussion difficult and triggering, we believe these stories are important to share. Listener discretion is advised.
In today’s episode, Tom focuses on Long Covid Kids, a charity supporting children and young people living with Long Covid. Tom shares the stories of 5 children and young people who are part of The Long Covid Kids Choir, a unique choir led by Merel van der Knoop. 
Merel outlines the work of the charity, the mission of the choir, and the supportive community created from it. This episode is a powerful reminder that for many thousands of children and young people around the UK, Covid remains a debilitating illness that has changed their lives. 
To find out more about Long Covid Kids, follow them on Instagram or head to their website
Follow the Long Covid Kids Choir on X and follow Merel on Instagram 
Keep up to date with Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
And get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes including Living with Long Covid and Supporting those Living with Long Covid wherever you get your podcasts from or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.
Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the change. Media Network.

This is the first episode of Curly’s War based on a self published book of the same name by Tom’s grandfather, Walter George Blaza. Curly’s War recount’s Walter’s life during World War Two as a Royal Marine and Commando, including his training, involvement in D-Day and the Liberation of the Netherlands. 
To kick off this 4-part mini series, Tom and co-host Emily Merry take listeners back to the mid 1920’s, when Walter and his older brother Bill break into the grounds of the Gopsall estate to go on an adventure. The rest of the episode is dedicated to exploring life in interwar Leicestershire, the campaign for women’s suffrage, the creation of the BBC, the politics of the 20’s and 30’s, and the factors that influenced the start of the war.
You can follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 
Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the change. Media Network.

In today's episode, Tom interviews Karen Jacobsen, the Henry J. Leir Professor of Global Migration at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University to discuss how refugees transform the cities in which they are hosted in. 
Karen discusses how she progressed a career in forced migration, the history of refugees, how city governments often diverge from national governments and the role of policy in shaping the treatment of refugees. Tom and Karen also discuss her new book Host Cities - how refugees are transforming the world's urban setting. The book uses Cairo and Tripoli, Lebanon as case studies.
You can purchase Karen's book from:
Yale University Press https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300254693/host-cities/
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Host-Cities-Refugees-Transforming-Settings/dp/0300254695
TG Jones https://www.tgjonesonline.co.uk/Product/Karen-Jacobsen/Host-Cities--How-Refugees-Are-Transforming-the-Worlds-Urban-Settings/15685618 
You can follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

In today’s episode Tom marks International Men’s Day (19th November) by profiling 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 Dad Shift is a group of men, dads and other parents campaigning for better paternity leave in the UK. 
Co-founder of the organisation, George, details how he got into activism, how The Dad Shift got started, the aims of the not-for-profit and what you can do to support. 
You can find out more about The Dad Shift by heading to: https://dadshift.org.uk/ you can also follow them on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tiktok
You can follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

In this special introductory episode, Tom launches a new four-part mini-series of Spare a Thought titled Curly’s War, joined by his producing partner, Emily Merry.
This series is inspired by Tom’s grandfather’s self-published memoir Curly’s War, written 25 years ago. The book recounts Walter George Blaza’s experiences as a Royal Marine Commando during the Second World War, from his early training, to taking part in the D-Day landings, and ultimately to the liberation of the Netherlands.
Across the series, Tom will read selected excerpts from Walter’s first-hand account, using his grandfather’s voice as the thread that guides us. Each reading is followed by a deeper historical exploration, drawing out personal stories and broader social contexts. Alongside the military narrative, the series will shine a light on the often-overlooked dimensions of wartime life, including:
Life and community in rural Leicestershire
The role of women during WWII (including the history of women’s football)
The realities of military training
The experience and impact of the liberation of the Netherlands
This series is both a personal act of remembrance and an invitation to explore how ordinary lives shape and are shaped by extraordinary times.
Follow Tom's work: https://tomspare.substack.com/
Stay connected with the show: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
Listen to all previous episodes: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts.
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

In today’s episode Tom speaks to Professor Les Back, a lecturer of Sociology at the University of Glasgow about 1979 TV episode of Open Door called It Aint Half Racist Mum.
Together Tom and Les discuss the impact social work had on Les’s career as an academic, the life and legacy of Stuart Hall, one of the creators of cultural studies in the UK. The central focus of the pod this week is a TV episode Hall presented with actress Maggie Steed called It Ain’t Half Racist on Open Door, which was released in 1979.
Through the conversation in today’s episode, you will see many parallels with the contemporary discourse in the public sphere, media and politics about immigrants, migration and racism.
You can watch It Ain’t Half Racist Mum on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jy3ytj or you can find the episode on YouTube.
Follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

To honour Black History Month, Tom is joined by Be the change. Media’s host of The Forgotten Generation Podcast Troy Njenje Mbanga. Together Tom and Troy discuss the life and legacy of Dr Dororthy Height, often referred to as the “godmother” of the Civil Rights movement. 
Tom’s research is based off an interview with Dr Height, available to watch on Youtube: A Conversation with Dorothy Height - National Portrait Gallery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfA9Am-rZTw 
You can follow updates about The Forgotten Generation Podcast via instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theforgottengeneration.podcast/ and you can catch-up on previous episodes on:
Spotify: https://shorturl.at/kck3I
Apple podcasts: https://shorturl.at/fou41 
And everywhere else: https://theforgottengenerationpodcast.podbean.com/ 
Troy’s recommendations for The Forgotten Generation Podcast:
National Youth Strategy https://theforgottengenerationpodcast.podbean.com/e/the-forgotten-generation-national-youth-strategy/ 
Interview with Eden Byrne https://theforgottengenerationpodcast.podbean.com/e/the-forgotten-generation-with-eden-byrne/ 
One Year Anniversary episode: https://theforgottengenerationpodcast.podbean.com/e/one-year-of-the-forgotten-generation-podcast/ 
Alongside exploring the achievements of Dr Height, Tom reviews a Common/Wealth Theatre Company production called Demand the Impossible, a part-performance, part punk-gig, part-sensory experience, exploring police injustice and the undercover infiltration of activist networks.
Follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

In this episode of Spare a Thought, Tom is taken in a time machine to 2030 by author, activist and environmentalist Rob Hopkins to show us how we averted the climate crisis and reshaped our relationship with nature and the planet.
During their conversation Rob tells Tom about working in a Tibetan monastery in Tuscany Italy, what he learned from a maverick teacher in Ireland about permaculture and he describes what the future tastes, smells and looks like. 
You can follow Rob on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robhopkins5085/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yoodooright1968 
Visit Rob’s website and sign up to his newsletter the Time Traveller’s Gazette: https://www.robhopkins.net/ 
You can purchase Rob’s book How to Fall in Love with the Future here: https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/ 
Rob and Mr Kit have made an immersive music and video experience called Field Recordings from the Future: https://www.fieldrecordingsfromthefuture.co.uk/home 
Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan: http://www.transitiontownkinsale.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/kinsaleenergydescentactionplan.pdf 
Follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/.
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

In this episode Tom interviews Charlie Edmonds from Civic Square, an organisation demonstrating neighbourhood-scale civic infrastructure for social, ecological, economic, and climate transition.
Together Tom and Charlie discuss the gap between the idealistic vision of architecture students are taught at university vs the profit driven private practice they work in. Charlie outlines his own journey from architect to Mission Co-Lead for Neighbourhood transitions.
Charlie outlines the three demonstrators Civic Square are building:
Neighbourhood Doughnut 
Neighbourhood Transitions 
Neighbourhood Public Square
The conversation across this episode tells a really important story: neighbourhood buy-in and co-design are essential for navigating climate change. 
Head to Civic Square’s website to see what projects they are working on: https://civicsquare.cc/
Attend free events hosted by Civic Square: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/civic-square-30350377814 
Read Civic Square and Dark Matter Lab’s report into the impact that rising temperatures will have on urban settings in the UK over the next 100 years: https://medium.com/neighbourhood-public-square/3%C2%BAc-neighbourhood-582903b050b2
Read Civic Square and Dark Matter Lab’s chapter on Endowing the Future: https://medium.com/neighbourhood-public-square/endowing-the-future-65041b0f88cd 
Civic Square’s work is based around Dan Hill’s Designing Missions: https://shorturl.at/uFcSO 
Civic Square’s Doughnut Demonstrator is based off Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics: https://www.waterstones.com/book/doughnut-economics/kate-raworth/9781847941398 
The Danish project Doughnut for Economic Development: https://www.effekt.dk/doughnut-for-urban-development 
You can follow Tom’s work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/
Keep up to date with Spare a Thought via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/.
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. 

This episode marks a special milestone: Spare a Thought’s 1st Birthday! A huge thank you to every listener, guest, and supporter who has helped us reach 33 episodes and nearly 2,000 downloads! 
Your host, Tom Spare, takes a moment to reflect on the show's journey - from its beginnings with The Political Dispatch to becoming a standalone show - and gives a special shout-out to the Founding Director of Be the Change. Media Network, Lily Mott, on her recent shortlist nomination for Cardiff University’s 30(ish) Awards.
In honour of Black History Month and as part of our 'Educating for the Future' series, Tom is joined by Clarice Rodney, the Operations Manager of the Black British Book Festival .
Clarice shares her career path and tells the story of how the festival began and how it has grown into a vital space for writers and readers. Together, Tom and Clarice discuss the powerful role of reading and storytelling in understanding our world, referencing the words of James Baldwin, and how the festival acts as an essential voice in a complex and often divisive media landscape. Clarice also shares invaluable advice for emerging writers, particularly those from Black and other marginalised communities, on getting their work published and seen.
The conversation looks ahead to the Black British Book Festival, which takes place on October 19th at the Barbican Centre in London.
You can book your tickets to the Black British Book Festival via the Barbican’s website: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/black-british-book-festival-2025
Listen to Keyari Page’s Shadow and Light: https://shadowandlightpod.podbean.com/
Listen to the previous episode of Spare a Thought with Sinnead Ali: https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/a-matricentric-future/
Listen to the most recent episode of The Political Dispatch - Trouble in France and Britain's Far Right March: https://thepoliticaldispatch.podbean.com/e/trouble-in-france-and-britains-far-right-march/ 
And Olivia Dean’s latest album The Art of Loving is available to buy and stream wherever you get your music from. Head to Olivia’s website for more information about her music and upcoming tour: https://www.oliviadeano.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the Change. Media Network production. 
Follow Spare a Thought on Instagram: @spareathoughtmedia. 
You can listen to all previous episodes of the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to https://spareathought.podbean.com/.