Changemakers

What can we learn when a Hollywood TV show gets into ChangeMaking? Comedy show Brooklyn 99 took on police racism. How did they do it in a way that people didn't turn off?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Donald Trump took power, one of his first orders was to ban Syrian refugees entering the United States. In many parts of the world politicians are increasingly scapegoating refugees, and in the process denying them their human rights. But there is one country that has decided to treat refugees with basic human decency. Uganda doesn't lock up its refugees. Instead, they live in settlements with freedom of movement, access to land and education. What can the rest of the world learn from Uganda?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever clicked on an online petition and wondered whether it worked?In 2016, GetUp - a digital campaign organisation best known for its online petitions and email campaigns - decided to go offline. They came up with a strategy to remove extreme conservative politicians from the Australian parliament. One of the places they went to was the electorate of Bass in Northern Tasmania - a seat not known for being welcoming to out-of-towners. What did they do, and how did they do it? GetUp has been condemned by many for the campaign they ran. Here they talk openly about its strengths - and weaknesses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it take to improve the lives of millions of people? The late Fred Hollows knew. He was known across the globe for his groundbreaking work in disrupting the global medical establishment, and his legacy lives on among the doctors he inspired. His most famous student - Dr Sanduk Ruit - has helped bring sight to over 125,000 people and trained thousands more doctors. In the process, he has directly improved the lives of millions of people. But what does it take to achieve transformation at this kind of scale?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would you do if someone wanted to bulldoze an oil pipeline through your country, threatening not just your land, but your water and air? And what if the nation backing them had a history of playing dirty? That's the situation the people in this episode found themselves in - the battle over building an oil pipeline in Standing Rock in South Dakota, USA. Should they take the high road? Or respond in kind?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would you do if someone wanted to illegally concrete over your local park, and build an apartment block on it? And what would you do if the authorities supported the illegal construction? This episode looks at how to organise genuine opposition in a place where the one thing they hate is genuine opposition - how a small protest against the destruction See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second part of an exploration into how anger can be channelled into powerful actions. Part two comes from Brisbane, Australia where a simple vigil outside a hospital turned into a national flashpoint that overturned a decade of political consensus on Australia's refugee policy. Remarkably, when they began the organisers of the vigil didn't know what they were even aiming to achieve.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Placing yourself in harm's way is powerful but scary. Often it is fueled by the white-hot anger of knowing that you're on the side of justice, and yet failing to make the change you need. This is a two-part exploration of times when direct action was used to confront an overwhelming force. Part one looks at the remarkable #FeesMustFall student movement in South Africa, that all started when someone threw poo at a statue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes it's a strength to not know too much about how something is usually done. In both of today's stories, we see women who had very little experience, entering male-dominated spaces and smashing it. By disrupting the business-as-usual approach, their innovations have had lasting impact. The first story is about mothers who are standing up to the gun lobby in the USA, and the second is about the women on the frontline of terrorism in Kenya.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the largest rally in human history in 2003 didnt stop the Iraq War it makes you wonder what does it take for a coalition to win? In the second episode of ChangeMakers podcast we look at Brexit and examine how the types of coalitions used by each side influenced the outcome of the referendum. Then we go to the Northern Rivers in regional Australia look at how a different kind of alliance against Coal Seam Gas sought to organise across the entire community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might think it'd be easier to ask for something achievable in a campaign, rather than demand the impossible. But sometimes the opposite is true. In the first episode of the ChangeMakers podcast, we look at the famous Fight for 15 campaign in the United States, which is radically changing the way low-wage workers fight for better conditions. Then we look at the roots of the radical politics that is sweeping Barcelona - and examine their attempts to empower the street.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.