Well that was a bit mad. Today we had a very busy show.
We started off with some ladies talking about fostering and adoption services in Bristol. Apparently there is a major shortage of families willing to foster or adopt children from ethnic minority backgrounds, especially as the authorities would like to place them with families from similar cultures so as to make them feel more comfortable.
Then we had the fabulous Rita from Bristol’s Palestinian Museum, which is allegedly the only physical museum of Palestinian life outside of Palestine (please do correct me if I am wrong here, but it is the first one that comes up on Google). It is a real shame that we didn’t have TV because the embroidery that Rita had to show was beautiful.
Next up we had Sian and Cezara from Bristol Women’s Voice and the Bristol Woman magazine, talking about all sorts of woman-centered projects (and NOT pulling faces when I mentioned intersectionality — Yay Bristol!). Ovarian cancer was one of the main topics.
And finally in the first hour we were joined by Tasha from the Avon Coalition Against Big Biofuels to tell us all about how Bristol power stations are involved in rainforest destruction.
Yes, that was all in the first hour. You can listen to it here.
In the second hour I was joined by Lucy from Stand and Stare, an amazing company that is revolutionizing museum exhibitions by making them much more interactive. (Off air Lucy and I talked quite a bit about augmented reality and hacking QR codes — I wish Tim Maughan had been there.)
Also in the studio with Lucy was Ade, one of the back office volunteers at Ujima. She has kidney problems, and is running a campaign to make people in Bristol more aware of the need for donors, especially if they are from ethnic minorities. People like Ade find it much harder than white folks to find suitable donors when they need them.
I sent Lucy and Ade off talking about interactive exhibits to educate people about organ donation, which I was rather pleased with.
In the final half hour we had three ladies in from the Bristol & Avon Law Center. Paulette came and tormented them. Do not worry, they are good friends of ours. Indrani runs a regular immigration clinic from our offices, and Noopur has a regular slot on Paulette’s Thursday show.
You can listen to the second hour here.
The playlist for today was:
- Feelgood by Numbers – The Go Team!
- Codeine Blues – CN Lester
- Talking ‘Bout a Revolution – Tracy Chapman
- Back Street Luv – Curved Air
- The Man With the Child in His Eyes – Kate Bush
- Theme from Mahogany – Diana Ross
- Irreplaceable РBeyonc̩
Did you see the article in the Tory-graph about how the Super-rich are destroying London? The last paragraph was particularly interesting.
The writer basically says that this over-pricing of London is pushing people to discover wonderful non-metro cities like Leeds and….wait for it…. Bristol.
More and more Bristol seems like a great place to live – but also to visit.
I did see it, yes. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter much if older people are becoming disillusioned with London and are leaving. If all of the money is still in London then young and ambitious people will have to keep going there. We’ll have great art in the regions, but it will all be made by people doing it on the cheap or for free who have no chance of national recognition.
“people doing it on the cheap or for free who have no chance of national recognition.”
This is how all change starts. You and your colleagues are helping to turn Bristol into a place that real people will want to live; that will include families, people who want to start businesses, not only artists. You are building a vibrant living city that embraces the entire spectrum of colours and genders. I think it’s absolutely splendid. Can’t wait until I can come and have a look in person.
Unfortunately, it probably won’t be this year. Have just heard that, because of the Bas-turd Russians in Ukraine, some summer cruise bookings are being cancelled. Don’t know what will happen to my Japanese groups, but it looks like my summer income (Wot I use for luxuries like travel) will be down from last year.