What happens when a group of wild swimmers take on the pollution giants and fight for the soul of their local river? In this episode I sit down with filmmakers Charlotte Sawyer and Aggie Nyagari, the creative duo behind the acclaimed documentary Rave on for the Avon, to explore how their cameras captured one community’s joyful yet defiant battle to reclaim the River Avon.

We dive deep into the questions of access, ecology, and the very human need to connect with water. Charlotte and Aggie reveal how the Avon swimmers turned playfulness into protest, from data collection to mermaid costumes - and why sewage, though shocking, is just 4% of the problem.

Our conversation ranges from the poetic - attempts to give the river legal personhood - to the profoundly personal, including Meg’s extraordinary story of marrying the River Avon. We discuss how the film’s reception is already reshaping perceptions of rivers, and why falling in love with nature might be the most radical thing we can do in the face of environmental crisis.

This is an episode about activism, creativity, and community - but above all, it’s about remembering that rivers are not just scenery. They are living, breathing systems that we depend on, and perhaps even kin.