So, this is a bit of a break from the usual, but we figured the lessons we can learn from radicals 200 years ago are every bit as relevant as those from today. Isaac is back out exploring, and this time he's in a Hotwells building that was once ground zero for radical science and politics in England: The Pneumatic Institute. This place was a hotbed in the late 1700s, right around the time of The French Revolution. Joining Isaac is cultural historian Mike Jay, author of Free Radicals, who gets stuck into this history and the psychedelic science it sparked. The conversation revolves around Nitrous Oxide (NOS) - re-criminalised in 2023 but still wildly popular - and the experiments a motley crew of renegades conducted with it. They were essentially getting high, but these weren't just parties; they sparked revolutionary thinking across medicine, chemistry, and the arts, ultimately forging groundbreaking ideas about public health.
The cast:
Thomas Beddoes
Humphrey Davy
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
James Watt
People Just Do Something (PJDS) is the podcast for people who want to change the world. It is for those who act, instead of waiting for others. It is for those who understand the impact of local change. If you’ve found this episode, then you’re not far from action.
From The Bristol Cable's award-winning newsroom, hosts Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins and Priyanka Raval, along with producer George Colwey, bring you relaxing and possibly enraging conversations with activists, organisers, and change-makers tackling everything from local Bristol struggles to global movements.
The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom—fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.
Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
[TRIGGER WARNING: Communism]
This episode comes from our last live show where we had international super comrade, professor Jodi Dean, blessing us with a discussion focussed on Communism in the modern age. As an outwardly left wing academic residing in the U.S.A, Jodi is often at the sharp end of the discourse, and she eloquently describes the importance of building a solidarity movement in tough times. Jodi is clearly wedded to the old guard of revolutionary thought, and this chat dives into some of the sticky stuff in framing those ideas for a contemporary audience. Questions like; is Comrade a cringe word? [obviously it is but Jodi and Isaac don’t think so.. c’est la vie].
People Just Do Something (PJDS) is the podcast for people who want to change the world. It is for those who act, instead of waiting for others. It is for those who understand the impact of local change. If you’ve found this episode, then you’re not far from action.
From The Bristol Cable's award-winning newsroom, hosts Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins and Priyanka Raval, along with producer George Colwey, bring you relaxing and possibly enraging conversations with activists, organisers, and change-makers tackling everything from local Bristol struggles to global movements.
The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom—fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.
Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
Number one Potter fanboy (joking please no more libel) Ethan Shone gives us a whistle stop tour of the sketchy world of The Dark Arts, aka secretive political lobbying. How is Bristol MP Darren Jones connected to a globally influential organisation set up by MI6 operatives? Why has Starmer's Labour party been described by former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy as "the first private sector government in Labour's history"? Who's pulling the strings and how has corporate capture become the overarching narrative of our political era? Journalist Ethan Shone shines a light into these murky corners in an attempt to establish the parameters of the playing field to support campaigners and activists.
People Just Do Something (PJDS) is the podcast for people who want to change the world. It is for those who act, instead of waiting for others. It is for those who understand the impact of local change. If you’ve found this episode, then you’re not far from action.
From The Bristol Cable's award-winning newsroom, hosts Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins and Priyanka Raval, along with producer George Colwey, bring you relaxing and possibly enraging conversations with activists, organisers, and change-makers tackling everything from local Bristol struggles to global movements.
The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom—fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.
Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
Annie McGann aka The People's Lobbyist, graced us with her presence at the last PJDS live event to talk about her favourite topic, night-life. Her campaign group Save Bristol Nightlife has been pivotal in supporting the city's night-time economy, acting as a resource hub as well as a go-between for industry workers, Bristol City Council representatives, property developers and more. She calls it "interfering" but it would more commonly be called lobbying. Annie talks us through what led her to this point, her fascination with David Bowie, The Blitz Club, Soundsystem culture and the importance of doing the paperwork if you really want to effect change...
"Tommy Robinson's worst nightmare" is how Taj Ali described his experience at Uni. He came to town for PJDS live to talk about the past, present, and future of trade unionism and activism in the UK. Drawing from his time as an industrial correspondent and his upcoming book on British South Asian resistance, Taj connects the dots between working-class history, racial identity and common struggle. He manages to stay focussed on the love, care and solidarity that still exists in working class communities, whilst also exposing how the far right exploits and encourages division within them. Most importantly he offers a roadmap for fighting back against divisive narratives, using community organising for the sake of the community.
Oh and Isaac talks about his camping trip where he almost climbed into a pyre in a yard outside a church where they speak in tongues??
The queue for the women's toilet was tiny at the Reform UK rally according to Sian Norris, our guest this week. She's a journalist who has used undercover reporting to lift the lid on on the rise of right-wing populism and misogyny, particularly in relation to reproductive rights. She's a Senior Reporter at openDemocracy and has written several books, most recently Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right attack on reproductive rights went global.
Join us as we look into the moment to moment experience of going undercover, how to do it and what it feels like. Featuring badly thought out acronyms, UFO conspiracies and a number of moral dilemmas, Sian takes an extremely considered approach to understanding the people involved in this movement and what makes them tick.
We sent Isaac to Cribbs Causeway to meet the organisers of a local iteration of the international protest movement dubbed Tesla Takedown. The movement has been calling for Tesla owners to sell up and boycott the company in response to owner Elon Musk's involvement in Donald Trump's extremist government. This week, Tesla announced record losses with sales dropping 71%. Can the Tesla Takedown movement claim this? And does this result mean Communism has officially been defeated? Isaac talks with organisers from American-Bristolian group Americans for Action to get their perspective. Oh and along the way Isaac sees a small horse and meets a magician.. I hope you enjoy it.
Content warning: descriptions of violence and war
"The belief in one's rights is more important than anything else. If I am confident about my rights, nothing will make me despair...When you resist an Israeli soldier by peaceful means, their weapons become irrelevant." - Iyad Burnat
Iyad Burnat is a Palestinian activist involved in non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. He is the head of the Bil'in Popular Committee against the Wall, which has led weekly demonstrations since 2005 against the Israeli West Bank barrier. He is also head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bil’in, a pro-Palestinian organisation with the stated aims of building a "wide network of people from all over the globe who support Freedom and Justice for all". In this interview, he shares his personal experiences, including the confiscation of his village's land, the destruction of olive trees, and the regular demonstrations he and his community have organised. He is joined by Laura, a British organiser campaigning for Palestinian rights.
We're bringing you one more non-PJDS episode from The Bristol Cable's feed this week before resuming our regular schedule. Sit tight. It's The Debrief; where cable journalists take listeners behind the headlines of their latest investigations.
Priyanka sits down to talk with Dr. Amelia Cussans from health justice campaign group Medact. The group recently released a report in collaboration with ACORN the union describing the evacuation of Barton House in 2023 as a mass traumatising event. Amelia and Priyanka discuss this report, its implications and some of the moving testimonies from residents contained within it.
As our season break continues, we bring to you an episode of The Debrief from The Bristol Cable's main feed.
Adam Quarshie, the latest addition to The Bristol Cable's core reporter team, takes the lead in conversation with Sean Morrison about his latest investigation into the trial of the so called Filton 18; a group of activists who broke into an arms factory in Bristol last year (2024).
Sean's article: Filton 18: ‘The more you oppress people, the more they will rise’
Petition: Stop the use of counter-terrorism powers against pro-Palestine activists
More on the topic:
Inside Bristol's 'murder factory'
The Cable's Palestine coverage
Producer George is having a week off and the team is busy planning the next batch of guests and an exciting development for the series...
As pro-Palestine marches began ‘shrinking’ last year, St Paul’s residents Matt and Sasha drew on their experiences community organising with the ACORN union to try a different way of influencing public opinion. Inspired by their neighbourhood’s history of mobilising against South African apartheid, they hit the streets to knock on doors and chat to shopkeepers, in a bid to make areas of Bristol no-go zones for Israeli produce. So what’s the reception been like, and what do they hope to achieve? Don’t miss this week’s episode, for a hands-on lesson in how to push for change…
Bristol Apartheid Free Zone website
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to People Just Do Something wherever you get your podcasts.
Crypto is everywhere just now, after reinstalled President Trump’s recent pronouncements on the subject – including launching his own meme coin, which has soared in value. That’s great, because it gives PJDS a rare aura of being bang on the news agenda, as we sit down with Joshua Dávila, author of Blockchain Radicals, How Capitalism Ruined Crypto And How We Can Fix It. Join ‘crypto-naive’ Priyanka and Silk Road pilgrim Isaac as we ask whether these digital tools can be put to positive uses – and whether it’s time to put the Cable on the blockchain.
Josh's book, Blockchain Radicals
Bread Chain Cooperative
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to People Just Do Something wherever you get your podcasts.
Gen Z listeners, do you actually know what a strike is? If not, we’ve got just the episode for you. PJDS this week features Bristol teacher Nik, National Education Union rep and co-host of the Requires Improvement podcast, who joins Isaac with his feet still freezing cold from standing on a picket line in January. So how does one go about organising workers? What is the point of industrial action – and what are the key ingredients to make it successful? Tune for an authentic union bro love-in…
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to People Just Do Something wherever you get your podcasts.
“I’m definitely not an activist,” says Jake Hanrahan at the start of this week’s episode, pushing back hard on People Just Do Something’s tagline of being about people who might identify as one. Either way, Jake, who founded grassroots conflict media organisation Popular Front, is a fascinating character. What led him in his twenties to decide to be a war reporter? What does he see as rotten in the state of modern journalism? And will he kick off at Priyanka for comparing him to “a gritty version of Louis Theroux”? Listen in to find out…
Popular front
The Women's War
Away days
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to The Bristol Cable wherever you get your podcasts.
Content warning: This episode tackles issues to do with sexual violence.
Burned out and disillusioned by their experience of working in mainstream charities for women who have survived sexual violence, Megan and Bryony took some time out before deciding they could do better. So they set up SLEEC (Survivors Leading Essential Education & Change), a radical support organisation that seeks to change the system and dismantle the roots of male violence. How does that all work then? And why the hell can so few men express how it feels to be male? Your hosts, Priyanka Raval and a squirming Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins, dive into some uncomfortable questions.
SLEEC's upcoming men's course
Apply/donate to The Resilience Fund
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to The Bristol Cable wherever you get your podcasts.
In 2018, four friends in a Stoke Newington pub, frustrated by post-Brexit chaos, had an idea. Weeks later, they were plastering a giant tweet on a billboard. The stunt went viral, and Led By Donkeys was born. Known for bold, satirical interventions, they’ve taken on hypocrisy with billboards, projections, pranks, and daring campaigns. Join Priyanka and Isaac as co-founder Ben unpacks their journey in Season 2.
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to The Bristol Cable wherever you get your podcasts.
What is meant by the term reparations? How do the aims of the reparations movement – which aims to repair the many and vast injustices meted out by slavery and colonialism – differ from more well-known racial justice campaigns such as Black Lives Matter? And what would real progress on reparations actually look like anyway?
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to The Bristol Cable wherever you get your podcasts.
Of all the controversial police powers, why does stop-and-search matter? What are your rights? And can communities targeted by stop-and-search do anything to push back? With Habib Kadiri from stop and search campaign group Stop Watch.
How did hearing the Specials’ ‘Nelson Mandela’ as a teenager set future Faithless guitarist Dave Randall on a lifelong journey into music and activism? And in an age of streaming services and corporate-sponsored festivals, has music lost its political bite?
Head to www.thebristolcable.org/join to become a member, and subscribe to People Just Do Something wherever you get your podcasts.
Sound System: The Political Power of Music by Dave Randall
Hold on by Barbarella
Counterfire
