Listen: People Just Do Something with Grace Blakeley and the ‘cacophony of woke’
Photo: Alex Riley
In the first episode of this brand new podcast, self-proclaimed overly-stimulated gobshites Priy and Isaac are joined by left-wing journalist and author Grace Blakeley.
The chat about community organising, capitalism and what next for the left under a Labour government, was recorded at the Cable’s 10th birthday party at Trinity.
Grace Blakeley, who writes for lefty magazine Tribune and is known for being a thorn in the side for right-wingers on mainstream TV news, also talked about her new book Vulture Capitalism.
She reflects on her involvement in the anti-austerity movement, her ‘brutal’ years organising in the Labour Party, and recent support for Green and independent candidates at the General Election, where “Bristol became the centre of British socialism”.
So where is the new home of the left in the Starmer era? How can the left organise in the post-Corbyn era when Starmer’s party is crushing dissent?
News You Own Can’t Be Bought
Three companies — DMG Media, News UK and Reach — now control 90% of UK national newspaper circulation. Elon Musk owns the platform shaping what billions see. And just two corporations control over half of Britain’s 882 local newspapers. Meanwhile, the far right is finding a megaphone in newsrooms that haven’t been held to account for decades.
This isn’t coincidence. This is what happens when journalism answers to its owners instead of its readers.
The Bristol Cable was built as the counter.
In her book Vulture Capitalism, she sets out how free markets aren’t really free, record corporate profits don’t trickle down to everyone else, corruption is rife, and we aren’t empowered to make our own choices because they’re made for us every day.
Grace, Priy and Isaac chat about the importance of community organising and what it takes to build a movement.
You’ll also hear a collection of one thing that members of the audience wanted to change and a dramatic reading of the recent Daily Mail article branding Bristol as a “cacophony of woke”.
The first series of People Just Do Something will run from August to October, with six episodes coming out every two weeks. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
