Spare a Thought

Welcome to Spare a Thought. The podcast for curious minds, exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. Join host Tom Spare for conversations that go to unexpected places, from the Welsh landscape and Japanese architecture, to media ownership and hidden British history. Whether you're on the morning commute, taking a Sunday stroll or looking for a lunchtime listen, take time out of your day to Spare a Thought.

  1. 2 days ago

    Refugee Week

    Spare a Thought is the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. About this episode To celebrate Refugee week (15th - 21st June), Tom brings together voices from three previous episodes of the show. Rosa Brown of the Welsh Refugee Council reflects on Wales's Nation of Sanctuary approach and the small daily acts that make welcome real.  Dr Samantha James, an NHS doctor who volunteered with German rescue charity Sea-Watch in the Mediterranean, talks about what drives someone to act.  Professor Karen Jacobsen, Henry J. Lear Professor of Global Migration at Tufts University and author of Host Cities, explores how refugees don't just survive in the cities that receive them, they reshape them.  And the Cardiff University chaplains, Reverend Delyth Liddell, Reverend Jo Smith and Father John Patrick Thomas, revisit one of the oldest refugee stories in our lexicon.  Refugee Week events are taking place across the UK — find out what's happening near you at refugeeweek.org.uk Find out more about Sea-Watch, the Welsh Refugee Council and Professor Jacobsen's book Host Cities. This episode was edited, produced and presented by Tom Spare. Clips were selected by Leonora Cartman. Keep up-to-date with Tom's work Keep up to date with Tom's work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ Spare a Thought is a Be the Change. Media Network production. The views and opinions expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network or its partners.

    48 min
  2. 9 Jun

    Making Political Theatre

    Spare a Thought, the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. About this episode Tom interviews Chris Brian, Rhiannon White, Bianca Ali and Taylor Edmonds about the making of Demand the Impossible, part performance, part punk gig, part sensory experience exploring police injustice and the undercover infiltration of activist networks. The play ran at Newport's Corn Exchange in October 2025 and was produced by Common/Wealth Theatre. The conversation explores the spycops scandal, in which undercover police officers infiltrated left-wing activist groups over decades, from environmental and anti-racist campaigners to construction workers blacklisted for their union activity. The guests discuss how real testimonies from people directly affected shaped the play, the challenge of making political theatre, and what it means to turn painful personal experience into powerful art and performance. They also talk about Common/Wealth's book Do It Yourself - Making Political Theatre, a practical DIY toolkit distilling fifteen years of making immersive, community-rooted work. You can find out more about Common/Wealth Theatre and their upcoming work at commonwealththeatre.co.uk More information about Demand the Impossible is available here For more on the ongoing public inquiry into undercover policing, visit the Spycops Research website or listen to the Spycops Podcast Taylor Edmonds has featured on previous episodes of Spare a Thought The Waters That Raised Us and Writing for Joy, and her website is tayloredmonds.co.uk This episode was produced, written and edited by Tom Spare. Music from Demand the Impossible was produced by Common/Wealth Theatre, directed by Rhiannon White and written by Taylor Edmonds. Music and excerpts used with permission. About the guests Chris Brian is a campaigner and researcher who was among the thousands of activists spied on by undercover police. He has spent years working as a researcher for the Undercover Research Group, supporting the ongoing public inquiry into undercover policing. Rhiannon White is co-founder and co-artistic director of Common/Wealth Theatre, a company based in Cardiff and Bradford making large-scale immersive political theatre rooted in the communities it comes from. She directed Demand the Impossible. Bianca Ali is a freelance performer and creative from Cardiff who played a character based on her own experience as a founder of Black Lives Matter Cardiff. Taylor Edmonds is a writer, poet and creative facilitator from Barry, South Wales. Demand the Impossible was her first stage play. Keep up-to-date with Tom's work Keep up to date with Tom's work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ Spare a Thought is a Be the Change. Media Network production. The views and opinions expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network or its partners.

    57 min
  3. 1 Jun

    Who Owns the Media?

    Spare a Thought, the podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins.  About this episode Tom interviews Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice, a US based racial justice organisation that advances the media and technology rights of people of colour. They discuss MediaJustice's report Media Capture: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future, exploring how a small group of tech oligarchs including Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Elon Musk are consolidating control over America's media system and beyond. Steven also contributes to the latest episode of The Political Dispatch, the sister show to Spare a Thought, All the President's Men at Fifty.  The MediaJustice report Media Capture: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future is available to read here.  You can find out more about MediaJustice’s work by heading to their website https://mediajustice.org/  This episode was edited by Sam Khanikar. The title track for this show is Young Shall Grow, with thanks to Afro Cluster, Magugu and Asha Jane. About the guest Steven Renderos is the Executive Director of MediaJustice. He grew up in Los Angeles in an immigrant household and has spent over a decade leading campaigns that have lowered the cost of prison phone calls, secured net neutrality rules and got Donald Trump removed from Twitter. He is a regular commentator in the Washington Post, the LA Times and The Guardian.  Keep up-to-date with Tom’s work Keep up to date with Tom's work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/  Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/  You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ Spare a Thought is a Be the Change. Media Network production. The views and opinions expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network or its partners.

    55 min
  4. 12 May

    Catch up with Spare a Thought

    There isn't a full episode this week as Tom is taking a break, however now is the change for you to catch-up on some previous episodes. In this edtion of Spare a Thought, you'll hear clips from the following episodes: Tadao Ando: to Create is to Live - Tom is joined by his friend Bee, together they explore the extraordinary life of Japan's self taught architect who started his career as a boxer. Listen here The Waters that Raised Us - Tom explores the recently published essay anthology The Waters that Raised Us, a powerful collection of unique stories, histories and imagined futures for the waters of Wales. Tom is joined by some of the books' authors. Taylor Edmonds, who is both contributor and editor, as well as Kathryn Tann and Sofia Brizio. Listen here Rethinking Student Loans - Tom turns his attention to the student loan system in the UK, asking whether it is fit for purpose. You'll hear from six Plan 2 graduates: Josh, Tom, Emily, Alex, Brie and Bee, who share their experiences of a debt that keeps growing. Tom also speaks with Ollie from Rethink Repayment, a campaign pushing the UK government to fundamentally reform the system. Listen here UK Election Special - on our sister show The Political Dispatch Sidd and Tom analyse Parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland, and local elections in England. Listen here The title track for this show is "Young Shall Grow", with thanks to Afro Cluster, Magugu, and Asha Jane. Keep up to date with Tom's work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network.

    17 min
  5. 27 Apr

    The Waters that Raised Us

    Spare a Thought returns with a refreshed format. The podcast for curious minds exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. In this episode, Tom explores the recently published essay anthology The Waters that Raised Us, a powerful collection of unique stories, histories and imagined futures for the waters of Wales. Tom is joined by some of the books' authors. Taylor Edmonds, who is both contributor and editor, as well as Kathryn Tann and Sofia Brizio. The Waters that Raised Us is available to buy via Seren Books.  The title track for this show is "Young Shall Grow", with thanks to Afro Cluster, Magugu, and Asha Jane. Keep up to date with Tom's work via his Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/  Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/  You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/  Guest bios Taylor Edmonds is a poet, writer and creative facilitator from Barry. She is the founder of Writing for Joy, where she provides writing for wellbeing workshops for community groups, schools, hospitals and corporate clients. Taylor’s debut poetry pamphlet Back Teeth was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2022. She was the 21-22 Poet in Residence for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. She has received a Rising Stars Award from Literature Wales and Firefly Press for her writing for young people. Taylor’s stage debut, Demand the Impossible, written for Common/Wealth Theatre, showed The Corn Exchange in October 2025.   Kathryn Tann is a writer, editor, and creative producer based between the south coast of Wales and North Yorkshire. She is the author of the essay collection Seaglass (Calon Books, 2024), Co-founder and Editorial Director of Folding Rock Magazine, and the creator of the This Place podcast and Dwell newsletter. With a background in literature programming, including roles with New Writing North and the Durham Book Festival, she now serves on the board for York Creatives. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Scotsman, and Nation.Cymru, among others. Kathryn holds a 1st Class degree in English from Durham University and a distinction-level MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester.  Sofia Brizio is a bilingual journalist, writer, trained copyeditor, and freelance translator. She graduated in Journalism and holds an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from Cardiff University. Currently, she is a PhD researcher at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (Birmingham City University). Her research examines the representation of disability in UK online news and raises questions surrounding language and identity, investigating journalistic practices and exploring how to work towards a more inclusive media landscape.  Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production. The views and opinions expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the change. Media Network or its partners.

    31 min

About

Welcome to Spare a Thought. The podcast for curious minds, exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins. Join host Tom Spare for conversations that go to unexpected places, from the Welsh landscape and Japanese architecture, to media ownership and hidden British history. Whether you're on the morning commute, taking a Sunday stroll or looking for a lunchtime listen, take time out of your day to Spare a Thought.

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