Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband & Geoff Lloyd Cheerful

In the Chatteroo stew this week: Ed reflects on the Autumn Statement and budgets he has known and (sometimes) loved, and Geoff gets the wrong end of the stick - or drumstick - about an American tradition.
Email us: reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com
Music: Ed Seed
Artwork: A child with a potato and some paint

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All aboard the Chatterooga Choo-Choo for:
* The return of David Cameron
* Fika and Swedish Work Culture: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/08/fika-four-week-holidays-and-zero-overtime-swedens-stunningly-healthy-work-culture
* The Book Club that took 28 years to read one novel: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/12/california-venice-book-club-finngeans-wake-28-years
* Ezra Klein interviews Maryanne Wolf / Deep Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/opinion/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-maryanne-wolf.html
* Sleep in a record shop: https://thespaces.com/spend-the-night-in-an-east-london-record-store/
Email us: reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com
Music: Ed Seed
Artwork: A chimp with an iPad

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For our last episode of Reasons to be Cheerful in its current form, Hannah Ritchie from Our World In Data tells us why things are more cheerful than we might think when it comes to the long-term trends and talks about her forthcoming book on what we do to make a sustainable world. Then Ed's podcast crush David Runciman reflects on our 6 years, what we have witnessed and how our political system can become fit for purpose. Plus tears, thank yous, Oscar-style tributes and emosh....but don't worry we'll be back in your feed next week with our cheerful chatteroo so we feel like it's not really properly goodbye....
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As this chapter of Reasons to be Cheerful almost draws to a close we wanted to leave you feeling motivated and inspired to take action on the things you care most about, from climate change to inequality. Feeling disempowered and frustrated with the state of the world? Our three guests are here to tell you why doing your bit can be joyful, fun and might just restore your faith in humanity a little bit! We hear from Froi Legaspi from Citizens UK who tells us about his journey into community organising, from Emily Bolton who's working with Grimsby Football Club to build a more optimistic future for the town, and to Dan McCallum, who back in 1998 started an energy co-op in Wales that's now the biggest rooftop solar co-op in the UK.
Plus: Keep sending us your messages of what you've learnt from the pod since 2017! We'd love to hear from you at reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com
Guests
Froi Legaspi, Senior Organiser, Citizens UK (@FroilanLegaspi / @CitizensUK)
Emily Bolton, Founder, Our Future (@EmilyJBolton_ / @OurFutureGY)
Dan McCallum, Co-Founder & Manager, Awel Aman Tawe (@AwelAmanTawe)
More information
Check out the work of Citizens UK including their local chapters
Read more about the work of Our Future and of Awel Aman Tawe
Want to set up your own project? Go to Community Energy England, Wales & Scotland
Dan also mentioned Energy4All
Learn more about the work of We're Right Here, the campaign for a Community Power Act and of Locality
UCL's Policy Lab is undertaking a new project called Ordinary Hope, find out more here

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The last decade or so has witnessed the seemingly unstoppable rise of populism across Europe and the world. The ruling Law and Justice party in Poland were one example of the trend and there were no signs they were going anywhere. But a couple of weekends ago, Poland voted for a change. We explore the shock result, how we got here and what drove the record turnout with Piotr Buras and Anne Applebaum. Then we speak to young climate activist Dominika Lasota about her role mobilising women in the election. What can we learn from Poland and is there hope on the horizon?

Guests
Piotr Buras, the Head of the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Warsaw Office (@PiotrBuras1 / @ecfr) 
Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer at The Atlantic and Pulitzer-prize winning historian (@anneapplebaum / @TheAtlantic)
Dominika Lasota, climate activist and co-founder of the climate campaign group Wschód (@lasotellia / @wschod)
More information
Read Anne's article in the Atlantic: 'Poland Shows that Autocracy is not Inevitable'
Read analysis from the ECFR about Poland's future and its relationship with Poland
Find out more about Wschód

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Long-time listeners to the pod will know that Ed never ever talks about his swimming hobby, but the RTBC team have decided to indulge him - just this once, mind - and dedicate a *whole episode* to the boom in outdoor swimming. Whether you’re a seasoned wild swimmer, a winter dipper or a lido goer, there’s a huge number of reasons why you might like to step outside the indoor confines of your local swimming baths. We speak to Kate Rew and journalist - and former Hampstead Ponds lifeguard - Nell Frizzell about why they find outdoor swimming exhilarating, as well as how to avoid swimming in s**t. And Professor Mike Tipton is back to give us a health warning and plenty of advice on how to swim safely.
Plus: How should Geoff navigate the annual rotting gourd display?
Guests
Kate Rew, Founder, Outdoor Swimming Society and author of the Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook (@kate_rew)
Professor Mike Tipton, Professor of Human and Applied Physiology, University of Portsmouth (@ProfMikeTipton)
Nell Frizzell, Journalist and Author of The Panic Years, Square One and Holding the Baby (@NellFrizzell)

More information
Check out the work of the Outdoor Swimming Society, including articles on how to stay well swimming and the 3% access myth
Buy a copy of the Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook
Watch a video of Mike immersing Chris van Tulleken into 12 degree water
Mike mentioned the Blue T**s swimming group
The Acta Physiologica article 'Effects of cold water on stress, cardiovascular and psychological variables'
Check out Nell's books and her essay about being a lifeguard at the Hampstead Ponds

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