Spare a Thought

Writing for Joy

In this episode, Tom is joined by writer and creative facilitator Taylor Edmonds to explore the therapeutic power of words and the inspiration behind her creative company, Writing for Joy. Taylor shares her journey from anonymous Tumblr poet to academic creative writer, and how moving from her hometown of Barry, Wales, to England unexpectedly sharpened her sense of Welsh identity. She discusses working with individuals navigating illness at the Velindre Cancer Centre, her debut stage play, Demand the Impossible, and why the messy, mindful process of human creativity remains irreplaceable in the age of AI. Taylor featured on a previous episode The Waters That Raised Us, which you can listen to here: https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/the-waters-that-raised-us/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/the-waters-that-raised-us/]  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/ [https://tomspare.substack.com/] Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ [https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/] You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/]

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 [https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/tadao-ando-to-create-is-to-live/] * 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 [https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/the-waters-that-raised-us/] * 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 [https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/rethinking-student-loans/] * 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 [https://thepoliticaldispatch.podbean.com/e/uk-election-special/] 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/ [https://tomspare.substack.com/] Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ [https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/] You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/] Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network [https://www.bethechangemedianetwork.com/] 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.

Tadao Ando: To Create is to Live

In this episode, Tom is joined by multidisciplinary designer and architecture graduate Bee Yogasivam to explore the life and legacy of Tadao Ando, one of Japan's most celebrated architects. This episode is released during Golden Week, one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons. Ando grew up in working class Osaka, unable to attend university, he taught himself architecture from second hand university textbooks and then travelled Europe on the Trans-Siberian Railway with little money and no foreign language skills. He went on to become a renowned architect, winning the Pritzker Prize in 1995. 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/ [https://tomspare.substack.com/] Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ [https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/] You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/] Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network [https://www.bethechangemedianetwork.com/] 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.

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/ [https://tomspare.substack.com/]  Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ [https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/]  You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ [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 [https://www.bethechangemedianetwork.com/] 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.

Rethinking Student Loans

In this episode, 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. Tom draws on a decade working in Higher Education, his own student loans, and field recordings from the Educate, Empower, Employ march he attended in November 2012 to tell the story of how we got here, and what needs to change. If you have UK student loan, you can share your experience with the UK Treasury Committee via the link below. Contributions close on Tuesday 14th April. Share your student loan experience with the Treasury Committee: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=nt3mHDeziEC-Xo277ASzSugWXtlS9G1OpuyhNtc2h8lURjBYV1pUQ0FKWEUzTEpUSkdCQktYRzRPUCQlQCN0PWcu [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=nt3mHDeziEC-Xo277ASzSugWXtlS9G1OpuyhNtc2h8lURjBYV1pUQ0FKWEUzTEpUSkdCQktYRzRPUCQlQCN0PWcu] To find out more about Rethink Repayment, sign the petition, or email your MP, head to: https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/ [https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/] Sign the Rethink Repayment petition: https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/sign-the-petition [https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/sign-the-petition] If you'd like to hear more about the financial pressures facing universities, listen to Tom's previous episode on cuts at Cardiff University: https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/cuts-at-cardiff-university/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/e/cuts-at-cardiff-university/] 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/ [https://tomspare.substack.com/] Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/ [https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/] You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ [https://spareathought.podbean.com/] Spare a Thought is a Be the Change. Media Network [https://www.bethechangemedianetwork.com/] 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.