Cancel Culture and Free Speech - A Comedian's View with Janice Connelly

The UK far-right march talkdown!

Nyla and Chris chat about the biggest far-right march in recent UK history. Ant Middleton and his London Mayor bid. Were there really 3 trillion people there? What do they actually want, and why are they shy about saying it? Are they bothered about racist crime and crimes committed by 'their own'? Check in again for more lively analysis.

Cancel Culture and Free Speech - A Comedian's View with Janice Connelly

In this wide-ranging conversation with actor and comedian Janice Connolly, we explore how freedom of speech, comedy, and community have all been affected by rising online hate, Islamophobia, and social division. We ask: Can we still disagree without dehumanising each other? Has comedy lost its edge — or its empathy? And what happens to working-class solidarity when fear and isolation take over? From grassroots arts to cancel culture, from cultural satire to community breakdown — this is a deep dive into what’s happening behind the headlines, and why we need to relearn how to listen. Full videos and more videos on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@Nowsville

Acting's Big Size Problem.

I talk with dynamic Laura Liptrot about her experience as a bigger actor. Is sizism okay in acting? Or have ground-breaking productions such as Bridgerton made size a non-issue? How realistic is what we see on screen anyway when it comes to 'normal' people?Our discussion covers the reality of being big in an increasingly aesthetic industry, stereotyping, coping strategies and being resilient.We also discuss whether 'body positivity' was real or just a passing way of dealing with life as a big person, conveniently dropping off our radar as weight-loss medications take centre stage.#fatshaming [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/fatshaming]#sizism [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sizism]#weight [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/weight]#bigandbeautiful [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/bigandbeautiful]#actinglife [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/actinglife]#actingindustry [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/actingindustry]#weightlossdrugs [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/weightlossdrugs]#weightlossmedication [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/weightlossmedication]#diversityandinclusion [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/diversityandinclusion]#plussize [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/plussize]

The Andrew Tate Effect. Part 1.

The Nowsville discussion group talked about the report that made a link between  following  misogynist influencers like Tate and mainstream extremist thinking. In the first episode we talked about the attraction of Tate. For those not versed in his rhetoric, Tom reads out part of the Tate manifesto of women needing to spend all day making themselves ‘pretty’ and ‘always smiling’ without troubling themselves with anything significant because that ‘causes them enormous distress’. We then discussed these and other points. ·         There are two types of Tate follower: the incel type who blame women (bitches) for their plight and the successful money guy who sees life in terms of power, including over women.  For these men, attractive women are an extension of their power and they use wealth and other forms of power (e.g. ‘passport bros’) to transact. ·         For some guys, talking to women in any context is difficult; these men find solace in the online company of other people in misogynist groups.  Vulnerable (including autistic) men may be targeted in this way). People in this group can easily go down online rabbit holes and be introduced to other forms of extremism such as racism which similarly blame others for personal or social situations. ·         Does Tate actually believe his own hype, or did he just stumble upon a theme that brought him fame and fortune and ran with that? To his followers it probably doesn’t matter either way. ·         ‘Trad wives’ is becoming more of a thing. Is this a reaction to women now being able to have good careers but still have the expectations of maintaining their traditional roles? Is it to do with a rejection of the reality of economic problems? ·         Men paying for meals: is this ever justified if people both have incomes? Is going along with this partly encouraging misogyny? Watch out for the rest of the discussion in Part 2.