Hope Rising

The next few episodes of the Hope Rising are looking into motherhood and hope. To start this mini-series, Hanna Naima McCloskey tells a story about her mother and her grandmother, and shares how they inspired her to set up Fearless Futures, an organisation giving girls the confidence to challenge inequality and become leaders.

Lately, I’ve been wondering about power. I’ve always been confused by politics. Even in a democratic system, where you have a right to vote, the simple act of voting in a way feels like you are handing over your power to someone else, usually in a more privileged position than you, to rule the next few years of your life. Isn’t that a bit weird? Isn’t that a bit hopeless? Let's hear from Helgi, an Icelandic pirate turned MP, Olivia, a documentary maker turned canvasser, and Darren, a young leader aiming for Parliament about the ways they relate to political power.

Welcome to Episode 3 of the Hope Rising. In this episode, we speak to two blokes about vulnerability. In episode 2, we talked about how something like an economic crisis, because it generates uncertainty, can also generate hope. Is it the same for people? What happens when crises become personal? Do you need to have your life shaken to the core to experience true hope? And what does vulnerability have to do with hope? Big thanks to: James Leadbitter www.thevacuumcleaner.co.uk The Lions Barber Collective www.thelionsbarbercollective.com Jo Harrington

Welcome to Episode 2 of the Hope Rising. In this episode, we ask where is hope when it feels like things are worse than ever? John Berger writes: "I'd rather reject the terms optimistic and pessimistic. They suggest a calculation of how things are going to evolve, and if it's going to evolve in the way you want, you're optimistic. That has very little to do with despair and hope. Hope is not a form of guarantee, it's a form of energy, and very frequently that energy is strongest in circumstances that are very dark." So, can the darkness that emerges from a national crisis become a driver for positive action? Big thanks to Chrysanthi Koumianaki Gallery 3137 Maria Chatzopoulou Impact Hub Athens Janosch Sbeih

This is our first episode and I want to know when have you felt hopeless, and what have you done about it? I started this podcast because I was a bit stuck because, you know, 2016. I don’t even need to mention what’s happened in 2016. It just feels like the world is upside down. Not that the world was the right way around before, far from it, but more than ever in my lifetime, it feels that the values I hold dear are being crushed. Rebecca Solnit wrote in her 2004 book Hope in the Dark: “It is important to say what hope is not. It is not the belief that everything is or will be fine. The evidence is all around us of tremendous suffering and destruction. The hope I’m interested in is about broad perspectives with specific possibilities, ones that invite or demand that we act.” So what is the alternative to feeling hopeless when the world feels wrong? And if hope is about action, what does hope in action look like? That is the focus of this episode. To find out, I went to Athens because the story we hear is the story of a place in crisis. But I also knew that Greece had seen a rise in solidarity and volunteering. So I went there to meet people involved in these movements . Because I thought, there is probably a thing or two that they can teach me about hope. Big thanks to: Maria Chatzopoulou Giorgos & the Handlebar Yiannis Loukos and also to: Ajo Clua, Jake Garber, Aliyah Norrish, Gisli Darri Music by Lee Rosevere