"I was thinking a lot about mindfulness. How it can help with noticing when we are being cruel to ourselves which then leads us to gently adjust ourselves back to kind thoughts. I think mindfulness can be a great teacher of kindness as it requi

Hold Me Through These Dreams

Oct 27th, 2020 8m 12s

"We laugh bent double, tears in our eyes, though the laughing don’t laugh out the sadness. We laugh until our shoulders pulse to breathless sobs. Taste the salt from our eyes and sweet from our nostrils. Shake off the shame flaked like dead ski

The Neurology Of Power

Aug 13th, 2020 23m 45s

Enjoy this podcast with Creative Strategist Suzanne Alleyne and CEO & Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre, Amanda Huxtable, exploring how preconceptions of how ‘success’ and ‘power’ affect our mindsets. This conversation draws on neurology to

Household

Jun 26th, 2020 1m 20s

A poem by Talia Randall.HouseholdFather’s beard is a swarm of bees.Brother can’t remember which teenage mutant turtle is which.Sister builds an igloo out of choc-ices.Mother pays for everything.The stray cat visits and eats tuna off th

With Love (And Rage), Generation Rent

Jan 22nd, 2020 1h 21m

The UK is facing a housing crisis unlike anything seen in recent history. Priced out of their homes and unable to secure permanent housing, Generation Rent are unable to put down roots in their communities.Change is long overdue.Listen back

Somalinimo (till I dhimo)

Jan 16th, 2020 9m 32s

Immerse yourself in this digital sound installation as poet Amina Jama takes you through a 1990s migrant Somali living room paying homage to the rich Somali culture, Black Britishness, migration, and the creativity that arises from displacement

A Warning (To The House That Holds Me)

Jan 14th, 2020 1h 39m

Listen back to the launch of Somali-British writer Amina Jama’s debut poetry collection, exploring the legacy of poetry and art, and the ways we are influenced by the voices that have come before us.Edited by Jacob Sam-La Rose and published b

My Father's House

Jan 10th, 2020 1h 43m

How do explorations of our personal histories inform our understanding of home?Rathbones Folio Prize and Ted Hughes Award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, multi-award-winning poet and memoirist Hannah Lowe and acclaimed writer, historian and pr

The Future Of Social Housing

Jan 9th, 2020 55m 56s

Our country is in the middle of a housing emergency. Failure to provide enough social homes is the root cause of the housing emergency. Yet the number of social homes being built is at its lowest for 70 years with over one million households on

The Way Through The Woods

Jan 8th, 2020 1h 1m

"I know it’s all a matter of rebuilding one’s life. In many ways it’s a matter of surviving and living under another sun, but how was I to do that?"Listen back to this conversation with writers Long Litt Woon and Zakiya Mckenzie, exploring th

The End of Diaspora

Jan 7th, 2020 4m 4s

Diaspora is Whitechapel, Bradford, Southall, Wilmslow Road and Alum Rock; diaspora is the memes we share, the turns of phrases we use, the languages we speak and don’t speak.Listen back to an excerpt taken from Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan's brand

Exile: The Cost of Reporting the Truth

Dec 19th, 2019 1h 3m

With press freedom under greater threat around the world now than ever before, an increasing number of journalists are finding themselves exiled from their home countries, forced to flee for their safety to avoid violent attacks, torture, or le

Writing Our Way Home

Dec 17th, 2019 1h 13m

What power does literature have in hostile environments? Can it do more than describe homes and spaces of belonging –– can it create them? In a society overwhelmed with questions of who has the right to be heard and who doesn’t, can literature

Self Care versus Career Development

Oct 22nd, 2019 1h 48m

How do you self care and develop your career at the same time?Are you constantly feeling like your self-care has to take second place to your career? As individuals how do we self care whilst maintaining both our career development and profe

Bald Black Girl(s)

Jun 28th, 2019 1h 19m

Bald Black Girl(s) is a multi-disciplinary project created by poet, producer and visual artist Ruth Sutoyé, which centres the narratives of black women who choose to shave their heads, and explores perceptions of masculinity, femininity and and

And So The Choir Gathers, Before It Is Too Late

Jun 24th, 2019 6m 51s

#AllTheWaysWeCouldGrowInstagram/Twitter/Facebook: @freewordcentrefreeword.org

This Is Private: Secret Life Of Novels

Jun 18th, 2019 1h 26m

Novels arrive on bookshelves as if they were always whole and perfect. But what is kept hidden from view? And what is the effect of keeping that process – the scenes from the cutting room floor, the false starts, the dead ends and failed drafts

All The Ways We Could Grow: Juz Amma, The Qur'an in Public

Jun 4th, 2019 1h 26m

The sound of the Qur’an read aloud is a cultural signifier used across media and the arts to indicate the presence of Muslims and of Islamic religious expression. But how often do you hear the Qur’an recited in public by someone who isn’t a man

This Is Private: Cryptoparty LDN - Privacy 2028

May 24th, 2019 56m 41s

After a free CryptoParty London workshop, a panel of experts explore the intricacies of digital security.

This Is Private: Britain's Private Shame

May 14th, 2019 1h 37m

In a post-Brexit world, how should we treat the legacy of the British Empire?We partnered with race equality organisation Runnymede Trust for the final event in our first season, curating a debate that takes an uncensored look at Britain’s co

This is Private: Taboos, Desire and Disgust

Dec 13th, 2018 1h 6m

An intimate look at youth and womanhood, exploring desire, sex, friendship and alienation with writers Margarita Gracia Robayo, Sharlene Teo and Sarvat Hasin.

This is Private: Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed (Part 2)

Nov 16th, 2018 1h 8m

Part 2 of 'Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed'Throughout history, cultures and continents, women’s bodies have been policed. In this digital age of social media and online profiles, to be in the public sphere as a woman is to be subjected to unwa

This is Private: Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed (Part 1)

Nov 16th, 2018 49m 5s

Part 1 of 'Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed'Throughout history, cultures and continents, women’s bodies have been policed. In this digital age of social media and online profiles, to be in the public sphere as a woman is to be subjected to unwa

This Is Private: Our Stories Will Not Stay Secret

Oct 30th, 2018 1h 44m

In a society dominated by the politics of fear and shame – how are black, brown, Muslim and working class groups forced into silence? What language must be created between ourselves – outside of oppression and beyond hurt – to hear each other

This is Private: What is Private?

Oct 26th, 2018 1h 10m

Does information about us truly belong to us? When does a crime, a life or a relationship become of public interest? And who decides? Join prolific writer Blake Morrison in conversation with British-Iranian writer, Ramita Navai.As part of Fre