Dave Randall is a guitarist and founder of Slovo, and has previously toured with Faithless, Sinead O’Connor and Dido. As an activist, he has campaigned for Love Music Hate Racism, Freedom for Palestine and the People’s Assembly Against Austerity. This year, he released the third album under his band Slovo titled Bread and Butterflies, which he finished under lockdown. In 2017, he authored a book, Sound System, the Political Power of Music. 

We discussed his ongoing fascination with the way politics and music are intimately connected, from the anti-establishment raves of the Thatcher years in Britain to Beyonce’s engagement with the Black Lives Matter conversation. 

Follow Dave Randall on Twitter @davidrrandall and learn more at randallmusic.net. Buy his music at slovo.bandcamp.com

Follow Future Heist on Instagram and Twitter @future_heist for episode updates, news and giveaways. 

Produced and recorded by Rena Niamh Smith
Theme music by Benjamin Tassie
Artwork by Fleur Beck
Sound engineering by Gibran Farrah
Consultation by Ben Weaver-Hincks
Original illustrations and social media editing by Charlotte Rose Watts
Special thanks to Chloe Vasseghi

Dave Randall: Activist Musician

Clare Farrell is co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, the environmentalist group who lead huge protests against climate change. Alongside Greta Thunberg, they have helped force a conversation on global warming all over the world through direct action.

Having worked full time as fashion designer for high street and luxury labels, Clare felt so strongly about the fashion industry's damage to the environment, she quit to organise full time with the movement. She is now fashion sustainability lecturer at the University of Arts London.

We originally met to discuss the power behind the movement on 5th March 2020, just before life changed forever due to the global pandemic. Find this first discussion in the first half of the episode, where we discussed the action-based methods of Extinction Rebellion, the campaigns that inspired her to become a full time leader of rebellion, and how to get involved.

We later caught up with Clare, on 15th September 2020, when Extinction Rebellion were in the midst of a national relaunch. We discuss how climate damage has lead to the global pandemic; and the impact of Black Lives Matter on the movement. You can find the update in the second half of the episode. 

Follow Clare on Twitter. Follow Extinction Rebellion’s Fashion Act Now group on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Donate to their fundraising campaign at crowdfunder.co.uk/fashion-act-now. Get involved with Extinction Rebellion from anywhere in the world at rebellion.global. 

Follow Future Heist on Instagram and Twitter @future_heist for episode updates, news and giveaways. 

Produced and recorded by Rena Niamh Smith. Theme music by Benjamin Tassie. Artwork by Fleur Beck. Sound engineering by Gibran Farrah. Consultation by Ben Weaver-Hincks. Original illustrations and social media editing by Charlotte Rose Watts. Special thanks to Chloe Vasseghi.

Clare Farrell: Extinction Rebellion Co-Founder & Sustainable Fashion Lecturer

We meet Katie Scrafton, the mental health activist behind the Instagram account @thingsididsober. 

Katie has been diarising her journey with a sober-curious lifestyle since August 2019. By charting her successes and feelings, what she’s getting out of it and what she’s finding difficult, she inspires others. We discuss finding a balance with alcohol, Dry January, how to quit drinking, the effect of the alcohol industry on mental health and the impact of the global pandemic.

Rena Niamh Smith, podcast founder and host, has been sober since 1st August 2017. Sobriety is what she calls “radical self care”. Collective action is what can and does change the world. But that looking after yourself is a really important part of being an activist, to fight for systemic change.

With alcohol so embedded into the society we live in, and the alcohol industry making huge amounts of profit on our hangovers, sobriety is just one way to practice radical self care, and to reject capitalist norms. 

To anyone struggling with addiction, relapse or recovery in alcohol or drug addiction, please search for services in your area. Katie and I had a similar experience of quitting drinking through self help - but just as there are different forms of addiction, there are different ways to recover. Helplines, addiction support groups or 12-step programmes are just some examples of more thorough support that is available. If you live in the UK, the NHS website has a directory of addiction services you can search by postcode. 

The books Katie recommends are:
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray
Glorious Rock Bottom by Bryony Gordon
Quit like a Woman by Holly Whittaker 

Read a full transcript of the episode on RenatheJournalist.com/podcast.

Follow Katie on Instagram @thingsididsober

Follow Future Heist on Instagram and Twitter @future_heist for episode updates, news and giveaways.

Produced and recorded by Rena Niamh Smith. Theme music by Benjamin Tassie. Artwork by Fleur Beck. Sound engineering by Rena Niamh Smith. Consultation by Ben Weaver-Hincks. Original illustrations by Charlotte Rose Watts. Special thanks to Chloe Vasseghi

Katie Scrafton: Things I Did Sober

Conversations with people making change, a podcast by Rena Niamh Smith. We talk to the activists, campaigners and disruptors making tomorrow's change happen today