Spare a Thought
Spare a Thought
Podcast Description
Welcome to Spare a Thought, the podcast that shines a light on the people and organisations tackling some of society’s biggest challenges. Join host Tom Spare for thought-provoking conversations with engaging guests whose work and lives are often overlooked or misrepresented in the media.
Whether you’re navigating the morning commute, taking a Sunday stroll or looking for a lunchtime listen - take time out of your day to Spare a Thought.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers a spectrum of themes including creativity, volunteerism, international education challenges, and humanitarian issues. For example, episodes highlight the significance of creative writing in community settings, delve into the work of the RNLI, and explore the experiences of international students in UK universities. Specific focus areas include societal contributions and personal narratives that challenge mainstream narratives.
Welcome to Spare a Thought. The podcast for curious minds, exploring creativity, culture and stories from the margins.
Join host Tom Spare for conversations that go to unexpected places, from the Welsh landscape and Japanese architecture, to media ownership and hidden British history.
Whether you’re on the morning commute, taking a Sunday stroll or looking for a lunchtime listen, take time out of your day to Spare a Thought.
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/
Get the latest news on the podcast via the Spare a Thought Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
You can listen to all previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts or head to: 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 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.
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
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