Builders of the Broken Bazaar
Podcast Description
Redefining entrepreneurship through the realities of the informal, the resettled, and the overlooked. When systems collapse, people still build.Hosted by Dr. Tabish Zaman, Builders of the Broken Bazaar explores refugee entrepreneurship, necessity entrepreneurship, and migrant entrepreneurship in the face of displacement, inequality, and digital disruption. From refugee camps and conflict zones to neglected high streets, hear stories of grassroots innovators, social entrepreneurs, and informal economy builders creating for survival, dignity, and community resilience. We uncover the human cost of AI on marginalised communities, the realities of crisis-driven enterprise, and the power of dignity-based economies that exist far from Silicon Valley myths.🎙 “This podcast isn’t for unicorn founders. It’s for those who build quietly, in the margins—because they have no other choice.”Subscribe and join us in rewriting the story of entrepreneurship for those who build under pressure.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on refugee entrepreneurship, necessity entrepreneurship, and migrant entrepreneurship, examining topics like the impact of aids in crisis situations, the intersection of AI and human labor, and the realities of survival-driven business models, with episode highlights including discussions on mutual aid and grassroots resilience against systemic neglect.
Builders of the Broken Bazaar
When systems collapse, people still build. In a world obsessed with billion-dollar startups and tech-driven progress, Builders of the Broken Bazaar turns the microphone towards those who build from the ashes — refugees, migrants, and everyday innovators creating meaning, work, and dignity in the ruins of broken systems.
Hosted by Dr. Tabish Zaman, this series dives deep into the informal, the invisible, and the overlooked where entrepreneurship isn’t a choice, but a lifeline. From camps and conflict zones to Britain’s forgotten high streets, we uncover the moral and human frontlines of enterprise: where survival fuels innovation and community becomes the last safety net.
Through unflinching conversations with founders, reformers, and thinkers, we challenge the economisation of human effort — moving far beyond Silicon Valley myths to reframe entrepreneurship around social value, solidarity, and repair. When profit stops being the purpose, building becomes an act of defiance, not accumulation.
🎙 “This podcast is for those who rebuild what the world broke not for profit, but for purpose.”
🎧 Listen and subscribe to the voices of those proving that hope doesn’t come from systems, it comes from people.
Episode 23: We have built a system that hides truth!
Description: We are surrounded by more information than any society in history, yet we have never felt further from the truth. Complex global events are stripped of context, corporate influence is hidden in plain sight, and trust in traditional institutions has evaporated.
In this episode of Builders of the Broken Bazaar, Dr. Tabish Zaman is joined by Connor (Riverwand), a digital educator and investigative storyteller who is reclaiming the art of deep-dive research for the social media age. Connor dismantles the “myth of neutrality” in technology, exploring how Big Tech and state power have fused to create a system of techno-nationalism.
Together, they discuss the power of “slow storytelling,” the “Donation a Day” initiative for global mutual aid, and why digital literacy is now a vital form of civic self-defense. This is a conversation about moving from being a passive consumer of information to an active builder of understanding. Because in a world of 10-second clips, the most radical act is to stay in the conversation until you see the structure behind it.
🎙 “Before a system collapses, something else usually fractures first: the story we tell about how the world works.”
👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildersofthebrokenbazaar
Host: Dr. Tabish Zaman Guest: Riverwand (Systems Storyteller & Digital Activist)
Editor:Liam Gadsby
Research and Impact Officers: Mohammad Alauthman & Sanskriti Sharma.
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