Richard Curtis is an award-winning writer and director, who spends a great deal of his time trying to change the world.

He's best-known for his work with Comic Relief but Richard campaigns on many issues. In 2020 he launched Make My Money Matter to raise awareness that our money is a major contributor - but also a solution - to the climate crisis. The decision-makers need to step up, yes. But the individual has power too. And, with that in mind, Richard has launched a new short film (starring Rose Leslie and, that other Jon Snow, Kit Harrington) to help raise awareness of the hidden relationship between oil companies and high street banks. His message: help break them up. 

In this conversation, Richard reflects on the influence of his upbringing and the visit to Ethiopia that gave him a profound sense of the simultaneity of human suffering. As well as his own education in the climate crisis, and the UN's Global Goals, which have led to a shift in his work.

After decades of fundraising and campaigning, Richard thinks his time is now better spent addressing poverty and climate change (sorry, there's not good news re. Blackadder either). Fortunately, for all of us, he remains an active optimist, who wants to continue inspiring the next generation of campaigners and creators.

To watch Richard's short film just head to makemymoneymatter.co.uk/openletter where you’ll also find information, campaign research and you can contact the Big Five UK high street banks - and ask them to stop financing fossil fuel expansion, in just two clicks. 

Related links:

The UN's Global Goals (The SDGs)

Bronwyn King's TED Talk: You may be accidentally investing in cigarette companies

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Doreen was born in Clarendon, in Jamaica, and moved to London in 1962. She worked as a bank clerk before marrying and settling happily into family life. But on the 22nd April 1993 her eldest child Stephen was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack. Though five suspects were quickly identified to police, it took nearly twenty years for only two men to be sentenced for murder.

A year after these convictions, Doreen took her seat in the House of Lords, and she continues to hold those in power to account and to advocate for marginalised voices in the UK. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Stephen’s death and Doreen is inviting everyone to make a pledge on Saturday 22nd April. To commit to taking one positive action, in Stephen’s name. Through sharing Stephen’s story, she wants to celebrate the extraordinary things that can be achieved by ordinary people and to inspire young people to realise their potential.

#stephenlawrencedaypledge

Related links:

Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation

Doreen's autobiography: And Still I Rise

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As fans around the world follow the fourth and final season of Succession, we seized the chance to spend time with the brilliant actor Brian Cox.

This award-winning series has captured the public imagination with its witty and scathing take on dysfunctional one percenters. The news from creator Jesse Armstrong that Succession was ending upset many but, while Brian loved his time on the show, he found some of the attention overwhelming. He's ready to leave Logan Roy behind and turn his talents to a new film set in a distillery in the Scottish Highlands and a play about Johann Sebastian Bach.

During this conversation, Brian reflects on his childhood in Dundee and the recent loss of his beloved sister Betty; social mobility and the wealth divide today; understanding (and leaving behind) a character like Logan Roy, and the perils of entitlement.

Related links:

Brian's autobiography Putting The Rabbit In The Hat

Brian's documentary How The Other Half Live

Brian's new play (directed by Trevor Nunn) The Score

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When she was 16, Mikaela Loach decided to go vegan, boycott fast fashion and start a blog. She learned more about the climate crisis, became involved in the movement, and began to communicate her passion to others.

Mikaela’s Instagram following grew and, in 2020, she featured in the Woman’s Hour Power List, in recognition for her work, bringing environmental issues to young audiences.

She has now written, It’s Not That Radical, a book for anyone who’s felt anxiety or powerlessness in the face of the climate crisis. Mikaela wants to compel her reader to act and to understand more about racial justice - a principle she believes has been left out of the conversation for too long.

She and Jon met on the day the IPCC released a major report, an eight-year long undertaking from the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change. That report summarised that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.

Related links:

The IPCC Report

Mikaela's Instagram

Mikaela's podcast

Drilled podcast (as recommended by Mikaela)

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This week's guest is the award-winning journalist and sociology professor Gary Younge.

From Mandela’s election campaign, to Obama’s presidency, Gary’s had a ringside seat, for some of the biggest stories of the last 30 years. And his latest book - Dispatches from the Diaspora - is a career-spanning collection of articles about race, racism, and Black life. 

In this conversation, Gary reflects on growing up in Stevenage, with a mother who gave him a sense of his own possibility. The translation education that gave him a love of language and the opportunities, and first steps, that helped launch his career.

Related links:

Gary Younge's website

Gary's writing in The Guardian

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This week's guest is the witty and politically astute writer and director Armando Iannucci.

After a week dominated by headlines about the government's immigration policy, Gary Lineker, the BBC and impartiality, he and Jon talk about the broadcasting and political landscape. As well as The Thick of It, Armando's mock epic poem about the pandemic, and what he's working on next.

Related links:

Armando's poem Pandemonium

Child Poverty Action Group

(and for anyone who actually missed it) Gary Lineker's tweet

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This week's Snowcast has a preview of Jon's new book, The State Of Us, which shares a few of the things he's learned about politics, humanity and the world. 

The first chapter takes Jon back to North Kensington in June 2017, watching a tragedy unfold in real time. The seeds of this book were sown while he stared up at Grenfell Tower and learned more about failures, and inequality, in the richest borough of Britain.

The State Of Us is out now in hardback and as a Penguin audiobook.

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Robert Harris started out in journalism, became political editor of The Observer, and had a ringside seat for the rise of New Labour. But, after striking gold with Fatherland, Robert launched a second career as a novelist and never looked back.

Robert’s latest best-seller - Act Of Oblivion - is set in a country that’s divided after the English Civil War. It’s a fictionalised account of the greatest manhunt of the 17th century. And the pursuit - across continents - of the men responsible for the execution of King Charles I.

Robert describes it as a “curiously contemporary novel”. And the past often calls to him when it has some relevance to the present day. Because - while he may not miss writing a column - Robert remains very much a political animal. And in this conversation, he reflects on two successful careers, and the political characters and rhetoric of the present day.

Related links:

Act Of Oblivion

Robert's other books

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Munya Chawawa is a British-Zimbabwean satirist, who rose to fame with his DIY video sketches.

He and Jon first met in 2017 - when Munya snuck into the ITN building - to interview him about Stormzy’s debut album. That memorable encounter became Munya’s first ever viral video. And he’s since amassed millions of followers, with his witty takes on politics, culture and the royal family.

As Munya prepares for his first ever comedy tour, he talks to Jon about his childhood, career vision board, and his plans to sell out the 02 in the next five years.

Related links:

Munya's website

Munya's Instagram

Race Around Britain

How To Survive A Dictator with Munya Chawawa

Prince Andrew: The Musical

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Sophie Scott is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL and an award-winning lecturer, whose TED talk, Why We Laugh, has been watched over 5 million times.

Her new book, The Brain, features ten enjoyable essays which cover how brains have evolved over time, their composition and chemistry, and how they interact with the world around us.

Sophie loves brains and hers is full of mind-blowing facts about, what she calls, “one of the most miraculous structures in the known universe.”

If you listen to this interview, you’ll be doing your own brain a favour, as Sophie shares some brain hacks that might help keep your mind sharp. There's some good news for evening crammers and a bit of motivation for those disinclined to exercise.

Related links:

Sophie's book: The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know

Sophie's podcast: The Neuromantics

Sophie's TED Talk: Why We Laugh

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