TROUBLEMAKERS11 Kesä 2025

Ep31: Make New Folks Welcome with Rebecka Blomqvist

“You are invited. By anyone, to do anything. You are invited, for all time. You are so needed, by everyone, to do everything. You are invited, for all time.— The Dismemberment Plan, “You Are Invited”

Bringing in new people is essential to any activist group that wants to grow in size and capacity, but recruiting is only the first step. Integrating people into an established group can be an even bigger challenge. In this episode, architect Rebecka Blomqvist shares insights on how both organisational and physical architecture can help create spaces where newcomers feel truly at home.

We explore:

Why some groups struggle to retain new members and how deliberate attention and intentional design can make the difference.
Surprising tactics like removing signage to spark authentic interactions, and the power of cozy spaces that calm the nervous system.
The importance of one-on-one relationship building to help new folks feel seen and valued — and why this upfront investment can help people plug in faster and stick around longer.

Rebecka also invites us to imagine: what if activist groups and architects collaborated to co-create spaces that embody community, activism, and hospitality?

Connect with us:

Instagram: Troublemakers Podcast

Email: troublemakerspodcast@gmail.com

Connect with Rebecka: Blomqvist Architecture

Licensing:

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers Podcast. It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(77)

Ep 57: Seek Safety in Support Networks with Paul Musyimi

Paul Musyimi on what social movements really are, why peaceful organizing wins, and how activists keep each other safe when the work gets dangerous. With Malemi, Paul talks about the principle "Seek S...

2 Loka 22min

Ep 56: Claim that Seat! With Nancy Siatwiko

Youth activist Nancy Siatwiko on why young Zambians are done waiting for permission to lead. Host Malemi talks with her about locked-out candidates, young women in politics, and using social media to ...

25 Syys 37min

Ep 55: Youth, Power & Political Spaces with Tilvas Ngosa

Ep 55: Youth, Power & Political Spaces with Tilvas Ngosa Recorded at the Global Platform studio in Zambia, this episode asks why youth political participation across Africa stays so low, and what it t...

18 Syys 27min

Ep 54: The Battle of Ideas, with Sefu Sanni

Politicians pass laws, but culture shapes belief, and belief shapes everything else. In this episode, Thompson Luzendi sits with Sefu Sanni to unpack the battle of ideas: how culture becomes the real ...

11 Syys 22min

TM Smoke Signals: Given's Feminist Utopia, With Given Kapolyo

What does an ideal world look like? Given Kapolyo answers without hesitation: one where inequality does not exist, and leadership is not a male sport. In this Smoke Signals, she lays out her feminist ...

21 Elo 15min

Ep 53: No One Is Coming to Save You, with Nalishebo Sinyama

What makes someone walk to the utility company with a placard instead of posting complaints online? Nalishebo Sinyama has been answering that since 2019, when a load shedding protest in her Lusaka sub...

7 Elo 42min

TM Smoke Signals: Silence! A poem by Sylvie Baziga

TM Smoke Signals: Silence, by Sylvie Baziga A spoken word piece by Sylvie Baziga on the slow deaths that leave no bullet holes: the swallowed cry, the smothered dream, the word never spoken because sp...

24 Heinä 2min

Ep52: The Moral Political Economy, with Joe Kobuthi

Host: Thompson Luzendi (Zambia) Guest: Joe Kobuthi - philosopher, public theologian, political analyst, and curator of The Elephant Pan-African magazine. The rules of the house were written by someone...

17 Heinä 32min