Wes Streeting on child poverty, coming out, and how he would run the NHS

“I don’t write fiction to preach my politics,” says Kiley Reid - an American author whose debut novel “Such a Fun Age” was longlisted for the 2020 Booker prize. The book gained recognition for its themes on race, privilege, and social dynamics in modern America.

Fast forward to 2024, and Reid’s second novel, “Come and Get It” delves even further into the heart of societal complexities. It’s based in a US campus and centred around money and wealth - who has it and who wants it - and the impact it has, on even the most personal of relationships. 

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Kiley Reid about the importance of finding stability whilst being a writer, the impact of having a theatre background on her writing, and her thoughts on being social media savvy as an author.

Produced by Silvia Maresca and Shaheen Sattar.

How do you measure a business’s success? For James Timpson, CEO of the Timpson’s Group, it comes down to two things: the satisfaction of its staff, and what it gives back to society.

His employees only have to “put money in the till and look the part”; for the rest, they have complete authority to do whatever they think is right to offer a quality service to customers. This “upside-down” style of management doesn’t mean the business is not profitable - quite the opposite, in fact.

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, the boss of the shoe-repair, key-cutting and dry-cleaning group tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy the secrets behind his unconventional leadership style and why fostering a culture of kindness, giving ex-prisoners a second chance and cultivating a happy workforce are key to Timpson’s ethos.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

Bernie Sanders is the longest-serving independent senator in US congressional history and has brought income inequality, poverty and the “uber-capitalist” status quo into focus throughout his decades-long career. He nearly became the Democrats’ candidate for president, twice, and has recently been backing Joe Biden against Donald Trump, warning that Trump’s re-election could be the end of American democracy.

In his latest book, “It’s Okay To Be Angry About Capitalism”, he presents his vision of what would be possible through a progressive agenda - one that would challenge the “corrupt” economic order that allows just 1% of super-rich to control more wealth than the rest of society, and where a decent standard of living for all is not an impossible dream.

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, the US Senator tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy why the US should stop its funding for Netanyahu’s “horrific war against the Palestinian people”, why a second Trump victory could foment right-wing movements across the world with disastrous consequences, and why taking on the ruling class is a necessary but “long, long process”.

Produced by Silvia Maresca, Shaheen Sattar and Alice Wagstaffe.

Crystal Hefner was 21 when she first entered the infamous Playboy Mansion in October 2008. Within months, she ascended its hierarchy to become the top girlfriend of Hugh Hefner, who was 60 years her senior, and went on to marry him in 2012.

But she quickly discovered the house was not the glittering sanctuary she had believed, nor Mr Hefner’s Playboy was the place of freedom, expression and empowerment it professed itself to be. Crystal only left the mansion when Hefner died, aged 91, in 2017.

Having made a promise to the Playboy tycoon to ‘only say good things’ about him, for years Crystal suppressed the truth of what really happened behind closed doors at the Mansion, and the lasting trauma it caused her. Now she's written a book, "Only Say Good Things", about her experiences.

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, she tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about life at the Playboy Mansion as one of Hugh’s three live-in girlfriends, how he made her ‘feel small and afraid for so long’, and why she’s finally decided to speak out.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

The past year has been a time of climate firsts, mainly for the wrong reasons. 2023 was the hottest year on record - with devastating wildfires, catastrophic flooding, ongoing loss of biodiversity and carbon emissions continuing to rise. But is there any hope for the possibility for a better future?

Well, there is in fact room for ‘cautious optimism’ says environmental scientist, Dr Hannah Ritchie, whose book Not the End of the World offers a data-based analysis of environmental problems and their solutions. Her view stems from the significant strides made in human progress across the world, and the advancements of technology, especially within renewable energies.

Today on Ways to Change the World, she tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy how her work taught her that there are more reasons for hope than despair about the climate and the planet we live on - and why a truly sustainable world can still be within reach.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

Ella Mills is the best-selling food writer and founder of Deliciously Ella, the food blog-turned-brand which she created in 2012 after a sudden debilitating illness led her to overhaul her diet and turn to plant-based foods as a way to get better.

Since then, Mills has become a key player in bringing healthy food to the mainstream, with a brand whose 100 plant-based, additive-free products are now sold in all major UK supermarkets, and whose revenue is estimated to be £20 million. But this huge success has come with vicious trolling and personal attacks online - and it’s only now that Mills has finally come to terms with it.

Today on Ways to Change the World, she tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the story behind Deliciously Ella, why a change in our diets towards more fresh, plant-based foods cannot happen unless the government steps in, and acknowledging the difference between her privilege and her business success.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

Despite being 76 years old, Arnold Schwarzenegger shows no signs of stopping.

The bodybuilding champion turned Hollywood star turned US politician, now in the ‘fourth act’ of his life, has reinvented himself into a motivator, and written a book, ‘Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life’, about guiding people to achieve a ‘happy, successful, useful life’, inspired by his singular American experience.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy how he can ‘be useful’, why world leaders are failing to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict and why America needs a new candidate to enter the presidential race.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

From 2019 to 2021, Samuel Kasumu was the most senior Black advisor in Downing Street, and was widely referred to as Boris Johnson’s racism advisor, working alongside the former Prime Minister during the first half of the Covid pandemic.

Kasumu left Downing Street in April 2021, amid the fallout from a UK government report that dismissed institutional racism. It wasn’t until after leaving his position, he says, that he realised how much of an ‘outsider’ he was, as a Black, working-class man who did not go to Oxbridge.

In this week’s episode of Ways To Change the World, he talks to Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the reasons why he first joined the Tory party aged 19, the role of special advisors in No 10 and why culture wars inside Downing Street made the downfall of Boris Johnson ‘inevitable’.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

Keith Allen has been many things. The father of popstar Lily and Game of Thrones actor Alfie Allen, he was also a TV presenter, theatre actor, the man behind two hit football anthems (the Fat Les ditty “Vindaloo” and New Order’s “World in Motion”, both of which he co-wrote) and a handful of small roles in cult movies (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 24 Hour Party People).

Growing up, he was a troublemaker; he’d spent time in Borstal, was thrown out of drama school, even sent to prison. 

Now in his 70s, as he prepares to star in a new musical called Rehab, he looks back on the moments that have made up his rollercoaster life and career with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, on this week’s episode of Ways to Change the World.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.

Song credits:

'Vindaloo' / Fat Les

'World in Motion' / New Order

Billy Porter started singing in church when he was about five years old, and growing up saw performance as a lifeline out of the trauma and rejection he experienced as a Black gay man.

The multi-hyphenate star won a Grammy and a few Tonys since his breakout role on Broadway with 2013's Kinky Boots, and was the first openly gay Black man to win a lead acting Emmy for his role in the drama series Pose in 2019. Now Porter is returning to mainstream music with his fifth studio album, Black Mona Lisa, which he hopes will continue to craft an empowering legacy for the queer youth of colour.

Today on Ways to Change the World, he tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the challenges he faced due to homophobia in the music industry in the '90s, the harsh reality of being an actor in the golden age of streaming and what success means to him.

Produced by Silvia Maresca.