S21 Ep8: Teaching empathy and fighting injustice with Leslee Udwin, film-maker, human rights activist & founder and executive chair of Think Equal

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Business, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship, Personal Journals

5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2024

⏱️ 98 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the key to a more just, compassionate world started in the classroom? In this powerful and thought-provoking episode, Holly speaks with award-winning filmmaker, human rights advocate, and education activist, Leslee Udwin. Known for her groundbreaking documentary India's Daughter and as the visionary behind Think Equal, Leslee shares her journey from confronting injustice on the screen to reshaping education for empathy, compassion, and social equality.

Throughout their conversation, Leslee discusses the pivotal moments that inspired her to dedicate her life to creating an education system rooted in emotional intelligence and mutual respect. Think Equal imagines a world where empathy is as essential as numeracy or literacy, teaching children from a young age to appreciate and respect diverse cultures, genders, races, and religions.

This episode is both inspiring and, at times, deeply raw, as Leslee speaks openly about the painful realities that have driven her mission. But her passion for creating a world where children learn empathy, respect, and emotional resilience shines through, offering hope for a more peaceful future.

Trigger Warning: This episode addresses sensitive and potentially distressing topics, including discussions on race, sexual violence, child abuse, and violence against women. Listener discretion is advised, and we encourage you to prioritise your well-being. Please pause or skip sections that may be triggering for you.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What about teaching children to be empathetic and loving and kind?
0:04.6	What about teaching them how to be emotionally literate and how to moderate their feelings and regulate them?
0:11.1	Teaching them environmental stewardship, how to take care of their planet as opposed to abuse it.
0:17.2	We have a juggernaut to turn around.
0:21.7	Well, what an experience that was to speak with this week's guest, Leslie
0:26.3	Udwin, a filmmaker, a BAFTA filmmaker, a human rights activist, and the founder of the
0:32.7	phenomenal Think Equal. I've just recorded a video for social where I urge everyone to listen to this podcast.
0:40.3	I might go as far to say that this is one of the most important podcasts that you can listen to.
0:47.7	We're talking about a huge subject, rewiring humans, for the world to change for the better.
0:56.7	Where she talks about her mission is to teach children empathy,
1:01.0	to teach children how to look after one another for themselves,
1:05.1	look after themselves and look after the planet.
1:08.6	It's a hard one to listen to,
1:10.5	but you're going to come away understanding
1:13.9	potentially the answer to the nightmare that we're all suffering, which is watching the news
1:21.9	and feeling like there is nothing that we can do, whether it comes to gender violence, to the
1:27.1	planet, to the wars, to
1:29.1	crime, to so many things. In this podcast, we talk about the hope that lies with children
1:37.2	between the ages of three and six, where there is the biggest opportunity to change humans, to change our future, to change the trajectory
1:48.7	that we're on. And as much as it's a difficult listen, it is full of hope. And there's full of
1:57.1	opportunity as well, because she needs our our help because I know the listeners of conversations
2:02.9	of inspiration are some of the most thoughtful people out there. So now I will say that this podcast
	...

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