127: Lauren MacCallum/Compassionate Revolution
Full disclosure: this week’s guest is a close friend of mine. Lauren MacCallum is a writer, broadcaster and activist who has the type of plates-in-the-air career that is common in the action sports and outdoor industry.
We’ve been friend for years, and she’s someone I can always rely on to provide some much-needed perspective. In this way, this chat is just an extension of the type of freewheeling, no-stone-unturned conversation I always have with this absolute force of nature.
She’s a brilliant conversationalist, and has a considered, compassionate take on activism born from her own experience and years of hard work and research.
For Lauren, community is key. It is at the root of her beliefs and the thread that links all her work, whether as General Manager for Protect Our Winters UK or through her work as a writer and broadcaster.
Above all, Lauren’s personal experiences and insights make her the type of progressive, none-judgemental leader we need at this time, particularly as the last months have revealed such a vacuum of leadership at the heart of our industry.
Listen to the episode here:
Connect with Lauren
Show Notes
• Lauren’s lockdown
• Covid-19 impact on the Highlands
• Hidden Scotland
• Pomodoro Technique
• Lauren’s career trajectory
• How to get a job in the industry
• Putative golf career.
• The transition into action sports
• Public school days
• British exceptionalism
• Lauren’s vision of community being at the heart of activism
• Social media activism
• How the action sports conversation is light years behind the mainstream discussion
• Materialism in action sports
• Reflections on the action sports community
• The essential privilege of conspiracy theories
• Changing the system in place
• The activism of Marcus Rashford
• What needs to be done to make a change
• How action sports are symptomatic of wider community issues.
• Do people still want the separation of political / non-political, or are people more open in action sports?
• How women have to work harder to have their voices heard
• Sexism and homophobia.
• The need for awkward conversations
• How everybody starts their journey of activism somewhere
• The specifics of Scottish land ownership
• Gaelic language and culture
• Brexit
• The hopeful vision
People Mentioned
- Wim Hof
- Charlie Brooker
- Sam Mellish
- Leslie Hittmeier
- Josie McNamara
- Phil Young
- Clara Dawson
- Ian Young
- Nicholas Mueller
- Marcus Rashford
- Dan Yates
- Terje Håkonsen
Places Mentioned
- Aviemore, Scotland
- Morlich, Scotland
- Cairngorm, Scotland
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Loretto, Scotland
- United Kingdom
- Scotland
Companies Mentioned
• Freedom App
• Protect Our Winters
• LPGA
• Transition extreme sports
• Patagonia
• Instagram
• Save our Rivers
• Facebook