Ratio Talks

Feb 22 2024 60 ep. 40 mins 4
Ratio Talks Podcast artwork

Talking is what makes us, us. Casual, formal, intimate, accidental, all forms of exchanges are unique but all hold the potential to understand, learn, fail, adapt, grow. Every fortnight Ratio Talks invites citizens, scientists and innovators to reflect on the role of relationships in human flourishing. Ratio Talks is a podcast from Ratio, an organisation exploring how social connection shapes health and development. It is hosted by Michael Little, a co-founder of Ratio.

  Society & Culture  Science  Government
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Kicking off Relational Social Policy w/ Pritpal S. Tamber

Feb 22 2024 40 mins  
What if most of the heavy lifting to keep us healthy and get us through tough times was done by civil society? Not the organisations of civil society, but the conversations, mutual aid and moral order we naturally create in our day to day interactions. What if civil society was the primary catalyst for social change? And what if civil society is at the heart of effective responses

Pritpal S Tamber and Michael Little conclude the community power series

Apr 20 2023 34 mins  
In this episode, Michael, Ratio Talks’s co-host, and Pritpal, our resident community power expert who’s based in Sao Paolo, Brazil, meet for the first time in person to conclude the podcast series. They discuss the series as a whole and the observations that listeners in Australia, the United States and England sent to us in short audio memos. The conversation starts off wit

Donna Hall on working from what the people of Wigan described as a good day

Mar 29 2023 34 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Donna Hall, the former Chief Executive at Wigan Council. During the UK government’s austerity programme, the council suffered the third worst cuts in the UK – about £100 million. In response, Donna explored and initiated a new way of working with the people of Wigan, one that involved a deeper, less transactional relationship with them and bui

Tony Iton on how communities in California are pursuing health equity through structural change

Mar 08 2023 44 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Tony Iton, a Senior Vice President of the California Endowment, the foundation that has placed people power at the heart of its strategy for health equity. Tony describes how, as the former Health Officer of Alameda County Public Health Department, he came to appreciate the importance of resources and opportunities to health, and the role that stru

Katherine Zappone on the path to liberation and social change

Feb 22 2023 42 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Katherine Zappone, one of the architects of same-sex marriage in Ireland. Katherine describes her early work, with her partner and fellow educator, Ann Louise Gillighan, in providing ‘classes’ to local working-class women to help build their confidence. Their approach was to create a dialogue with the women that might spur them to action. It wa

Three Organisers illustrate how it’s about justice, not charity

Feb 09 2023 40 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to three organisers, Olivia Masoja, Marzena Zukowska, and Stephanie Wong. They talk about how power is built, the importance of relationships, and how what’s key to societal change is the pursuit of justice rather than the provision of charity. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily the organisers’. Su

Leigh Carroll and Lynn Weidner on how unions can help create a better society

Jan 17 2023 39 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Leigh Carroll, an organiser with United Homecare Workers of Pennsylvania, and Lynn Weidner, a member organiser within the same union. Homecare workers often work without health insurance, paid leave, sick leave and paid overtime. Lynn describes what it was like working in such conditions and how things have changed since joining the union. Leigh de

Martha Mackenzie on community organising and staying accountable to communities

Dec 13 2022 40 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Martha Mackenzie, Executive Director of the UK-based Civic Power Fund. Martha describes what community organising is, how it creates power in communities, and what it means for democracy. Martha also talks about why community power seems to be in vogue in the UK right now. Along the way, Martha mentions: The work of Jane Mcalevey, an organiser,

Paul W. Speer on relationships, conversations and mediating institutions

Nov 29 2022 44 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Paul W. Speer, a Professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Peabody College in Vanderbilt University. Paul shares his insights through a series of anecdotes. To learn more about Paul’s work, consider the following: Paul is worried about our ability to form relationships; he explains why in this 2018 article describ

Jennie Popay on why communities need to outward gaze for lasting impact

Nov 15 2022 49 mins  
In this episode, Michael talks to Jennie Popay, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Lancaster University in the UK. Jennie’s insights on the outward gaze and the Emancipatory Power Framework were described in the article, Power, control, communities and health inequalities I: theories, concepts and analytical frameworks, published in Health Promotion I