TROUBLEMAKERS

Troublemakers Ep51: Put your target in a decision dilemma, with Willy Nkya

Guest: Wilson (Willynkya), film & TV producer, content creator, and influencer based in Tanzania
Rodgers sits down with Willynkya to unpack "Put Your Target in a Decision Dilemma" (Andrew Boyd & Joshua Kahn Russell) through the lens of content creation and film and what it means for activists and organisers trying to move audiences toward action.
About WillynkyaFive years in film and TV before transitioning fully into content creation. Known for travel and lifestyle content on Instagram and TikTok, and branded work at the intersection of storytelling and commerce.
What We Cover
The Empty Grave: Willynkya was the production manager on this Kijiweni Productions documentary about Tanzanian ancestral remains taken to Germany during the colonial era. It's screened at festivals across Tanzania and is currently streaming in Germany.
The Audience Dilemma in practice: How The Empty Grave was built to speak to four audiences at once: Tanzanian families, the German public, governments, and historians — each nudged toward their own decision.
Emotion in content: Hook with a problem, let your experience transfer to the viewer, make the first 5 seconds count, and design for both sound-on and sound-off viewing.
Industry challenges: Permits, financial literacy, the new Tanzania Film Board registration requirement, and the pressure to fake a lifestyle online.
For Organiser-TroublemakersWhen designing an action, ask: what are the two decisions my target can make, and how do both move my cause forward? Drop how you've used this in the comments.
Follow Willynkya: @willynkya on Instagram & TikTokThe Empty Grave: Follow Kijiweni Productions for screening updates

TM Smoke Signals: Africa will be saved: A poem by Opolot Emmanuel Solomon

In this powerful spoken-word piece, poet Opolot Emmanuel Solomon paints a vision of an Africa that has moved beyond division, dependency, conflict, and limitation. Through repetition, imagination, and conviction, he challenges listeners to picture a continent where dreams become reality, borders no longer divide people, and Africans take ownership of their shared future.
Meet the Poet
Opolot Emmanuel Solomon is a Ugandan spoken word artist whose work explores hope, identity, social transformation, and the power of collective action. In Africa Will Be Saved, he invites us to imagine a future shaped not by outside forces, but by the choices Africans make today.
What We Unpack in This Piece
Imagining a Different AfricaA continent defined by opportunity, innovation, and shared prosperity.
Beyond BordersThe dream of a more connected Africa where people, ideas, and opportunities move freely.
Changing the StoryReplacing narratives of crisis and dependency with stories of achievement and self-determination.
Key Takeaway
Africa's future will not be written by fate alone. It will be shaped by the collective actions of Africans who dare to imagine a better continent, and work to make it real.
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the 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.
Resources & Show Links
Follow Troublemakers wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast

Ep 50: The Stop EACOP Project with Ziada

What does “development” really mean—and who is forced to pay for it?
Meet the Guest
Ziada is a climate and gender justice advocate working at the frontlines of renewable energy and community resistance. Trained in medicine, her activism was shaped by real encounters with inequality, environmental breakdown, and lives lost to preventable conditions.
What We Unpack in This Episode
What is EACOP, really?A massive oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania—sold as progress, contested on the ground.
The real cost of “development”Displacement. Lost livelihoods. Closed schools. Communities cut off from land and identity.
Why women are hit hardestEconomic exclusion, social disruption, and power imbalances intensified inside homes and communities.
Key Takeaway
“We don’t lack solutions—we lack implementation.”
Licensing
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.
Acknowledgment
Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
Resources & Show Links
Green Conservers – connect via social media to support or collaborate

Smoke Signals: "Vous Allez-vous" A poem by Franck Amani & Sylvie Baziga.

What happens when poetry becomes testimony?What happens when a voice carries the grief, rage, memory, and survival of an entire people?
In this deeply emotional and politically charged episode of Troublemakers, we journey through “Vous allez où?”, a haunting spoken-word piece that confronts war, displacement, colonial violence, exile, and the persistence of hope in places the world often chooses to ignore.
Through vivid imagery and painful truths, the poem paints a world where mothers bury children, rivers carry bodies instead of songs, and children draw rifles instead of suns. Yet even within devastation, there remains resistance the stubborn insistence on dignity, memory, and life itself.
This episode reflects on:
War as a lived daily reality, not a distant headline
Forced displacement and the psychology of exile
The silencing of oppressed voices
Colonial legacies and systems of domination
At its core, this episode asks:Where do people go when home itself becomes unlivable?And what does it mean to continue dreaming in a world built to erase you?
This is not just poetry. It is testimony. It is mourning. It is resistance.
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Ep 49: Why do stories matter in social change work? With ActionAid Global Staff.

How do we move from gathering stories to creating impact? How can we be more strategic about story gathering? And who truly owns the narrative - organisations or the communities themselves?
In this episode of Troublemakers, we explore the role of storytelling in activism and development, featuring insights from practitioners working across Brazil and Nepal within ActionAid. This conversation unpacks how stories are gathered, shaped, and used. It explores the role of ActionAid in story gathering and reflects on why rethinking storytelling is essential for justice-driven work.
Guest Host
● Joan Njoroge – Moderator of this conversation, guiding a deep dive into how storytelling shapes advocacy, impact, and community voice within global movements.
Guest Speakers
● Erika Azevedo – Coordinator of Public Engagement at ActionAid Brazil, with a background in journalism and documentary storytelling.
● Anish Shrestha– Communications Manager at ActionAid Nepal, working closely with grassroots communities to amplify lived experiences.
Reflections
This episode highlights a key shift: storytelling must be decolonial, feminist, and human-centred. It’s not just about telling better stories — it’s about better planning and collaboration to avoid overload, more focus on agents of change, and amplifying people’s voices to different audiences.
License
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.
Resources & Show Links
● Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast
● ActionAid Global: https://www.actionaid.org
● Beautiful Trouble Toolbox: https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/
 
 

Ep 48: Truth, Power, and Human Rights in the Age of Social Media with Josué Mutanava

How do we defend rights in a world full of misinformation?
In this episode, guest host Jesué Mutanava speaks with Steward Muhindo, a human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo and member of Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA).
They explore how social media shapes activism, the dangers of disinformation, and how young people can push for change through peaceful action. Steward also shares simple ways to verify information and why truth is essential in the fight for human rights.
Key Takeaways
Human rights are universal.
Peaceful action drives change.
Misinformation can cause real harm.
Truth is the foundation of activism.
Licensing:Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Trouble Makers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

TM Smoke Signals: Superhero. A poem by Phindu Banda

In Super Hero, Phindu Banda honors the quiet courage of everyday people who rise, endure, and keep going. From childhood dreams to life’s hardest moments, this piece reminds us that survival, resilience, and showing up are acts of heroism.
You didn’t wait to be saved. You became the hero.
About the Poet
Phindu Banda is a Malawian poet, performer, and activist whose work explores identity, feminism, and social justice. Through spoken word, she amplifies everyday experiences and transforms them into powerful reflections on resilience, healing, and change.
Licensing:
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Trouble Makers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Resources & Show Links:
https://www.instagram.com/phinduzaie/

Ep47: Practice What You Preach: Why Movements Fail From Within with Dale McKinley

Why do movements that aim to transform the world so often fall apart from within? And what happens when the gap between our values and our actions becomes too wide to ignore?
 
In this episode of Trouble Makers, we sit down with Dale McKinley, a veteran activist with over 35 years of experience across South Africa’s most influential social movements. From the Communist Party to the Anti-Privatisation Forum and the Right to Know Campaign, Dale has witnessed firsthand how movements rise and how they implode.
 
Together with Phil Wilmot, they explore one of the most critical tensions in activism: the balance between changing the world and changing ourselves.
 
Key Conversations & Insights:
The “personal vs political” gap—and how it destroys movements from the inside
Why failing to confront internal issues (corruption, abuse, dishonesty) leads to collapse
The danger of “don’t air dirty laundry” culture in activist spaces
Real stories of movement breakdowns due to a lack of accountability
How trust, relationships, and internal culture shape long-term impact
 
Licensing:
Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Trouble Makers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Ep 46: Kenya’s Gen Z Voter Movement: How "Tukokadi" Is Changing the 2027 Elections

“The secret is numbers.”
What happens when ordinary citizens decide to take democracy into their own hands?
In this episode of the Trouble Makers Podcast, host Tatiana Gicheru sits down with Kenyan journalist and civic mobilizer Ademba Alanns, the mind behind the fast-growing Tukokadi movement, an initiative pushing millions of young Kenyans to register as voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
What started as a simple tweet has now become a nationwide movement, mobilising thousands across all 47 counties. Ademba shares how one small action sparked a ripple effect, turning civic duty into a collective, youth-driven force.
Together, they unpack:
The power of grassroots organising in the digital age.
Why voter registration is just the beginning of civic engagement.
The role of civic and political education in shaping informed voters and so much more.
Beyond Kenya, this conversation reflects a broader shift across Africa and the world, where young people are reclaiming their role in shaping governance, one vote at a time.
This episode is a reminder: democracy is not passive. It is built, protected, and sustained by those who show up.

Ep 45: Misinformation in Conflict Zones: Voices from Eastern Congo.

How does misinformation spread in conflict zones, and what are the consequences for communities and human rights defenders?
In this episode, journalist Josué Mutanava speaks with Espoir Hamoni, a human rights defender based in Uvira, South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. They discuss how disinformation, rumors, and fake news in eastern DRC can fuel hate speech, community tensions, displacement, and insecurity, while making it harder for human rights defenders to document abuses. Originally recorded in French by Soma Media Lab in Goma, this episode highlights the importance of media literacy, reliable journalism, and community awareness in countering misinformation. The English transcript is available in the episode description, and the video can be watched on YouTube with English subtitles.English Transcript: https://bit.ly/4uirWle
YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/4b8bxGW
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Comment la désinformation dans les zones de conflit affecte-t-elle les communautés et les défenseurs des droits humains ?
Dans cet épisode, le journaliste Josué Mutanava s’entretient avec Espoir Hamoni, défenseur des droits humains basé à Uvira, au Sud-Kivu, dans l’est de la RDC. Ils discutent de l’impact des rumeurs, fake news et manipulations de l’information sur les tensions communautaires, les déplacements de population et la sécurité, ainsi que sur le travail des défenseurs des droits humains. L’épisode a été enregistré en français par Soma Media Lab à Goma. La transcription en anglais est disponible dans la description de l’épisode, et la vidéo peut être regardée sur YouTube avec des sous-titres anglais.YouTube: https://bit.ly/4b8bxGW