TROUBLEMAKERS

What is the true story behind America’s gun culture beyond Hollywood’s dramatised scenes?In this Smoke Signal, we unpack the myths, realities, and politics behind gun violence in the United States through lived experience, global perception, and the unchecked power of the gun industry.
Growing up outside the U.S., many of us see America through movies: chaotic streets, armed civilians, danger at every corner. But how much of that imagery mirrors real life? In this conversation, we explore how easy access to guns, racialised oppression, economic precarity, and political mythology fuel a crisis that has become tragically normalised. From childhood gun training to mass shootings, from Walmart gun aisles to parents organizing for their children’s safety, this is a raw look at a nation shaped by firearms.
Key Ideas and Highlights
Hollywood vs. Reality: Movies exaggerate, but the core problem is real — guns are incredibly easy to access in the U.S., shaping both culture and violence.
Race, Power, and Mythology: America’s obsession with guns is tied to white settler identity, political polarisation, and billion-dollar lobby groups like the NRA.
Everyday Consequences: From children pretending to be armed for safety to families losing loved ones over a bag of food, gun violence reflects deeper economic and political failures.
Licensing
Anyone can use this podcast for free with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and may be used for radio or any other media. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
Resources & Show Links
Home | Moms Demand Action
Research on the U.S. gun lobby and NRA influence (https://bit.ly/4asCSFc) 
Articles on Walmart’s role in firearm sales (https://bit.ly/445b71C) 
Credits
Hosts: Phil Wilmot & Rodgers George
Music: Beautiful Trouble & Mwaduga Salum

What happens when a movement falls in love with one tactic?In this episode, we visit Githurai Social Justice Centre to explore how Kenyan organisers can move beyond protest fatigue and rethink the power of people-centred strategies.
Njoki Gachanja is a community organizer, political and social justice activist, and community lawyer. She coordinates the Githurai Social Justice Centre, where she works with youth, artists, and local networks to build people power from the ground up. Njoki walks us through why mandamano became so central, what its limits are, and what it will take to build fresh, effective, and unified tactics for today’s Kenya.
Key Ideas and Highlights
Anger fuels action, but anger is not a strategy. Effective organizing requires clarity, love, unity and the courage to imagine alternatives, not only resistance.
Kenya’s most powerful organizing spaces are not always the streets. Churches, football pitches, TikTok, markets, and clubs already gather thousands and can be transformed into political education spaces.
We win when our currency is truth. In the digital age, political clarity, fact checking, and fidelity to the people are essential for resisting misinformation and building sustainable movements.
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. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
Resources and Show Links
Githurai Social Justice Center (Facebook, X)
Beautiful Trouble toolbox
Credits
Host:Monica KamandauGuest: Njoki GachanjaProduction: Rodgers GeorgeMusic: Beautiful Trouble and Mwaduga Salum

How do millennials and Gen Z work together in social movements when their values, experiences, and approaches often clash? In this episode of Troublemakers (TM) Smoke Signals, we explore intergenerational dynamics in activism, examining the tensions and opportunities that arise when younger and older generations collaborate or collide.
 
Key Ideas and Highlights:
Different Values, Shared Goals: Millennials often emphasise respect for hierarchy and experience, while Gen Z demands accountability and direct action. Understanding these differences is key to effective collaboration.
Mutual Learning Across Ages: True solidarity happens when generations engage in genuine relationships, mentoring, and shared learning. Eldership is earned through curiosity, presence, and openness, not simply age.
Shared Struggle Against Systems: Economic pressures, systemic inequities, and structural power imbalances affect both generations. Recognising common challenges fosters solidarity beyond generational divides.
Licensing: Anyone can use this episode for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). We operate under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and draw inspiration from the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
Credits:
Hosted by Phil and Rodgers George | Produced by Rodgers George | Music by Beautiful Trouble & Mwaduga Salum | Edited by Monica Kamandau

Why Are We Obsessed with Being the Hero?
In this episode, Dr Mette Fog Olwig, a geographer, author, and storyteller, examines how “hero narratives” shape global climate, sustainability and development responses. Her new book, A Bit Too Simple: Narratives of Development, Sustainability and Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2025, open access), looks at the origin and current iteration of these hero narratives, starting with the problematic narrative of the “white man’s burden”, and exposes how they sideline the real voices living through the crisis.
Key Ideas and Highlights
The Hero Narrative in Climate ActionMette reveals how some “sustainability” efforts, such as many carbon offset initiatives, turn practitioners, companies and consumers into heroes of global rescue stories—overshadowing the real, complex struggles of affected communities. 
The Power and Peril of Meta-NarrativesBig stories about progress and heroism can inspire action, but they can also erase nuance and silence local voices.
Storytelling as Organizing
Inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox, Mette shows how storytelling isn’t just communication; it’s collective organizing that builds power and shared purpose. 
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. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox. 
Resources & Show Links
A Bit Too Simple: Narratives of Development, Sustainability and Climate Change by Mette Fog Olwig – Cambridge University Press, 2025 (open access)
Explore the Beautiful Trouble Toolbox: https://beautifultrouble.org Credits
Host: Phil Wilmot | Guest: Mette Olwig | Producer: Rodgers George | Editor: Monica Kamandau.

How do we unlearn the colonial logic of “good development”?
 
In this episode, Ugandan filmmaker and theatremaker Patience Nitumwesiga reflects on Paulo Freire’s and Augusto Boal’s ideas, exploring how art, story, and imagination can awaken critical consciousness and challenge imposed notions of progress.
 
Key Ideas
 
Unlearning the “banking model” — Knowledge already lives within communities; true learning begins through shared reflection.
 
The burden and gift of awareness — Once awakened, we cannot return to ignorance; awareness demands creative resistance.
 
Decolonising “development” — African ways of life are not backward but expressions of freedom and identity.
 
Licensing
This episode is free to use with attribution to Trouble Makers (the podcast), under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
 
Resources & Show Links
 
🎬 Movie link: https://www.thewomanwhopokedtheleopard.com
 
Credits
Host: Phil Wilmot | Guest: Patience Nitumwesiga | Producer: Rodgers George | Editor: Phil Wilmot | Studio: Troublemakers MS TCDC | Music: Beautiful Trouble & Mwaduga Salum

What does it mean to seek justice in a system that thrives on injustice?In this powerful reading, Sungu Oyoo, a Kenyan writer, activist, and pan-Africanist affiliated with Kongamano La Mapinduzi and Mwamko, revisits the words of Sam Mugumya, author of We Refuse to Be Victims.
Key Ideas and Highlights
Injustice as Everyday LifeSungu’s reading reminds us how injustice is normalised, becoming the air the marginalised breathe.
The Political Resonance Through Mugumya’s words, we hear echoes of many others silenced across the continent. A call to remember, resist, and refuse to bow.
LicensingAnyone can use this recording 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
We Refuse to Be Victims by Sam Mugumya: https://bit.ly/4mZyHDDCreditsReading: Sungu OyooProducer: Rodgers GeorgePoet: Sam MugumyaRecording: Trouble Makers

In this Smoke Signal, Njuki Githethwa reads from the newly published collection ‘We Refuse to Be Victims' by Ugandan activist and poet Sam Mugumya. His words remind us that courage, dignity, and resistance are possible even under the harshest conditions.
Sam visited Nairobi in August 2025, where he met with grassroots collectives from informal settlements, inspiring hope and solidarity. Days later, upon returning to Uganda, he was arrested and has since disappeared into incommunicado detention. His poetry, written through years of imprisonment, survives as both testimony and torchlight.
 
Key Ideas and Highlights
 
Defiance in Captivity – Sam’s verses were born in jail cells, yet they speak of freedom and unbroken will.
Turning the Gaze – His poems insist that the real victims are despots enslaved by their own corruption.
The Role of Art in Struggle – Poetry as a tool of survival, resistance, and inspiration across Africa’s liberation movements.
Solidarity Beyond Borders – How words shared in Nairobi echo in Uganda, the Congo, and across the continent.
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.
Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
 
Resources & Show Links
Trouble Makers Linktree: linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast
 
Credits
Host/Reader: Njuki Githethwa
Poet: Sam Mugumya
Producer & Audio Editor: Rodgers George
Podcast editor: Monica Kamandau
Music: Beautiful Trouble & Mwaduga Salum

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will,” Frederick Douglass
What does it mean to choose your battles wisely? In this episode, host Phil Wilmot sits down with Zambian activist Villy Nawa to unpack the strategy of isolating targets and forcing institutions to account for their failures.
From his first protest as a boarding school student demanding decent food to spearheading the Fix ZESCO campaign against Zambia’s national power utility, Villy shares stories that reveal the art of strategy in social movements. Rather than targeting the president or parliament with their fire, the movement held one institution accountable, and that decision reshaped the fight.
 
Key Ideas and Highlights
Everyday Struggles Spark Resistance: How bad food and arbitrary punishments at school inspired Villy’s first protest.
Narrative Is Power: The government reframed loadshedding as “you have nine hours of power” instead of “15 hours of power cuts.” Activists had to learn to frame their story just as skillfully.
Pick the Right Target: Why focusing on ZESCO, rather than the presidency, created space for pressure and accountability.
Attribution:
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.
Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
 
Resources & Show Links
Choose Your Target Wisely
Nawa’s Bio
Pillars of Power
 
Credits
Host: Phil Wilmot
Guest: Villy NawaProducer & Audio Editor: Rodgers GeorgeEditor: Monica Kamandau
Music: Beautiful Trouble and Mwaduga Salum

In this episode of Troublemakers (TM) Smoke Signals, we revisit an article written just before the Covid pandemic: Is the rising obsession with digital security paralyzing people power? What started as a reflection on the flood of digital security trainings resurfaces today with new urgency, amid accelerating AI, techno-feudalism, and state and corporate espionage.
The internet once felt like a commons — a democratic space where we could build communities around shared interests. Today, despite the name “social media,” many feel more detached than ever. At the same time, movements are told to delay action until every security risk is eliminated. But history and lived experience remind us: risk never reaches zero. 
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.
Acknowledgment
Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.
 
Resources & Show Links
Full article: Is the Rising Obsession with Digital Security Paralyzing People Power?
Darya Alikhani on Practising digital security
Contact us: troublemakersthepodcast@gmail.com
Listen to more episodes: linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast
 
Credits
Host: Phil Wilmot
Producer: Rodgers George
Editor: Thompson Luzendi
Music: Beautiful Trouble and Mwaduga Salum

Is nonviolence truly the higher ground, or is that just a myth handed to the oppressed by those in power? In this fiercely honest conversation, South African lawyer, activist, and former parliamentarian Magdalene Moonsamy returns to the mic to confront the moral binaries surrounding resistance, liberation, and the cost of freedom.Key Ideas and Highlights;
The Violence – Nonviolence TrapMagdalene challenges the neat binaries of Gandhi vs Malcolm X, showing how these narratives have been weaponised to tame liberation struggles.
Land, Dignity, and JusticeFrom South Africa to the global stage, she argues that land redistribution is not just an economic issue; it’s about dignity, belonging, and the end of structural violence.
Colonial Legacies and ReparationsThe discussion unpacks how racism, caste, and class oppression intersect, making the demand for reparations inseparable from the fight against ongoing exploitation.Succession and Collective LeadershipMagdalene emphasises that movements thrive not through policing or gatekeeping, but through delegation, distributed leadership, participation, and a movement culture that is inter-generational culture-building that spans generations.Slavery, War, and the United NationsDrawing on history and present failures, she links modern war to the persistence of slavery—both physical and mental—calling for deep institutional transformation.
LicensingAnyone 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.AcknowledgmentOur podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.Resources & Show LinksListen to the episode: Episode 36 – By Any Means NecessaryExplore all episodes: Trouble Makers on LinktreeTo learn more on distributed leadership, non-violent discipline and movement culture, check out the Uprising and Peak GOLD course
CreditsHost: Phil WilmotGuest: Magdalene MoonsamyProducer: Rodgers GeorgeMusic: Beautiful Trouble, Mwaduga SalumEditor: Monica Kamandau