sa国际传媒

How can we take action to make a difference? How can we speak up to right a wrong?

These are the questions sa国际传媒 President Sarah Brown explores in the latest episode of her Better Angels podcast series by talking to four听people who have made a huge impact for their personal causes and passions.

They are听David Mixner,听civil rights activist, prominent LGBT campaigner and best-selling author;听Christy Turlington Burns,听supermodel and maternal health campaigner;听Kevin Watkins,听the听CEO of Save The Children UK and leading international development thinker; and听Shazia Ramzan,听young education campaigner and a sa国际传媒 Global Youth Ambassador.

David talks about his life in advocacy and human rights campaigning.

He says: 鈥淚鈥檝e learned that if you can keep your ego out and if you always make it we and not I 鈥撎齜ecause when it becomes I you set yourself up as a target. If it becomes we, it becomes a movement.

鈥淎nd the purpose of a movement is change 鈥撎齨ot to punish people who might not come as听quickly to the听realisation of freedom as others might, but to welcome them, that they have had the wisdom to change their minds on a particular issue.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the purpose of a movement and we should never forget that.鈥�

He adds:听鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be alone. You can鈥檛 live in fear.

鈥淏ecause if you live in fear you will always be that person at the back of the room that no one鈥檚 listening to.鈥�

Christy is asked about her shift听from 鈥渕odel with a cause鈥� to fully-fledged campaigner. She talks about her听 charity and about how thousands of听people have听run marathons to support the cause wearing the organisation鈥檚听orange colours.

鈥淚 started running because of Every Mother Counts actually. I wasn鈥檛 really a runner,鈥� she says.

鈥淎s soon as I started training for my first marathon it dawned on me that there was such a opportunity there with communicating distance as one of the biggest barriers for so many women to access care.

鈥淚t became so built into what we were trying to do and it鈥檚 also a great way for people to participate.鈥�

Kevin talks about his experience of听travelling and working in developing countries in his various roles with charities and organisations.

鈥�The amazing thing about these people is they do not give up hope,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou go and talk to anyone in a rural village, in an urban slum, these are people with hope.

鈥淚 always find it utterly extraordinary and actually very moving. You go to a refugee camp, you speak to kids who have seen friends killed, who have lost family members, who have been bombed, who will sit there and look you in the eye and tell you they are going to be an engineer.

鈥淭hat is the human spirit in operation. We need to get behind these people. That is what solidarity is about.鈥�

Shazia was with her friends听 and Kainat Riaz when they were all shot by the Taliban听on their school bus in Pakistan in 2012.

Now 18, she is at school in the United Kingdom and plans听to go to university to become a nurse.

Asked about her trips back to Pakistan, Shazia says:听鈥淚 see quite a few changes and I see girls are more confident. I feel like we have changed something.

鈥淣ot just me, Kainat and Malala 鈥� there are others who are trying to change these ideas.鈥�

On how individuals can help to bring about change, she says:听鈥淚f we see something is wrong, if I am speaking and no one wants to listen to me then I speak to my community people and we听meet 鈥� and then we all as a group come together. It makes us stronger.

鈥淚f you see something don鈥檛 be silent. You are the one who can do something. If you don鈥檛 do something then there will be no one here who will do it.鈥�

Don鈥檛 miss an episode 鈥� subscribe now

If you want to get the Better Angels podcast each week you can subscribe and get every new episode delivered directly to your phone, tablet or computer. You鈥檒l also be able to access full-length interviews with some of the podcast interviewees too.

Sarah talks to politicians, entertainers, activists and world leaders about their inspiration, their hopes and their dreams at a time of enormous international upheaval.

There are different ways to subscribe. If you have iTunes or another podcast player on your device, search for 鈥淏etter Angels鈥� in the player on your phone, table or computer and when you鈥檝e found the series, hit subscribe.

To subscribe via iTunes from this page, hit the iTunes icon above.

If you are on a desktop, you鈥檒l need to select 鈥榁iew in iTunes鈥� and once the iTunes programme is open, you鈥檒l be able to switch on a subscription.

Alternatively, if you have a podcast player that subscribes via RSS, you can click the RSS icon on any episode or use this link to get a full feed of all the episodes.