This week, Simon & Rachel get gloriously uncomfortable.It’s a rollicking debate with sharp edges, full-throttle disagreement in part, and one very live question who’s it actually worth arguing with anymore? Simon’s just back from the Battle of Ideas, where he shared space with people he vehemently disagrees with and has mixed feelings as a result. Rachel, on the other hand, reckons the whole thing’s just too right-wing for her vibe, recognising she may be reinforcing her own biases, and worries about the reputational risk of legitimising certain viewpoints. So, it’s a conversation of the wrestle with our own tensions about who to talk to about when and when. Is the real dividing line today Left versus Right or liberals versus authoritarians, on both sides?And what if, whisper it, the Right might actually be right that Britain’s true clash is between the elite and the people? New research from More in Common and Arch 10 reveals just how out of touch the progressive and public-sector “elites”, including many driving diversity and inclusion, have become from the wider public, especially on sex, gender, patriotism, and free speech. Battle of Ideas had everything: a panel on the Supreme Court judgment, disbelief that trans people even exist, a tweet labelling DEI “a virus,” and yet a surprisingly diverse audience and a bromance brewing between Simon and Andrew Doyle in over Simon’s taste in coloured couture. In the end, the duo agrees on one thing: it’s time to move past the culture wars.What we need are Fearless Diversity gatherings with rosé, civility, and the courage to disagree well. Who wants to join us? Fearless Diversity where nuance still has the mic.RESOURCESArch10 “Two Britains”https://shorturl.at/TC89q More in Common – “Progressive Activists”https://shorturl.at/eLwW6Battle of Ideashttps://www.battleofideas.org.uk/Ben Cooper (one of the KCs who represented in the Supreme Court) explainer on the Supreme Court judgement in For Women Scotlandhttps://shorturl.at/0QRCXFor more about Rachel: Who Is The Fearless Facilitator? - Fearless Facilitator For more about Simon: Who We Are – Diversity by Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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57:56
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57:56
The Limits of Identity
Fearless Diversity: Identity, Civility, and the Courage to Disagree At a time when public debate feels less like dialogue and more like a contest over whose feelings matter most, Simon and Rachel take a breath, and a stand, for nuance, empathy, and civility. Because identity whether shaped by sex, gender, class, ethnicity, or belief has become both the lens through which we see the world and, too often, the wall that divides us. In this episode, they explore what happens when politics becomes a battle of tribes rather than a search for solutions. From the far-reaching debates at the recent FiLiA conference, Europe’s largest feminist gathering, to boardrooms wrestling with diversity data, the same question runs through it all: how do we honour difference without hardening into division? Rachel argues that class still defines how women experience both oppression and opportunity, and Simon challenges the orthodoxy of identity politics itself. Together, they unpack how leaders can use diversity data not as a flag to wave but as a lens for understanding asking, what are we really trying to learn here? Because perhaps, in an age of permanent outrage, the most radical act isn’t shouting louder it’s listening better. If you enjoy listening to us, please do like and share Resources:FILIA. https://www.filia.org.uk/Fire Service Black Members - National Conference 2025 https://shorturl.at/A92tVBlack Excellence in Governance https://shorturl.at/lHFn3For more about Rachel: Who Is The Fearless Facilitator? - Fearless Facilitator For more about Simon: Who We Are – Diversity by Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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56:10
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56:10
Manchester Synagogue Attack
Recorded on Tuesday 7 October 2025, this episode confronts the murders at Heaton Park on Yom Kippur and the sharp rise in antisemitism in the UK. We name the harm plainly and we hold the line between free speech and incitement.We don’t posture; we do the hard work of sense-making. We explore why silence from institutions and politicians corrodes trust, how slogan-chanting lands as eradication to Jewish citizens, and why leaders must support protest rights clearly and also enforce the law on incitement consistently, not selectively. We acknowledge parallel harms, including arson at a Sussex mosque and the daily experience of British Muslims facing prejudice. But we don’t take refuge in the false comfort of “whataboutery”.This is a practical conversation for people who run things CEOs, headteachers, council leaders, community organisers. We offer three commitments you can enact now:1. Curiosity with backbone: seek understanding across difference without surrendering facts. Try to find agreement not just disagreement.2. Even-handed moral clarity: condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia without purity tests or exemptions.3. Local dialogue, real guardrails: create forums where disagreement is safe, and incitement is not.4. In everyday conversation commit to civility – only ever try to explore and at best convince but not to win. Not virtue. Not theatre. Leadership. We have the conversation you want to. Please do listen, like and share.For more about Rachel: Who Is The Fearless Facilitator? - Fearless Facilitator For more about Simon: Who We Are – Diversity by Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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53:47
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53:47
ID cards. Convenience or control?
In this episode of Fearless Diversity, Rachel Cashman - the fearless facilitator - and Simon Fanshawe - the diversity dissident - tackle one of the most contentious policy revivals in years: the return of the digital ID card. From dinner parties to football terraces the argument is dividing Britain. Are ID cards a slick, modern tool to cut red tape and to create a sense of Britishness - or the threat of Big Brother made real, of a society where our lives are one barcode away from state control and all-day surveillance. Is the BritCard a massive invasion of privacy or the key to our national identity? Although aren’t we being a bit hypocritical? Why are we so bothered about government having limited info on us so we can get benefits when we’ve already surrendered everything about ourselves to Google and Facebook? And can government actually pull it off? HS2 or the Edinburgh trams anyone? What will ID cards give us that we don’t already have? Ands what about Auty Betty who’ll never have an iphone so she’ll never go digital? If you’re an illegal immigrant you’ve already escaped the system so why will the BritCard stop you being in the UK? Will digital IDs streamline Britain’s services, build trust, cement values and create belonging or instead, in a country where only 12% of the population trust government, just be felt as another state overreach? Will the BritCard bind us closer - or drive us further apart? Fearless Diversity doesn’t just chew over politics—it digs into how policies shape the lives we live, the work we do, and the society we want to be part of. Enjoy, listen and share. For more about Rachel: Who Is The Fearless Facilitator? - Fearless Facilitator For more about Simon: Who We Are – Diversity by Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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43:48
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43:48
Flags
Simon and Rachel wade into flags, patriotism and nationality. At the moment flags are everywhere – at football matches, street parties, protests, Pride and, lately, at the heart of raging debate about what it means to be British. This week we try and understand the hope, the pride and the worry wrapped up in every St George’s Cross and Union Jack. A flag isn’t just a flag. For some, it’s a badge of pride, shared in the roar of the crowd when England scores. For others, it brings darker memories and fears of division. The left and right claim love and shame of country. But has the left abandoned patriotism, ceding the flag to extremists? And does the right use language of nationhood just to exclude? But we all know moments when flags precisely symbolise moments of joy and optimism - the Olympics, royal occasions, football and rugby - when the Union Jack and the St George’s flag unite communities of every colour, faith and background. Is it just lazy branding of ordinary flag-wavers to call them ‘racists’? Have too many leaders in public institutions got it wrong when they shut down conversations instead of listening to the real emotions behind the flags? Instead of labelling we need to create space for talking, listening and understanding. We should take care not to jump to judgement but stay curious. Can we understand what flags mean to each of us and talk to the issues rather than demonising each other. If we get it right, can flags unite rather than divide us?For more about Rachel: Who Is The Fearless Facilitator? - Fearless Facilitator For more about Simon: Who We Are – Diversity by Design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Leaders are faced with dilemmas every day that flow from human interactions at work. And they are so often disruptive, time-consuming, potentially create division among your staff and test you as a leader. You need time to reflect…..you need space in the morning to listen to Rachel Cashman and Simon Fanshawe eating these problems for breakfast. Fearless Diversity is the candid podcast that tackles the real dilemmas bosses, managers, and leaders face every day – around accountability, decision-making, workplace dynamics, conflict, and organisational culture and their people. Join Rachel Cashman and Simon Fanshawe — two of the foremost thought leaders in workplace diversity, leadership, and inclusion — as they dive into honest conversations that get to the heart of it. We have the conversations you want to have. Rachel brings real-world, high-level implementation experience - expertise that CEOs and managers can trust, learn from, and enlist when they need results and to ensure their teams perform at their best. Simon adds his clout as a highly respected broadcaster, author, and inclusion specialist. They don’t always agree — and that’s the point. Rachel and Simon argue, disagree, and explore different perspectives, and always with resolution and insight – modelling the difficult conversations leaders need to have. It’s a podcast for thoughtful leaders who want to reflect, rather than shout or be shouted at. Fearless Diversity is the place to think differently about today’s trickiest human issues at work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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