Terrified, intrigued, and conflicted are the feelings that came to mind for our guests and host, but how are you feeling about AI right now?

This is the first episode in a three-part Creative Futures Lab series on Be the Change Podcast. Lily Mott talks with Conor Warren, founder and CEO of Spark UK, and Paddy Crump, Campaigns and Content Lead at FlippGen, about why they partnered with Be the Change Media Network and Studio Self-Made to launch the Creative Futures Lab.

On 2 September 2026, around 40 young creators, founders, AI professionals, funders, and organizations came together at Canva’s London HQ for an honest conversation about AI, one that wasn’t about deciding whether it’s good or bad.

Conor and Paddy open up about their own, very different relationships with AI. Conor shares how it has helped a small charity team stretch further and build a platform for a fraction of the usual cost, while also worrying about the young people turning to chatbots for mental health support. Paddy reflects on the moment when polishing every email with AI became a habit and how that led him to rethink how and why to use it. Together with Lily, they unpack the growing divide between how charities and corporate teams use AI, why we need to have these conversations, and what’s still giving them hope: young people who care about getting it right and a renewed appreciation for work made by humans.

Whether you use AI constantly, avoid it completely, or sit somewhere in the messy middle, this conversation isn’t about changing your mind. As Conor, Paddy, and Lily discuss in the episode, there’s no guidebook for any of this, so be kind to yourself.

To get connected with Conor, find him on LinkedIn and Instagram.

To get connected with Paddy, find him on LinkedIn and Instagram.

To more about:

• Be the Change Media Network: www.bethechangemedianetwork.com
• Studio Self-Made: www.studioselfmade.com
• FlippGen: www.flippgen.com
• Spark UK: www.sparkuk.co.uk
• 100% Human at Work: www.human-atwork.org

Follow Be the Change Podcast on Instagram: @bethechangepodcast.

Follow Be the Change Media Network on Instagram: @bethechangemedianetwork.

If you have any questions, please email Lily Mott at lily@bethechangepodcast.org.

Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change Media Network.

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual violence, drugging, and the aftermath of assault. Please take care while listening.

Today, October 8th, is the National Day of Action to end sexual violence, and Grace Wankelman is helping organize the From the Frat House to the White House action in Washington, DC.

In this episode of Be the Change Podcast, recorded the day before the National Day of Action, Lily Mott talks with Grace about her experiences with sexual violence, from her teenage years to being drugged at a party while studying at the University of Denver, and how those experiences led her into advocacy. She also talks about what it was like to be met with dismissal by the institutions she turned to for help.

Grace shares what she learned from years of campus advocacy: that healing doesn’t follow one path, that you don’t have to be healed to do this work, and that stepping back to rest is part of keeping a movement going. She explains why the day of action is meant as a catalyst rather than a one-off event, why this is a systemic issue that reaches well beyond any single university following the news about Cornell, and what she hopes the rally at the Washington Monument and the march to the White House will start. She also speaks directly to men about how to interrupt the jokes, make people feel safe enough to share their stories, and hold their friends accountable.

Her message for anyone wondering what they can do: start small, show up for the people in your life, and keep going after the headlines fade.

Change comes when we listen to each other, even when we disagree.

In this episode of Be the Change Podcast, Lily Mott talks with Filip Janevski, a member of the Council of the City of Skopje in North Macedonia, whom she met at the Changing Narratives Conference with the No Hate Speech Network in Trenčín, Slovakia.

Despite sitting on different sides of the political spectrum, Lily and Filip hit it off immediately, bonding over a shared belief that politics only works when people genuinely listen to one another, rather than just waiting for their turn to speak.

Filip shares what it's like to serve as a local councillor since the age of 23, why he believes local government is where people's everyday lives are most directly shaped, and why he thinks integrity, doing the right thing when no one's watching, is the quality missing most from political life today. Filip and Lily also discuss why voter turnout in local elections is so often overlooked and why every single vote genuinely matters.

His message for anyone feeling disillusioned by politics right now: don't stop believing that respecting one another and finding common ground are possible, even across our differences.

To get connected with Filip, find him on Instagram.

Follow Be the Change Podcast on Instagram: @bethechangepodcast.

Follow Be the Change Media Network on Instagram: @bethechangemedianetwork.

If you have any questions, please email Lily Mott at lily@bethechangepodcast.org.

Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change Media Network.