Jen Brister: I Want To Be On The Right Side Of History

Jen Brister is someone who I admire not only for her fearless approach to comedy and life in general, but for her vocal stance on what’s happening in Palestine. She runs a non-profit to help families over there. We met at a Palestine Solidarity event and ever since then, I knew I wanted to have her on the pod. We chatted about the crossover with comedy, politics and questioning authority and were lucky enough to be joined by the amazing Professor Nick Maynard, a leading surgeon, who had just got back from a trip to Gaza two days prior. We spoke to him about what it’s like on the ground over there and how it feels to now be back in the UK. Then my amazing mate, Tai Shani, who’s a Turner Prize winning artist, and daughter of Holocaust survivors, popped in to speak about why, as a Jewish woman, she feels so compelled to speak out against the horrors of what is happening in Palestine. This is a really special episode for me and something I’ve wanted to make for a long time. I wanted to re-humanise a situation that all too often gets turned into stats on a news report. Thank you for listening.If you’d like to see or donate to any of the charities mentioned in the episode, they’re all here:…. The Sameer Project - https://chuffed.org/project/113222-te... The Zaynab Project - https://thezaynabproject.org/ All Our Relations - https://allourrelations.co.uk/ Angie: https://www.instagram.com/angieq8?igs... Inara: https://inara.org/ Medical Aid For Palestinians - https://www.map.org.uk/ 00:00 Jen arrives 00:42 Introducing Jen Brister 01:50 Does questioning authority make a good comedian? 03:27 MAD 03:40 Shows about fury and HRT 04:20 The situation in Gaza 06:36 Realising that we are being failed by International Law 08:10 Our democracy is failing us 09:11 Introducing Professor Nick Maynard 09:50 The reality of the situation in Gaza 10:47 If people don’t want to learn, I don’t waste my time with them 11:20 SAD 11:35 You can’t prepare yourself for what you see in Gaza 12:45 Young Palestinians boys are being targeted at food distribution points 14:48 The families that Jen is helping 15:50 Aid distribution points are death traps 17:10 Speaking on Palestine as a Mum 18:47 Where has humanity gone? 19:30 Formula feed is being confiscated 20:40 Politicians turning a blind eye 21:35 Words without action 22:05 Spending four weeks in Palestine 24:42 BAD 25:02 Why questioning authority has always been important for Jen 26:50 Continually landing in school detention 27:52 Is kindness being mistaken for weakness? 28:45 Being outspoken as a Lesbian 30:48 GLAD 31:30 Finding hope through people in the current situation 33:10 In awe of Palestinian people 35:14 Saying bye to Jen 35:48 Introducing Tai Shani 36:50 A family history tied up with The Holocaust 38:40 Working with Israeli Doctors in the West Bank 40:00 The impact of years of dehumanisation 42:00 Speaking out on Palestine as a Jewish Person 42:30 The difference between Gaza 15 years ago and Gaza now 45:25 Can we hope for resolution? #JENBRISTER #PALOMAFAITH #MADSADBAD — Find us on: Instagram /   / madsadbadpodcast   TikTok /   / madsadbadpodcast   — Credits: Producer: Jemima Rathbone Assistant Producer: Magda Cassidy & Ceyda Uzun Video: Grisha Nikolsky & Josh Bennett Sound: Shane O'Bryne Mix: Jay Beale Original music: BUTCH PIXY Social Media: Laura Coughlan Exec Producer for JamPot: Jemima Rathbone Exec Producers for Idle Industries: Dave Granger & Will Macdonald