What kind of hope is worth holding onto? In this episode, Tristan and Rashid unpack the idea of critical hope, drawing on the work of Jeff Duncan-Andrade and a powerful quote from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of Hope. They introduce us to Ashley and Helene Visagie, founders of Bottom Up, a Cape Town youth organisation that equips teenagers with tools of critical thought to question the systems around them rather than simply plugging gaps.

In clips from the original Liminal Space episode, Ashley describes the shift from fixing broken toilets to asking why they’re broken in the first place, and how capitalism alienates us from our work, each other, and the environment. Helene speaks about telling kids the truth without leaving them stranded in despair, and what it takes to move forward together. Tristan and Rashid reflect on when they first encountered critical thinking, and why imagining a new world requires us to question the imagination behind the current one. The episode closes with a guided imagination exercise inviting listeners to picture their neighbourhood 20 years from now.

THEMES

Critical hope. Democratizing critical thought. Stop plugging gaps. Alienation under capitalism. Education as liberation. Imagination as action. Youth as co-constructors of change.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

This episode features clips from The Liminal Space Season 1, Episode 3: Critical Hope and Being Human with Ashley Visagie. The full conversation is available on all podcast platforms.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Watch on YouTube

FEATURED VOICES

Ashley & Helene Visagie are the founders of Bottom Up, a Cape Town-based youth organisation that develops socially engaged leaders who can critically analyse how political, economic, and cultural systems produce inequality, and then organise to change them.

Tristan Pringle is a life and executive coach, facilitator, and poet based in Cape Town.

Rashid Adams is a musician, songwriter, music producer, and ethnomusicologist based in Cape Town.

CREDITS

| Produced by | Rashid Epstein Adams
| Music by | Rashid Epstein Adams (AKA Arkenstone) and Pursuit
| A collaboration between | The Common Good Podcast & The Liminal Space Podcast

LINKS

| Podcast | linktr.ee/theliminalspacepod
| Substack | theliminalspacepodcast.substack.com
| Instagram | @theliminalspacepod

In this episode, Tristan and Rashid take us to Khayelitsha, one of South Africa’s largest townships, about 20 miles southeast of central Cape Town. Built during apartheid-era forced removals, Khayelitsha continues to bear the scars of spatial inequality. But in the heart of its informal settlements, two young founders, Bongeka and Aphiwe (Qhama), have created something remarkable: Thembisa Ratanga, a community space they describe as “a safe space in a not-so-safe place.”

Through a clip from the original Liminal Space episode, we hear Bongeka and Aphiwe reflect on the deep connection between nature, spirituality, and the body. Yoga poses that imitate trees and birds. Sunsets you don’t plan but can’t avoid. The quiet gift of a wetland on the edge of a township. Tristan and Rashid then unpack what it means to “just be” in a world that demands we constantly produce or consume, and ask whether rest itself might be a revolutionary act.

THEMES

Coming home to our bodies. Being vs doing. Nature as teacher. Rest as resistance. Spatial apartheid and its legacy. Yoga in the township. Eliminating economic isolation.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

This episode features a clip from The Liminal Space Season 2, Episode 11: What happens when we reclaim our stories and find home in our bodies? With Bongeka and Aphiwe. The full conversation runs about an hour and is available on all podcast platforms.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

FEATURED VOICES

Bongeka & Aphiwe (Qhama) are the founders of Thembisa Ratanga, a Khayelitsha-based NPO that uses education, art, and sport as tools for community development and self-empowerment. Their space has been dubbed “a waterfront in the township.”

Tristan Pringle is a life and executive coach, facilitator, and poet based in Cape Town.

Rashid Adams is a musician, songwriter, music producer, and ethnomusicologist based in Cape Town.

SUPPORT THEMBISA RATANGA

Bongeka and Aphiwe are currently running a BackaBuddy campaign to support day-to-day logistics and building improvements for the kids in their community. If you’d like to contribute, visit the link below.

CREDITS

| Produced by | Rashid Adams
| Music by | Arkenstone
| A collaboration between | Common Good Podcast & The Liminal Space Podcast

LINKS

| BackaBuddy | backabuddy.co.za/campaign/tembisa-ratanga
| Full Episode | Listen on Apple Podcasts
| Podcast | linktr.ee/theliminalspacepod
| Substack | theliminalspacepodcast.substack.com
| Instagram | @theliminalspacepod

What happens when imagination meets reality? In this pilot episode, we kick off a special miniseries in collaboration with The Liminal Space Podcast, bringing voices from Cape Town, South Africa to the Common Good conversation. Hosts Tristan Pringle and Rashid Adams introduce themselves, share what drew them to the idea of liminality, and explore the stories that ground them right now, from earth as a shared garden to the liberating power of intuition. The episode closes with a collectively written poem on imagination, storytelling, and the search for glimpses of a better world.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Over seven episodes, this miniseries brings a Global South perspective to the Common Good Podcast’s core themes: the significance of place, eliminating economic isolation, and the structure of belonging. Through conversations with guests in Cape Town, from yoga practitioners in Khayelitsha to musicians, educators, and community organisers, we explore what it looks like to rebuild belonging in the wake of extraction and inherited inequality.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Tristan Pringle is a life and executive coach, facilitator, and poet based in Cape Town. He works across faith-based, corporate, and grassroots organisations to hold space for dreams of a better world, and to make them real.

Rashid Adams is a musician, songwriter, music producer, and researcher based in Cape Town. His academic work explores how indigenous music-making within decolonial Christian frameworks functions as a form of sacred resistance.

CREDITS

| Produced by | Rashid Adams
| Music by | Arkenstone
| A collaboration between | Common Good Podcast & The Liminal Space Podcast

LINKS

| Podcast | linktr.ee/theliminalspacepod
| Substack | theliminalspacepodcast.substack.com
| Instagram | @theliminalspacepod