Common Sense Network

🚨NEW | The march that couldn’t agree on its own size tcsnetwork.co.uk/the-march-that…

Jazz isn’t dead—it’s just misunderstood. It’s not about playing it safe or sounding “old school.” It’s about freedom, risk, and real-time creation. Every note is a conversation, every performance a one-time moment that will never happen the same way again.

The self discipline fallacy

Last weekend, somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000 people marched through London. That's not a typo. The organisers and the Met Police are that far apart. The Together Alliance billed it as the largest anti-far-right demonstration in British history. The police said turnout was closer to 50,000. A few thoughts. 🧵 The first thing worth noting is that crowd counting is genuinely hard. There's no universally agreed methodology, satellite imagery takes time to process, and dense urban marches spread across multiple routes are notoriously difficult to estimate. Both figures may be offered in good faith. But the gap matters beyond logistics. When the same event is described as 500,000 by one side and 50,000 by another, people aren't just getting different numbers, they're getting different stories. One is a movement. The other is a protest. Its the same street but a completely different meaning. What does this tell us about the moment we're in? That political events are now immediately processed through narrative before they're processed through fact. The story of the story becomes the story. The march itself raises real questions worth sitting with. Reform is surging. Tommy Robinson drew 150,000 people last September. The Together Alliance says the majority of Britain rejects that politics. They may be right. But a majority on a march in London on a Saturday is not the same as a political majority in Stoke, Sunderland, or Swindon. Britain is genuinely divided — not just between left and right, but between people who feel heard and people who feel ignored. No march, from any direction, resolves that. The hard work is in the conversation after everyone goes home. @TCSNetwork for more!

Common Sense Pod Presents: Jon Onabowu Jon Onabowu is a British-Nigerian drummer, composer, and bandleader whose sound pulls from jazz, funk, hip-hop, and gospel into something distinctly his own.

Trump, Farage & The Truth: Mike Answering Your Toughest Questions In this episode, I sat down to answer your questions, and nothing was off limits. Full Episode: vist.ly/4vsc8

Artist stumbles across her ancestor's work in a gallery across the world. youtu.be/XvPQnOqnDWc

Instead of haggling her price down, Toyosi's client wanted to pay her more. youtu.be/XvPQnOqnDWc

Toyosi Olowe shares the story behind her leap from finance into the art world. We talk about risk, creativity, self-belief, and the unexpected moments that change how you see the value of your work. The full conversation is out now. youtu.be/XvPQnOqnDWc

Do more black men actually need therapy? youtu.be/OUZtZJZmvSw

The story of how I nearly missed out on being on the billboard. youtu.be/OUZtZJZmvSw

It's a shame that black men still have to do this. youtu.be/OUZtZJZmvSw

The Reality of Being a Black Man in the UK In this episode, Mike sits down with actor Tobi Bakare for a raw and thoughtful conversation about masculinity, identity, and the quiet pressures Black men navigate in British society. youtu.be/OUZtZJZmvSw

Colonisers pushed aside our indigenous religions, and we need to rediscover them. youtu.be/6XChDXdaFzo

The central figure of Christianity is not a white man. Does that change anything? youtu.be/ruSOJHxf0bm

For me, my faith will always come first. youtu.be/ruSOJHxf0bm

Whats with all the ‘frequency’ talk? youtu.be/ruSOJHxf0bm

Your race comes before your faith? youtu.be/EcVlrsuZefc

We still call Christianity a white man's religion when most of the adherents aren't actually white. youtu.be/EcVlrsuZefc

It's live! Can now watch the first in a three-part discussion we had about Blackness and Christianity. We invited a pantheist, a Christian, and a pan-African to talk about the intersectionality between Blackness and Christianity. youtu.be/EcVlrsuZefc