Social Chain and Voiceworks Launch Blinded Faith Podcast

Manchester, UK—Blinded Faith, a podcast series holding honest, frank and bold conversations around faith, belief and different lifestyles, has launched today. The series hosts a variety of guests who open their hearts and speak their truth on how different beliefs and lifestyles are relevant in today’s society, providing intelligent debate for young audiences on sensitive topics in the modern world. The series is produced together by one of the largest social-first publishers in the world, Social Chain, and innovative voice-first strategy agency Voiceworks.

Hosted by up and coming BBC Asian Network and BBC Three presenter, Yasser Ranjha, the series is a much-needed look into what place faith and different lifestyles have in today’s changing landscape. With 70% of young people (15-29-year-olds) saying they have had no religious affiliation, Yasser asks the questions, top of mind, that remain largely taboo. Speaking with influential figures across different communities, Yasser takes listeners on a journey to better understand some of the different lifestyles in today’s modern world.

In the first episode, Yasser speaks with Andrea Williams from Christian Concern. With religion coming under attack, she discusses the difficulties of being a Christian in 2019 despite being one of the most prominent religions in the world. Despite the adversity, she still believes there is a need for faith amongst the young, now more so than ever. Young people are becoming activists, which according to Williams, is their search for something more meaningful in their lives. Faith can offer answers which can’t be found in the instant gratification modern life offers.

London Iman, Ajmal Masroor, also agrees that it is becoming harder for young people to practice faith, as he speaks to Yasser about why Islamophobia is on the rise. In this episode, Masoor highlights the importance the government and media play in stamping out xenophobia. Yet he highlights great examples around the world. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden demonstrated a huge amount of empathy leading by example as she embraces Islam community after the terrorist attacks, showing a huge embrace of the people of her country, regardless of their belief.

Looking into gay travel, Yasser speaks to Darren Burn, operator of LGBTQ+ travel agency OutOfOffice, asking why gay travel operators are necessary. Darren discusses personal accounts of when being an openly gay man travelling the world proved problematic, but also about how individuals in countries that have anti-gay laws have made for memorable holidays.

Media Chain is one of the largest social-first publishers in the world. It has grown industry-leading communities across gaming, sports, food, fitness and other major consumer passion points. Every month, Media Chain’s content reaches over a billion people through 80 million followers.

Sophie Hind, Managing Director of Voiceworks comments:

“Our first series Blinded Faith covers subjects which all fall under one umbrella – learning about the passionate beliefs and faiths of others in an ever-changing digital world.

Yasser really enjoyed working on such a wide range of impactful topics. Throughout the series we will hear controversial opinions such as why global warming has been overhyped by the media with David Icke, why it is almost impossible to be truly vegan and why the earth is flat_!

Blinded Faith will be available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all good podcast apps from the 10th June 2019.

About Social Chain
Co-founded by Steve Bartlett, 26, and Dom McGregor, 25 in 2014 while the two were still students, Manchester-based, Social Chain Group has grown from humble origins to become an award-winning social first marketing agency and social media publishing house with offices in London, Berlin and New York.

Social Chain Group owns over 400 digital communities including leading channels such as ‘Student Problems’, ‘Sporf’’, and ‘Love Food’, who are able to reach over 10 billion Millennials and Gen Zs across social platforms each month. Through delivering bespoke social first strategies, they have secured clients such as Superdry, SkyBet, Amazon, Thomas Cook, and Coca-Cola to name a few.

In the last 2 years, the company has experienced phenomenal growth; both in terms of revenue and team size. In 2016, Social Chain Group employed only 30 people, which has now increased to over 150, with group turnover more than doubling year on year.

About Voiceworks

Voiceworks are the only voice-first full service consultancy. Covering all aspects of audio from concept and ideology to production and execution, Voiceworks have the expertise to deliver and produce voice tech, voice search, audio content and creative audio branding.