This week, Molly is joined by Dr. Melanie Griffiths – an academic, lecturer, and migration scholar whose work reveals what most of us never learned: how borders function, why human movement is not something new, and what’s really shaping the stories we’re told about “the other.”

Together, Molly and Melanie pull back from the news cycle and ask some big, tender questions: What is migration, really? Who taught us to fear it? And what happens when compassionate people start questioning the stories we’ve inherited about borders, race, and scarcity?

Exploring the myths, fears, and power structures that create division, this chat offers clarity and hope.

(And, as mentioned in the show, to step into a 30-day Guided Boundaries Journey with Molly, visit www.boundaried.com/path.)

Molly and Melanie explore:

• why migration is a normal part of life on this planet, and how borders are a recent human invention.


• how myths of “crisis,” “invasion,” and “not enough to go around” get into our bodies and nervous systems.


• links between colonialism, capitalism, race, and today’s migration policies.


• how generational trauma, propaganda, and fear-based narratives keep us divided and disempowered.


• the role of artists, writers, and creatives in imagining new ways of living together.


• how boundaries can be an act of rebellion for compassionate people – helping us stop pouring our life force into abusive systems and relationships.

Today’s Guest:

Dr. Melanie Griffiths is an associate professor in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham, UK. She has been researching migration systems since 2007 and specializes in immigration politics and enforcement. She has written on the asylum system, irregular migration, immigration detention, deportation and other topics. Learn more at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/gees/griffiths-melanie.

Book Suggestions: 

• Hein de Haas. 2023. How Migration Really Works: A factful guide to the most divisive issue in politics.


• Nancy Fraser. 2023. Cannibal Capitalism: How our system is devouring democracy, care and the planet – and what we can do about it.


• David Graeber and David Wengrow. 2021. Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity.


• Tricia Hersey (founder of the Nap Ministry). 2022. Rest is resistance: Free yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim your Life.

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Thanks for listening to We Are the Compassionate Revolution! If you love the show, please help support it (at no cost) so we can reach more compassionate souls like you: Follow or subscribe wherever you listen, rate it five stars, or write a happy review. See you next week and remember: Love is the way!

For boundaries resources for compassionate people, find Molly at www.boundaried.com.

Step into a 30-day Guided Boundaries Journey with Molly at www.boundaried.com/path.

Pre-order Molly's new book, The Great All.