miaaw.net

Arlene Goldbard | Sophie Hope | Owen Kelly | François Matarasso

once a week audio essays, conversations and discussions about cultural democracy, community-based art, and the commons.

  1. 6D AGO

    AGI, Claude & creativity

    Rebekah Cupitt and Owen Kelly discuss the possibility of artificial general intelligence; the nature of Claude, and the relationship (if any) between artificial intelligence and creativity.  They also discuss the meaning of the word excode.   Meanwhile in an Abandoned Warehouse   APRIL 3 | 2026 | EPISODE 85   PARTICIPANTS Rebekah Cupitt | Owen Kelly COMMENTARY Rebekah Cupitt has a BA (University of Queensland, Australia) and an MA in Social Anthropology (Stockholm University, Sweden) and holds a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction specialising in Mediated Communication. Rebekah's research focuses on the people who use technology in their everyday lives and the socio-cultural aspects of technology relevant to its design.  More specifically, Rebekah examines the ways in which technology influences communication in Swedish Sign Language and how it then becomes an active participant in performances of deaf (and hearing) identity in technology and media-rich organisational contexts.  Rebekah's research takes a post-human and anti-normative approach to techno-utopias which often haunt human-computer interactions and therefore have implications for design.  In this episode she talks with Owen Kelly about a series of topics she discussed recently at a lecture she gave in the BIDA+ Critical AI series at Birkbeck, University of London. Her talk was entitled Piercing the veil of authority in techno-utopian and AGI-driven futures, although the discussion heads in slightly different directions. REFERENCES Anthropic’s blog post about Claude wanting to blog https://www.anthropic.com/research/deprecation-updates-opus-3 The Register’s comment on this https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/26/anthropic_claude_opus_3_blog/ Claude’s Corner on Substack https://substack.com/@claudeopus3 Bringjord, S. and Ferucci, D 1999 Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity: Inside the Mind of Brutus, A Storytelling Machine. Psychology Press. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BDJ5AgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false Buolamwini, J. 2024 Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. Random House  Chan, A.S. 2013 Networking Peripheries. Technological Future and the Myth of Digital Universalism. The MIT Press. Shane Legg, co-founder of DeepMind (now GoogleDeepMind) on AGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3u_FAv33G0

    32 min

  2. MAR 27

    The Institute

    This is episode 3 in a special series for miaaw.net about social practice programmes and projects at Guildhall School of Music and Drama from the 1970s-2020s.  The series is hosted by Jo Gibson (Research Fellow, Institute for Social Justice, York St John University) and Sophie Hope (co-lead of the De-centre for socially engaged practice and research at Guildhall School of Music and Drama).   Echoes and the Unsaid    EPISODE 03 | MARCH 27 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Jo Gibson | Sophie Hope COMMENTARY In this episode we meet John Sloboda (Emeritus Professor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Director of the Institute), Imogen Flower (researcher and evaluator), Toby Young (Professor of Composition at Guildhall School) and Maia Mackney (Public Engagement and Evaluation Manager at Guildhall School).  We talk about their involvement in The Institute for Social Impact Research in the Performing Arts at Guildhall School which ran from 2019-2023. We find out more about how and why it started, its framing within the Research Excellence Framework, critical insights into debates about social impact, evidence and impact agendas and the burgeoning role of practice-research at Guildhall School.   Thanks go to all our podcast contributors and to Rachel Kellet who couldn’t join us for this episode and everyone else who was part of Institute’s work.   REFERENCES Music for Social Impact research project https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/research-engagement-services/research/externally-funded-research/music-for-social-impact SIMM platform https://www.simm-platform.eu/ COMA – contemporary music for all https://www.coma.org/ Embracing the Messiness: A Creative Approach to Participatory Arts Evaluation article by Maia Mackney and Toby Young (2021) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09548963.2021.2000330  Whose social impact is it anyway? Directionality and the potential of affect in community music article by Impogen Flower (2024) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09548963.2024.2424580 Karen Wise and Cressida Lindsey music therapy evaluation in schools ResearchWorks event https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/whats-on/researchworks-evaluating-music-therapy-designing-meaningful-and-flexible-protocol-for Strengthening Music in Society conference report (2021) https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-04/Strengthening_Music_in_Society_-_conference_report_April_2022.pdf   Introducing the De-Centre podcast on Miaaw.net https://www.miaaw.net/e/introducing-the-de-centre/

    59 min
  3. Co-creation

    MAR 20

    Co-creation

    On Episode 62 of A Culture of Possibility, Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso begin a conversation about co-creation.  They both believe that co-creation is integral to community-based arts work. But what does it mean? What are its pitfalls? Why does it matter?   A CULTURE OF POSSIBILITY    EPISODE 62 | FEBRUARY 20 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Arlene Goldbard | François Matarasso COMMENTARY On Episode 62 of A Culture of Possibility, Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso talk about co-creation.  Co-creation is integral to community-based arts work. What does it mean? What are its pitfalls?  Why does it matter?  REFERENCES ICAF Rotterdam https://icafrotterdam.com/ A Restless Art https://arestlessart.com/ A Selfless Art https://aselflessart.com/ Traction Opera Project https://arestlessart.com/co-creation/traction/

    1h 1m
  4. Remembering the Future

    MAR 13

    Remembering the Future

    In the third episode of Parallel Streams Sophie Hope introduces and contextualises the final episode of Remember the Future Season 2 from art.coop.  What does it mean for philanthropy to exist in relationship to the solidarity economy? What if artists led a redistribution effort to resource arts collectives?  PARALLEL STREAMS EPISODE 03 | MARCH 13 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Sophie Hope | Marina Lopez | Sruti Suryanarayanan COMMENTARY Art.coop describes itself as “working for a future in which artists closest to the pain of an extractive economy know their power and use it to dismantle the current system. We resource a community of artists committed to building the art worlds we want. Art.coop is located in the U.S. but is rooted in the international Solidarity Economy movement.” In this episode of Remember the Future (the final episode of season 2), Marina Lopez speaks with Art.coop organizer and Remember the Future Fellowship co-lead, Sruti Suryanarayanan. They discuss the work of three fellows, Acres of Ancestry, Ohketeau Cultural Center, and Question Culture - who weren’t able to join the podcast for individual conversations, Marina and Sruti explore how three innovative artist collectives are building solidarity economies, resisting oppression, and creating transformative cultural work through cooperative practices. Sruti also reflects on the learnings from the pilot year of the Remember the Future Fellowship and what we can look forward to next year.  What does it mean for philanthropy to exist in relationship to the solidarity economy? What if artists led a redistribution effort to resource arts collectives?    REFERENCES art.coop https://art.coop The original podcast in its original context https://rememberthefuture.buzzsprout.com/2087911/episodes/18087382-reimagining-redistribution-when-artists-resource-each-other Solidarity Not Charity (from the Miaaw archives) https://www.miaaw.net/e/solidarity-not-charity/ Art.coop & the New Economy Coalition (from the Miaaw archives) https://www.miaaw.net/e/artcoop-the-new-economy-coalition/         - - - - - - - - - - Tags music, prison Length 60:54

    35 min
  5. Conscious Consumption

    MAR 6

    Conscious Consumption

    Owen Kelly has heard the terms “conscious consumption” and “ethical consumption” thrown around a lot recently. In this episode he tries to find out whether or not they count as synonyms, and whether or not the terms add any real value to our discussions, and to ideas of cultural democracy.   Meanwhile in an Abandoned Warehouse   MARCH 6 | SERIES 2026 | EPISODE 84   PARTICIPANTS Owen Kelly COMMENTARY Owen Kelly has heard the term “conscious consumption” thrown around a lot recently. He has also heard people talk about “ethical consumption”, and started to wonder about whether or not they should count as synonyms. In this episode he delves into their history and, with his tinfoil hat on, asks whether they constitute a giant diversionary tactic aimed at keeping people busy while discouraging them from seeking the changes that will actually “make a difference”. They act as nouns when we ought to try to find verbs that describe what we can do, rather than label another imaginary object to join the legion that we can see all around us, weighing us down and separating us.   REFERENCES   Conscious Consumerism: What Is It? Where Did It Come From?  https://builtin.com/articles/conscious-consumerism Why Is Conscious Consumption so Important? https://lifestyle.sustainability-directory.com/question/why-is-conscious-consumption-so-important/ Sian Wilkerson: How can I practice conscious consumption? https://news.vcu.edu/article/2024/08/how-can-i-practice-conscious-consumption What is the difference between ethical consumption and conscious consumption? https://bromundlaw.com/social-issues/ethical-consumption-vs-conscious-consumption How Does Ethical Consumerism Relate to Conscious Consumption? https://lifestyle.sustainability-directory.com/question/how-does-ethical-consumerism-relate-to-conscious-consumption/ Why there is no “ethical consumption” under capitalism https://www.marxist.ca/article/why-there-is-no-ethical-consumption-under-capitalism

    27 min
  6. Disrupt

    FEB 27

    Disrupt

    Sophie, Jo, and guests, discuss power sharing, community leadership, governance structures, co-creation, longitudinal evaluation, anti-oppressive working practices, and communities of practice.   Echoes and the Unsaid    EPISODE 02 | FEBRUARY 27 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Jo Gibson | Sophie Hope COMMENTARY In this episode, Sophie and Jo talk to Jo Chard, Senior Producer for Disrupt at Guildhall School;  Divya Satwani, producer, Somatic coach and facilitator; Alan Lane, co-chair of Slung Low, a theatre company in Leeds; and Maia Mackney, Public Engagement and Evaluation Manager at Guildhall School.  We talk about their involvement in Disrupt, an ongoing series of interventions, initiated in 2020 at Guildhall School, to explore ways in which cultural organisations collaborate with communities more equitably.  We discuss power sharing, community leadership, governance structures, co-creation, longitudinal evaluation, anti-oppressive working practices, communities of practice and more!    Thanks go to all our podcast contributors and to Iona McTaggart, who couldn’t join us for this episode, and everyone else who has been part of Disrupt over the years.   REFERENCES Disrupt Toolkit: https://www.disruptfestival.org/toolkit Slung Low https://www.slunglow.org/ Sharing power: the ethics of decision making and funding article by Maia Mackney and Jo Chard https://ncace.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/NCACE-Research-Report-Collaborations.pdf Old Fire Station Storytelling Evaluation Method: https://oldfirestation.org.uk/our-work/storytelling-evaluation-methodology/ Cards on the Table: https://www.cardsonthetable.org/ Barbican Communities and Neighbourhoods Team – Imagine Fund https://www.barbican.org.uk/imagine-fund-2024 Leytonstone Love Film: https://www.barbican.org.uk/leytonstone-loves-film-community-fund Community Impact Collective: https://www.barbican.org.uk/community-impact-collective Headway East: https://headwayeastlondon.org/ Jumped Up Theatre: https://jumpeduptheatre.com/ Can we talk about power? Online talk series curated by Suzanne Alleyne: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/can-we-talk-about-power

    58 min
  7. Journey to ICAF

    FEB 20

    Journey to ICAF

    This month in A Culture of Possibility Eugene van Erven discusses his adventures in international popular theatre: adventures that carried him on a journey that led to the founding of ICAF in Rotterdam.   A CULTURE OF POSSIBILITY EPISODE 61 | FEBRUARY 20 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Eugene van Erven | Arlene Goldbard | François Matarasso   COMMENTARY On episode 61 of A Culture of Possibility cohosts Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso talk with Eugene van Erven, a founder of The International Community Arts Festival (ICAF) in Rotterdam, the 10th edition of which is coming right up in March. There’s still time to register! Eugene talks about his long and varied adventures in international popular theater leading to the creation of ICAF, offering a fascinating and inspiring account of a life dedicated to cultural democracy.   BOOKS by Eugene van Erven 1988 Radical People’s Theatre. Indiana University Press 1992 The Playful Revolution. Theatre and Liberation in Asia. Indiana University Press 2001 Community Theatre, Global Perspectives. Routledge 2012 Community Arts Dialogues. Treaty of Utrecht Foundation   REFERENCES ICAF Rotterdam: https://icafrotterdam.com/ Eugene’s blog: https://eugenevanerven.wordpress.com/

    1h 4m
  8. Of babies, bathwater & AI

    FEB 13

    Of babies, bathwater & AI

    In the second episode of Parallel Streams Owen Kelly introduces and contextualises a recent episode from the weekly podcasts made by David Rovics. This one, which we repost here by kind permission of David Rovics, contains his personal analysis of the relationships between music, jobs and AI, and provides some practical examples.   PARALLEL STREAMS EPISODE 02 | FEBRUARY 13 | 2026   PARTICIPANTS Owen Kelly | David Rovics COMMENTARY Wikipedia describes David Rovics as "an American indie singer/songwriter”.  They also say that "his music concerns both topical subjects such as the Iraq War, anti-globalization, anarchism, and social justice issues, and also labor history." We previously looked at some aspects of his work in the 25th edition of Miaaw on September 13, 2019, when we discussed his community-supported arts club, his crowdfunding activities (including the funding of his then-new album which he recorded that year in Ireland), and his fledgling A Penny A Play campaign. Earlier this month YouTube deleted all his work from their servers because they claimed it is "supportive of unnamed criminal organizations". They offered him no possibility to remove the tracks they said violated their terms of service, and no possibility of appeal. He has written and broadcast about that, and there are links to this below. In this podcast, though, he analyses the advent of AI and its relationship to music, musicians’ work, and jobs in general. He made a controversial personal decision to experiment rather than dismiss AI out of hand, and he discusses this. He finishes the episode with some music he has created and released with his imaginary friends in his imaginary band Ai Tsuno. One of their songs, No Contract, No Coffee, written to support striking workers at Starbucks, won the Labor Grammys (organised by the Labor Heritage Foundation) a few weeks ago.   REFERENCES David Rovics online headquarters: https://davidrovics.com David Rovics on Substack: https://davidrovics.substack.com Wikipedia: David Rovics’ entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rovics   The campaign against me: https://davidrovics.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-campaign-against-me.html   Meanwhile on Youtube: Discographies Wiped and Channels Deleted: https://davidrovics.blogspot.com/2026/01/meanwhile-on-youtube-discographies.html Miaaw 25: David Rovics’ strategies for survival: https://www.miaaw.net/e/david-rovics-strategies-for-production/ The Labor Heritage Foundation: https://www.laborheritage.org

    27 min
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About

once a week audio essays, conversations and discussions about cultural democracy, community-based art, and the commons.

Information

  • Creator
    Arlene Goldbard | Sophie Hope | Owen Kelly | François Matarasso
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Licensed as Creative Commons 4.0 CC BY-NC-SA
  • Show Website
    miaaw.net

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