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?

EPISODE 03 | MARCH 13 | 2026

Sophie Hope | Marina Lopez | Sruti Suryanarayanan

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?

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/

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Tags music, prison

Length 60:54

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.

MARCH 6 | SERIES 2026 | EPISODE 84

Owen Kelly

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.

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

Sophie, Jo, and guests, discuss power sharing, community leadership, governance structures, co-creation, longitudinal evaluation, anti-oppressive working practices, and communities of practice.

EPISODE 02 | FEBRUARY 27 | 2026

Jo Gibson | Sophie Hope

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.

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

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.

EPISODE 61 | FEBRUARY 20 | 2026

Eugene van Erven | Arlene Goldbard | François Matarasso

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.

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

ICAF Rotterdam: https://icafrotterdam.com/

Eugene’s blog: https://eugenevanerven.wordpress.com/

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.

EPISODE 02 | FEBRUARY 13 | 2026

Owen Kelly | David Rovics

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.

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

In November 2025 Sophie Hope gave a presentation at a conference called Collaborative Futures, organised in Dublin by Create. In this episode she talks with three participants to discuss the program, the outcomes, and the possibilities inherent in the idea of collaborative futures.

EPISODE 83 | February 6 | 2026

Megan Atkinson | Sophie Hope | Silver Kezir | Damien McGlynn

In November 2025 Sophie Hope made a presentation at a conference called Collaborative Futures, organised by Create in Dublin, Ireland.

In this episode Sophie talks with Damien McGlynn, Director of Create; artist and scientist Silver Kezir; and artist and community worker Megan Atkinson, who all attended the conference on 19 November 2025, in the Rialto area of Dublin.

They reflect on what happened during the day; the importance of intercultural and intergenerational solidarity; the Open Space format of the event; and the significance of good catering!

The conversation took place online on 12 January 2026.

Create website: https://www.create-ireland.ie/

Documentation of the event: https://www.create-ireland.ie/networking-day-2025-collaborative-futures/

The Artist in the Community Scheme: https://www.create-ireland.ie/programme/artist-in-the-community-scheme/

History on the F2 Centre and Fatima Mansions: https://www.fgu.ie/gallery-3

The Figures of 8 project: https://www.create-ireland.ie/projectsubpage/sharing-practice-figures-of-eight/

In the first episode of the year we embark on another journey through the golden age of radio, beginning with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in The Reluctant Tobacconist.

Friday Number Five | Episode 20

January 30 | 2026

HOST Owen Kelly

COMMENTARY

On months that have a fifth Friday we break from our normal schedule and produce something else related tangentially to questions of cultural democracy. In 2026 we dive once more into the golden age of radio to bring back some historical examples of serials and comedies that let us hear unfiltered aspects of the world as it seemed to our grandparents.

We begin with a fine example of the ways in which motion pictures and radio worked together. Many movies became radio series, either as adaptations or as sequels or extensions. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce had made a series of succesful movies as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, and they turned this into an equally successful radio series: The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Here we listen to The Reluctant Tobacconist, first broadcast on April 30, 1945.

REFERENCES

Wikipedia: the New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Archive.org

Old Radio World

Jo Gibson and Sophie Hope begin a new series examining the history of social practice programmes and projects at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Echoes and the Unsaid | Episode 01

January 23 | 2026 PARTICIPANTS

Jo Gibson | Sophie Hope

COMMENTARY This is the first episode in a nine-part series 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). For the first episode Jo and Sophie introduce their research into social practice programmes and projects at Guildhall School of Music and Drama from the 1970s to the 2020s, and give a flavour of what’s to come!

REFERENCES Introducing the De-Centre podcast on Miaaw.net Sign up to the De-centre for Socially Engaged Practice and Research mailing list More about Jo Gibson’s work

More about Sophie Hope’s work Guildhall School of Music and Drama Institute for Social Justice, York St John University Our first miaaw.net podcast: Cultural Democracy in Practice