Why does big oil bankroll the anti-trans movement?
The media organisation Atmos recently highlighted research that showed the extent of fossil fuel funding for organisations that campaign against trans rights in the US. Why would big oil bankroll the anti-trans movement? It doesn’t seem that there is any material connection between these two things – transphobia and fossil fuel extraction – no obvious […]
To face environmental destruction, UK media must help England face its colonial legacy
Last Friday, I attended “Voices from the Amazon: Our Stories, Our Solutions” – an event that brought together Indigenous creatives and activists to share their perspectives on media representation, environmental justice, and decolonisation. The conversations were powerful, challenging, and – for those of us working in UK-based, and more specifically English, media organisations and who […]
George Lakoff and the Arts on Trump’s inauguration day
On the day of Donald Trump’s most recent inauguration, the veteran campaign strategist and “deep frames” scholar George Lakoff published a 17-point rallying call to resist authoritarianism, co-authored with fellow framing expert Gil Duran. Lakoff is an old friend of our work, which grew from our efforts in the mid-2000s to align his understanding of […]
The agoras in our midst
What is the role of arts and cultural organizations in society? What can they do to engage communities and bring people together? What can they do to promote social justice and encourage action on climate change? What role can they play in building more compassionate and caring communities, and in inspiring volunteering and other civic participation?
The Art of Life: how arts and culture affect our values
“We need new ideas, we need new ways of doing things and we need a whole new way of approaching each other with much more empathy and understanding. This means that the rest of society really needs to focus on the world of art and culture as a vital source for not only solutions, but […]