Archive by Author
It’s beautiful.
5 AprTonight we’re off to Brooklyn’s Powerhouse Arena for the book release party for Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution. Assembled by Andrew Boyd, it has enough contributors to make your head spin. A must for any burgeoning creative change maker. While you’re buying it, check out the other great reads from OR Books.
The party starts in Oklahoma
10 MarToday kicks off the Woody Guthrie Centennial, in his birthplace of Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a daytime conference and a nighttime all-star concert. Events keep going the rest of the year, posted here. Happy 100, Woody.
Woody by Shepard
16 FebFrom our friends at the Woody Guthrie Archives, check out the new print designed by Shepard Fairey.
Join the great Internet Blackout of 2012
18 JanToday only. You can find out more, sign a petition, find your Congressional representatives phone number and get a handy toolkit, or all through our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who also give a good description of why action is important.
Publicly funded elections?
8 JanIn another challenge to Citizens United this week, New York City’s Council joined Montana, L.A. and other local governments by passing a resolution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the same protections of natural persons. Though Corporate Personhood rights are not limited to influencing politics, it tends to get a greater bi-partisan response in election years. In Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address last week, he went as far to suggest there be publicly funded elections, like in NYC.
The Restless City
27 Dec“You can’t own New York”, says author Joanne Reitano. When our friend Marian, a librarian, was given the opportunity to re-stock a library where she works, we suggested Joanne’s book, The Restless City. It’s a fun, lively and extraordinary look at a city always in transition, always reinventing itself, but also one made great by 400 years of change by conflict – protests, strikes, boycotts, riots, controversies. Not just a book for New Yorkers, but for anyone who is interested in colorful stories of giving “voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless”. You can follow it up with The Restless City Reader.
The new currency
7 DecWe’ve always been interested in the concept of bartering – we did it ourselves with Carolina Caycedo, who makes an art out of bartering, literally. We like Barter Theater, are surprised that Craigslist seems to have an active barter section and wonder if big company barter systems like Gulf Coast Trading really work. Brooklyn Torch is a new currency project based on the concept of bartering for the communities in North Brooklyn. Groups like Time/Bank are trying to be more international. Here’s one of T/B’s recent projects:
Branding Morgan Spurlock
30 Nov
We’re a little confused. Morgan’s “POM Wonderful” was promoted as a satire on branding in films and last month he announced he’s started a company to help others get financing from brands for their documentaries. Sheffield Doc festival seems a little confused, too, working with Reuters Institute at Oxford to study the subject while discussions on the subject at IDFA doc festival last week got hot.
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