Speaking the Shade: A series of audio documentaries for unsettled times

“Crisis, crisis, a crisis like no other” – so declares a reporter on hourly news bulletins. Defined by a set of interlocking crises, our present is teetering on the brink of something or, perhaps, into … nothing. The increasingly irreversible slide into environmental catastrophe, the further intensification and extension of global economic crisis, the exacerbation of social inequalities and racial injustices, the return of authoritarian and demagogic leaders, as well as the malfunctioning...

When a community, collectivity, or group of individuals, have been shaken to the core by a traumatic event (whether caused by a natural disaster or by unjust policies and man-made systems), the response is often a show of ‘solidarity’. The act of solidarity is commonly one of resolve and steadfastness in a period where things appear, precisely, to be falling apart. In June 2016, the people of the UK marginally voted to leave the European Union, a decision that has subsequently sent...