On the left, our live hosts: Zak Mensah, Larissa Borck, Jane Finnis, Sebastiaan ter Burg, Lauren Vargas, Katie Moffat, Jasper Visser, Michael Peter Edson
On the right, some of our speakers and performers, row-by-row:
Sarah Posner, Deb Lavoy
Tory Schendel Cox (photo credit: Faith Connell), Arne Victor Garvi
Scott Christopher Murray, Steve Slack
Nancy Wiltink, Phillip Walker
Sherlonya Turner, Merlijn Twaalfhoven (photo credit: Adrie Mouthaan)
Chun-yien Chang, Chih-fang Chiang, Sheng-wen Liu
Erik Boekesteijn, Luis Bracamontes
Leslie Spitz-Edson, Susan Hazan
Nessa Hussain (photo Adam Novak / Wikimedia Foundation), Annemarie Naylor
Program ★ July 10 ★
Start time at
6pm Central European Time
5pm London (GMT +1)
12 noon New York (GMT -4)
The program will last approximately 2 1/2 hours, with two short intermissions
Register for free via Eventbrite to receive a URL and passcode
Links go to the YouTube start time for each segment.
00:00:00 - WELCOME from Zak Mensah, on behalf of the organizers and participants
Act 1: Coping with the Now In the first, we will shed light on how people are responding and reacting to the sometimes painful, sometimes stressful present. How are we coping with the ongoing crises in the world? Our speakers and performers will shed a light on the situation and reactions in their respective communities and areas of expertise.
00:04:28 – Philip Walker (UK): Extremes and how to survive the 2020s
00:11:40 – Sarah Posner (USA): Investigative journalism during rising authoritarianism
00:17:33 – Leslie Spitz-Edson (USA): The Dead: A Stream of Consciousness
00:23:39 – Tory Schendel Cox (USA): Collecting in the “Now”
00:30:40 – Merlijn Twaalfhoven (Netherlands): The urgent need of your artist mindset
Break 1
00:43:10 – DJ and musical performance by Sebastiaan ter Burg / Break-out rooms to mingle and make friends, facilitated by Lauren Vargas and team
Act 2: New Dynamics
00:54:07 – Larissa Borck, MC
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing protests against racism and police violence have urged us to act, to speak up against inequalities and injustice in our societies. In these performances and talks we will focus on the actions people are taking now in order to create the change we need.
00:55:44 – Deb Lavoy (USA): Pushing back against disinformation by creating simple, memorable, competing ideas
01:03:30 – Steve Slack (UK): Should we take down controversial statues?
01:03:30 – Luis Bracamontes (NETHERLANDS): The Power of the Word
01:15:42 – Susan Hazan (ISRAEL): Silence Matters, it is time to speak up!
01:22:54 – Annemarie Naylor (UK): How to think about the COVID-19 pandemic
01:29:04 – Scott Christopher Murray (USA): Wade in the water, a song of strength
Break 2
01:31:57 – DJ and musical performance by Sebastiaan ter Burg / Break-out rooms to mingle and make friends, facilitated by Lauren Vargas and team
Act 3: Growing together
01:46:17 – Jane Finnis, MC
If we want to create sustainable change during and after the turmoil, we need to grow together. Resilient communities are key to creating lasting effects. Hence, our speakers and performers will present how they tackled challenges on the basis of collaboration and community empowerment.
01:47:21 – Nancy Wiltink (NETHERLANDS): Soep uit Noord is a one-year vegetable garden on top of the metro experimenting with Urban Farming,
01:55:13– Netha Hussain (INDIA/SWEDEN): Wikipedia matters during COVID-19 pandemic
01:55:13– Erik Boekesteijn (NETHERLANDS), Erik will read his poem — Crashing on the Edge
02:03:34 – Sherlonya Turner (USA): Closed Doors-Open Opportunities, Public Events and AADL.TV
02:08:41 – Arne Garvi (NIGER): Making the World Bountiful and Beautiful
02:15:24 – Mysterium Musicum (TAIWAN): Chun-yien Chang (founder, composer, voice), Chih-fang Chiang (baritone), and Sheng-wen Liu (cello) perform Blessings from a Small Island (sending prayers to everyone around the world)
02:23:15 – Conclusion
The event will conclude with a post-program after party. Hang around, grab a drink, chat with us, chill.