Free City Radio

In this interview Egyptian writer, photographer, activist and author Hossam el-Hamalawy speaks about the ways that Egyptian social movements and organizing is impacted by the struggle for freedom in Palestine. Hossam speaks about how the current Egyptian government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has played a critical role in both suppressing dissent of social movements in Egypt today and how that is link...

Listen to a community panel discussion that took place in April 2024 at OBORO centre on the housing crisis in Montreal and the ways that the creative voice and arts is being worked into community organizing to address the crisis. The live panel was hosted and recorded by Stefan Christoff for community radio broadcast. The first broadcast is Wednesday, July 17 at 6pm eastern time live on CKUT 90.3...

Listen to an interview about "The Sustainability Class: How to Take Back Our Future from Lifestyle Environmentalists" a book by Vijay Kolinjivadi and Aaron Vansintjan that will be out later this year. The book is described this way: "An original argument that environmental sustainability has been co-opted by the urban elite, along with examples from around the world of ways we can save our planet....

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE FOR PALESTINE Radio AlHara broadcast, July 13, 2024 Live 3-7pm (Palestine time) / 8h-12h eastern time Accompanying graphic is by Valantina Gonzo. This broadcast focuses on voices from spaces of solidarity organizing to support Palestine, from the People's Conference for Palestine that took place in May 2024 in Detroit, to the Al Soumoud Gaza solidarity encampment in Montréal. A...

Listen to an interview with Stefan Christoff live on CKUW 95.9 FM as broadcast directly. This interview was recorded in the context of the 2023 funding drive for CKUW and Stefan speaks about the critical importance of community radio in a growingly restrictive press environment. The accompanying sketch is by Stefan. For more information on CKUW visit https://ckuw.ca

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from activist Stoyo Stevenski in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stoyo shares some reflections on social justice organizing today in the Bulgarian context. I felt that it is important to highlight a voice from the eastern edge of the EU in the context of all the conversations internationally happening around the future of the EU. Usually we hear voices from EU centres o...

Reverberations d’une crise / Sounding the housing crisis Métro Laurier, public speak out Suoni per il Popolo festival 10 June 2023 Broadcast @n10-as Thursday May 5, 1pm, on @cjlo1690am May 2, 9am, on CKUT 90.3 FM @radiockut Friday, June 28, 5pm on Radio Renoviction and on the May 8 edition of S.A.N.E, 8-9pm on CKUW 95.9 FM Winnipeg. Photo by Ivan de Jacquelin. Sound system support at event by Danj...

On the July 2024 edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from Rafael Stan Molina in Brazil who works on a independent record label called Municipal K7. This project releases underground and experimental music from Brazil. In this conversation Rafael speaks about the complexities of running an experimental music label in Brazil in an egalitarian way as contemporary art spaces are ofte...

On this edition we hear from both Sooraya Peerally and Frédéric Vachon of Ex aequo who speak about their specific work to mobilize for housing justice in Quebec, specifically for more social housing, but that is focused on recognizing the intersecting struggles of people who live with disabilities in Quebec. Learn more about Ex aequo here: https://exaequo.net This interview series takes place in c...

On this edition of Cultural Workers for Palestine we hear from graphic artist Kevin Caplicki who is a member of the Justseeds artists' cooperative and speaks about the relationship between collective social struggle and artistic representations of movements for justice. Kevin speaks about his work specifically to support Palestine and create graphics as part of the Palestine solidarity movement. F...

On this edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from South African hip-hop artist, community educator and activist Emile YX? who speaks on the role that hip-hop culture played in empowering Black youth in South Africa during the time of Apartheid. Emile YX? is one of the founders of the legendary ensemble Black Noise. This interview was recorded in 2024 for broadcast on Radio AlHara....

In this interview we hear from Bob Rose a long term community organizer who has worked in the low income Parkdale area of Toronto for many years. Bob speaks about the urgent need for housing justice across the board and speaks to the challenges that frontline community organizers who are supporting low income tenants face without there being larger structural policy change. Bob has worked with man...

Stefan's monthly mix for Radio AlHara, for June 2024, "All forever" mix. Below is the track listing, track name and then artist(s) name(s). Stefan took the photo in August 2021 in Thessaloniki, Greece. 01. Janek Krukowski @krukowski - Latent - I (via @oklarec) 02. Stefan Christoff - In Burgas 03. Jessica Zambri - Foresting (via @crashsymbols) 04. Bauer + Katharina Schmidt - Cenote (via @moonvillai...

A mix that I worked on for Radio AlHara to celebrate the release of my solo electric guitar album "Declarations," out on Cuchabata Records, info here: https://cuchabatarecords.bandcamp.com/album/cuch-217-declarations-2024 Artwork is by Vasilios Billy Mavreas. Here is a track listing for the mix, with artist name(s) and then track name. 01. Stefan Christoff - Declarations 02. Stefan Christoff - Mor...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Catherine Lussier the coordinator of Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) who speaks about the urgency of both collective grassroots action on housing but also on the needs to have the advancement of the mobilization of public funds to massively construct social housing units in Quebec and beyond. The artwork is by Seth Tobocman....

A conversation with activist scholar Fayrouz Yousfi, based in Belgium, who speaks on the mobilization to support Palestine within universities across Belgium. Fayrouz offers a window into a context where there has been an important mobilization for Palestine in western Europe. Fayrouz speaks about the student encampment actions, the push in Belgium to divest from Israeli university collaborations...

On this edition of Free City Radio we share the first in a series of 4 interviews that speak to housing justice struggles today in Canada. This first interview is with long time anti poverty organizer John Clarke who is based in Toronto and currently deeply involved in the 230 Fightback campaign which is organizing to block the conversion of a downtown east Toronto building into a massive condomin...

On this edition of the Art in Action interview series Mexico City based artist Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba's speaks about contributions to a collective exhibition at Biqini Wax ESP during art week in Mexico, 2024. Daniel's work explores ideas and expressions through frenetic drawings and sketches that are shaped by understandings of the world and humanity as an experience of multitudes not a world sh...

This is the second edition of Voices from Beirut which I have produced for Radio AlHara in Palestine. On this edition we hear from Omar Abi Azar, the co-artistic director and theatre creator at Zoukak Theatre company in Beirut, Lebanon. Omar speaks critically about the decision to keep the theatre company open in Lebanon during this time of war, which includes of course Israeli airstrikes in south...

On this edition of the program we hear from Chicago based filmmaker and community activist Merawi Gerima who speaks on the intersections of art and activism around #BlackLivesMatter and the movement for freedom in Palestine. Also Merawi speaks about alliance work with The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Follow Merawi's work here: https://www.instagram.com/gerima_gang and...

On this edition of Free City Radio we feature a conversation with researcher and writer Laura Carlsen who shares some important reflections on the state of social movements in Mexico today. This conversation gets into exploring the dynamics of tension between transformative social activism and the current government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is set to leave office this month, June 2024. L...

Listen to an interview with Brussels based researcher and activist Omar Jabary Salamanca. In this interview Omar speaks about the ways that Brussels has become an important hub for Palestinian solidarity organizing in Western Europe. Beyond only speaking about the organizing over the last months this interview situates strands of popular organizing history in the city within different diaspora com...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from community organizer Yvonne Yen Liu who is based in LA and speaks about organizing counter power at a city based level. Yvonne talks about efforts to create popular assemblies that can connect different local struggles throughout the larger LA area. I thought to feature this conversation because it is an interesting example of organizing counter power...

Stefan's monthly mix for Radio AlHara, for May 2024, "Beyond borders" mix. Below is the track listing, track name and then artist(s) name(s). Stefan took the photo in May 2024 inside the Gaza solidarity encampment at McGill University. 01. Matteo Uggeri - Observing, Waiting for... 02. Notnef Greco - Mannequins Road 03. Stefan Christoff - Mirrors 04. Dear Ocean - The Narcicyst and Stefan Christoff...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear a recording of a panel discussion that took place at Concordia University in Montreal, entitled Voices of the Immigrant Workers Centre. The panel focuses on the grassroots organizing in one of Montreal's former garment districts in the city around supporting garment sector workers at Lamour Inc. who were facing mass layoffs. This panel highlights a campai...