Free City Radio

In this discussion educator and researcher Bengı Akbulut, based at Concordia University in Montreal, shares reflection on building alternatives institutions in a time of fascism. This conversation revolves around the fact that liberal institutions within western contexts are also under attack at a time of rising authoritarianism. This question is about not thinking only about a simplistic defence...

On this edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from Ante Zvonimir Stamać speaking on alternative music today in Croatia. Ante works with local artists in Croatia, building independent music cultural landscapes in the Balkan country and also works on the SHIP festival annually. https://ship.hr The music on this broadcast, airing after the interview, are two contemporary bands from C...

On this edition we speak with author and researcher Aaron Vansintjan who speaks on why Canada needs public grocery stores. This interview was recorded in the context of discussion surrounding an important report on the political debate around having a public grocery option in Canada, link below to the piece that Aaron worked on. Importantly in this conversation Aaron locates the context surroundin...

On this edition of Cultural workers for Palestine we hear from composer and musician Clarissa Bitar. Clarissa is a Palestinian oud musician and composer born, raised, and based in Los Angeles. In this conversation we visit the dynamics of Arabic music as an improvisational universe, also looking at the tonality of Arabic scales. Clarissa speaks about the sustaining role that culture and music play...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from author and educator Max Haiven speaking on the book : Revenge Capitalism The Ghosts of Empire, the Demons of Capital, and the Settling of Unpayable Debts. The book is described this way: "Capitalism is in a profound state of crisis. Beyond the mere dispassionate cruelty of ‘ordinary’ structural violence, it appears today as a global system bent on re...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear reflections and contemporary ideas from Emma Feltes, who articulates a legal framing for understanding Canada as unceded territories. This perspective is particularly important in the context of understanding the territorial realities of lands and waterways that today are at the heart of the major national development projects that the current Liberal gov...

On the Feb. 2026 edition of Cultural workers for Palestine we hear from Eleni Mustaklem of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music speaking about their ongoing projects in Gaza. Learn more about the conservatory projects here: https://ncm.birzeit.edu/en This interview series hosted by Stefan Christoff airs on the first Monday of each month on Radio AlHara at 5:30pm, Palestine time, 10:30am...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from filmmaker Margarita Jimeno speaking on gentrification and cities as cinematic characters. Margarita speaks particularly about experiences working on films in Berlin, but also reflects on time in NYC. In this exchange we develop a sense of Margarita's understanding of the city landscape and character of the city as a character in a film that plays a k...

On the Feb. 2026 edition of Art in Action São Paulo based artist Ding Musa speaks about his practice working at the intersections of personal creative practice and urban based social struggles. Ding particularly speaks about working with the gallery at Ocupação 9 de Julho, a major squatted building downtown that is organized by Movimento dos Sem Teto do Centro (MSTC). This is a movement of unhous...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Washington State based visual artist Saiyare Refaei on visualizing solidarity with the people of Gaza. Saiyare is a member of the Justseeds artists' cooperative (www.justseeds.org). Over the last years Saiyare has been creating moving and meaningful work expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and has created a couple of particular pieces t...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from musician William Ryan Fritch on creating music for documentary film in an era of major political change. William has scored many, many films both fiction and documentary. This interview addresses both the importance of the intersection of reporting and storytelling that you can find in documentary film at this time of immense political change. Also W...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Istanbul based photographer Larissa Araz speaking on contested identities as expressed in Istanbul's artistic archives. Larissa focuses on the work of some particular artists, including those who were expelled to Greece in the context of Greek / Turkish population exchanges in the 20th century. Overall the particular stories that Larissa highlights c...

Hoy tejemos este espacio de escucha colectiva gracias a todas las voces que participaron y enviaron sus audios desde distintos territorios. Gracias por compartir memorias, reflexiones, emociones y resistencias frente a la violencia imperial y el largo historial de intervencionismo en nuestra región. Esta transmisión existe por y para ustedes. Today we weave this collective listening space thanks t...

A 1 hour radio broadcast for the album Tonality in Motion, out on Élan Vital label in North Macedonia, airing on Radio AlHara, on Jan. 15 at 8am eastern time, 2pm in Macedonia and 3pm in Palestine, streaming at radioalhara.net Learn more about the album here: https://elanvital.bandcamp.com/album/tonality-in-motion Recorded by René Pierre Allain at Scholes Street Studio, August, 2023 Mixed by Pietr...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from photographer André Penteado on the textures of Brazilian life today and in the past. André's projects have focused on both the personal and the social, visiting unaddressed points of Brazilian history, like uprisings of Indigenous and formally enslaved Black communities in the North of the country, to taboo topics like the impacts of contemporary s...

A joint mix with Chicago based artist, musician and community worker Damon Locks for Radio AlHara, the first six tracks were selected by Damon and the remaining by Stefan. Airing on Radio AlHara on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 6am eastern time, 1pm Palestine time at radioalhara.net Accompanying artwork from Damon Locks website: https://damonlocks.black/ 01. Eddie Gale - A Song of Will 02. Duke Ellington -...

On this edition of Cultural workers for Palestine I feature different content from the usual broadcast, focusing on the mobilizations for Palestine that took place in Belém, Brazil during the COP30 UN summit on climate that took place in Belém, Brazil. As there is a stunning amount of creativity that goes into the thinking, organizing and actions within such institutional spaces which are often co...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from artist Emiddio Vasquez speaking on the current and historical dynamics on the ways that colonial forces, particularly the British, have used the territory of Cyprus for colonial and now neo-colonial transmissions projects. This interview speaks to a collective presentation and publication project that Emiddio worked on for the Cyprus pavilion at the...

On the Jan. 2026 edition of Art in Action we hear from Dan Taulapapa McMullin an American Samoan multidisciplinary artist. Info on Dan's awesome work here: https://www.taulapapa.com Thank you to the filmmaker Mary-Ellen Davis for helping to set-up this interview. Stefan Christoff produces this artist interview series, Art in Action, the theme music is by Anarchist Mountains. This program broadcast...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Brazilian educator and author Henrique Parra in Sao Paulo. Henrique raises a key and important critique surrounding the urgency of understanding and engaging with the demand for digital sovereignty. In the context of Brazil this is important, as US based tech giants want to impose and influence politics in Brazil, this equals repression. Recently Hen...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from photographer Mahmoud Khattab, who reflects on Egypt today. Mahmoud has recently published a beautiful photo book, that also includes some writing, which is drawn from Mahmoud's experiences as a conscript in the Egyptian army. Mahmoud subtly documented his experiences in Egypt, facing conscription time, through a set of intimate and beautiful photogra...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear about the Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network. This interview highlights the wide geographical scope where meaningful Palestine solidarity work is happening in the face of genocide in Gaza. This interview also meaningfully addresses the critical importance of understanding both the interconnections and need for solidarity across borders between anti colo...

A collaborative mix with Meryem Yildiz aired on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025 on Radio AlHara in Palestine. Selda Bağcan - Adaletin Bu mu Dünya Erkin Koray - Seni Her Gördüğümde She Past Away - Durdu Dünya Craig Einhorn - Milonguea del Ayer The Cure - The Figurehead Juan D’Arienzo - La Cumparsita Nick Schofield - Magic Touch Nick Schofield - Sky Cafe Ana Quiroga - As Above (Loula Yorke Remix) Ana Quiroga...

On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from sound artist and activist Nicolas Montgermont. Nicolas shares reflections on the ways that projects he has worked on aim to challenge the frameworks of hegemony that are expressed through technological infrastructures. Also Nicolas speaks about the dynamics of contemporary art networks and political activism in France, offering a critique on a lack o...

On the Dec. 2025 edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from cultural worker Marina Mardas in Paris. Marina speaks about a major cultural publication project POSTMORTEM. This interview addresses the social, political and cultural context for a publication that aims to lift up alternative experiences in the European context and beyond. This publication illustrates through the artisti...