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The Feminist Internet Podcast

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11 Apr 2019

Listen to a podcast series by Somerset House Studios associates Feminist Internet exploring the theme of Recoding Spaces.

Feminist Internet is a group of artists and designers working to advance internet equalities for women and other marginalised groups through critical practice. In this podcast series, the group explore the theme of Recoding Spaces, both online and offline, with the aim of diversifying internet spaces metaphorically, physically and digitally, intercepting homogenous zones and breaking the filter bubble. The podcast aims to not only expose these spaces, but to regenerate them in new and inclusive ways. 

RECODING UTOPIAS

The importance of Queer spaces

Since 2006 London alone has lost more than half of its LGBTQIA+ spaces. In this episode we explore what it means to be queer and the act of queering itself. Speaking to creatives and activists who are finding new ways of transforming and performing in Queer spaces, and why these spaces are so vital to the city and its future.
 

Contributors

Amy Lamé 
Amy Lamé is the night Czar of London, appointed in 2016 by Sadiq Khan. She is co-founder of the Olivier Award-winning arts company and club night Duckie, and co-founded RVT Future, a voluntary LGBT+ community group campaigning to preserve the iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern. She broadcasted for a decade on BBC Radio London, and now hosts Sunday afternoons on BBC6 Music. 

Lucas LaRochelle
Lucas LaRochelle is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher examining queerness, technology, and architecture. They are the founder of Queering The Map, a community generated counter-mapping project that archives queer moments, memories, and histories in relation to physical space. Queering The Map received an Honorary Mention for the 2018 Prix Ars Electronica, was longlisted for the Lumen Prize for Digital Art and the Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards, and is included in the Library of Congress LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive.

Nadine Artois of Pxssy Palace 
Nadine Artois is a queer, femme, Desi DJ, community leader and cultural consultant based in London who has been working at the intersection of nightlife and activism since 2015. They co-founded Pxssy Palace, a collective that creates spaces which prioritise QTIPOC as well as educating wider audiences so that queer, trans & intersex people of colour can live their lives with more authenticity and acceptance . 

Jim MacSweeney 
Jim MacSweeney is the manager of London’s only LGBTQ+ bookshop, Gays the Word and has been for nearly 30 years. Located in Bloomsbury and founded in 1979, Gays the Word has been an iconic venue selling a wide range of books and serving as a meeting point for communities and organisations - including Lesbians and Gays Support the miners in the early 80s, and most recently TransLondon. 

Ingo Cando 
Ingo Cando is the founder & creator of Wotever World, which includes Bar Wotever a Queer cabaret hosted every Tuesday by the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the Queer Fayre, FMAS, Non Binary Cabaret and much more. Ingo is also a LGBTQIA+ Social Consult for venues and organisations.

Hosted by Clara Finnigan & Conor Rigby

RECODING MUSIC

Has the internet truly brought autonomy to musicians? 

The Internet has changed the way we make, share and listen to music. Now, more than ever, female and non binary artists should have the opportunity to be heard on their own terms. But what are the effects of algorithm led streaming sites on artist autonomy, our listening habits and the value of music? In this episode we speak to those in and around the music industry who are challenging the way we make and consume music in the age of streaming. 

Contributors

Liz Pelly
Liz Pelly writes about music, culture, streaming and the internet. She is a contributing editor at The Baffler, where she writes a column about how the world of music is being reshaped by the platform economy. Her byline has also recently appeared in the pages of Bitch, Frieze, and Logic Magazine. In 2018, she received a Reeperbahn Festival International Music Journalism Award for The Year's Best Work of Music Journalism. She lives in New York. 

Terry Tyldesley
Terry Tyldesley is chair of the board of new ethical music streaming platform Resonate. Resonate is a co-operative platform on a mission to rewire the music industry so that everyone has a voice, not just corporations. Terry is also a songwriter and producer, and frontrunner of electro-punk band Feral Five. She produced and curated Music Tech Festival Berlin. 

Moonbow of SIREN Collective 
SIREN is a collective focused on challenging and re-defining current preconceptions within dance music. Their parties, zine, mix series, monthly NTS Radio show and workshops are musical and political platforms for women & non-binary people, and prioritise accessibility. Expanding upon this work is their recent video series project "The Shape Of Sound" which was created in collaboration with Somerset House Studios.

Mick Grierson 
Mick Grierson is Research Leader at UAL Creative Computing Institute. His research explores new approaches to the creation of sounds, images, video and interactions through signal processing, machine learning and information retrieval techniques. He is working on an AI sound project in collaboration with Massive Attack, to be unveiled as part of the unprecedented Barbican exhibition AI: More Than Human in May 2019. 

Hosts

Clara Finnigan 
Clara is a writer, podcaster and founding member of the Feminist Internet. Clara’s work is focused on facilitating alternative and under represented dialogues in new and accessible ways. She is also the co-founder and editor of a new music journalism platform, Hook - which explores how music is made, how it is consumed, and what it does to us emotionally, socially and physically.

Rhiannon Williams
Rhiannon is a poet and writer, and a founding member of Feminist Internet. She is a  researcher with Arup’s Foresight Department, and her first poetry collection, Saturnine/Saturnalia, was published last year. She writes about gender, technology, sexuality, music, and conflicted space. 

Recoding Anger

Shaking off the shame of womxn's rage

It has been argued that 2018 was the year womxn’s rage filled our screens, and a pivotal time for womxn freely expressing their anger. In this episode, we talk about whether as womxn we are beginning to shake off the shame that comes with being angry, explore different types of anger but crucially, question who in our society is allowed to be angry, and who is not.

Contributors 

Charlie Craggs 
Charlie Craggs is a trans activist and author of the book “To My Trans Sisters”. She is the founder of Nail Transphobia, an organisation and campaign which aims to educate people on trans issues and make new allies through giving manicures. Charlie is #1 on the Guardian New Radicals List of British Social Innovators, and a brand ambassador for the London Trans Clinic. 

Seyi Akiwowo
Seyi Akiwowo is the Founder and Executive Director of Glitch, a growing not-for-profit advocacy, campaigning and training organisation that aims to end online abuse. She has spoken all over the world, including in Washington DC, Istanbul and Geneva. Seyi was invited back to Geneva to present at the 38th United Nations Human Rights Council on online-gender based violence.

Soraya Chemaly
Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and media critic whose writing appears regularly in national and international media including The Atlantic, Quartz, TIME, the Guardian and the New Statesman. She speaks frequently on topics related to inclusivity, free speech, sexualized violence, data and technology. She recently published the book “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger”. 

Kate Durbin 
Kate Durbin is a Los-Angeles based artist, writer and filmmaker. Her work explores popular culture, gender and digital media. We spoke to her about her latest piece, a short film called ‘Unfriend Me Now!’ that examines the role how Facebook’s algorithm has spurred increasing political polarisation, and how that polarisation - and namely, rage - has been co-opted by corporate interests.

Hosts

Clara Finnigan 
Clara is a writer, podcaster and founding member of the Feminist Internet. Clara’s work is focused on facilitating alternative and under represented dialogues in new and accessible ways. She is also the co-founder and editor of a new music journalism platform, Hook - which explores how music is made, how it is consumed, and what it does to us emotionally, socially and physically.

Sabrina Faramarzi 
Sabrina Faramarzi is a journalist, futures researcher and trend analyst, as well as one of the founding members of Feminist Internet. Her work explores patterns across lifestyle and society, as well as women’s issues and internet culture. She has written for The Guardian, Wired and VICE, amongst others and has spoken at conferences and events across Europe, Middle East and Asia. 

Recoding Voice Technology

Is a Feminist Alexa possible?

The voice of Alexa is everywhere. It is estimated that 70% of recorded voices in the UK are female or female sounding. But what are the consequences of having such gendered voices encoded into our space? And what is the potential of voice technology outside of commercial contexts? In this episode, we speak to the learning partners and students of the UAL Feminist Alexa workshop to explore what voice technology could be, and why we need an alternative to the default Alexa.
 

Contributors

Alex Fefegha    
Alex is the co-founder & head creative technologist at Comuzi, a future focused creative technology agency, working at the intersection of emerging technology and humans. Some of Comuzi's clients include Nike, ASOS, Uber, BBC, University of Arts London, Ustwo, Moramma and the NHS.

Josie Young
Josie Young advocates for designing Artificial Intelligence (AI) products and systems using ethical and feminist principles. In 2017, she developed and tested a design process for building feminist chatbots. Josie works in London at Methods, leading work to understand the most ethical and appropriate ways to deploy AI in the public sector. 

Charlotte Webb 
Dr Charlotte Webb is co-founder of Feminist Internet and acting course leader at the Creative Computing Institute, UAL. Recently nominated by the Evening Standard as one of the most influential people in Technology and Science in London, she is passionate about making the internet a more equal place through creative, critical practice. 

Hosts

Clara Finnigan 
Clara is a writer, podcaster and founding member of the Feminist Internet. Clara’s work is focused on facilitating alternative and under represented dialogues in new and accessible ways. She is also the co-founder and editor of a new music journalism platform, Hook - which explores how music is made, how it is consumed, and what it does to us emotionally, socially and physically.

Eden Clark 
Eden is a digital collage artist, performer, and a founding member of feminist internet. Her practice uses a character (@femminancybitch69) to parody [post] feminist narratives that infiltrate popular culture and capitalist marketing strategies. Her interests lie in high-femme pop culture, memes, and how to make the internet a fairer place for all!

The Feminist Internet Podcast was commissioned and produced by Somerset House Studios with the support of the UAL Creative Computing Institute.

Here is the re-launch of the first Feminist Internet podcast episode, Recoding Voice Technology. Following its initial launch, we were made aware that one contributor has separately expressed views we do not align ourselves with. After much discussion and in recognition that this inclusion has upset some in our networks, we support the decision to remove this contributor’s segment from the episode. Enjoy! 

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