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Talkhouse

Irene Sofia Lucio is a Puerto Rican actress who is starring as Isidora in this season’s most acclaimed Broadway play, <a href="https://liberationbway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liberation</a>, which closes on February 1. Irene created the role of Patricia in Jeremy O’Harris’ award-winning Slave Play, a role she carried from workshops through its runs Off-Broadway, on Broadway, on the West End, and in Los Angeles. Irene co-wrote, performed, and co-produced the webseries B.U.T.S. (Bi-lingual, Underrepresented, Titless Sallies), which won Outstanding Comedy at the NBCU Short Film Festival, and also wrote the animated series Super Ellas, about Latina trailblazers, winning the Gracia and Silver Telly Award for Best Animated Series. She has several screenplays in development with CBS and Dentsu Storylab. With degrees in Comparative Literature and Theatre from Princeton University and an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama, Irene is a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who currently resides in New York City.

Irene Sofia Lucio

Film

To Protest or Not to Protest

Amirtha Kidambi is invested in the creation and performance of subversive, anti-hegemonic music, from free improvisation and avant-jazz, to Indian carnatic and devotional, experimental bands, electronic music, noise and new music. She is an educator, activist and organizer working to challenge systems of white supremacist, colonial, capitalist, patriarchy, and is co-founder and co-organizer of South Asian Artists in Diaspora and Musicians Against Police Brutality. As a bandleader and composer, she is the creative force behind the incendiary protest group Elder Ones. She is also the host of Outernational, a podcast that explores the relationship between music and revolution, featuring discussions with musicians who are using their music and platforms to grapple with the intersecting global crises of our times.
(Photo Credit: Acudus Aranyian)

Amirtha Kidambi

Music

Outernational: Amirtha Kidambi and Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) Talk DIY, Spotify, AI, and More

JazzTimes calls Sonny Singh’s music, “vibrant, ebullient, and energized… a prayer for our ailing world.” Launched in 2020, his solo project centers the Sikh concept of chardi kala — revolutionary eternal optimism — also the name of his debut 2022 album, which received accolades from NPR Music, Songlines, Bandcamp Daily, Rolling Stone India, Grammy.com, KEXP, and more. Sonny has performed his music at the Brooklyn Museum, Lincoln Center, Lotus World Music Festival, and the White House. His latest album Sage Warrior was released in September 2024 alongside a book by the same name by Valarie Kaur, after which he went on a 40+ city tour around the United States together sharing ancestral music and stories of revolutionary love. Sonny is also an original member of the celebrated bhangra brass band Red Baraat and a longtime social justice educator and activist.
(Photo Credit: Ernest Stuart)

Sonny Singh

Sonny Singh and Huda Asfour Won’t Sink into Despair

David Harrington is the founder and artistic director of the Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet. For 40 years, the Kronos Quartet and its non-profit Kronos Performing Arts Association have re-imagined and redefined the string quartet experience through thousands of concerts, more than 50 recordings and 800 commissioned works, and education programs for emerging musicians.

David Harrington

David Harrington (Kronos Quartet) and Mary Kouyoumdjian Want to Create Fun

Kristian Ventura is an actor known for his role as Simon Elroy in the Paramount+ drama series School Spirits on Netflix. He is the author of the novel A Happy Ghost, and has received esteemed awards as a leader for international service and volunteering. Ventura is the founder of Actum, a nonprofit organization with a mission to create free universal housing. He graduated with a BFA in theatre from the University of Southern California. Learn more at his <a href="https://kristianventura.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website</a>.

Kristian Ventura

Why I’m Starting a Lifelong Project to Bring Universal Housing to All

Born and raised in Lima, Claudia Sparrow is an Emmy-winning filmmaker who has been recognized as one of the ten most prominent directors in Peru. Her latest film, the documentary <a href="https://www.standwithmaxima.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maxima</a>, about Peruvian farmer and activist Máxima Acuña, is out January 11 in theaters and on demand. Prior to Maxima, she wrote and directed the romantic drama I Remember You, which is available on all major digital platforms. Claudia is the recipient of the Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award for directing her film El Americano.

Claudia Sparrow

In Harm’s Way

Elza Kephart writes and directs horror and fantasy films. Her latest feature, the horror film<a href="https://us.rljentertainment.com/franchise/240944/SLAXX" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Slaxx</a>, is out on VOD, Digital HD and DVD on September 7, 2021 through RLJE Films. Born and raised in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), she holds a BFA from Emerson College (Boston) and the Canadian Film Center’s Director’s Lab. At 24, she wrote and directed her first feature, Graveyard Alive – A Zombie Nurse in Love. It played in over 20 international film festivals including Fantasia, Fantasporto and Sitges, winning the Kodak Cinematography Award at the Slamdance Film Festival. It was distributed on TMN, on DVD by Maple Pictures, and in theaters. Her second feature film, Go in the Wilderness, premiered at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, played in various international film festivals, and is being distributed on various platforms, including itunes. Slaxx had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival and its International Premiere at the Sitges International Film Festival in 2020. She is one of the co-founders of the Montreal chapter of Film Fatales, and one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion Québec. (Photo by Marlène Gélineau Payette.)

Elza Kephart

How the Cabbage Patch Kids Got Me on the Road to Anti-Capitalist Activism!

Muta’Ali is an award-winning film director from Westchester County, NY. His latest feature documentary, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn, airs on HBO at 9PM on August 12. His past documentary films include the award-winning Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee, which featured notable guests including Harry Belafonte, Alan Alda, and Spike Lee. Muta’Ali is determined that his artistic body of work be wholly focused on what he calls “Love, Art &amp; Activism.” (Image by Jihaad Muhammad.)

Muta’Ali

Radical Honesty: You Alone Are Powerful

Best known by his stage name, Possessed By Paul James, Konrad Wert is a Golden Apple-winning special education teacher, activist, and songwriter. After gaining recognition from NPR, The New York Times, CMT, and MTV for his celebrated live performances and Billboard-charting breakout release (2013&#8217;s There Will Be Nights When I’m Lonely), Wert is returning with As We Go Wandering, out January 31, 2020. As We Go Wandering digs in deep to call out truth and hope, drawing attention to issues of poverty and violence in public education. Flowing from the dual streams of Wert&#8217;s Mennonite background and his time in the Austin punk scene, As We Go Wandering is a juxtaposition, a folk album for 2020 tending a warm light of hope in the dark cold of winter, where peace, rest, and movement dance hand in hand.
(Photo Credit: George Blosser)

Konrad Wert

Possessed By Paul James Advocates for Education Reform Through Music

AJ Haynes is the lead singer of the Seratones. Their latest album, Power, is out now.
(Photo credit: Chad Kamenshine)

AJ Haynes

How Playing in a Cover Band Led Me to Become an Abortion Provider

Created in 2016 by Taylor Graham and Justin Dupuis, Henna Roso is a musical collective from Tulsa, Oklahoma that has dedicated themselves to fighting food insecurity in America while creating and playing original music inspired by D’Angelo, Lettuce and Stevie Wonder. Known for the relentless stank-face groove inspired by Graham&#8217;s funk/soul sensibilities layered with the complex jazz chord structures and harmonies propelled by the extensive Jazz vocabulary of Dupuis, they weave together a sound rich in melody and an undeniable rhythmic funk.
(Photo Credit: Logan Miller)

Henna Roso

Henna Roso Makes Giving A Part Of Their Business Model

Leah Capelle is a pop/rock singer-songwriter from Chicago and is currently based in Los Angeles pursuing a B.S. in Music Business at USC Thornton School of Music. Earlier this year, Capelle released a visual for “Settle Down,” a dauntless feminist ballad exploring identity, acceptance, and empowerment. We see Capelle completely vulnerable and exposed while also carrying a weight on her — a myriad of paint colors symbolizing societal projections and expectations placed mainly on women. The single — produced by Grammy-winning Jeff Bova (Eric Clapton, Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper, Yoko Ono, Billy Joel, and many more) — dropped ahead of the new year along with Capelle’s Giants EP.
(Photo Credit: Ryan Saradjola)

activism