Issue 35 | August 2025

Author

Owen Kelly
July 31, 2025

Welcome to the August 2025 edition of Miaaw Monthly, courtesy of our more-than-satisfactory newsletter provider Beehiiv.com.

We continue in our summer schedule with a new podcast every fortnight, and a constant buzz of behind-the-scenes research and archiving. Also this month, because there are five Fridays in August, we add an episode of Friday Number Five.

And, as usual, we continue to hope that you will send us something that you want to include in Miaaw Monthly, or something that you want to suggest for the podcasts, by emailing us at [email protected]. We will be happy to include your news and suggestions here and hunt down the topics you want to hear in the podcasts.

PODCASTS FOR AUGUST 2025

Friday August 1

Meanwhile on an Abandoned Bookshelf | Episode 26

We continue our suggestions for summer reading and today we turn to fiction, because everyone knows they should take at least one novel on holiday with them.

Owen Kelly discusses the merits of Fight Night a recent novel by the Canadian author Miriam Toews.

Friday August 15

A Culture of Possibility | Episode 55

Arlene Goldbard and François Matarasso host muralists Amber Hansen and Reyna Hernandez, who were the first interviewees on the podcast!

Following on from Episode 54, in which Jeff Chang detailed the censorship of his book by the US Department of Defense, Amber and Reyna talked about the more local or subtle forms of pressure to censor or self-censor, such as agencies that commission community murals and then withdraw because they don’t like the subject matter.

When and how is expression limited by those in power and when and how is artists’ work shaped by considerations or controversy or empathy?

Friday August 29

Friday Number Five | Episode 18

This month Radio Miaaw looks at the indie web work of #faircamp, a group of musicians who have reinvented the web-ring with a startling effectiveness.

We discuss what they have achieved and (of course) play some of the music at the centre of it all.

A THOUSAND WORDS

A cat named Tyrsky contemplates the record-breaking Finnish heatwave (photo by Owen Kelly)

THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD

Peer to peer fundraising

The Internet Archive has announced that they are beginning a program of peer to peer funding. They say:

Starting today, we’ve rolled out a new fundraising option that maximizes support while harnessing the power of community. Introducing peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P)—a giving platform that allows individual supporters to host personalized campaigns shared among friends and family. Each campaign launched will collect donations for Internet Archive initiatives that personally matter most to you. Every dollar raised via P2P through September 30 will be matched 2:1, tripling the impact of your generosity.

USDAC Vital Conversations

USDAC’s Vital Conversations project is a multumedia series that aims to answer the question: if we’re all we’ve got what are the lessons we can learn from each other?

Episode 3 - Access is Love: Spacemaking for Fat and Disabled Artists - is available now. You can find it here.

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