{"podcast":{"title":"ART IS CHANGE: Strategies & Skills for Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers","slug":"art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696","podcast_index_feed_id":917696,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/change-the-story-chan/","website_url":"https://change-the-story-chan.captivate.fm","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/a5e6de18-2f7c-48cb-af4d-742987fd3494/Art-is-Change-FINALX3K26.jpg","author":"Bill Cleveland","episode_count":195,"summary":"Can your art help dismantle injustice, shift systems, or spark healing in places like homeless shelters, emergency rooms, or city planning meetings? If you’re passionate about making a real difference through creativity, ART IS CHANGE (formerly known as Change the Story / Change the World) is your front-row seat to the real-world impact of art and social change. Hosted by author, musician, and researcher Bill Cleveland, each episode brings you deep into the lives and work of activist artists and cultural organizers who are doing more than dreaming—they’re transforming communities around the world. You’ll discover: • Proven strategies for thriving as an artist for change in complex, real-world settings • How to build meaningful, lasting partnerships that support your mission and your art • Lessons from global leaders creating cultural blueprints for justice, empathy, and resilience ▶️ Start with fan-favorite Episodes 86 and 87: Lessons From an Art and Change Pioneer—a double-dose of inspiration and practical insight.- https://change-the-story-chan.captivate.fm/episode/bighart-bigstory-redux/","last_synced_at":"2026-09-10T00:21:47.974136+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696"},"episode":{"title":"190: Who Tells America's Story?","slug":"190-who-tells-america-s-story","published_at":"2026-08-12T12:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696/190-who-tells-america-s-story","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696","url":"https://change-the-story-chan.captivate.fm/episode/190-who-tells-americas-story","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/efa4fe78-04e8-4dbe-9594-0aab137d87d9.mp3","summary":"What happens when a government decides that one of the greatest threats to its future isn't an armed force — but a cultural institution? On July 4th, America's 250th birthday, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History of \"ideological capture.\" Twenty days later, the President signed a second executive order directing federal agencies to force the museum to change how it tells the country's story. Host Bill Cleveland lays out the specifics: the named exhibits, the named staff, the quiet stall in confirming new members of the Smithsonian's governing board — and asks what it means when a nation stops trusting itself to hold a complicated history. Drawing on decades of work with artists in Serbia, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, and Watts, California, and revisiting labor leader Ken Grossinger's conversation about Bryan Stevenson's Legacy Sites in Montgomery Alabama, Cleveland makes the case that culture is never a side issue. Authoritarian movements go after artists first, not for their political power, but because artists shape imagination itself. This episode is about why museums, memorials, and community art aren't warehouses of old objects, but living civic spaces where democracy is practiced, one story at a time. In this episode we explore: How an government report, an executive order, and a quiet stall in board appointments aren't three separate stories, they're one strategy for defining and controlling America's history moving through official channels. Why authoritarian movements attack culture first because stories shape what people believe is possible, before governments can control people, they go for the imagination. Democracy isn't only a system to defend; it's a creative prac…","meta_description":"What happens when a government decides that one of the greatest threats to its future isn't an armed force — but a cultural institution? On July 4th, Amer…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2166,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696/episodes/190-who-tells-america-s-story/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-is-change-strategies-skills-for-activist-artists-cultural-organizers-917696/190-who-tells-america-s-story.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}