the co-matter podcast

Sarah Drinkwater is the Director of Responsible Tech at Omidyar Network, a social change venture that works to bring about structural changes that will fundamentally shift the systems that govern our daily lives. Sarah is on a mission to make technology more ethical and responsible. In 2020 she and her team launched the Ethical Explorer, a collection of tools to help people building software and technology navigate its impact. In our conversation we talked about: The responsible tech movement and what it takes to build software more responsibly and ethically The future of community organizing on the internet, micro movements and decentralization Renaissance literature, business books and where to find inspiration to break out of our own bubbles Listen to the co-matter podcast anywhere by subscribing to iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app (search for "co-matter"). Follow Sarah at @sarahdrinkwater on Twitter and Medium. Thank you Omidyar Network for making this conversation possible. You can download the Ethical Explorer here.

Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi believes that content on the Internet should be free - a cause he famously went to jail for as a co-founder of the controversial file sharing service The Pirate Bay. Now, Peter has released a documentary called THE ACTIVIST; a 5 part series for Finnish television where Peter meets with Edward Snowden, Greenpeace captain Paul Watson and other activists to find out what makes them fight for their causes. Reasons enough for us to take a train to Malmo, Sweden, to catch up with Peter.  In our conversation we talk about: How Peter thinks about activism, internet freedom and changing the world today What Peter learned from activists around the world: how moral integrity drives people to become activists, engage in civil disobedience and break laws to fight for a more just world Why we can’t fix the system within the system, power is more centralized and activism as a tool is more accessible today than ever before; and what that means for our future Listen to the co-matter podcast anywhere by subscribing to iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app (search for "co-matter"). Follow Peter at @brokep and watch THE ACTIVIST wherever you can access it. More of this, please? Join our mailing list for our monthly digest about the future of community.

Andres Colmenares is the co-founder of IAM, the think tank, consultancy and conference that explore the futures of the internet(s). Together with Lucy Black-Swan, Andres published The Everything Manifesto in late 2019: a call for citizens and organizations to act collectively to address the climate crisis. We caught up with Andres to find out what it’s all about. Follow Andres on Twitter, read The Everything Manifesto and join us at IAM Weekend on March 19-21 2020 in Barcelona. More of this please? Subscribe to our mailing list for a monthly update about the future of bringing people together.

Philippa Wagner is the director of 23lab, Ennismore’s future innovation lab that researches the hotel experience of the future. Together with her team, she helps shape the future experience of The Hoxton, a series of open-house hotels based in London, Amsterdam, Paris, NYC, Portland and Chicago. In this pop-in call Philippa talks about: The  role of community in understanding future trends, cultural nuances,  customer behavior and shaping the hotel experience of tomorrow The Hoxton as a community for communities that connects travelers and local communities How the Hox Friends community and influencer platform Musings drive ROI, influence the hotel experience and help launch new  products such as "Working From", the Hoxton's new coworking space Listen to the co-matter podcast anywhere by subscribing to iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app (search for "co-matter"). Follow The Hoxton on Instagram and Twitter. More of that please? Join our mailing list for a monthly update on the future of community.

Julien de Smedt is an architect and the founder of JDS Architects, the award-winning architecture firm behind buildings such as Oslo’s Holmenkollen Ski Jump or Copenhagen’s Kalvebod Waves. We  met at JDS' headquarters in Copenhagen to talk* about how architecture influences the way we live and interact with each other as a community. We talk about: How JDS architects designs buildings and places with the intention to be misused and re-appropriated in unexpected ways Julien's youth as a skateboarder in Paris and how street culture shaped his approach to architecture and design The role of architecture to encourage social interactions and community engagement Here’s episode #31 of the co-matter podcast with Julien de Smedt. Listen to the co-matter podcast anywhere by subscribing to iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app (search for "co-matter"). Follow Julien at @juliendesmedt and JDS Architects at @jdsarchitects on Instagram. More of this yes please? Join our mailing list for a monthly update from the co-matter network covering new insights about the future of bringing people together. * Please note the following corrections from the audio introduction: -JDS didn't build projects in 45 countries. but designed projects in 45 countries. -JDS' offices are in Brussels and CPH.

Lea Korsgaard and Jakob Moll are two of the four journalists who founded Zetland: a Danish digital newspaper and media company that’s built on a community based membership model. Founded in 2012, the publication has over 10,000 paying subscribers in their community who read and listen to Zetland’s daily stories. If you’re not from Denmark you might not have heard of Zetland before. But Zetland is part of an international wave of new media companies along with The Netherland's De Correspondent and Germany’s Krautreporter that pioneer digital first, quality-driven journalism that’s based on community based member subscriptions rather than advertising. So how did Zetland get from 0 to a community of 10,000 paying subscribers? And what can we learn from journalism re-inventing itself through a community based membership model? I met with Lea and Jakob at Zetland’s headquarters in Copenhagen to find out. We talk about: How Zetland grew from 0 to 10,000 paying subscribers The role of journalism in today’s society Why it matters to collaborate with your community The benefits of a community based membership model Here is the episode #30 of the co-matter podcast with Lea Korsgaard and Jakob Moll. Listen to the co-matter podcast anywhere by subscribing to iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app (search for "co-matter"). Follow Lea at @LeaKorsgaard and Jakob at @JakobMoll on Twitter. Hungry for more? Join our mailing list for a monthly update from the co-matter network covering new insights about the future of bringing people together.

Darius, who is also known as Tiny Subversions on the www, is an internet artist and a researcher on the future of social networks. Based out of Portland, Oregon, he has recently undertaken a fellowship at the Mozilla Foundation in Berlin which resulted in “Run your own social” - a manual that teaches anybody how to create and run a social network for their close circle of friends. We sat down with Darius at The Conference in Malmö, Sweden, to talk about: Darius’ journey from being a video game developer to blogging to researching the history & culture of the social web Why we should move away from big social networks — and how that leads to more power to individual people and communities How you can start your own private social network to share information, discuss topics and host movie nights with 50 of your friends Here is episode #29 of the co-matter podcast with Darius Kazemi. --- Follow Darius at @tinysubversions on Twitter. Check out the full manual and manifesto to Run Your Own Social at runyourown.social. A big thank you to The Conference for hosting this conversation. --- Join our mailing list for a monthly update from the co-matter network covering new insights about the future of bringing people together.

Digital anthropologist Dr. Payal Arora bursts Western clichés and reveals how people in China, India and the Middle East will shape the future Internet.

A conversation with Helen Job about the changing role of a future forecaster, the newly founded TCO Lab and upcoming Future of Community Report.

A conversation with Kickstarter co-founder & former CEO Yancey Strickler about his new book and his vision for a more generous world.

Franziska from Adobe Germany talks about their Creative Residency, a program that empowers creatives to spend a year focusing on a personal creative project, while sharing their experience and process with the creative community.

The Guardian's Amanda Michel shares how asking readers to contribute led to one of the most significant turnarounds in recent British media history.

Scott is the founder of Meetup, the platform for people to host and join real-life meetups in their area. Describing Meetup is almost like describing the social web: it's been around since 2002, connects millions of people and is often named in the same category as Facebook, Twitter and other global social networks. Scott has been running Meetup for more than 16 years (he moved into a chairman role shortly after it got acquired by WeWork) and remains one of the most prominent advocates for community in the digital space. It was therefore a special moment when we finally met at a WeWork in New York City in October 2019, sat on the floor and had a chat about the past, present and future of connecting people online. We talked about: - The story of Meetup: how it started in the early days of the social web in 2002 and grew into a global platform used by millions - What happens when people meet in real life. Why the stories that Meetup enables are more important to Scott than milestones achieved - Sustainability: How Scott navigated Meetup over 16 years and sees sustainability as part of the fabric you engrain in your company - The next 10 years of bringing people together. Why we need to deepen our connections, increase our sense of belonging and lean onto each other more Here is episode #25 of the co-matter podcast with Scott Heiferman. Follow Scott at @heif on Twitter. Host or join a Meetup via www.meetup.com Hungry for more insights? Join our mailing list via co-matter.com/mailinglist for a monthly update from the co-matter network covering new episodes, insights, summits & more.

Pop-in calls are short, hands-on conversations where members of the co-matter community call in to share insights about a specific project they currently work on. Today we're joined by the fantastic Kathryn Geels, director of the Engaged Journalism Accelerator based out of London, UK. We talk about: - The Engaged Journalism Accelerator and its mission to inspire, connect and support news organisations across Europe to empower communities and their conversations - The shift in journalism to become more audience-focussed. Not just in terms of subscriptions / advertising revenue, but more in how readers can participate in all aspects of a news organization - Germany's membership-based news platform Krautreporter.de and how they share their insights in their playbook for engaged journalism to help other news organizations break out of their silos - Spain's Maldita.es that established an ambassador program called "Malditos" and an open CRM that allows its community to contribute to the organization - How traditional news organizations can adapt to becoming more community-driven through opening up processes, decision making and letting people participate more Follow Kathryn at @girlondon and @ejcnet. A special shout-out goes to Kathryn's team Ben Whitelaw and Madalina Ciobanu who Kathryn chose to greet in her final remarks on the conversation. Hi Ben and Madalina!

Charles is a co-founder of Are.na, a visual organization tool designed to help you think and create. Some call it the Pinterest for nerds, others an alternative social network that helps you collect and connect ideas with a community of like-minded visual researchers. Are.na has over 100,000 members today and more than 8,000 paying members that financially sustain the platform. In August 2019, we had the chance to sit down with Charles at The Conference in Malmö to chat about topics such as: - How Are.na grew from a group of artist friends in New York City to a global community of over 100,000 members today - Subscription vs advertising: the importance of a business model that aligns the creators of a platform with their members - The Internet as a public square: why we need to create more mindful spaces online to challenge the status quo - Charles' advice to community builders: it's vital to consider yourself a participant of your own community, receive feedback and take your member's opinions seriously Here is episode #24 of the co-matter podcast with Charles Broskoski. ---- Follow Charles at @broskoski on Twitter and sign up to Are.na via www.are.na. Hungry for more insights? Join our mailing list via co-matter.com/mailinglist for a monthly update from the co-matter network covering new episodes, insights, summits & more.

We are introducing a new format to the co-matter podcast: the pop-in call.

 Pop-in calls are shorter, more hands-on sessions than our long-form conversations. For each pop-in call we invite a member of the co-matter community to call in and share insights, learnings and best practices about a specific project they’re currently working on. The goal is to share that knowledge with you.  So we can all be smarter, more inspired and more mindful about bringing people together in the future. Our very first guest joins us all the way from Los Angeles. It’s Annie Malarkey from WeTransfer! We talk about: - Annie's journey to running communications, events and partnerships at WeTransfer after working at Ustwo, Wix.com and NY Media Center.
  - WeTransfer's 10 year history as a creative company and its belief to use technology to support creatives, not make them addicted
  - The story behind "Please Leave", WeTransfer's campaign that encourages creatives to abandon their screens and experience the real world: https://leave.bywetransfer.com
  - Why WeTransfer decided to help pay off $30M of people's medical debt in Los Angeles and how it led to a partnership with meditation app Headspace
  - Annie's approach to partnerships based on shared values and as a way to grow and experiment for a company, rather than purely measuring ROI.
  Here is episode #1 of the co-matter pop-in calls with Annie Malarkey. PS: A special shout-out goes to Sabrina Dridje in NYC who Annie chose to greet in her final remarks on the conversation. Hi Sabrina!

Jennifer and Mara are one half, or two of four co-founders, of Zebras Unite. Spread across 6 continents, 40 chapters and an online community of 4000 founders, Zebras Unite is a global movement that aims to make startup and venture capital culture more ethical and inclusive. At our third Community Leadership Summit, which took place in early September 2019 in Copenhagen, we had the chance to sit down with Jennifer and Mara to find out how it all came about. We talk about: - The story of Zebras Unite: how a movement was born out of an essay on "sex and startups" and the need to change something - How the movement grew from four co-founders to a global community of 40 chapters and 4000 founders - The power of metaphors to change culture, self-organized dance parties and distributing power from the few to the many - A short manual on how anyone can start a movement to solve a problem they truly care about Here is episode #23 of the co-matter podcast with Jennifer Brandel and Mara Zepeda.

Hampus Jakobsson is an entrepreneur and investor based out of Malmö, Sweden. Throughout his career, Hampus invested in more than 80 startups and is now one of the most sought-after investors in the Nordics. Earlier this year, he decided to only invest in technologies that contribute to solving the climate crisis. In August 2019 we had the chance to sit down with Hampus at The Conference in Malmö to chat about topics such as: Why is there no us vs them in the climate crisis? What is the role of nuclear energy in this crisis? Why are we acting like super anxious teenagers amidst this global debate? Here is episode #22 of the co-matter podcast with Hampus Jakobsson.

Petra is a Brazilian filmmaker whose documentary The Edge of Democracy got released on Netflix today. The Edge of Democracy is a very personal film about the political situation in Brazil, told through the eyes of Petra who witnessed first-hand the rise and fall of her country’s leaders. Her movie reflects a crisis in democracy that’s not only happening in Brazil, but all over the world. As we lose trust in our institutions, we are starting to doubt democracy as the best way to govern ourselves. Some of the core beliefs that held our countries together are being questioned right now. If we defined the concept of the nation state as a community united by those core beliefs and values we share, then are our national communities now breaking apart? Why are we getting further apart from each other? What moves us to extreme, divisive opinions and positions?

Yousef is the Global Director of Culture & Community for adidas Running. What he started as a Berlin runners club 6 years ago is now a global community known as adidas Runners, spanning 65 cities and 5 continents. We wanted to learn about Yousef’s journey with adidas Runners, and to understand how we can build authentic brand communities in times when people don’t trust brands anymore. We talked about how a brand regains trust by building lasting relationships, how a local community scales globally, and how it measures its success. Here is episode #20 of the Community Podcast with Yousef Hammoudah.