Active Hope

The Apollo Theater, The Kennedy Center, & National Sawdust•podcasters.spotify.com

A critically acclaimed theater director. A poet and TED Global Fellow. An award-winning composer. Join the artistic leadership trio of Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini—from the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust—for an engaging public conversation exploring artistic intellect and national strategic leadership in the pursuit of inspiration for all. How can artists and arts workers shape the transformational and polarizing moments of today? How can we apply creative intelligence to cross borders and build a path for healing and the future?

Last refreshed: August 19th, 2025 at 3:15 AM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Season 2, Episode 3: "Active Listening & Scoring Dreams" w/ Jad Abumrad

Join us for our third episode which features guest Jad Abumrad. In this episode, our hosts unearth the practice of active listening and the nuances that come with listening and communicating.

Jul 07, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 3

Season 2, Episode 2: "Stolen Land, Sovereign People" w/ Lori Pourier and Natalie Hopkinson

Join us for the second episode of our second season featuring guests Lori Pourier and Natalie Hopkinson. Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini engage in conversation surrounding sovereignty, indigenous peoples, and gentrification through a macro and micro lens. This episode is in tandem with the We the Peoples Before celebration happening at the Kennedy Center on June 30 – July 2. For more information on the event, click on this link: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/fes...

Jun 23, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 2

Season 2, Episode 1: International Work and Sense of Place w/ Final Bow for Yellowface

Our premiere episode focuses on belonging, and the work that it takes to create emotional equity in cultural spaces. Our hosts describe the process of maximizing cultural safety as performance halls re-open themselves to the public. Featured guests for this episode are two Kennedy Center Next 50 awardees: NYC Ballet company member Georgina Pazcoguin, and dancer and author Phil Chan. Together, Georgina and Phil have established Final Bow for Yellowface, an advocacy coalition and field-wide barome...

Jun 16, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 1

Active Hope: Episode 5 with special guest adrienne maree brown

Join us for Episode 5 of the Active Hope Podcast, featuring adrienne maree brown. Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini of the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust engage in conversation surrounding social justice and pleasure activism. What is the connection between the individual and larger systemic change? How can we construct systems and modalities that take into consideration that the world is constantly changing? And how can we do all of that while bei...

Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 4 min

Active Hope: Episode 4 (Part 2) with guests Brenda Shaughnessy and Tim Fielder

Join us for the second part of Episode 4 of the Active Hope Podcast, featuring poet Brenda Shaughnessy and illustrator and animator Tim Fielder. Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini of the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust engage in conversation surrounding futurism; how can we reimagine a collective future? How does futurism intersect with art and culture? What do we know about the future for sure, and what is there for us to create, together? A special...

Jun 17, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Active Hope: Episode 4 (Part 1) with guest Marina Gorbis

Join us for the first part of Episode 4 of the Active Hope Podcast, featuring Marina Gorbis, the Executive Director of the Institute for the Future. Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini of the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust engage in conversation surrounding futurism; how can we reimagine a collective future? How does futurism intersect with art and culture? What do we know about the future for sure, and what is there for us to create, together? A spe...

Jun 10, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Active Hope: Episode 3 with guest Mayor Regina Romero

Join us for Episode 3 of the Active Hope podcast, featuring Regina Romero, the first Latina and female mayor of Tucson, Arizona. Listen in as our hosts Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini of the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust explore the topic of borders; what is the relationship between borders and migration? How and why do we choose to move? What are the visible and invisible borders we create, or that are created by others, that define our experie...

May 06, 2021•1 hr

Active Hope: Episode 2 with guest Van Jones

Join us for Episode 2 of the Active Hope Podcast , featuring CNN commentator and New York Times best-selling author Van Jones . Kamilah Forbes, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Paola Prestini of the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust engage in conversation surrounding the topics of incarceration, law, and politics, and the role of arts and culture in freedom design. A special thank you to all artists featured in this episode: Daniel Bernard Roumain, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Asha Bandel...

Mar 25, 2021•1 hr 2 min

Active Hope: Pilot

A critically acclaimed theater director. A poet and TED Global Fellow. An award-winning composer. Join the artistic leadership trio of Kamilah Forbes , Marc Bamuthi Joseph , and Paola Prestini —from the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust—for an engaging public conversation exploring artistic intellect and national strategic leadership in the pursuit of inspiration for all. How can artists and arts workers shape the transformational and polarizing moments of today? How can w...

Feb 18, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Hosted on Spotify for Creators (Anchor)

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android