{"id":608,"date":"2024-11-12T12:37:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/?page_id=608"},"modified":"2024-11-12T12:37:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:37:07","slug":"press-release-for-the-empire-cafe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/writing-portfolio\/press-release-for-the-empire-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Press release for the Empire Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Empire Caf\u00e9 was established by writer Louise Welsh and architect Jude Barber during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It aims to encourage conversations about history, land ownership and the ongoing effects of Empire through cross-cultural events \u2012 including writing, visual arts, sound-based works and public discussions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Its latest project is a podcast series \u2013 Who Owns the Clyde? Jude and Louise commissioned me to write a press release to promote the podcast before its launch in August 2024. The story was covered by BBC Radio Scotland and The Herald newspaper as well as other media outlets.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cIt was a pleasure working with Felicity on the press release for our podcast \u2018Who owns the Clyde?\u2019.\u00a0 Felicity immediately grasped what we wanted to say and pulled everything together in such a clear way.\u00a0 The podcast has since had over 2000 listens, featured in The Herald and Radio Scotland, and was one of The Radio Times podcasts of the month.\u00a0 We\u2019d recommend working alongside Felicity, and we look forward to future collaborations.\u201d Jude Barber, The Empire Caf\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>New podcast investigates who owns the river Clyde and why this matters to the people of Glasgow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWho owns the Clyde\u201d \u2013 a podcast series produced and hosted by crime writer Louise Welsh and architect Jude Barber \u2012 will be launched on 13 August 2024. The three-part investigation explores how complexities around ownership of the Clyde impact Glasgow\u2019s historic waterfront. It asks what this means for the river\u2019s future and how the Clyde could be reclaimed and reimagined for the benefit of citizens and visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welsh and Barber have collaborated since 2014 on a project called The Empire Caf\u00e9, which creates opportunities for conversations about history, land ownership and the ongoing effects of Empire. Welsh says: \u201cJude and I both have a lot of curiosity about subjects that affect us yet we aren\u2019t experts in. We believe other people do too, and The Empire Caf\u00e9 was founded to bring those minds and voices together as citizen investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For \u201cWho Owns the Clyde\u201d, the contributors include local politicians and activists as well as Clydeside residents and workers. Created in association with podcast producer Halina Rifai, each episode offers a rich kaleidoscope of voices, music and soundscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Episode one delves into the history of the Clyde and how it was fundamental to Glasgow\u2019s evolution and development as a trading and industrial city. Guests include leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken, councillor Graham Campbell and land reformer Andy Wightman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contrasting the current lack of activity on and around the river with its bustling, cosmopolitan past, Welsh, Barber and their guests consider how the Clyde could be reinvigorated. They ask how the fragmented and opaque ownership of the land around the Clyde stands in the way of productive and socially sustainable development. And they share local people\u2019s hopes and dreams for the river \u2013 from uninterrupted walking routes and water buses to paddleboarding and community spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Episode two examines the murky issue of river ownership. It explores how the privatisation of formerly public assets has created a disconnection between the priorities of the owners and the interests of local people. Contributors include Paul Sweeney MSP, former MSP Sandra Whyte and Robert Buirds from the Campaign to Save Inchgreen Dry Dock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guests reflect on the Clyde\u2019s potential as a community asset and a valuable piece of sustainable infrastructure \u2013 supporting biodiversity as well as providing a low-carbon transport route and green energy. But they also tackle the thorny issue of how to make things happen in the face of fragmented ownership. This challenge will be investigated further in episode three, which is in production and due to be issued in September. Welsh and Barber invite listeners to contribute their own thoughts and ideas, so these might be included in the third episode and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Designed to appeal to a broad audience, the richly textured podcast\u2019s dialogue is interwoven with music by artist Graham Fagen with reggae artist Ghetto Priest and also students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It also includes readings by poets Malika Booker and Jim Carruth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While \u201cWho Owns the Clyde\u201d has a very local focus, it asks questions that are relevant to post-industrial cities across the UK and further afield. Barber says: \u201cFrom opaque land ownership to an increasing trend towards privately owned public spaces (POPS), the podcast raises issues that concern us all. We hope that its reach will extend beyond communities on the Clyde and encourage more creative conversations \u2012 and actions \u2012 that explore new, sustainable uses for our rivers in post-industrial cities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Empire Caf\u00e9 was established by writer Louise Welsh and architect Jude Barber during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It aims to encourage conversations about history, land ownership and the ongoing effects of Empire through cross-cultural events \u2012 including writing, visual arts, sound-based works and public discussions. Its latest project is a podcast series [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":566,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-608","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608\/revisions\/610"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}