Good afternoon and welcome to this Saturday at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. My name is Nick Barley, I'm the director of the festival and it's my great pleasure and honour to welcome you to this special keynote event at the festival. Back in 1990, when the Berlin Wall fell and there were celebrations around the world, it felt I think that democracy was on the rise. Democracy was on the march and it seemed as though freedom of speech was about to take over across the world and look at where we've got to today, when all around us walls are being built and faith in democracy seems to be plummeting. This was the situation which I put to Yanis Varoufakis when I invited him to be a guest selector at this year's festival and I was so proud that he agreed to take up the challenge and ask whether globalisation is killing democracy. His hope is that together we can find ways that democracy doesn't die. He's part of a new political party called DM25, which he'll talk about today. But the first of his five series of discussions is with Pussy Riot's Masha Aliochina, who has gone through so much in the name of the right to speak out. This is a special event and I really want you to show how much it matters to Edinburgh and to the world. So please put your hands together and give the biggest round of applause for Masha Aliochina and Yanis Varoufakis. Well, thank you, Nick. Thank you, Edinburgh. Thank you all for being here. This is not about me. This is about Masha, I call Kimmer, a force of nature, a force of libertarian democratic musical energy. I'm very, very pleased to be here, sharing a stage with her. I think we should begin with a story. Let's sit down. Let's begin with how you got to be here. Because you're coming straight out of Zone Russia, as you put it in your book, and in a particular way that usually people come to Edinburgh to make a point. I think that Masha made the point even before she came to Edinburgh, in the manner in which she reached this fine city. So, Masha, how did you get here? On magic podium. So, shortly, I'm not, like officially, I'm not allowed to leave Russia, so I cannot, you know, take an airplane or train or something. And this ban happened after, so in April we made an action in the front of FSB service, which is former KGB, Russian security service. So, we were throwing colorful paper plans to the wall of FSB, main building. And that was a protest against, so FSB decided to crush the only free messenger in Russia, Telegram, because the head of this messenger refused to give FSB an option to read all our messages, so he's quite a brave guy. After that, FSB decided to just to destroy to ban this messenger. And the paper plan is a symbol of this messenger. So, we, about maybe 100 people, not so much, came to the building of FSB with colorful paper plans. In half an hour they arrested us, 48 hours in the cage in the police station, we spent 12 people. And after that, that was a court who gave me 100 hours of community service works. Which I refused to do, because I believe that our actions are better than, you know, community service works. You had already done the community service. Yeah, that's what I said to them. And made your service by protesting against the FSB. Yeah, so they made a decision to punish me, because I did not do their community service. So now I'm not allowed to leave the country. I cannot, you know, go to the airport, and I was quite surprised when I knew it, but I mean it happens. Russia is interesting, unpredictable country. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. And yeah. And in December we've been with Pussy Riot also in the front of FSB with, you know, I don't know how much do you know about FSB, but it's actually one of the, you know, ruling parties in Russia. What do you mean? I thought it was the state of Russia? Yes, this is, this is. So Putin used to be a KGB agent on 70s working in Germany. And we all know there's no ex KGB people. So now FSB. Like, you know, there's no such thing as an ex Goldman Sachs person. Yeah. So in, we have on 20, 20th of December, the official celebration of Cheka. It's, you know, Cheka. So it's like, it's looked like, like, you know, Oral's book, but in the main Russian channel, channel one, we have a huge concert in the biggest concert hall in Moscow celebration, like 1937, 2017. So these people are proud of what, what happened in 1937, when almost all the Russian culture was crushed. All my favorite poets, theatre directors, writers, they all were killed in concentration camps during 30s. So, and now we have in 21st century official celebration of Cheka, of the organ who, who actually killed all these people. So we, we, we front, we came to the front of FSB with a huge banner, happy birthday executors. That, that's why I was telling you the story. And after that, I also received this community service. So, and I've seen after that they arrested me and I've seen Lubyanka inside. That was first time. I've never, it's, well, it's quite unusual place. Yeah. So, and you ended up driving all the way through Belarus in order to get to Lithuania or something. Or something. Yeah, or something. Yes, yes.  I mean, we sit and we write and some of us even have fights with the European Union establishment. But in the end, we are more or less certain that we are going to go home to our beloved at night. But this person here doesn't know what's going to happen to her when she goes back home. Yeah, I don't know. And I think that really should humble the rest of us, the pseudo radicals. There is something quite interesting.  It's, you start reading the first page, you don't put it down until you end and then you want to read it again. It's a poem in 199 pages or something. And so read it. But for a number of reasons. Firstly, because it's a fantastic book. But secondly, because I think that with the Gathro to Russia, it brings out a sense of crashing continuity. On the one hand, you have, you know, Putin, who is this figure that creates or tries to create to draw a line of continuity from the Tsar to Stalin to himself, right? Somebody who revived the Communist National Anthem, who revives the spirit of the Soviet Union, while at the same time, being in cahoots with the Orthodox Church to restore a kind of Tsarist extreme right wing mentality. And then you have somebody like Russia.  And that continuity that you're creating is a fantastic opposition to the continuity that Putin is trying to create. And so tell me a bit more about the way in which, you know, you connected. I don't think you were intending to do it. It just happened with a long line of dissidents who challenged authoritarianism in your country. Well, this person whom you're talking about, Aleksandr Pedrobynig, he's my good friend. We became friends after this. And so he spent five years in the concentration camp in Gulag on 70s.  We had in the Soviet Union not only classical Gulag, but also a psychiatric clinic. The Gulag of psychiatric clinics. Yes. And he wrote about this a book. So after that he've been arrested and sent for five years to Gulag. So the tradition of dissidents, there is no kind of, you know, tradition. But it started, I think, in the 60s, somehow when small groups of people started to actually come together to, you know, kitchen that was already, you know, a protest because in the Soviet Union people were not allowed to criticize the state even in the kitchen. So they printed books by themselves. They gave these books to people in 1968 when Soviet Union tanks went to Czechoslovakia. Eight people went, just imagine, huge Moscow and eight people went to the Red Square with a banner for freedom yours and mine. And after that all of them been arrested, sent for several years to different prisons. And one woman, Natalia Gorbanewska, she was sent to a psychiatric clinic. She, by the way, unfortunately she died two years ago, but she's, I knew her. She was an amazing person. So that's how it was that time. But now there is, of course, a difference. So how it works now in Russia. I don't know. I've never lived on the 70s, but I can tell you how it's working now. For example, you're writing a Facebook post, you know, everybody's doing it, with some funny memes about Russian Putin's state. And after some time they can open a criminal case against you and you can go to prison. So now what happened with me and with Pussy Riot what was described in this book and what was quite unusual and scandal six years ago. Now it became an everyday reality in Russia. And you even do not need to write a song and perform it. You can be arrested for like nothing. And I want to mention one man. He's a hero for my opinion. His name was Oleg Sinsof. He's a Ukrainian filmmaker. He was arrested during the annexation of Crimea in 2014. He was sent to Russian prison to the hardest region for 20 years. So now during the World Cup he announced a hunger strike. And he's on hunger strike now for 93 days. So he can die any moment. And well, he's an artist. And I'm sure you should know his name because he's, for my opinion, he's one of the bravest people I ever knew. Well, this is, in a sense, this book is not about a story that ended being told after a happy ending. This is a report from the Gulag. It's a report from the battlefield for democracy, for liberty. It's a war that has not been won. It is a war that we may lose. There's no guarantee. Nick, in his introduction, talked about democracy and how after 1991 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was this expectation of a democratic transition in the east and a merger between our democracies on both sides of what used to be the Iron Curtain. But we have to keep reminding ourselves that democracy is the most fragile of all. And it's being crushed almost everywhere. In my own country, we don't have a democracy at the moment. We have the semblance of an electoral process which is used to legitimise the fact that the demos has been taken out of democracy some time ago. And whenever it threatens to reassert itself and reinsert itself into our democracies, it gets crushed again and again. But of course it's done in a much more efficient way than in Russia. They don't need to use torture and prisons in the west anymore. But I wanted to concentrate on the word brave that you used to describe your friend because it's also a word that applies to you. You wouldn't say it, but we have to acknowledge it. Reading through these pages, the reader gets the sensation of a person that constantly fought against the specter of fear.  And in the end you were rewarded in rare moments in your cells, in your cell, in your isolation sometimes, by the sense that inside those walls you were freer that you would have been outside had you simply gone alone with the lies and the façade. Were there many moments when you felt truly free or freer inside those walls? Or were there few moments that were nevertheless enough to make you feel that it was all worth it? I think freedom is not about being inside prison or outside of prison. Freedom is not about prison at all. It's your own feeling of fighting for yourself and it doesn't matter in which conditions you are, I believe. Inside prison walls or, I don't know, in British school. You mean a public school, as they would say here, you know, Eton or something like that. Yeah, I mean firstly I wrote a book because I believe that this story should be told and heard. But you know when you are writing about how you said postmodern gulag, you, well, I didn't want to write something like Solzhenitsyn wrote because it's not so many people can read it. Yeah, I mean it's quite, so I just choose situations, like a lot of situations when I made a choice during the period from the first action to the last day of prison. And I believe that in each life, in each fate, so everybody has this choice. It's just different for everybody, but it's, well, it's often not easier. And the choice is usually to stay aside from what is going on or to do something. And this is for doing. It's a very practical guide for doing. It is a manual, a poem and an impressionistic text of the highest order. But through this impressionistic, energetic, activist text of yours, we get as readers a very concrete reality that hits us. And one of the interesting snippets that I got out of it this morning actually I was thinking about this, Masha in her book describes the difference between the so-called political, politicals that is prisoners who were in prison, clearly for political offences like she was, even though the state does not recognize that they were political prisoners. Well, the Maze prison in Northern Ireland was an example nearer to us. We call Mrs. Thatcher denying that the hunger strikers there were political prisoners, but nevertheless everybody treated them as political prisoners. Some were similar with you. But the feeling I get is that the criminals and the politicals, even though there was a difference and you were being treated differently and you recognized one another as a different category, nevertheless, and tell me if I'm wrong, it reminded me of another real and at the same time fake opposition between refugees and migrants. You know this debate now about how we should welcome refugees but we should not welcome migrants. But in the end they are exactly the same category of humanity. There are people that are running away from awful circumstances in their countries. And yet there is this hierarchy, a refugee is supposed to be more worthy than a migrant, an economic migrant. And in your gulag, in your colony as you call it in the book, there was this differentiation between political and criminal prisoners, but in the end those women were the victims of an authoritarian, sexist, patriarchal society.  And the sensation I get as a reader is that you were different and similar. What is the question about... To what extent was this difference able to keep you separate, to keep you apart from your cellmates who were in there for murder, for drugs, for... I didn't keep myself away from them. I like to talk with people, I like people. It was very interesting for me to talk with anyone. The problem was in the first colony, they put me to solitary confinement and people who tried to talk with me in the so-called work, they invited them to their special room and said that if you will talk with Masha, you will get more three years in prison for disorganisation of the order. This is a problem, I mean... You should know a little bit more about, let's say, Russian women's prisons. Why it is Gulag? Because we have not prisons, so we do not have classical prisons. We have colonies, like strange villages, where all the prisoners should work. They work 12 hours per day minimum, six days a week, and they have about two or three dollars per month as a salary. So it's legal slavery, as you understand. And this work is a sewing, a uniform for Russian police and Russian army, and Russian prison guards. Yeah, quite cynical, I agree. But this rule of labour goes from the Soviet Union. If you will open the code, like the book with the code, rules, official rules, law of Soviet Union and Russia, it's totally the same. It's just they called Soviet Union before and now they call it Russian Federation, but words are totally similar. Women, whom you mentioned, it's about maybe 35-40% of all the population, it's crimes connected with domestic violence somehow, because in Russia we do not have any social mechanism for people who had domestic violence. So it's decriminalised now, and for example, if something like this is happening, women can call the police, but police will come and take this man for eight hours, and that's it, they will free him and he will come back, they have usually one house. And beat them up even more severely. Yeah, again and again, and no social, let's say, I don't know the English word. Social support mechanism. Yeah, no psychologists, no social workers, this always doesn't work in Russia. It just doesn't exist actually. So that's why these women usually kill this man, and I've heard a lot of stories like this. Or second, like big part of the population is so-called drug crimes, but it's usually, you know, it's not like selling of kilograms of heroin. You can go, I don't know, you can go to prison for several years for something which, when you start to describe Russian reality, you understand that you should, it's like a guide for absurd reality where you somehow should explain to people why they can go to prison for nothing, and it's quite hard. But it's just Russian reality because you just reminded me now of my mother, who was a feminist in the 1970s, and she was going around rural Greece with other women in buses that were usually stoned by local men with one aim, to tell women in the countryside that being beaten up by their husbands and being raped by their husbands was not okay because, you know, if you don't even succeed in doing that, then there's- Is cool initiative buses with like- The 1970s in Greece, it's not that long ago. So Russia is not that special case, you know. It's a good idea bus. But speaking of patriarchy, because this is what we're talking about, brutal patriarchy. In your book there is this fascinating moment when you describe, your guards were mostly women. Yes. However the commanders, the lieutenants above them treated them more or less like property as well, and there is this wonderful almost Hegelian moment in the book when Masha is describing her prison guards, women prison guards as prisoners because they wore a uniform, they wore ugly shoes, and they were on one side of barbed wire. No, not the same side. But they were walking up and down next to barbed wire and the men running the prison system treated them like property. So- Yeah, it's- Well, it maybe sounds strange, but it's awful work. I mean, they have almost no money and almost no choice to have another work usually. Because, you know, there are so many like small towns where there is no workplaces at all besides, you know, to work there. And if, for example, somebody of them is not agree with the system what is going on, that will be a hell for them. So they do not have workers' unions. It's not allowed in Russia. It sounds like a paradox, but yes. And, for example, if they don't want to obey this system which is totally unhuman, they will be just fired.  So, sympathy for your prison guards is perhaps the most potent weapon you have against the prison system. I just understood- I was talking with them. I mean, I just understood that it's not, you know, usually they just afraid to change something because all their life were, you know, against these changes. And it's quite sad story. Well, I just- I don't know what to add because, you know, understanding of their human beings, it's one side.   And you fought them. You fought them while you were in those colonies. You took them to court and you won cases against them. And in the end that improved massively the conditions of your fellow prisoners. It's improved conditions and some of these people were fired after our court. So I went to the court to gain prison guards because, well, because that was unfair of what they had done. They started to punish me again and again and again. And we together with my lawyer and other activists who came to this small city, which is like in Ural mountains.  So we went to the court against them and after two months we won. And after that the colony started to change. Yeah, so they start to reconstruct barracks, put up salaries a little bit. They fired several prison guards who was against the law. And after that they somehow pleased Moscow. And that was a special paper about me written to put me out from this penal colony to another one. So I've seen two colonies. Yes. In second penal colony quite similar story happens. I have asked enough questions in the IOTA. We are going to take questions for the rest of the session. Three or four at the time. So I believe there are some roving and roaming microphones. So there is the lady over there. We begin with you. One, there is a hat being waved for effect. I should also send them. Third, can we have another woman? Another woman please. Okay, I am four. So begin. Hello, I would like to know more about your childhood and if it had any influence on your activism now. Let's take all of them first. I should stand also. So you wait. Can you repeat this first? Let's move to the second question now. Who is the second one? Can you stand up?  There were 27 deaths in police custody in the UK in the last year. So we are having some of the same problems with our police forces as you are having. There must be positives from your campaign and Pussy Riot's bravery in standing up to state oppression. What are some of those positives that we can learn from you? Thank you. Next one? Yours. Unfortunately I can't stand up so I'll just sit down. I'm not sure how the translation is going to work here. I'd just like to say that I'm in a mood. Okay, so let me explain. I read a couple of weeks ago that Pussy Riot has an art exhibition in Summer Hall. It's not an art exhibition. Yes, it's my book on the stage. It's quite a punk concert. It's not an exhibition. It's a performance. That the concert is, I can't get access to it, I was so disappointed. So given the fact that you're here in Scotland and you did a gig in Glasgow a year maybe two years ago, have you plans maybe to go to Glasgow while you're here in Scotland to do another gig? That's my question. The question about Glasgow. The fourth question from a lady? Yes. I'm very interested to know any possible effects on family that you may have back in Russia given that you've taken the steps that you have to be here, which I think is wonderful. But I'm concerned if you have family back there what they may feel and may think and what may happen to them as a result of your actions? My family, okay. So with what question we should start? I just, I mean I forgot the first one. Sorry. Where is my son? That was a question. I don't understand. Your childhood, about your childhood. My childhood. Yes. Oh my God. I've changed six schools. I was quite problematic person. So what? I love the music. Totally different, I don't know, from Radiohead and Spice Girls to bands whom you totally do not know because it's like Russian punk from 80s. Like Groshdanskaya Barona, maybe you will hear, I don't know. They are quite cool. They are also from, you know, from the Urals from almost Siberia. And it's amazing poetry. So if, I'm sure that was translated. Egor Letov, he's cool.   That was quite strange for me. A bit like Eton knowing that he will go to Cambridge and then get a position in the Tory government. Maybe, I don't know. But I went by hitchhiking to the south of Russia and I was living in the tent. Almost all the summer in the beach near the sea. And, well, it's okay. It's not childhood already. What's about childhood? I love to do clumping on the trees on the very top. How?  You were a very activist child from what? From kind of, yes. Climbing on trees.  So he's not a child anymore. So it's a strange question. I don't know. I'm not sure that I've grown up actually. Has he rebelled against you? Oh, yeah. He's rebelling against you. So that's your comeuppance. This is the price you have to pay. Now, what about the question that we had from the gentleman in the hat? Regarding the similarities with the prison system here and deaths in custody. In a Western liberal democracy. I don't know so much about prisons in Great Britain. I met just one organisation who was working with prisoners in London four years ago. So I don't know so much about this, but, well, I will be happy to know. What I was really, what is really strange for me that so, I mean, one second. I'm wondering why so many pages in the newspapers are dedicated to Royal Family. Because when my book was published, I spent some weeks in London. And it's really like you open the newspaper and it's like about lentils in the soup of this boy. It's strange. I mean, if you can change this, it will be great because. But I think it's Scotland. It's a pretty easy argument to make. Though not necessarily Edinburgh. Let's have another round of questions. The gentleman here in front of me in the glasses, the lady behind him since your next door to one another. Another lady here and the gentleman. That was a question about Glasgow. We've been in Glasgow but one day, just one day in November last year, it's totally different from Edinburgh. And I hope, I don't know, we will come back there or not, but I mean, I really love Scotland and I want to see more cities, not only Edinburgh and Glasgow. The lady was worried about your son and your beloved ones back in Russia now that you're here. Are you worried that the regime are going to target them? That's more or less it, isn't it? Well, I think it's the question not only about my son but about family because I have a father and father of my child with whom he is now. Well, I don't like all these ifs. What can happen with me if I will do this action, for example. If you will think like this, you will never do anything. Okay, so let's take the other questions. Thank you again for making the trip here and it sounds like the details should remain private. And I'm one of many who are inspired by your story and your activism. And you started to answer my question already, which is, do you get scared? And when you do, what do you do with your fear? Hold on to these thoughts. Are there any particularly good interventions or tactics from Pussy Riot that you think we should use in the Scottish independence movement? What? Are there any of the actions that Pussy Riot have utilized that they can use in the context of the Scottish independence movement? Are you familiar with the debate in Scotland as to whether they should be part of the UK or not? Yeah. Hold that. Because now I have another two. We have the gentleman. Hi there, I was wondering in terms of economic issues, if Pussy Riot have a particular economic perspective in terms of left wing, right wing, free market. And also if you know Janice's work, what do you think about it? That I will not allow as a question. It's not about me, it's about Masher. And lastly, the gentleman here. Oh, sorry. You will come later. Yes. Okay, so maybe we can have this question here. Do you believe ridicule, d'eturnamol, will ultimately damage and bring down Putin's regime? Do you believe humour and ridicule and d'eturnamol? D'eturnamol, ridicule. Pussy Riot use d'eturnamol. You know the French sense that you would understand the word. Maybe I just don't know that. Young women challenge Putin and his power. You don't do any damage. You're not terrorists, but he has to overreact to you with all the force of the state. So you basically ridicule him. You make him look... Allow me to phrase it using this.  Masher will answer your question properly afterwards. Okay, so. Do you remember the questions? Well, just say anything you want in reaction to what you remember of the questions. I forgot them. That's okay. You have it in your mind. Do you get scared and what do you do about it? Oh my God, it's a question about fear. We are in the motherland of Harry Potter. You remember what was about fears there? So you should just do not allow them to grow. And if they will grow, I mean these fear monsters, you should just make fun of them. What? What? I mean fear usually... I mean it's quite useless thing. I don't... I mean we all have totally different situations when we feel different feelings. It doesn't matter what you do, this matters. You can feel, you know, hundreds of different feelings. You should... The importance is to do, to overcome yourself. This is important, I think. And I don't know, I've never felt this about me. And if I felt something about somebody else, I'm just trying to do something for this person. So that combines this question with the last one about using ridicule in order to overcome fear.  Correct? And performances. Yeah, I think... Well, I don't know why, but these people from Russian state, they somehow afraid of fun. It's not just a Russian state. Let me tell you that in Brussels, in the European Union, I experience exactly the same thing. A complete aversion to humour, on the one hand, and ironclad determination never to admit mistakes. This is what happens with big bureaucracies. This is what happens with authoritarian regimes. They load humour and any sense of self-criticism. Now, what about Scottish independence? Do you have a view about this? You can say no. What do you think? Okay, let's have a poll. Let's have a poll. If there were a referendum this afternoon, who would vote in favour of Scottish independence? Ohor. Okay, put your hand down. And who would vote in favour of staying together with Theresa May? Oh. So you have half. And Jeremy Corbyn. Okay, so we have a clear majority in favour of Scottish independence. I think we have half and half. She's more of a diplomat than I am. And there was this question about does Pussy Riot have a political economic manifesto for Russia? Yeah, more or less. Do you have a view about the... I understand the question. How you should run the economy, which is of course where all power comes from. Well, this question is... Well, you just should know Russian reality because, well, to have free market or to have more social government, this is a question for the country, which is not torturing people every day or killing oppositioners who just provide the independent position. And now we have regions in our country where women are killed because their husbands died. And women, for their opinion, should go to the grave with a husband and she cannot live if he died. And they, I don't know, they beat women with stones and it's not a joke. It's not like a sin from the film. And it's quite hard for me to imagine how it should be because we had 100 years, almost 100 years of totalitarian regime of Soviet Union. And only 10 years in 90s when I grown up of let's say freedom and democracy. And after that Putin became a president and he reconstruct this, I don't know how to, it's not a pure Soviet Union but it's almost. So I don't know how to, maybe in future I can write this kind of manifesto but when you see how people are dying you think firstly about saving life I would like to take one question because you don't have much time left from a young woman just to honour, yes, you. One young woman to another. Stand up. Hi Masha and hi Anas. I'd just like you to please describe when you decided to take action, the moments leading up to that and also what you think it would take more and more Russians to take action and to actually start a movement within Russia. What will it take Russian people to make a change? Well I think you should know that the protests which are going on now in different cities of Russia not only in Moscow, it's a teenagers protest. So there are students, girls and boys from last classes of school and mostly it's them who are protesting now. It started last year and now also for the free internet that was last action 10,000 people on the street and if you will look to the photos it's teenagers and for me one action you mean like a political gesture because before the Pussy Riot I was an ecological activist and I didn't plan to be any activist I just opened internet and read that some assholes wanted to build a villa in my favourite forest and I didn't know anyone, no Greenpeace, no WWF, nobody. Nobody, I was a girl with two years old son that's almost all who I knew. I just start to, oh my god, I start to do different things. I went to different organisations, I start to collect signatures, I start to make a group of people who are not indifferent about this situation and step by step that became a huge movement like 10,000 people around Russia in different cities who made actions and we stopped it. But what I learned that it doesn't matter who you are it doesn't matter from which country you are from if you want to do something just do and yes we are living in the country where you can be jailed for this but it's not, you know, it's not the end of the world so it's not, for me it's not a reason to stop and I do not count how many of us are thinking in this way but I'm happy that during the last six years after the action I met so many people who became an activist because of our case because they've seen that it's unfair and they've seen that they also can do something for support us. For example editor of this book Olga, she's my really good friend and she's very young like 23 years old girl so when six years ago she was a teenager and she's very naive she decided that she wanted to so she was a policeman she thought that justice existed in the police and she was working there for a year and a half and after that she was totally disappointed about this system she quit the police, she became an activist and in several months she met me and she edited this book and after we started to do actions together we came like 6000 km to Siberia to support Olyxins of which I mentioned and we shut down the Trump Tower for half an hour we went to Crimea which is like a nightmare and she was just a girl who decided to change something well in your book there is this magnificent quotation in which Masha says that well you're actually quoting some commander Marcus and you're saying that when one person dreams it's just a dream but when many people dream together it's a reality so thank you for making this a reality thank you for dreaming along with Masha and changing the world in a small but substantial way thank you thank you so much I think the involvement of her talking about her experience with the Russian state particularly with her son I thought it was quite interesting and obviously her stories about prison we're obviously both fascinating because we both just bought the book so we're going to go home and meet that right away I think it's very important for Zoe to experience the opportunity to meet people like and hear people like Masha speak I thought it was interesting that Masha didn't want to focus on the past she wanted to focus on the present and what we can do now to change things and she's very interested in drawing attention to cases like imprisoned filmmakers and writers who we can help to get out of prison I think it's important to have inspiring figures who remind you first how lucky you are and secondly that you're not as powerless as you think you might be and that there is always something that you can do however small she's someone who's at the forefront of really important actions and activism in a very urgent moment so a really important voice to hear in this year I think it's important to provide a platform for voices like Masha's because these are the voices that we need to be hearing not dusty old kind of blokes who've got it all like she provides a perspective on on revolution, on change that needs to happen and we need to support her and we need to be inspired by her to make those changes here


The quest to become superhuman. Think about that. This guy is Chris Derby. He wants to be superhuman by augmenting his body with all kinds of fitness trackers and implants. And there's lots of people doing this sort of cyborg transhumanism movement, right? Is the quest to become superhuman really a good idea? Super fast, super smart, super strong, a soldier that can throw a car over the mountain? Cool. We can be quicker. But is that actually a good idea? Is it a good idea to live forever? I would grant you, if you're sick, you want to get well. You want to get older, clearly. But what is the limit of this? Ray Kurzweil takes 140 vitamins a day. It's very good for the vitamin industry, I guess. But will he live forever? What are the ethics behind achieving exponentiality? Great new book you should read from my friend Jury van Geest, exponential organizations. But when you read this book, you're starting to feel like it's all correct and all right on the money because we're living in an exponential world. But is it human? Did you know that the average person that works in business today works about 21% more because of social media and mobile devices? I'm sure you have the same experience, right? 21%? We work more because we have these boxes. Are we going to turn into machines that 10x thinking that Google proclaims? Which I find very interesting. I wish I could be 10x. I don't think I can. Maybe it's just because I'm not 15. I don't know. But what are the limits? What are the limits of abundance, as Peter Diamandes says, that we're moving to the age of abundance? What will happen to ethics if we have unlimited energy, unlimited media, unlimited work, unlimited money, unlimited everything? What kind of world will that be? Peter Diamandes is a very smart guy. He wrote a great book called Abundance. He's one of the leaders of Singularity along with Ray Kurzweil. And these are kind of his ethics that I got from his newsletter. And I admire his work, so it's not criticism. This is just sort of a context, right?  Start at the top, then work your way up. When forced to compromise, ask for more. If you can't win, change the rules. Now, you could argue, this is just America, right? And you would be correct, of course. But the thing behind it is an interesting variant on sort of digital ethics, right? Omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. Is that actually achievable for us? And should it be? Are we going to end up in Oblivion? Or her? You know, the movie Her When I Watched You With My Son, he says, well, that's today. There's no difference there.


When the 2006 movie Night at the Museum hit our screens, it opened up our imaginations in a child-friendly way of exploring the mystery of the past. Magical Goings On took place at Night in New York's iconic Natural History Museum and it seems that for a group of security guards guarding the British Museum that these happenings are actually commonplace and spooky goings on have been reported by one group of guards for almost 30 years now, predating a children's book that the movie was based on and asking the question if there is in fact a sinister truth behind the fantasy. Wait, do you hear this? It has now come to light during the time of lockdown that the security for the British Museum have been complaining about a whole host of goings on, taking place during the night including crying amongst the incredible array of eight million artifacts housed at the famous London attraction that seemed to come to life at night time. Reporting in the Economist 1843 magazine with the headline, Argos Haunting the British Museum, Kylian Fox begins his report by describing the after-hour events that take place within the walls of the museum, describing a palpable change that is extremely similar to the plot of the movie. The museum is the most popular tourist attraction in Britain with more than 6.2 million people visiting in 2019 and over 17,000 new visitors every day before lockdown. Without these visitors, the relentless thromb of activity beneath the glass and steel lattice roof of the Great Court fades to a whisper. A thick silence fills the cavernous galleries that surround it, each one loaded with artifacts that encompass the far-reaching arc of human history and the anomalous understanding of the past. By the time the night shift begins, most of the lights in the museum have been switched off or dimmed, and the security staff who patrol the length and breadth of the 14-acre complex until early morning carry out many of their duties by torchlight. By torchlight here, they are using the British interpretation of the flashlight for all of us here in North America. Scouring the premises for anomalies such as water leaks or the smell of gas, they cast their beams into dark corners. The shadows melting back to reveal a warlike Roman bust of an Aztec mask with shiny eyes and teeth.  Even without visitors, the museum is never completely silent and the main building which dates back to the 1820s and has been expanded and reconfigured ever since is alive with creeks as old buildings are prone to be. The guards are accustomed to such disturbances, but ever so often a patrol encounters a noise, a flash of movement, or simply a sudden lurch in the pit of the stomach that stops even hardened veterans in their tracks. Sometimes it's the doors, but to complete a full circuit of the museum, more than 3,000 doors need to be opened and closed and some of these, particularly ones that seal off the major galleries, are cumbersome to shut, but when bolted they won't open again without a tussle except when they do. Take the Sutton Hoo Gallery for example, the so-called greatest ever archaeological discovery which houses treasures from an Anglo-Saxon ship. Among them is a ferocious looking helmet believed to have been worn by the king of the East Angles in the 7th century. On one occasion a guard bolted the double doors and moved on to the next room, only to be informed by a CCTV operator that the doors stood wide open again and video footage of the gallery showed them moving spontaneously. Sometimes it's a sudden drop in temperature like the unnerving patches of cold air that linger next to the winged, human had a bull of Nimrud at the entrance of the Assyrian galleries. Sometimes it's the sound of footsteps or music or a crime where no obvious source can be found. And sometimes it might be the objects themselves like this one night when a security guard was passing through the African galleries in the basement and paused for a moment before the figure of the two headed dog. The guard believed this 19th century wooden Congolese fetish bristling with rough iron nails possessed some mysterious power. On this particular night he felt an irresistible compulsion to point his finger at it and as he did so the fire alarms in the gallery went off. A few days later the guard returned to the gallery with his brother who also pointed to the two headed dog again and alarms sounded. These stories were all told directly or indirectly to Noah Engel an American artist and storyteller who has been researching haunting at the British Museum since 2016 but there are many other tales too of spectacular figures cropping up in visitors' photographs. Right around 3am on this one occasion an alarm went off in one of the restrooms and a pair of guards rushed over to check what was going on. However, nothing seemed amiss until a guard received a call from a CCTV operator who said that large balls of white light were hovering above a staircase in the Great Court and chasing each other through the air. We can't see anything the security guards responded. They're all around you the CCTV operator replied. The appearance of the orbs coincided with an exhibition called Germany Memories of a Nation which ran from October 2014 to January 2015. The guard who stood among the balls of light wondered if they might be connected to one of the exhibits a white wrought iron gate from the concentration camp at Buhenwald that bore the motto Jedim das Zani to each what he deserves. You get objects that hold energy the guard explained. Nothing else in that exhibition was anything that will have caused something like that. I'm really not surprised if someone attached to that object was to come with it. You couldn't blame them to be quite honest. I'm happy to have them here. The orbs appeared at the same time each night until the exhibition ended. When Germany went the security guard said they went. By the turn of the 19th century antiquities were flooding into the museum from overseas at an extraordinary rate. Few people seem to mind or notice the oddity of calling a museum British when it contained objects that were anything but. By 1801 when the British army seized the Rosetta Stone from the French in Egypt Lord Elgin had already begun stripping marble statues and panels from the Parthenon. Much of the current debate around restitution has its roots in that period. European powers roamed the globe divided it between them and sent the treasures home. Not everything was acquired illegally. Some items were bought, exchanged or received as gifts though there's a question as to how freely a gift is given. If it's handed over to a man at the head of a platoon of bayonets for example but what do you guys think of these strange little goings on? Are the artifacts crying to return to their native place of origin or is something else going on? Comments below and as always thank you for watching. Hi, thank you. I'm Larry Daly from Natural History in New York. They let you travel? Well this is kind of unusual. Well they let me travel you know where? No. Home, here, home, back here, off to the two, five minute maximum. Save that must be like what wicked being a security guard in America. With your gun, with the silencer, with your ninja swords. That's not even a little bit true.


Hi, I'm Hanny Young and I'm Sammy Summer. Welcome to the Pasco Sheriff's Office student report. Today we continue our focus on human trafficking. Teens who are vulnerable are oftentimes coerced into an uncomfortable relationship and don't realize the dangers until it's too late. The predator may act like they care for you, and when they ask you for a favor, you think you don't have a choice, but that's not true. If you're not comfortable with something, you can say no. A lot of times the predators are seeking vulnerable kids online. They look for teens younger than 18 who have less life experience, so they're more easily manipulated. Teens whose accounts are set open to the public, and lastly, teens who are complaining online about their home life or openly talking about wanting to run away. Here's Justin with some tips to keep you safe on social media. Thanks Sammy. Make sure all of your social media accounts are set to private. Make sure your geotagging is turned off so that when it posts or shares something online, your location is not shared with it. Never accept a friend or follow a request from a person you do not know, even if you have mutual friends with them. If you don't know them, don't accept. Make sure that you don't complain about your parents or guardians online, because traffickers are looking for vulnerable teens to groom and entice to leave their homes. We leave you with some advice from Corporal Alan Wilkett, the head of the Pasco Sheriff's Office Human Trafficking Task Force. He shares why teen runaways are at a higher risk for human trafficking. Once a child or a minor runs to the street, they're now dependent on the street to sustain them.  And many times that method is by commercial sex.  The vulnerabilities that were already there are magnified once they get out on the street. So a runaway becomes an absolute, easy target, vulnerable target for a trafficker as they put them out on the street.


Russia's invasion into Ukraine is now entering its second week and the conflict is getting bloodier and bloodier and lives are being lost. So I think that whatever it takes to end this war is what leaders should be pursuing. Now, what I'm thankful for is the fact that communication between Ukraine and Russia has not been severed, which is very good. And the question is, what is it going to take to get Russia to end their assault on Ukraine? Because they are the aggressors in this instance, obviously. They chose to invade Ukraine, which did not provoke them. So what's it going to take to get them to stop? Well, according to Russia, they have a list of three demands and they're claiming that they would end the war if these demands are met by Ukraine. So as Jake Johnson of Common Dreams explains, the Kremlin said Monday that Russia's deadly assault on Ukraine would end in a moment if the country's leadership agrees to a series of demands, including a firm commitment to not join NATO and formal recognition of two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov outlined Russia's demands in a phone interview with Reuters ahead of a third round of negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats on Monday, as the civilian death toll from the invasion continues to mount and the refugee crisis worsens. In addition to diplomatic talks in Belarus, the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers are set to meet in person in Turkey on Monday, the highest level meeting between the two nations since Russia's assault began late last month. They should make amendments to the Constitution, according to which Ukraine would reject any aims to enter any block, Peskov told Reuters on Monday, reiterating a longstanding Moscow demand. We have also spoken about how they should recognize that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognize that Donetsk and Lugansk are independent states. And that's it. It will stop in a moment. Peskov added that Russia is finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine but denied it is seeking to seize Ukrainian territory or oust the country's national leadership. Ukraine is an independent state that will live as it wants, but under conditions of neutrality, said Peskov. OK, so there's a lot to unpack here.  They also said that they wouldn't invade Ukraine, but here we are now. So trusting Russia, not necessarily a smart thing. That's first and foremost, because in the events, Zelensky actually agreed to these demands, what assurances would he have that Russia would honor their word here? I mean, if he says, OK, Crimea is part of Russia and these two regions are now independent countries and then Russia doesn't withdraw, then what? So there's that. But it seems as if Zelensky would not be open to all of these demands. Some of it, yes, but not all of it reportedly. So the Washington Post reported that while Ukraine is open to neutrality, Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky has ruled out an agreement that would compromise the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Now, two questions that we have to consider first and foremost, why is the independence of these two particular regions important to Russia? And how does that make Vladimir Putin and Russia better off than before they invaded? What's the difference here? Now, to answer that latter question, it seemingly doesn't really make them better off, but maybe it's a way for Putin to kind of save face. He probably wanted to seize Ukraine entirely, hence the invasion of the entire country. But after Ukrainian forces resisted Russia more aggressively than they perhaps expected. Well, this is Putin's way of kind of taking an optical win before he gets a definitive loss. And also the sanctions are absolutely devastating to Russia and they are crippling the Russian economy. Now, Russia reportedly can't maintain a sustained presence in Ukraine, at least at the current state of severity. So some experts with knowledge of the area are saying that they kind of expect Putin to begin looking for an exit and consolidate the gains that he's made while he still can before it gets worse for him, the economy. And overall, the situation with respect to the invasion. Now, as for why the independence of these two regions is important to Putin? Well, I think that it's reasonable to deduce that if he can't have Ukraine, it's seemingly very difficult for him to actually take Ukraine much harder than he expected. But if he can't have Ukraine, then these two regions having independence being aligned with Russia is the next best thing. And that's evident when you look at this video of the territory, the region itself, as explained by CNN in a surprisingly informative segment. Take a look. To better understand the tensions between NATO and Russia over Ukraine, it's worth a glance at history and a good look at a map. In the Cold War, Europe was split more or less in two, the NATO countries in the West, Warsaw Pact under Moscow's dominance in the East. But post-Cold War, country after country wanted to join NATO and it's moved up to Russia's borders. To understand why Russia feels nervous about that, a topographical map is useful. There's a mountain range running across Europe, the Carpathian Mountains. Now, from the Baltic Sea here to where the Carpathians start there, this is flat ground. And through that flat ground have come Napoleon and the French, Hitler and the Germans and many others who've invaded Russia from that direction. And that makes Russia very nervous. Therefore, it seeks to either plug that gap by occupying it, or if not, where the ground opens up into flat ground. It wants to, at the very least, dominate it. In 2014, its reaction was to occupy an annex, Crimea, part of Ukraine, and its warm water port of Sebastopol, which gives the Russian fleet access out of the Black Sea into the Mediterranean and from there onto the great ocean lanes of the world. It also fermented civil war in the Donbas region in order to create a small mini-buffer zone. To understand Russia's strategy towards Ukraine, it's not just about the military aspects and the political aspects. It's important to understand the place that Ukraine has in Russia's hearts or in its psychology. Russian culture began in Kiev and it's where what eventually became Russia was founded. I mean, it moved eastwards across to Moscow, but they still know in their collective imagination that the root of their culture is in the heart of Ukraine. And Putin wrote an essay pretty much about this in which he doesn't recognise these lines on the map, these borders, because as far as he's concerned, Ukraine is part of Mother Russia. And that is a psychology that goes quite deep into the Russian collective memory. Large parts of the country are Russian speaking. There's the Slavic connection. And there's also the fact that many people are Russian orthodox in their religious belief. So while, of course, great power politics and Russia's position vis-a-vis Western Europe, NATO and the Americans and all the rest of it comes into this, this is from the heart and it actually does play a role in Russian thinking. So you can see how these demands that Putin is making now kind of satisfies that way of thinking that was described in the video. It kind of puts these two regions that would potentially formally have been Ukraine, assuming that Zelensky accepts this deal closer to Russia and also creates a bit of a strategic buffer as Crimea does. So, you know, if he can't have Ukraine, this is seemingly the next best thing for Putin, assuming he actually would honour his end of the deal, because he could be bluffing. Again, he claimed this was not going to happen in the first place. So it's really difficult to take anything that Russia says seriously since they have been proven to be liars. But I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that Putin wants to find some way out, given that this is one, hurting his economy and two, leading to people in his own country rising up against him. Thousands of people have been arrested for protesting the invasion of Ukraine. So it's not making him any new friends. But then again, he kind of should have anticipated this in the first place. I mean, invading Ukraine wasn't in his best interest. I mean, sure, he might think that Ukraine should be part of Russia and have that mentality and want to create a sort of buffer zone between the West and Russia, but still doing this makes matters worse. He's essentially driving these other countries into the arms of NATO by doing this. If you didn't want NATO to increase its presence, well, you're you're having the opposite effect. So it's hard to say what's going to take place. But this is the demands here. That's what I believe is the thinking. I kind of think that Putin is getting a little bit desperate here, because, I mean, there were reports after Russia had invaded that Kiev would fall relatively quickly, given the scale of the assault into Ukraine, but that hasn't happened. And it's kind of been a little bit of a debacle for Putin and to boot. His economy is in shambles. So what do you do? Well, if you're a reasonable person, you kind of look for an out and you try to, you know, take the biggest W that you can now, which is small, but he's trying to leave with something so that way, all of this wasn't for nothing. So whether or not all of this leads to peace, I'm not sure, but I am happy that talks are continuing and I hope it ends soon.


Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Wade. And I'm Colin Louther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live. What do you think of when you hear the word luxury? Some people may think of lying in the sand on a beautiful ocean beach. Others may think of sitting on a costly boat in the sun enjoying a cold drink. These are experiences of luxury. But luxury also involves goods and services. Here are some real luxury goods that people can buy. A solid gold baby bed for $16 million. Women's underwear covered in jewels for $10 million. A brand name watch for $42,000. A popular handbag for $4,900. A martini drink for $1,000. A one-person dinner for $270. These are extreme examples of available luxury goods. Most people could never buy these expensive things. But many people can and do. What makes people want luxury? Is it good for us? Today's spotlight is on luxury. To some people, luxury means excess or having more than what is necessary. To others, luxury means goods and services that cost a lot of money. In this case, luxury can represent high quality. Or it can also just represent the image of a particular brand name. The Oxford Dictionary defines luxury as both a state of being and as a thing. It says that luxury is a state of living with ease and excess. And it says luxury is a thing that is not needed but desired, expensive and difficult to get. The global market for luxury goods and services is growing. Euro Monitor reports that in five years, from 2010 to 2014, the luxury goods market grew 36%. It estimates that by 2019, the global market for luxury goods will have increased 88% in 10 years. So why are luxury goods so popular? Especially since they are difficult to get. One of the reasons is because they are so difficult to get. It makes people feel like they have status or a high position that other people do not have. The website Psychology Today states, Buyers purchase luxury goods for different reasons. One reason is that luxury goods give a sense of status and wealth. They help people feel exclusive or more rare and special than others. Luxury brand names want to stay exclusive or only available to a few people. They encourage the sense that people who buy their products are better than others. If too many people have a particular product, it loses its appeal. Simon Peck is from the House of Luxury, a company that sells watches and jewels. Peck told the BBC, When the person who drives you around owns the same watch as you, it is time to look for something better. But not everyone wants luxury just to feel better than everyone else. Some people simply want to be like everyone else. Farnoushe Brock writes a blog on the internet. She wrote about her desire for luxury products. Brock traveled several times to Japan. There she saw many women with expensive $5,000 bags. Then she wanted one. She wrote about it on her blog Prolific Living. She said that buying particular brands is very popular in Japan. The brand buying popularity in Japan is about a person's place in society. The top western brand names speak loudly in that culture. So naturally everyone buys them. Possibly this is because everyone wants to be long, to be accepted as an equal. But Brock is also conflicted about the strength of her desire for a luxury bag. She writes, I really badly want a luxury Prada bag. Suppose I buy my Prada bag. Will I stop wanting the beautiful sunglasses that go with it?  Or will I need to learn to redefine the meaning of being pleased and satisfied? For other people, luxury is more about beauty. Writer Dana Thomas wrote a book about luxury. Thomas says that not all luxury is greed. She told the Luxury Society, Luxury is moral when it comes from creativity and not greed. When you create to make something beautiful, then you are being moral, spiritual and true. Luxury does not have to only represent a fashionable brand. It can also represent high achievement in beauty and creativity. But you still need to have wealth to possess luxury. Buying and experiencing luxury puts a person in a rare group. Many, many people in this world are poor. The World Bank reports that more than two billion people live in poverty. And more than one billion live in extreme poverty. The United Nations reports that almost half of the world's children live in extreme poverty. 300 million children actually go to bed hungry every night. The inequality of people living in poverty and in luxury is very clear. And it brings up an important question. Is luxury morally wrong? Is it wrong to spend $16 million on a golden bed for a baby? Is it wrong to spend thousands of dollars on shoes? That money could buy food for very poor people. It could support schools. It could do many other things too. This is a complex debate. You may not be able to buy $5,000 shoes. But you may be able to spend $50 or $100 or possibly even $500. These are still large amounts of money. Any of those amounts could help a poor person. But you need shoes too. How can you tell what exact amount is morally right to spend? Christian teaching moves the question away from numbers and products. The Christian Bible does not say that having wealth is wrong. Or even that desire for beauty and comfort is wrong. It says, Keep your lives free from the love of money. Be happy with what you have. For Jesus said, I will never leave you. This teaching asks us to examine our hearts. Jesus followers believe that they do not have to chase wealth. They can have money, but they should not love money. They believe that God will provide for their needs, including the presence of Jesus. The writer of this program was Jen Hawkins. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it on the Internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called Buying Things That Cost a Lot. Tell us what you think about today's program. You can leave a comment on our website. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.


Hi my name is Beljica and I'm an actress based out of California and today we're talking to two casting directors. I'm so excited we're going to have a conversation with them, going to ask them a few questions that you might want to also know the answers of and if there's anything that you would like to ask them in the future I'm going to be working with them again in the future to bring you more information and I'm also learning. If you want to introduce yourselves tell us who you are and where you cast and what you cast. I'm Yvette Garcia-Davila and I've been casting for a long time and I'm currently casting mainly branded content but also I do some short films to share my personal favorites. And I'm Roxana Altamirano based in Los Angeles casting. I work almost exclusively for an ad agency called Sandwich and they do commercials and branded work as well so I work for them and then I also pick up freelance jobs, short films, internet projects just kind of anything you know anything that comes my way and fits within my schedule that I'll take. Roxana actually reached out to me about cast in project and I thought that was so cool and so generous of you guys to take the time to do that and be willing to give all of this information because I know you know in this industry we all have jobs that just take so much of our time you have families so Roxana you created cast in project. Yeah so how it started was that I was actually casting I had a project that I had to street cast for so I they were really looking for very authentic fresh Hispanic young young people so I went to different schools I went to Sotomayor which is the performing arts school here in northeast LA and there's several and I just kind of you know there's no Craigslist anymore so you kind of really just have to go to or maybe it's still around I don't know but you have to go places and you have to go to the streets and say hey you've got a great look as creepy as that sounds you have to go say hey you've got a great look I'm a casting director here's my card and also Instagram you know I would go on Instagram and I would try not to be a creep but I would DM people that I thought maybe wanted to act but you know didn't have any credits to their name and I thought they would be perfect for the project so I started DMing people. I started to notice that a lot of young people in the Hispanic community where we are in northeast LA actually had an interest in performing and want entertainment industry in front of the camera but didn't know where to start. I even befriended some recent art school graduates who said you know we went to a performing arts high school when we graduated we had no idea where to look for auditions. Yeah same. Yeah so I was like well why don't you know you know like I guess you can start googling but the problem is trust you can google but you have no idea that the the search that comes up is actually going to be someone that just wants your money or if they actually have legit advice so I wanted to start building that trust first I thought like why don't I you know do start a a street cast agency that just showcases a bunch of great looks that are not out there but that wasn't really what was needed what was needed was just information like this is where you go for auditions these people are not going to rip you off inspiring one another to just go and answer an audition because you can do it like you know like your latest post for example just start like that's the number one thing you could do is just start um stuff like that that's really what was needed I think I actually asked a lot of my network hey do you know any latin cast and directors and luckily vet you know was one that some producer friends knew and they connected us and I was just so glad that I have a buddy in this you know because she has the same mission I think you know like I'm so so we realized yeah so you created this instagram account in order to put more information and like a trusting way you know like hey I'm not charging you anything like here's some info it's also to promote uh to to yes to create a a community of talent here in LA of latino talent and diverse talent really like we just want to be inclusive and promote opportunities and hopefully promote the people that are promoting those opportunities so uh it's easier for talent to find them I was telling ruxana that it'd be a really good idea to introduce ourselves also on the instagram page and show people look these are the people that are posting here so it's not just another you know random but yeah spot oh my gosh there's so many bots and then there's one more person right that's posting yeah so Selena you know she has a baby until I know exactly how crazy that is so she is another casting director she's from mexico I think she's in town now though but she uh is dust freelance commercial work and and branded stuff and uh also and uh she's really busy and she doesn't really she doesn't have the account information she doesn't she doesn't post but she wants like if if we were a community she wants to be part of the community she also is you know fighting for you know every project she does so and there's been a several that are just like oh great but you know not posting I think there's a there's a lot of us latin you know Hispanic casting directors that not don't necessarily post but are like in the fight together and you know encourage one another yeah we're in the team of go cast it project here's yeah so that's great so that's how we know each other and I of course will leave the link in the description for this instagram page and then for the next question I wanted to see if from your perspective what actors could do in order to make the industry a little bit more equitable this is not an answer to your question but I think one of the problems that the industry has is that they have preset ideas of what someone is supposed to look like and that they're all interchangeable that you know all latinos are all latinos and it doesn't matter whether you're from Peru or Puerto Rico or where are you from Belgium from Mexico from Mexico you know like you know we're all the same we're all want the same and and when we say coche carro auto like there's so many things that even the writers and the show runners should be aware of when they're representing a latino or latina person on screen so I think that's a problem that in order to fix it I think we just need to be more assertive and saying you know latinos come in all kinds of colors we're white we're brown we're black we are all you know we have different religions there are muslim latinos and latinos there are jewish latinos and latinos and it's about kind of creating that rainbow of diversity and that beautiful rainbow of diversity that we are so in terms of how actors can be proactive about it I think it's just answering to the calls that are for their um that are within their wheelhouse but at the same time I don't want to limit anyone to uh if if it says that the role is supposed to be a white guy why can't a brown guy go and audition for that role and maybe they'll line it by that I don't mean if they're looking for a 15 year old girl don't go as a 30 year old man to audition for that role because I get a lot of those submissions too you know but but you know I guess there's there's a certain amount of risk that you can take and what's the worst that could happen that they say no and then you just move on it's part of you know the yeah for sure you're gonna get a hundred no's before you get that one yes just have to keep trying and not give up when you were speaking about like there's different kinds of Latinx and different kind of Hispanic in our community it's so funny because a lot of the time when somebody's like oh can you do a Spanish accent I I'm like do you mean Spain they're like no no no where are you from and I'm like Mexico they're like yeah just let your natural accent come out and I'm like I came here when I was four I can try and replicate my mom because she has an accent I'm just like can you tell me at least like Mexican accent I a lot of times I don't know the times that I've actually specified I need a Hispanic actor are my own projects and like projects from like friends because it comes from a client if it comes from Starbucks or if it comes from Facebook or whatever they just say ethnically ambiguous they want someone of color kind of but that we're not sure where they're from I know but we don't like maybe like they don't know 99% of the jobs that I cast commercials are this character is you know it used to be back in the day minority but you know thankfully they don't no longer use that anymore thankfully and that wasn't that far back when they changed it to ethnically ambiguous and that's everything that's Black the Hispanic that's mixed race that's Middle Eastern that's you know Asian that's everything and so we get like hundreds of thousands of submissions and it's it's crazy so a lot of times the client and this is I think this is less film because I think the director has someone in mind they usually have written with someone in mind this is for commercials yes no they want someone POC and and so you should submit going to the ethnically ambiguous I can also relate to that and I also feel like maybe it's our job as casting directors to to help the client define that a little bit more because I've also encountered that and ethnically ambiguous and this this is I'm calling out all the clients that I've had and not mentioning one in particular that they would say and ethnically ambiguous but they don't mean too black or too brown they don't want that and that pisses me off there's definitely still a sense of the client uh knowing this is they don't want to alienate and to me this is very old school but if you're going for commercial work the client doesn't want to wants to be safe wants to doesn't want to alienate so that really tells us so we're still living in a racist society I mean what I do as a casting director and this is also good to remember for actors that in commercial work and in a lot of work that the casting director is not the sale be all that you're selling the actor to the client and we can push for sure and know that people like event myself are pushing when they say you know like what are your selects I will definitely make them see that there are other options to what they were originally looking for and other stories that can tell or that can represent their brand or you know with their message the head of the agency that I successfully work is also very good at this and does that you know without being an actor you know very much pushes for another perspective I also think it's important to keep in mind uh definitely abled trends that so it's always important to to open up the conversation to different possibilities that maybe they weren't aware of to begin with because sometimes like it sometimes it's like sometimes people are straight up racist but sometimes like people just haven't thought about it like it hasn't even occurred to them because of the way that they are like their abilities and the abilities that they have seen on screen they're that's just the norm and where you're like oh how about just somebody in a wheelchair or some how about somebody that's blind you know and they're like oh that could work and I never even thought about it so I think yeah definitely that's important. Going back to the other question of what you can do is just just go for it because even if as an actor you know maybe you're indigenous and you think whatever Liberty Mutual is never gonna go for someone like me to represent their brand but a lot of also times there are looking for you know someone different they just don't know what and so if you you're like hey look at me I've got shaved head and I'm indigenous and you know I'm uh non-binary or whatever I mean that's awesome because there are also people that were like I need something new and this is fresh and exciting and uh so just submit be true to yourself represent yourself yeah and just keep keep submitting because a lot of people especially newer actors I'm in my experience I've seen that they submit so many things and they're like oh well I've had a casting networks account for six months and I haven't gotten anything I'm like okay keep submitting what do your photos look like do you have any actors clips do you know how to do a self-tape audition you know what do those things look like because that might be the barrier and then if they're like oh I just have one picture or what's a self-tape and I'm like oh yes those are those are things that I I think we can talk about for forever and also uh you um actors if if they're tied on money they don't need to pay for accounts in order to get auditions there are many plays where they can go and Facebook and Instagram with like I've also um found people by DMing or by searching hot hashtags like I did a Dove um Dove commercial recently I found a lot of my people through just hashtagging certain things and then they will come up and then I will DM them and some people one person was like this this is shady and I'm like well you can you know here's a website totally understand totally respected if if you know you you know you see that I'm legit fantastic if not have a great life I really appreciate your time um but and then I think that I pose in Facebook uh groups all the time so all cities should have like an actor's talent and there's like houses of those and then you can be savvy about it so you don't have to break the bank if you don't have the extra funds that was going to that is one of my questions is what casting websites do you use and then what non-traditional um ways to cast you use you said you use a lot of Facebook groups used Instagram so what you guys use casting networks for and tier what casting websites do you use all of that off yeah and actors access to yeah I use for a lot of times I don't have time to use Instagram unfortunately um a lot of times the jobs come in and they want someone booked in three days and I don't have time for that I just post on actors access and I think I don't know I mean maybe you can test this as actors access one of the cheapest out there to post or or to to to sign up and some actors access is very fairly priced the super expensive one is casting networks before they did the merged thing I was paying a little more than $500 a year for two accounts because I had my la in my San Francisco yeah cities I I love casting networks yeah because I I find it uh it's really easy to search for talent like sometimes people submit and people are great the submissions are great but sometimes I'm looking for something very specific and I love their search algorithm your talent I can I can I can look all five eight people like and then I'll have thousands of people that are just five eight and I don't think a lot of I don't know I don't think um actors access can do that and I don't like breakdown express and I don't think uh casting frontier can do that so I'm very surprised because I assume that all of these casting websites when you log on I assumed you would be able to do that not easily and you guys pay in order to post yeah that's that's why it works right but um going back to actors access is one thing that me off it's like the they can't you have to actually filter through union known union and I I love that in casting networks they say it right away and it's really simple to see it and when you're when you're casting a job that's union or non-union like you can't you know you can't do either or it's easier to see thumbnails of thousands of people and like just you know be able to know right away if they're union or non-union um I also wanted to ask you ladies if there's anything that you see in self tapes that mistakes that happen all of the time that you would just like to bring some light to and this is especially for the newer actors that maybe haven't done it so much but I would love to hear like something that just gets you a little frustrated because you see it like 10 times a day I'll let Roxana start on this one if it's I guess if it's like two to three line sides sides you know like a dialogue be off don't read to me I don't know when I was in the room when I used to cast in the room a lot um obviously pre-pandemic pre-pandemic um I would not mind if someone was reading at all like call back yes I mean if you're in a call back I mean just be a book you know like because casting commercials you have to shoot you know the director gets has to shoot everything in a day two days if if they're not if you know they're not going to be able to memorize lines immediately that's like no go you need to come prepared to a call back like 100% and now in an audition it's fine if you come in with the sides in the hand and you're reading totally fine but like when someone's obviously reading you know it's like you're just put it in print if you need words just just put them I have a video of this of course but I have a teleprompter app that pops up right on your screen so that can even be your eyeline if you put it opposite of your camera and I have used that before when it's it's like okay you know you need to perform this monologue and it's a long monologue and I'm like I can get it down 90% and then if I could just take a quick look you know then I could be off book and perform so much better so I love that yes you can memorize your lines especially if it's just a few lines like you can do it and if you're bad at memorizing practice because you will get so much better a couple of things on that the first is if you're going to do two takes do two very different takes like just kind of don't give me the same read because what's the point right that's the point of two takes do one interpretation and then maybe like go a little nuts or you know be creative with it it's fine but I want to see a range I think that's the most important thing that casting directors look like look for is that someone can go from point A to point B and then the other two things are very technical horizontal please like unless I'm asking you specifically to do it vertical because that's the spot because keep in mind I'm sharing this with a client it's not going to look good you're going to look like the jerk that that did vertical and everybody else is going to do horizontal and also like this is this is a good acceptable thing I don't need to see this and I don't need to see this hi oh gosh yes I get that still yes yeah and I have a lot of videos yeah about those sort of thing I'm just yeah clear like I would not audition in front of this unless it was you know a commercial audition for that's a set table at home you know usually I have paper backdrops I'm just like look at me you don't need to know what I have back here but if the script is you know she's in her living room it's actually pretty helpful you know to be to be in on set you know that looks like a set you know because it helps the client see what they're going to look like in the commercial and that is why like like if I love somebody I'll have them and they're like this and I'm just like oh my god but their look is so perfect I'll have them do it again you know and I'll tell them yeah yeah right yeah and props can work too if it doesn't get too distracting like if the script has a prop I love it when you know like if it's a phone call I love it when you actually have a phone instead of an air phone yes because why not you have a phone why not use it right and then the last thing about this is like please label your file because we get so many submissions and if you lose someone they're not going to get in the pit because you're like I don't I don't know who this person right and like sometimes you do have the time and energy to look through and find it but especially if your email is wan guy at gmail.com like how am I going to find you and how do you like people to label your files usually my agents have um first name first name last name and then the role and then they're the agent the agents uh the agency I usually watch auditions through you can pass on actors access if I if I'm doing it all through actors access but sometimes they're late or or someone has a valid excuse and they just or their agents just send me the file in email definitely always include role in there and uh and and uh first and last name of the talent yeah those just three things are important to me I don't know if I need anything else yeah 100% I don't need the agent I I don't need the even the project name like I just need the role and the name of the person cool that's super helpful I was thinking that I don't know if I've actually seen any conversation with actor and casting directors because this is also helpful for me as a casting director to know how what an actress thinks yeah so this is like a very good thing I would love to do like other videos where we talk the whole time about one thing specifically because I feel like I was trying to move us along because I can talk forever thank you ladies so much for joining me today I'm excited to share this information with everybody and um thank you any anything else you want to say let us know what is helpful and what you would like to see you know what questions you have so we can try to pull a point of the instagram account is is to inspire and guide you if you're you know new to the industry new to in front of camera um to help you thank you so much Yvette and Roxana for coming onto my channel today I really really really appreciate it and I hope you guys enjoyed it please leave any questions if you want us to include it in future videos like Roxana was saying it is beneficial for the both of us and you know we're like co-workers they're casting directors we're actors we're co-workers that haven't met yet so it's a really great opportunity to be able to chat with them and get some questions answered so thank you so much for watching and at the end of every video I feature another channel this is today's feature if you would like to be featured on my next video make sure you're subscribed like this video and leave me a comment


A cautionary tale by Mo Willems. Not so long ago, before she could even speak words, Trixie went on an errand, Trixie and her daddy went down the rock, the lose, the park, Trixie helped her daddy put the laundry into the machine. She even got to put the money into the machine. A rock or so later, Trixie realized something, Trixie turned to her daddy and said, that's right, replied her daddy, we're going home. Said Trixie again, now please don't get fussy, said her daddy, well, she had no choice. Trixie bawled. She went boneless. She did everything she could to show how unhappy she was. By the time they got home, her daddy was unhappy too. As soon as Trixie's mommy opened the door, she asked, where's Knuffle Bunny? The whole family ran down the block and they ran through the park, past the school and in due, the laundromat. Trixie's daddy looked for Knuffle Bunny and looked, and looked, but Knuffle Bunny was nowhere to be found, so Trixie's daddy decided to look harder and those were the first words Trixie ever said.