Sonic Gathering Place Melbourne Jail: Creating peaceful spaces in the midst of city chaos

On this Radiothon show we explore the beginnings of the show Communication Mixdown with John Langer, and the ambience of cities with Jordan Lacey. And we encourage listeners to donate to keep community strong and keep 3CR on air for another year.

Communication Mixdown? What's that?

John Langer, the person who started Communication Mixdown in 2016, tells Judith about how the name came about and the themes the show has covered over the years, from terms like 'fake news' which emerged at the beginning of the Trump era, to how climate change has been communicated to the public and the increase in surveillance-the digital panopticon. While communication is a huge topic, the show comes together around the idea of  communication within power relationships-asking questions like who gets to speak?, who doesn't?, the importance of community languages...and lots more!

How does a city makes you feel?

Jordan Lacey chats with Judith about what he means by the ambience of a city, how we experience the city "from the position of our own sensing body", and how sound artists in Australia and internationally have worked to create peaceful spaces in the middle of busy cities, not necesarily to hide city sounds, but to transform them. And what about Community Radio Stations? How do they contribute to the ambience of a city? Well, sounds coming out of car windows in Fitzroy...or sounds emerging from a boat on a river in Berlin, just for starters. You can check out Jordan's paper Cities are made from more than buildings and roads. They are made from ambiances-how a city makes you feel here