FUTURE IS NOW is a podcast series exploring intersections between art and social change, produced by Z Gallery’s Shahrzad Arshadi and Caroline Künzle. The title comes from a song by German punk rock singer Nina Hagen. She sings: “1968 is over, it’s over, … Future Is Now! It’s really gonna be a better world.” Her lyrics express our feeling that change for a better world is happening right now, through the work of many. In each episode, we will tell you these stories of change: stories of artists and art projects that inspire us. As you listen, we hope they will inspire you too.

Future is Now broadcasts on CKUT on the second Friday of every month at 2pm. You can also listen to all the episodes here

Every 2nd Friday of the month, 2 - 3pm (EDT)

February 9, 2024: "FORBIDDEN VOICES" is the story of female and queer singers whose voices have been forbidden in Iran after 1979 Muslim fundamentalists in power.

"FORBIDDEN VOICES" is the story of female and queer singers whose voices have been forbidden in Iran after 1979 Muslim fundamentalists in power.

"This episode is dedicated to Zhina (Mahas) Amini"

What you’re going to hear, in this episode of Future Is Now, is what happened to Iranian women singers and Iranian women in general, after the 1979 Fundamentalist revolution.

We recorded this episode a couple of days before the brutal murder of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, who was brutally murdered by the Islamic regime’s “morality police”, in Tehran, on September 16th 2022. According to the Iranian morality police, she wasn’t wearing her hijab properly! Her hair was not fully covered !

Starting in Kurdistan and spreading to all over Iran, women have been walking in the streets in the thousands, every day since then, and removing and burning their hijabs (or veils) in public. Iranian women's bravery is unimaginable and beautiful.

They are shouting “Zhin Zian Azadi / Woman Life Freedom”, a slogan inspired by Kurdish women's struggle.

I am using Zhina, her Kurdish name, instead of Mahsa, because officially she couldn’t have a Kurdish name in Iran. It’s not allowed!

We dedicate this episode to Zhina Amini and all the brave women and men who are risking their lives to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran. They say: Enough is enough!

Zhina has become the code name for the Revolution in Iran! A feminist Revolution!

Sep 29, 2022

Listen to this show: Listen | Download