In this first episode of the 2026 Beyond the Clock (BTC) season, Anna and Ash are joined by Nikiko Masumoto, this year’s BTC Resident Artist, farmer, and memory keeper who invites us to explore memory as a living practice. In this episode, we reflect on the quiet rituals (personal and public) that carry culture forward and how, across rural communities, artists and cultural workers are tending something essential: memory and imagination.

Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s idea that hope is grounded in memory, this conversation considers how remembering can guide us through uncertain times. When artists act as memory keepers, they are also operating as futurists that hold complexity, honor ancestral wisdom, and open space for imagination, especially in the midst of grief or rupture. Nikiko invites us to remember that memories are not simply stories that preserve the past; they are recipes for futures we are still learning how to make.

BTC Season 1 Album: https://www.publictransformation.org/beyond-the-clock-album

Masumoto Family Farms: https://www.masumoto.com/