Welcome to another season of our connected culture, this one focused on unmasking the past to imagine better futures. Join us in the coming days and weeks to explore how we can learn from hard human history while growing the community we need to grow a kinder world together. 

We are kicking off this season with audio from “Imagining a Better American Future: From Abolition to Science Fiction, and beyond,” an event we hosted with Rockbridge Regional Libraries on March 13, 2025 that featured many of our Spring fellows. 

That fellowship cohort included author Paul Park – who listeners may remember from our first season as a peer and close friend of the late Terry Bisson – who helped us with the future and fiction-focused elements of the conversation. Plus, the fellows were also joined by local black history scholar Dr. Nneka Dennie – an expert on abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a key figure in the MidMountain produced folk opera “Save from Oblivion” that we’ll discuss more at length later in this season. 

Also, speaking of community: if you’re listening to this as it’s being released you can join us in person for our MidMountain Masquerade on October 25 from 2pm through 10pm! There'll be opportunities to make your own masks and marionettes, a harvest potluck to share meals, a masquerade with costume contest, live music, and more. Find out more at midmountain.org/masquerade. 

As a reminder, Our Connected Culture is a production of MidMountain, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, arts collective, and agricultural project operating out of MidMountain Retreat, a five acre riverfront arts space in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Natural Bridge, Virginia. You can check our community calendar for upcoming events or other opportunities to visit, like residencies where we offer discounted stays for folks who want to work on creative projects. Plus, MidMountain Retreat is also available for rent out on Airbnb and VRBO for non-art stays!