One of the great joys of being an academic is watching people go from beginner to trailblazer in a field of study. As a writer for Weave News, not only do I get to watch emerging rock stars like Ms. Song Lee ‘do their thing’, but I get to share their voices with the world. In this Interweaving conversation, I am pleased to introduce you to Ms. Song Lee, High Road Fellow and Child Care Community Advocate.

To learn more about the first encampment in Valencia, I reached out to Dr. Jorge Ramos Tolosa, who teaches contemporary history at UV. In addition to his scholarship and teaching, he is a longtime activist with BDS Valencia and the Red Solidaria contra la Ocupación de Palestina (RESCOP), a network of Spanish organizations working in solidarity with Palestine.

On December 29, 2023, South Africa brought a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, arguing that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza. On January 11-12, 2024, the ICJ held public hearings on South Africa’s request for provisional measures of protection for the people of Gaza and eventually ruled that Israel was responsible for taking all necessary measures to prevent “acts of genocide” in Gaza. The ongoing ICJ case has been the subject of significant debate. To explore the issue further, I reached out to Dr. Somdeep Sen, a frequent Weave News contributor and a professor at Roskilde University.

Sara E. Jablonski is a 4-H Team Educator in the Cornell Cooperative Extension Erie County. She develops 4-H Youth Development clubs in the Buffalo, NY, and Amherst, NY, areas. She helps young people find their spark! She is one of my colleagues at Cornell in Buffalo, and she was kind enough to share with Weave News the work she does in the community and the flowers that she admires in Buffalo.

By Nicole Roché

On the morning of October, 11, 2018, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib spoke with students on the St. Lawrence University campus, where the subjects ranged from Kanye West to Black Lives Matter to Abdurraqib’s extensive sneaker collection. After the Q&A, Nicole Roché, who teaches a class about storytelling and identity in the first-year program at St. Lawrence, interviewed Abdurraqib about his work and about his experiences talking with young people in America.

By Nicole Eigbrett

Nicole Eigbrett, social media director for Weave News, chatted with filmmaker Quester Hannah about his experiences and what to expect from his presentations at the Weave News 10th Anniversary Conference. 

By John Collins

In this installment of our Interweaving project, I speak with two of the founders of Tribeworthy, a new media startup based in northern California. I met Jared Fesler and Chase Palmieri at the 2016 Media Freedom Summit and subsequently integrated the beta version of the Tribeworthy platform into one of my undergraduate classes. They recently launched a new version of the platform.

By Steve Peraza

In the latest installment of our ongoing Interweaving series of in-depth conversations, Weave News reporter Steve Peraza speaks with Dr. Gene Grabiner, a SUNY distinguished service professor emeritus whose work addresses issues of social justice and social class. Their discussion focused on policing and the possibilities for meaningful police reform, particularly in Buffalo, NY.

By Julianne DeGuardi

As part of her ongoing research into the story of migrant farm workers in the North Country dairy industry, Weave News reporter Julianne DeGuardi spoke with another local reporter who has done extensive work on the topic: David Sommerstein of North Country Public Radio (NCPR). Enjoy the latest installment in our Interweaving series!

By John Collins

As part of our occasional series of “Interweaving” conversations, I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Somdeep Sen, a Weave News blogger and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, regarding a number of issues related to his field research in Palestine/Israel. Our conversation touched on his experience of the politics of race and violence while in the field as well as his first-hand observations from Jerusalem and the West Bank regarding the current state of Israel's settler-colonial project.