Listening to the World: Stuart Fowkes on Field Recording, Sound Mapping & Cities and Memory

Listening to the World: Stuart Fowkes on Field Recording, Sound Mapping & Cities and Memory

Field recording, sound mapping, and soundscape storytelling are transforming how we experience the world. In this episode of Listening with China Blue, I speak with Stuart Fowkes, founder of Cities and Memory, one of the world's largest collaborative sound projects, bringing together more than 2,500 artists who remix the world one sound at a time. Since 2014, Stuart has built an extraordinary global archive of field recordings and creative reinterpretations from more than 100 countries. What began as a simple idea—to pair an original environmental recording with an artistic remix—has evolved into an international community exploring memory, place, culture, and listening through sound. Our conversation explores what makes a meaningful field recording, how sound mapping can preserve disappearing acoustic environments, and why listening deeply to everyday places can change how we understand our communities. We discuss the creative relationship between documentation and imagination, the ethics of recording public spaces, and the role of artists in building a shared sonic memory of the planet. Whether you're interested in field recording, acoustic ecology, sound art, environmental storytelling, podcasting, or simply becoming a better listener, this conversation offers an inspiring look at how sound connects us across cultures and geography.

Listening with Vero Faye Kitsuné, C Z A R I N A Musician

China Blue speaks with musician Vero Faye Kitsuné who goes by the name C Z A R I N A about how as an indigenous Filipino shamanism, the grandeur of nature and Spain's witches inspired listening for the Dark Wave. Vero Faye Kitsuné is an American award-winning electronic artist, producer, and filmmaker based in Galicia, Spain, she is known for a darkwave/industrial sound inspired by cyberpunk and anime, she creates synth-heavy, cinematic music.

Listening with Timothy Blunk, Activist

China Blue speaks with Timothy Blunk a former US political prisoner who served over 13 years in some of America’s most notorious prisons for his activism in resistance to racism, US support for apartheid in South Africa, and involvement in Central America during the 1980s. His prison term included 7 years in solitary confinement in USP Marion. Tim appeared on the television program “20/20” documenting the campaign against Marion’s use of solitary confinement as a form torture. His case was recognized and documented by both Amnesty International and US Human Rights Watch. #listening #podcasts #Activism #solitaryconfinment

Listening with Richard Vine, Art Critic

Internationally recognized art critic Richard Vine, PhD is the former managing editor of Art in America who has taught throughout the world and has produced more than three hundred art articles. His books Range from the career survey of "Odd Nerdrum: Paintings, Sketches, and Drawings" and "New China, New Art," which traces the emergence of avant-garde art in post-Mao China to the crime novel "SoHo Sins," set in the New York art world of the 1990s. He has also co-curated exhibitions at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing; the National Academy of Art in New Delhi, India, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York. China Blue speaks to Mr. Vine about his early life listening to his Welsh grandfather, being at the 1970 Kent State shooting and about acclaimed Chinese artists Gu Wenda and activist Ai Weiwei and the renown architect Zaha Hadid.

Listening with Martha Little, Podcast & Audio Consultant

Listen to Martha Little, a podcast and audio consultant who speaks about listening to others and how compassion can be contagious. Martha Little is an award-winning journalist and executive audio producer whose career has spanned more than 35 years at organizations such as NPR and Amazon’s Audible. Today, Little leads LittleMedia, a creative consultancy that helps companies and individuals elevate their storytelling. Her latest passion project explores the transformative power of empathic listening, unlocking deeper human connection and communication in both personal and professional spaces. She is also fortunate enough to have a son who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia who has taught her the importance of deep listening and compassion in improving mental health.