What does it mean to be educated? Through her evocative paintings and narrative, author Arlene Goldbard has portrayed eleven people whose work most influenced her—what she calls a camp of angels. She sees each as a brave messenger of love and freedom for a society that badly needs “uncolonized minds.” In her book ”In the Camp of Angels of Freedom” Goldbard describes how the learning from each changed the course of her life in essays that offer generative moments of a life in art and social change.

On March 22, 2023, Arlene Goldbard sat down in front of her computer and livestreamed a Zoom conversation with Owen Kelly and Sophie Hope, and approximately 40 other participants. Together they discussed the genesis of the book, the nature of Arlene’s angels, and topics that emerged naturally as the conversation flowed.

The conversation lasted approximately ninety minutes. The video above offers an unedited recording of that conversation.