Songs of the Migrant Worker
The Dash Arts Podcast is back! In this episode we look at the treatment of invited guest workers (Germany’s ‘Gastarbeiter’), economic migrants and relocating members of the British Empire.
Through music and poetry, we examine the similarities and differences between the UK’s Windrush scandal and Germany’s treatment of Turkish ‘gastarbeiter’ and the huge cultural legacy by these migrant workers.
Spotify | APPLE PODCASTs| AMAZON MUSIC | YOUTUBE
Hosted by Artistic Director Josephine Burton, we were joined by poet Hannah Lowe, Artistic Director of ‘WINDRUSH70 - Brent’s Pioneering Windrush Generation’ Zerritha Brown, German-Turkish novelist Imran Ayata and artist, director and composer Bülent Kullukçu, co-curators of ‘Songs of Gastarbeiter Vol. 1’, which features music by guest workers and pays tribute to the cultural contribution made by the first wave of migrants to Germany.
CREDITS and links:
Thanks to support from the Goethe Institute and to Rich Mix London for hosting the original event.
Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to help boost us in the charts!
Hear more episodes on our website here
Check out Hannah Lowe's poetry here
See images and info from WINDRUSH70 here
Listen to Songs of the Migrant Worker Vol. 1 here
Listen to Cem Karaca’s Es haben Menschen an here
Listen to more 0f dash arts podcast:
Three years. 80 workshops. One thousand speeches. One pub.
As Our Public House takes its final bow, so too does Albion; our long exploration of who we are as a country, and who we might yet become.
In this closing episode, Josephine reflects on the whole journey: from a tent in a field at Latitude Festival in 2019 to stages across England, from the first hesitant speeches in community halls and prison workshops to songs performed live every night on stage by a cast who made those words their own.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton heads out into the land itself and into the long, tangled history of who has felt at home there, and who has had to fight to claim it.
Join us to explore connection, place, and the ever-evolving landscape of English identity.
First, she talks with Toni Murphy, founder of Touching Grass, a community creating space for queer women, trans and non-binary people of colour to experience the outdoors as somewhere that belongs to them. Toni describes the hiking trips, camping and the careful acts of presence in landscapes that haven't always felt welcoming.
Then Josephine takes the longer view. What does history tell us about who has always assumed the countryside is theirs and what have people done when that assumption has been challenged? With Professor Alan Finlayson, one of the UK's leading political and social thinkers, she traces the deep roots of England's relationship with its land, all the way to the present and to Andy Burnham MP's recent journey down from the north to Westminster, reclaiming something as he went.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Dr. Neil Buttery—food historian, cook, and the voice behind The British Food History Podcast—for a delicious and wide-ranging conversation about the edible stories that define us.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Lynne Murphy, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex, author of The Prodigal Tongue, and the American voice behind the long-running blog Separated by a Common Language, for a wide-ranging and surprising conversation about the language we think we own.
In this episode of OffScript, Josephine Burton is joined by historian, journalist, and writer Paula Akpan. A specialist in Black British history and queer identity, Paula brings a vital perspective to our exploration of Albion.
Drawing on her acclaimed book, When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors, Paula discusses the power of restoring overlooked narratives to the center of our global and national stories. Together, they examine how history shapes the idea of who gets to be seen as "English" and the intersections of race, memory, and belonging.
Josephine Burton takes us inside the rehearsal room of Our Public House, Dash Arts' new touring theatre production and the culmination of our series of work on Albion.
We join the company during their rehearsals at Toynbee Studios while some of the country heads to the polls in local elections. Assistant Director Scott Hurran shares insights into the collective creation of characters and how communities across the country have shaped the play's development.
Set in a pub, Our Public House is a play about Englishness: who we are, what we've lost, and what we might still become.
What does Englishness sound like?
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by musician, songwriter, and activist Billy Bragg for an electric conversation about England - its flags, its contradictions, and its capacity for protest.
What makes someone English — and who gets to decide?
In this episode of Off Script, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, born in India, raised in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, and educated in the UK, whose internationalism has always been at the heart of her practice.
What does Englishness mean to you?
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by journalist, writer, and Editor-in-Chief of Byline Times, Hardeep Matharu, for a wide-ranging conversation about the complex and overlooked stories shaping contemporary England. Drawing on her work leading an independent, reader-funded news outlet committed to investigative journalism and democratic accountability, Hardeep brings a sharp perspective on the narratives that dominate public life — and those that are too often ignored.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton takes us inside the rehearsal room and into the pub, as she introduces the people and ideas behind Our Public House, Dash Arts' new touring theatre production and the culmination of the Albion series.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Jeremy Deller for a wide-ranging conversation about how art uncovers the contradictions, radical traditions, and hidden stories that shape contemporary England.
Welcome to Albion — our exploration of what it means to be English, and what we mean by England.
In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Caroline Lucas for a thoughtful and urgent conversation about Englishness — beyond flags and nostalgia.
What does it mean to stay balanced and grounded in a shifting world?
This episode of OffScript was recorded live at STEADY, the second event in Dash Arts’ We Are Free To Change The World series. Through live performance and conversation, the evening focused on staying; on staying open without burning out, staying yourself in dialogue without collapsing into agreement or disagreement and staying human amid pressure, speed and polarisation.
In this episode of OffScript Josephine Burton is joined by Professor Lindsay Stonebridge. They delve into Hannah Arendt's belief in collective action as the essence of freedom.
Lindsay discusses Arendt's life, her impact on political philosophy, and her relevance in contemporary social movements…
What does it take to prepare for change — artistically, emotionally, politically?
This episode of OffScript was recorded live at the opening event in Dash Arts’ We Are Free To Change The World series.
Through performance and conversation, the event explored the conditions that help artists and creative activists find their ground to listen, to make, to resist, and to come together.
In this episode of We Are Free to Change the World, Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by the legendary artist Peter Kennard.
Inspired by Hannah Arendt’s belief in our freedom to begin anew, Josephine and Peter examine how art becomes a form of political action—shifting public consciousness, exposing injustice, and giving shape to the possible futures.
For Dash Arts’ 20th anniversary, OffScript host Josephine Burton is joined by one of the UK’s leading champions of justice, Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC.
Helena and Josephine explore how the arts and the law shift public imagination, from movements for social justice to the urgent need for transitional justice in Ukraine and beyond.
In the second episode of our mini-series, "We Are Free to Change the World," inspired by Hannah Arendt's call to action, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Labour MP for Norwich South, Clive Lewis.
Through a series of live and digital conversations - we’re exploring how artists and activists challenge, inspire, and motivate us to see the world differently.
In part 2 we’re looking at the impact of politics on the most recent productions from Dash Arts. We explore our 2025 production of The Reckoning, which brought real-life testimonies from Ukraine to the stage, and the upcoming 2026 production of Our Public House, inspired by speeches from people across England.
In this special two-part series, we're celebrating Dash Arts' 20th birthday by looking back at how politics has impacted our work over the past two decades.
From working with rappers in Beiruti basements to gathering musicians from all the conservatoires of ex-Soviet Republics in the mountains of Georgia and wild late nights in a tent with the Dash Arts Dacha, this episode celebrates the music and sounds woven through the last 20 years of Dash Arts.
After 32 performances, more than 1,700 bowls of salad and a clutch of four and five star reviews; our 5 week opening run of The Reckoning has drawn to a close.
This month Dash’s brand new production, The Reckoning, opens at The Arcola Theatre in Dalston. Co-Writer and Director Josephine Burton gives you a taste of what to expect from this vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it.
Join Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton, as she revisits our 2024 interview with critically acclaimed journalist Peter Pomerantsev and catch up with Georgian Artist and Activist Ana Riaboshenko on what it’s been like since the Georgian Dream party, widely seen as pro-Russian, maintained its majority in last year’s elections. Professor Alan Finlayson also shares his insights from his new book - Our Subversive Voice: The History and Politics of English Protest Songs, 1600–2020.
Join us round the kitchen table with acclaimed Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules and Dash’s Artistic Director Josephine Burton as they weave together cooking and storytelling in our latest production.
In this episode of the Dash Arts Podcast, Artistic Director Josephine Burton dives into two powerful exhibitions that challenge how we understand women, art, and mental health:
🖼 Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists – curated by Lisa Appignanesi and Bryony Davies
🎨 Charlotte Johnson Wahl: What It Felt Like – at Bethlem Museum of the Mind
Join us in the rehearsal room as we craft a new epic - an origin story that celebrates and redefines the migration experience.
Songs of Solidarity (the current working title for Dash Arts and Projekt Europa’s new project) brings together artists, researchers, and refugees to co-create a powerful music-theatre performance.
How can the arts help us to encounter others?
In December 2024, we were part of a fantastic live discussion at the RSA (Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) discussing how the arts can unlock unheard voices. This podcast brings you some highlights from the event with some extra insights and updates from our Dash Arts Artistic Director Josephine Burton.
Join Dash Arts at the Freud Museum in London as we delve into “Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal.” Curator Vanessa Boni guides us through Carrington’s turbulent early years—from her life with Max Ernst in France to her wartime breakdown and confinement in a Spanish sanatorium.
We explore the haunting "Villa Pilar" and sketchbooks born from crisis, linking Carrington’s mythic imagery to Freud’s own underworld motifs. This episode uncovers the alchemical threads connecting two 20th-century icons in the very room where Freud once slept.