Astra taylor instagram
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Astra Taylor has a résumé that defies the notion of résumé building. She is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and organizer, and, during the past couple of decades, her itinerant intellect has taken her cruising around New York in a Volvo with Cornel West (for her 2008 documentary on philosophers, “Examined Life”), interviewing Syrian refugees in Greece (for her 2018 film “What Is Democracy?”), and touring with the revered indie-rock band Neutral Milk Hotel (for love—the band’s songwriter and singer, Jeff Mangum, is her husband). Her wide-ranging curiosity animates her work, and her political commitments anchor it. She is one of the co-founders of the Debt Collective, an organization that has been at the forefront of the movement to cancel student debt—a cause that has particular urgency at the moment, with loan payments set to resume next month and legal battles on the horizon.
This year, Taylor was chosen to deliver the Massey Lectures, a series of talks that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has aired for the past sixty-odd years—previous Massey lecturers have included Nort
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Astra Taylor
Canadian-American documentary filmmaker, writer, and activist
Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979)[1] is a Canadian-Americandocumentaryfilmmaker, writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on challenging predatory practices around debt.[2]
Life
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Taylor grew up in Athens, Georgia,[3] and was unschooled until age 13 when she enrolled in ninth grade.[4] At 16 she abandoned high school to attend classes at the University of Georgia; at the university she studied Deleuze and Guattari under Ronald L. Bogue.[5] She has described herself as a "teenage Deleuzian."[6]
Taylor enrolled at Brown University, where she attended classes for a year before dropping out. Reflecting on her decision to leave, Taylor stated "Why had I felt compelled to enroll in an Ivy League school, to excel by the standards of conventional education and choose a 'difficult' major, instead of making my own way? What was I afraid of?"[7] Taylor
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Astra Taylor
Astra Taylor is a filmmaker, writer, and political organizer, born in Winnipeg, MB, and raised in Athens, GA; she currently lives in New York. Her latest book is Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions and her other books include the American Book Award winner The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. She regularly writes for major publications, has directed multiple documentaries, toured with the band Neutral Milk Hotel, and co-founded the Debt Collective.
Featured books
The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart
by Astra Taylor
Published by House of Anansi Press
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