Jun 28, 2026 · 27 min · 8 segments
How to transform a hazy dream into a real thing? By learning from who came before. From showboats to utopian sea-steaders, pirate radio vessels to the dodgy business of “flags of convenience," Bottoms…
Grey FilastineHost
Margaret DrummerGuest
Christine HandtGuest
The first priority was to find out who came before us, who already brought arts onto the sea, and how.
But I wanna talk about the literal showboats, which were floating Vaudeville theaters that plied the waterways of 19th century America.
These showboats were pimped out with architectural filigrees and fancy paint jobs to grab attention whenever they arrived at riverside towns.
Meanwhile, around the same time period, but on the opposite side of the world, Chinese opera companies called Red Boat Troupes were touring Asia's rivers on evocative red junk ships that were their home and tour vehicle.
Unlike their American counterparts, the crews of China's Red Boat Troupes were mystics and revolutionaries.
They spread the Wing Chun form of Kung Fu and helped foment a rebellion against China's last imperial dynasty.
Further proof that art once had teeth, and that we artists need to stop filing down our fangs and learn how to be dangerous again.
These pirate radio ships shared new music that trampled the rigid color lines of that era, breaking new genres like ska, reggae, and punk.
By operating from international waters, they were beyond the reach of the law, so governments used violence to shut them down.
Listen to Pirate Radio North Sea International transmitting while in flames after being bombed by Dutch commandos.
SOS, this is Radio North Sea International.
We are on fire due to a bomb thrown on board.
Mayday, mayday, mayday.
We may have to abandon ship.
We are on fire in the engine room.
The fire has now reached the bridge
One of my first European gigs as an electronic musician was on a hulking former East German fishing ship called the Stubnitz.
The Stubnitz makes long residencies in different Baltic ports, hosting parties in its three cavernous fish holds.
The first priority was to find out who came before us, who already brought arts onto the sea, and how.
But I wanna talk about the literal showboats, which were floating Vaudeville theaters that plied the waterways of 19th century America.
These showboats were pimped out with architectural filigrees and fancy paint jobs to grab attention whenever they arrived at riverside towns.
Meanwhile, around the same time period, but on the opposite side of the world, Chinese opera companies called Red Boat Troupes were touring Asia's rivers on evocative red junk ships that were their home and tour vehicle.
Unlike their American counterparts, the crews of China's Red Boat Troupes were mystics and revolutionaries.
They spread the Wing Chun form of Kung Fu and helped foment a rebellion against China's last imperial dynasty.
Further proof that art once had teeth, and that we artists need to stop filing down our fangs and learn how to be dangerous again.
These pirate radio ships shared new music that trampled the rigid color lines of that era, breaking new genres like ska, reggae, and punk.
By operating from international waters, they were beyond the reach of the law, so governments used violence to shut them down.
Listen to Pirate Radio North Sea International transmitting while in flames after being bombed by Dutch commandos.
SOS, this is Radio North Sea International.
We are on fire due to a bomb thrown on board.
Mayday, mayday, mayday.
We may have to abandon ship.
We are on fire in the engine room.
The fire has now reached the bridge
One of my first European gigs as an electronic musician was on a hulking former East German fishing ship called the Stubnitz.
The Stubnitz makes long residencies in different Baltic ports, hosting parties in its three cavernous fish holds.
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