Trickery, Culture, and Power: Keil Troisi and Favianna Rodriguez on Creative Activism

Dwight Dunston speaks with filmmaker and activist Keil Troisi about the transformative power of art and culture in world-building and social change. Keil shares his experiences with The Yes Men, an art-activism group that creatively disrupts corporate power to inspire long-term hope. They explore how humor, trickery, and creativity can drive real-world impact, especially in environmental and social justice movements.

Favianna Rodriguez, an artist and cultural strategist, reads from her essay Harnessing Cultural Power to Heal the Planet and Ourselves, which appears in the anthology All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. Her work calls for a cultural revolution in the climate movement, emphasizing the role of art in reshaping narratives.

Listen to Favianna on The BTS Center’s podcast Climate Changed:
Favianna appears in Season Three, Episode One of Climate Changed, titled The Power of Ritual and Story, alongside Brian McLaren. Listen to the episode here: https://thebtscenter.org/climate-changed/podcast-season-three-episode-1/.

Resources & Links:
Learn more about Keil Troisi and The Yes Men: https://theyesmen.org/

• Follow The Yes Men: X: @theyesmen, Facebook: theyesmenfix
• Explore Favianna Rodriguez's work: https://favianna.com/

Follow Favianna: Instagram: @favianna1

• Get the All We Can Save anthology: https://www.allwecansave.earth/anthology

Philly-based - Vanguard SOS collabs:

• Climate Adaptation Toolkit in Impact Alpha or USA Today
• Vanguardians of the Galaxy
• Eco-doom carnival

The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/
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