A newsletter by Futures in Draft
Welcome back to Futures in Motion, our monthly newsletter where we share recommendations and cultural picks from a different contributor each month, as well as actions and opportunities you can take to support the movement for transformative futures.
This month we sat down with US-based writer and community organiser, Ning Chang. We chatted to Ning about the best kept secrets in New York, the joy of travel sketching and Love Island in a time of war, recession and American upheaval.
In case you missed it, you can read Ning’s Power of Place essay: In the epicentre of ICE, a kernel of resistance.
Who is a creative you are inspired by in 2026?
I’ve been inspired by female artists who have been using their platform and their reach to call out bad actors, and uplift local artists, communities, and political causes — Hayley Williams, MUNA, and Lambrini Girls come to mind.What is one of your favourite places to recommend to people in your city?
I don’t think many of these places are hidden — but they make up a bucket list I like to share with people who visit me!
Pick up a book from McNally Jackson, sit and read it in Elizabeth Street Garden. Take it for a NYC Ferry ride around the city, or down to Rockaway Beach. Snag 10 dumplings for $4.50 at North Dumpling in Chinatown, plop down at the B&H Dairy counter for their vegetarian matzo ball soup, have smoked fish, bagel, schmear and capers at Barney Greengrass, or people watch all the way uptown at the Hungarian Pastry Shop.
I love an off-the-beaten-path museum, so I’d bring a visitor to the Tenement Museum or the Merchant’s House Museum to see how people lived in New York in times of yore — bonus points if you spot a ghost.
What is an Internet hot take/discourse you loved recently?
I’ve been envious of this take by @abetol on TikTok about Love Island in a time of war, recession, and American upheaval — though I’m keeping up with Love Island UK over US. I’ve also been loving the New York unity and pride from the Knicks’ amazing championship run.
What is your perfect way to spend a Saturday?
Slow morning with a diner breakfast. Then a semi-directed wandering to fulfill an errand, conduct an activity, or explore a neighbourhood with a friend. Spontaneous dinner or evening plan with someone I run into and coordinate with on the fly. Hopefully some country swing or line dancing and then a life-changing hot shower.
So much of our connection, relationships and relationship building happens over food. If you’re having a group of people over, what are you cooking?
I’m making a soup, a salad, and two loaves of sourdough bread — then loading up at the Italian grocery for a spread of meats and cheeses. Drink is some kind of fizzy batched cocktail, and dessert is Ina Garten’s ice cream bombe. Perfect summer dinner.
Could you give a recommendation of something you love to do offline?
My parents have gotten into travel sketching. I’m lucky to live in the same city as them, so we go to new neighbourhoods and find landscapes to draw and watercolour over lunch. I think it makes you more present and appreciative of your surroundings.
Otherwise, I’ve been organising a bookclub with friends that pairs books with their adaptations — we’ve done Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (+ opera), Edgar Allen Poe’s work (+ reading and seance), and now wrapping up the Odyssey in time for a talk with Emily Wilson and to ethically hate on Christopher Nolan.
What makes you most inspired or excited about the future?
People are starting to realise that the old order is something we can never go back to. People have known this for years, but I think now the majority understands that we have to seize the opportunity to build something new. In New York, we have the privilege of living in a city that’s been revitalised as a battleground for what the future of the American left looks like – not just a take-it-for-granted Democrat stronghold. Healthy competition on the left helps to expand the footprint, and can make a real difference.
Where do you turn to when you get writer's block/looking for inspiration?
My friends. I feel like I err hard on the side of being a homebody, so they help me get outside and encounter things that spark curiosity. They egg me on as well to develop opinions and die on hills.
If you have just a moment
Support this campaign, aimed at driving further participation and engagement in women's football. Led by the pioneering youth organisation Football Beyond Borders, their World Cup campaign is working to ensure that young girls and girls to come aren’t left behind from opportunities in sport.
If you have a little bit longer
Watch this 5 minute video, spotlighting the work of the Coral Gardeners, an organisation working towards reef restoration. We loved this short film for the beauty of its cinematography and its spotlight on the quiet work being done by coastal communities around the world.
Image credit: The Coral Gardeners
If you have a while…
Why not pick up a pen and pad like Ning’s parents and try your hand at travel sketching. We loved this recommendation for its portability and the way that it encourages you to look around you more at the world around you - whether that be cityscapes, rolling hills or the people around you. In a world of urgency and overconsumption, we think this could offer a brilliant way to engage is something that forces us to slow down and connect to the things around us.
Image credit: Ning Chang
Fiction or non-fiction
Fiction
Life on Mars or Life underwater
Life on Mars, with the spiders
Podcast or documentary
Podcast
4-hour hike or 4-hour rave
With the perfect company, either!
Summer or Autumn
Autumn in New York is unbeatable
What is it? An organisation working to hold big tech companies to account.
Why we’re interested: In a world dominated by tech billionaires and their agendas, we’re excited by the campaigning and educational work Take Back Big Tech have been doing to empower users to take back control.
What is it? An organisation working with young people to support their healing from militarism, systemic violence and intergenerational trauma.
Why we’re interested: We were directed to the work of Bay-Peace by our contributor Jasmine Rashid. Since finding out more about the organisation, we’ve been inspired by their youth-led leadership approach and their focus on the inclusion of the arts.
Looking to host an event in London? Make sure to check out his report by Sisters of Frida which provides guidance for accessible venues in London.
On 3rd July Haymarket books are hosting a conversation between authors and educators Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Brian Jones about the inspiring history and extraordinary capacity of ordinary people to resist and organise for a better world.
This month the annual Sheffield Doc Festival took place. Featuring over 104 films from around the world, the festival brings together some of the most exciting talent transforming how we tell stories and who gets to tell stories about the issues around us. Find out more about this year’s programme HERE.
Thank you so much for subscribing, reading along and for being a part of the Futures in Draft community.
If you have enjoyed today’s newsletter or any of the suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Equally, if you have any recommendations you’d like us to include in next month’s newsletter please let us know at [email protected]
