Miriam Felton-Dansky, a theatre critic and scholar based at Bard College, became fascinated by performing artist visas while interviewing artists about their travels to and from Under the Radar for her next book, The January Years, a history of 2000s-era downtown performance as seen through its institutions and infrastructures. Writing an article about the current status of artist visas revealed to her how deeply the U.S. system has been stacked against international workers, even well before our current moment of dangerous xenophobia, and made her newly grateful for the behind-the-scenes work of artists, lawyers, and presenters working every day to keep our borders safe for everyone. “In this moment,” she says, “we need international exchange and protections for international artists more than we ever have.”

Rad Pereira, a queer trans (im)migrant cultural worker based between Lenapehoking (Brooklyn) and Haudenosaunee territory (upstate New York), creates for stages, screens, stoops, swamps, and sidewalks. Co-founding artistic director of Iron Path Farm & Arts, director of engagement and impact at New York Stage and Film, board member to Superhero Clubhouse, co-founder of You Are Here, and part of the team bringing solidarity economy to Network of Ensemble Theaters, they—like American Theatre digital editor Gabriela Furtado Coutinho—were born in Pindorama (a.k.a. Brazil). “Gabriela invited me to experiment with form in sharing about our homeland,” Pereira says of their piece in this issue. “With her support, I was able to find a focus that might illuminate the multi-genre dimension we are entering as a society.”