The Arts Exodus is a two-part investigative journalism podcast series about the ongoing liberal arts crisis in British universities. It dispels myths about the financial crisis faced by universities, explains the subsequent student movements that followed, and advocates for arts education.
Hosted and produced by journalists and recent arts graduates Cecilia Blotto and Katyayani Nath, it was made in collaboration with Podium.me, an award winning audio journalism platform for the under-25s.
After a turbulent year of student protests and staff strikes in 2024, major internal initiatives – such as the Goldsmiths University Transformation Program – that sought to unjustly cut university courses and trigger mass redundancies, were cancelled or put on hold. We ended the 2024 academic year with headlines like this:
- Sunderland university staff members gagged
- Staff jobs at risk as Durham University sets out £20m cuts over next two years
- School for disabled journalists at risk of closure
Our reporting has indicated that, with the start of a new academic year, these issues will only continue and potentially worsen. As former arts students, our aim is to give listeners the knowledge to debate these arts cuts and give incoming students the toolkit to inherit our fights.
We have made a sincere effort to amplify the messages of those most impacted, namely students at Goldsmith’s University, The Academy for Disabled Journalists and professors.
Cecilia Blotto 