Misgivings

In this episode, we’re joined by writer and provocateur Vu Le, who brings his trademark humor and candor to some of philanthropy’s most entrenched problems. We talk about “snowflake” grant applications, restrictive funding, and the challenges inherent to shifting power. From lifting up Community-Centric Fundraising to breaking down The Hunger Games, Vu explores our shared misgivings about philanthropy and dr...

In this episode, we are joined by artists and cultural workers Sundus Abdul Hadi and Yassin Alsalman. We talk about what it means to make art in a time of collapse—when systems are crumbling, funding is drying up, and culture is being commodified and flattened. We explore the idea of art not as “resistance” but as insistence, the myth of the starving artist, the extraction baked into cultural funding, and why shar...

In this episode, we’re talking about wealth, identity, and healing. We sit down with Hilary Giovale, a mother, writer, and community organizer. She shares a personal journey of growing up poor and then marrying into a wealthy family, and what it has meant to reckon honestly with whiteness and privilege. We talk ancestral memory and spiritual reconnection, and what it can look like to show up differently with money.

As an activ...

In this episode we hear from participants of the New Standard Fund, a participatory grantmaking fund based in Virginia. Donor family members, community members (known as Flow Funders), and facilitators sit down together for an honest conversation about what it feels like to share power. They unpack what it means to release control, challenge traditional philanthropic models, and build relationships rooted in trust. They describe Fl...

In this inaugural episode, hosts Sadaf Rassoul Cameron and Arianne Shaffer offer their motivations for creating the show. Then they talk with friend and collaborator Rosie Rosenthal, who shares her journey from participating in a traditional family foundation to co-creating New Standard Fund—a participatory grantmaking program that entrusted community leaders in Virginia to decide where resources should flow. We explore what ...

Misgivings breaks down what’s wrong with mainstream philanthropy and uplifts bold solutions. Through candid conversations filled with humor and heart, Kindle Project's Arianne Shaffer and Sadaf Rassoul Cameron connect with visionary change-makers rising to the call of this urgent moment and reshaping how money, power, and trust flow in a sector long overdue for change.

We made this show to spotlight friends, allies, and peers ...