Imagine our surprise when we found out late last year that R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe was a fan of your favorite neighborhood socialist magazine. We immediately got in touch and sat down for a wide-ranging interview that you can read on our website. Here’s a particularly interesting excerpt.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn but, in the 1980s, R.E.M. and I played a benefit for a group of environmental lawyers from Atlanta. We often brought environmental groups on the road with us and would allow them to set up shop next to the T-shirt stands. In fact, R.E.M. brought together Greenpeace, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Resources Defense Council for their first meeting. My band did a lot more than just shout generic slogans.

There’s definitely a place for overlap between the arts and politics. Having the bully pulpit of an audience, stage, and microphone doesn’t require that you get overly political. You can express yourself in subtle ways, too.