Alternative media futures: Ideas space with Sludge Magazine

Join Sludge Mag and journalist Adele Zeynep Walton for a discussion space exploring how to build platforms that push back against mainstream media dominance. We'll get practical - thinking through why we might want to grow a platform in the first place, and weighing that against the realities of censorship, algorithms, and social media burnout. Come with your thoughts on what our relationship with big tech should look like, and where the alternative spaces are for connecting and being heard. Sludge Mag is a UK-based digital platform founded in 2017 that covers fashion culture, music, and politics, created by writer and creative lead Martyn Ewoma. Adele Zeynep Walton is an award-winning British-Turkish journalist reporting on the human impacts of digital technology, social media and AI and the author of the bestselling book Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World . She is also the co-founder of Logging Off Club , a global movement promoting connection, curiosity and wellness through their phone-free events. Part of Upgrade Yourself Festival 2026.