Humans in Conversation

Where cities
pause to
really listen.

Small tables. Honest stories. No cameras. HuCon gathers people in cities around the world to practice empathy, sharing how they're truly doing, and sends those stories into a global archive.

Find an event → Host a table

Madrid · 28 May 2026

"In a city full of light, life, and ambition, how is your wellbeing?"

Held ✓

Barcelona · 29 May 2026

"Where do you go when you feel like a tourist in your own city?"

Held ✓

London · 27 June 2026

"This city doesn't stop. But how are you really doing inside it?"

Held ✓

These are the stories we don't usually tell.

Milano · Roma · Madrid · Barcelona · London · Lagos · These are the stories we don't usually tell · Small group. Confidential. No cameras. · Milano · Roma · Madrid · Barcelona · London · Lagos · These are the stories we don't usually tell · Small group. Confidential. No cameras. ·
HuCon ceremonial bowl, Humans in Conversation

The ritual

"Every table begins with a meditation bell and food that means something to the community."

The HuCon bowl sits at the center of every gathering. Sharing food is not incidental. It's the ritual that opens people to honesty. It signals: this is a different kind of conversation.

When you host a table, you choose a dish from your world, bring it to the room, and explain its meaning, to the people present and to the global archive.

What is HuCon

The stories
cities need
to hear.

Humans in Conversation seal

HuCon, Humans in Conversation, is a global movement that creates intimate, guided listening tables in cities around the world. Each table begins with one question about well-being that truly matters to the people in the room and creates the conditions for genuine empathy.

Participants share honest, often anonymous stories about how they're really doing. Everything is audio-recorded and published on the HuCon Spotify archive, a living document of urban well-being and human experience.

Ultimately, HuCon is a global storytelling lab that helps us foster well-being through empathy in our cities and institutions in an era when authentic human connection matters more than ever.

Partners & collaborators

PittsburghJennifer Schaupp
Valdosta, GAUnoma Azuah
LagosMarvis Chukwudi
BariGianni Marsico
MilanoCarlo Bobbiesi
RomaNino
BarcelonaAlbert Asensio
MadridMatías González
LondonSusan Obehioye
GlobalPatrick Chaulk · Funke Michaels · Ramien Pierre · Kayla Ingram
"We aim to honor human experiences that are often reduced or misunderstood. When people feel seen and heard, empathy becomes possible, and cities become more human."

How it works

Five steps.
One honest evening.

01

Pick a date & question

Choose a theme rooted in your city's reality: reinvention, identity, belonging, pressure. The question should matter to everyone at the table.

02

Find your tribe

Invite 3 to 10 people who agree to share their stories. It's a conversation, not a panel. Find people who'll be honest.

03

Choose a safe space

Somewhere guests can speak freely. A home, a quiet room, a trusted community space. You guide. That's all.

04

Press record

Audio only. No cameras. Ever. Participants may choose to share anonymously. Record and send to the global archive.

05

Share food & send

Bring a dish meaningful to your community. Tell the global audience its significance. Send your stories. You've hosted a HuCon.

Upcoming tables

Find a HuCon
near you.

13March 2026
Pittsburgh
"When the cost of care keeps rising, how do you protect your wellbeing?"
Held ✓
20March 2026
Milano
"In a city of non-stop performance, how do you show up for you?"
Held ✓
27March 2026
Rome
"You came to Rome to begin again. How is that going for you?"
Held ✓
28May 2026
Madrid
"In a city full of light, life, and ambition, how is your wellbeing?"
Held ✓
29May 2026
Barcelona
"Where do you go when you feel like a tourist in your own city?"
Held ✓
27June 2026
London
"This city doesn't stop. But how are you really doing inside it?"
Held ✓

Don't see your city? Host a table yourself.

Learn to host →

The first season

What one city
told us.

We read London the way we read every table. Not for what people said, but for where empathy between a city and its people is breaking, holding, or beginning to open. The London Listening Report is the first full read of the season. It is honest, and it names where the work is.

Read the London report →

Our footprint

Follow our
HuCon footprint.

Every dot is a city where people sat down, shared food, and told the truth about how they are really doing.

9
Cities · 9 held
3
Continents
1
Question

The mission

Cities that listen
design with empathy.

In the age of machines and declining trust, the third place is disappearing, the space between home and work where strangers become neighbors and people are honest about how they are really doing.

HuCon builds one on purpose, for two hours, around one question, and listens to what a city has stopped hearing. What it hears goes back to the cities, health and wellbeing researchers, and AI systems that need to understand what humans actually experience. Because empathy is not a soft skill. It is the foundation of every system that works.

12+
Cities in the 2026 program
3–10
Participants per table
0
Cameras. Ever.
∞
Stories in the global archive

Host a table

Your city needs
this conversation.
You can start it.

1

Be passionate about the topic and your city

That's the most important first step. Everything else follows from genuine care.

2

Find 3 to 10 people willing to share

People who bring honest stories to the table. A conversation, not a performance.

3

Choose a location where guests can speak freely

All you need to do is guide. You don't need to be an expert. Just a good listener.

4

Press record on your audio device

Audio only. No cameras, no video, ever. Ready to send to the global archive.

5

Share food that means something to your community

Tell your global audience its significance. Send your stories. You've hosted a HuCon.

Ready to host a HuCon in your city?

We'll give you the question prompts, the format, and the archive destination. You bring the people, the place, and the food.

Write to us at hello@humansinconversation.com

The archive

Every story
lives on Spotify.

Every table, every city, every honest conversation. Listen directly below or open in Spotify.

Open in Spotify