In this article we explore our collaborative practices, since 2020, in the design and facilitation of a distinctive form of research circle aimed at 'fostering community, democracy and dialogue', which has been informed by, but distinct from, those first developed by Swedish adult educators. We ask how our work and its particular form of collaborative engagement has been shaped by resistance to 'hollowed out' forms of lifelong learning that have marginalised, or forgotten, those radical forms of adult education that have shaped our own work practices and thinking. Finally, we ask how our emerging friendship has provided us with increasingly contested but vital space for reflection and critical examination of the development of our own practices and personal stories within the context of the 'hyper-professionalised' world of higher education. Threaded through the article is a collective hope that we are contributing to the democratic educational space for learning that FORUM holds together.