What Can I Do
You voted (again), you protested (again), you posted on social media (again), yet you’re still reeling from all the terrible news. But…what else can you do?
We’ll help you figure that out! Each week hosts Kelly Therese Pollock and Lila Nordstrom interview activists working on a range of issues, from national policy to local concerns, not about why but about how they took action: What got them started, who helped them along the way, and what they’d do differently if they had to do it all again. In the process, we’ll offer concrete advice on how to take the leap from freaking out on Twitter to making a difference, building community, and finding joy in getting involved.
Recent Episodes
“What can we do as community to protect each other?” (w/ Angela Ferrell-Zabala, ED of Mom’s Demand Action)
“There's somebody in every town who is a busybody.” (w/ Carla Nordstrom, Retired Teacher and Community Activist)
"Can I actually bring something to this work to this fight? That is going to add value?" (w/ Hannah Fried, Executive Director of All Voting is Local)
“At the end of the day, when you're talking about activism, it's just a bigger word for care.” (w/ Sabrina Cartan of Fandom Forward and director Eliyannah Amirah Yisrael)
“Think of graphic design not as self-expression but as visual communication.” (w/ Innosanto Nagara, graphic designer and best-selling author and illustrator of children’s books about activism and organizing)
“One of the best things lawyers can do is have the courage to speak out.” (w/ Brett Edkins, Managing Director for Policy & Political Affairs at Stand Up America)
Listen On
Recent Blog Posts
TL;DL: Recap 1
This week we’re looking back at the action items we discussed on the first five episodes of “What Can I Do” featuring: Lila and Kelly on their own activist work, Marked By Covid’s Kristin Urquiza and Christine Keeves, Emerge&…
About the Hosts
Lila Nordstom
Lila Nordstrom is a writer, producer, activist, and author of Some Kids Left Behind. She is the founder of StuyHealth, an advocacy group representing young adults exposed to the World Trade Center cleanup in 2001/2022, which has worked with organizations at the city, state, and federal level to raise awareness for the health programs in place to support 9/11 survivors. In 2019 she testified before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the estimated three hundred thousand NYC community members eligible for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and was awarded New York City's Bronze Medallion, New York City's highest civic honor, for her work on behalf of 9/11 survivors. Originally from New York City, she now lives in Los Angeles, California.
Kelly Therese Pollock
Kelly Therese Pollock is also the producer and host of Unsung History and previously co-hosted Two Broads Talking Politics, where she interviewed everyone from US Senators to school board candidates. Kelly has a BA in Religious Studies from Northwestern University and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (where she wrote a thesis on feminist witches), and by day, she is the Dean of Students in the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, where she has worked since 2004. When not podcasting or working, you can find Kelly knitting, reading mystery novels, and trying to raise her two kids to be good humans.