Activist Interview Episodes

Terrified about the state of SCOTUS and the courts and wondering how you can take action to support court reform? We started this podcast in the days after Dobbs, so we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Brett Edkins from Stand Up America to chat about his journey from law school to advocacy, how lawyers can use their skills to advocate for and support court reform, and the role regular people can play in standing up to corruption in the American courts. He’s got advice on everything from s...

Looking for a way to build community and make political change using your artistic skills or an interest in crafting? Jayna Zweiman was an architect recovering from a life-changing head and neck injury when she found the knitting and crocheting community. It became a critical part of her recovery, and, ultimately, activism. Since then she’s founded multiple projects focused on giving crafters a political community that helps educate people through art and provides real, tangible resources to ...

What does it take to overcome your anxieties and concerns about canvassing, public speaking, and more? Jade Pacheco gives us an unfiltered look at how she went from being a shy, passive citizen to a builder of communities through her work with ACT 4 SA, the first grassroots organization in San Antonio to focus on policing the police. In the process she talks about developing the confidence to canvas for candidates and causes, the training and support that allowed her to take the leap, the med...

So you want to fight climate change but you’re feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem? Margaret Klein Salamon is a clinical psychologist turned climate activist eager to help people overcome inertia and fear so they can get involved in the climate movement. We talk about how to activate “emergency mode” instead of “panic mode” to face some of the biggest challenges of our time, and what’s at stake if we don’t. Episode Links: Learn more about Margaret / Climate Awakening:...

So you’re interested in running for state assembly? In 2021, Irene Shin took on an incumbent Delegate in Virgina’s 86th district and won! Now embarking on her second campaign for the VA House of Delegates, we talk about how she got involved in state-level politics, how she decided to run for office, the first steps she took to declare and build a campaign staff, and what life looks like in a part-time state assembly. In the process we talk about the challenges of being a historic “first,” why...

So you’re a journalist interested in using your skills to amplify new narratives and voices and promote a more just, more equitable world? This wide-ranging, incredibly thoughtful conversation with journalist and Long COVID activist Fiona Lowenstein is all about the power of storytelling, using journalism for good, the importance of accessibility, and how to use privilege and access constructively in one’s activist work. Fiona talks about how their skills as a communicator have helped them no...

So you’re hoping to meet other activists, learn about their work, and figure out how you can join forces or support each other’s work? Netroots Nation 2023, the largest annual conference for progressives in America, is almost here! We spoke to longtime program communications director Mary Rickles Conley about the value of building a progressive community, how she got involved with Netroots, how their speakers and panelists are selected, and what attendees can gain from attending, both in pers...

So you’re hoping to propel a cause into the public eye in a way that’s thoughtful and effective? What do you do? For David Fenton, the longtime progressive PR guru who began his activist work in the late 1960s alongside figures like Abbie Hoffman and Yoko Ono, the answer has been to stick to some simple rules: straightforward and understandable messaging, repetition, effective storytelling, and the other principles that he lays out in his book, The Activist's Media Handbook. We spoke about hi...

So, the election is over, political changes are afoot, and you’re looking to help people take action into their own hands. What do you do? For Elyssa Feder and her team at Rising Organizers, the answer was to teach emerging activists the tools they need to change their communities, policies, and the world. By focusing on issues instead of elections, Rising Organizers helps people take steps towards making this change whether or not an election is on the horizon. Episode Links: Risin...

So, you’re campaigning for a timely but hot-button ballot initiative and need to reach voters without eliciting knee-jerk reactions. What do you do? For Ashley All and the many coalition partners working with Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the answer was to empower local activists to reach out in their communities and work together to message that protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion is one way to protect something Kansans of all political stripes value: Freedom. Kansas was the...

So you’ve gotten involved in a major political protest movement but you want to do more. What else can you do? For Chi Ossé, an active organizer with the BLM movement working in nightlife, the drive to make change led into a successful city council bid, making Ossé the youngest member of the New York City Council and the youngest person ever to pass a bill in New York City. Ossé believes that local politics are the best place to begin the work of improving communities, cities, and the nation ...

So your community of veterans is getting sick because of toxic exposures on the job, but nobody, including the federal government, wants to take responsibility for your care. What do you do? For Rosie Torres and Susan Zeier, the answer was the organize a major lobbying effort to ensure that burn pit victims like their family members were taken care of. For Rosie, the founder of Burn Pits 360, this involved organizing a community and marshaling the efforts of people like Susan, who were willin...

So you’re concerned about a local issue in a small rural community and you need to start an advocacy effort from scratch. What do you do? Donald Hebbard was a retired farmer and longtime resident of a rural area in upstate New York when he learned of a plan to put a natural gas compressor station in his town. Concerned about the impact this would have on the environment and community, he and a group of concerned citizens put together a local advocacy effort and won. Episode Links: Comp...

So you’re thinking about how to connect young people interested in running for office with the resources and community they need to win. What’s your first step? For Amanda Litman, a veteran of the Obama campaign, the first step was to put up a website looking for people interested in running for local office. What the response was greater than she could have ever imagined, she and a friend recruited volunteers and got to work helping thousands of young candidates navigate how to file, how to ...

So you’re looking to be a part of a faith community, but one that shares your values about things like reproductive rights LGBTQIA+ issues, and more? How do you find one? How do you create one? For Rev. Angela Willams, the co-director of Movement Building at SACRED, faith and political action are intertwined. She talks about being called to become a Pastor while finding her political voice, working to change the narrative that religious communities are inherently conservative, and how religio...

So you live in a rural community that’s been ignored by the Democratic establishment, but you want to get involved in the political system. So, what do you do? For Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward, taking the lessons they’d learned while working in the climate movement and applying them to what they knew about Chloe’s rural home community taught them a lot about how to win campaigns in rural spaces. After working together to get Chloe elected to the Maine statehouse - the youngest woman ever ...

You’re an American living abroad, but you want to have a voice in choosing who represents you, so what do you do? For Candice Kerestan, an American living in Germany, the question of how to work towards a more equitable and just American system was made more urgent by her experience living in the German system, where issues like education, healthcare, and combating climate change were being prioritized. So, she got involved at the ground level with her local chapter of Democrats Abroad, and n...

You’re skilled in the arts and you want to use those skills to make change, so what do you do? For Shannon Downey, a.k.a. Badass Cross Stitch, the answer was simple: Build a community of craft lovers and doers, and connect them with activists, issue-based craft challenges, fundraising opportunities, bystander training and advocacy workshops, and, of course, each other. Shannon tells us how she took her love of embroidery and lifelong passion for political action and combined the two. Ep...

If you can see how big, seemingly-intractable national and international issues impact your local community, what do you do? For Rachel Dawn Davis, community activist and public policy and justice organizer with Waterspirit, the answer has been to search for intersections and connections between myriad local and national causes and do…whatever needs to be done. Between her work with veterans, her environmental activism, and her work in her community and New Jersey more broadly, she’s built ad...

If you don’t see any people in power who look like you or come from your background, what do you do? For A’shanti Gholar, President of Emerge America, the answer was to jump into the ring herself. From her high school showdown with a candidate for U.S. Senate to her work training women to run for office all over the nation, A’Shanti shares the story of how she took an early interest in politics and turned it into a career helping others. Episode Links: Emerge America: Website | Face...

A new crisis explodes and you’re the frontlines. What do you do? Marked by COVID co-founder Kristin Urquiza’s father died from COVID after trusting Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s claims that “it was safe to resume normal activities.” While reeling from the loss, she and co-founder Christine Keeves made the decision to act, hoping to save others from facing similar losses. Find out how they went about forming Marked by COVID and began helping lead the fight for accountability, recognition, and ...