Apathy Is Not An Option - SPLC

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 22: Expanding Opportunity for Latino Communities Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

The president and CEO of the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, Janet Murguía of UnidosUS, joins Apathy Is Not an Option during Hispanic Heritage Month for a critical conversation on empowering Latinos at a moment when their access to political and socioeconomic opportunity is under attack.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, and Kali Robinson is the associate producer, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 21: Supporting Florida’s Fight for Direct Democracy Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

The ballot initiative process can be used to pass laws when legislatures refuse to act, but in Florida, a new statute, HB 1205, is threatening the survival of this process — and the broader movement to protect U.S. democracy. Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Avner Shapiro and political science professor Daniel Smith break down the SPLC’s efforts to fight HB 1205 and protect direct democracy in Florida.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, and Kali Robinson is the associate producer, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 20: Uplifting Our Entrepreneurs During Black Business Month Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

Andre Perry, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Community Uplift, joins Apathy Is Not an Option during Black Business Month to highlight the importance of Black entrepreneurship. Beyond simply celebrating Black-owned businesses, Perry pushes us to understand the systems that will enable Black entrepreneurs, and the communities that surround them, to truly thrive.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, and Kali Robinson is the associate producer, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 19: Hasan Kwame Jeffries on Reckoning With 250 Years of American History Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

An expert in confronting “hard history,” professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries joins Apathy Is Not an Option for a conversation on the importance of engaging with the United States’ complete history — the good and the bad — during its 250th year. As the nation looks back on its past and imagines the future to come, Jeffries highlights why historical truth matters, what the Black freedom struggle teaches about democracy and how understanding the past can help us resist apathy in the present.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, and Kali Robinson is the associate producer, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 18: Looking Back and Moving Forward for America’s 250th Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

The United States’ 250th year is a time for celebrating, reflecting and looking ahead to envision the nation’s next milestones. Apathy Is Not an Option talks to the SPLC’s Rivka Maizlish about how to honestly reckon with the past on this important occasion, with further insight from professor Carol Anderson on learning from historical struggles to create a better future. That future will be shaped by young people like recent high school graduate Harper Walton-Mouw, who joins us to discuss what the 250th means to her generation.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, and Kali Robinson is the associate producer, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 17: Protect Sapelo. Defend Our Legacy. Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

What does it take to protect a community from being pushed off its own land? This week on Apathy Is Not an Option, Sapelo Island advocate Josiah “Jazz” Watts joins attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Economic Justice litigation team to break down the fight to preserve one of the last intact Gullah-Geechee communities in the South. As developers push for expansion and rising property values threaten generational land ownership, longtime residents have been forced into court to defend their culture, history and right to remain.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 16: Fair Housing in America: From Redlining to Accountability May 12, 2026

Show notes

April is Fair Housing Month — a time to reflect on what it really takes to achieve housing justice. In this episode of Apathy Is Not an Option, host Alex Beightol is joined by Teresa Fox-Bettis, a regional fair housing expert based in the Gulf Coast, and Richard Rothstein, a nationally recognized housing scholar and author, to examine the legacy of redlining and what true accountability looks like today. This conversation challenges us to confront how policy shaped inequality — and what it will take to change it.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors, and Jade Abdul-Malik is the associate producer. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 15: Afrofuturism in Action: Reimagining a Future Where Black Communities Thrive Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

What does it take to build a future where Black communities not only survive, but thrive? Walter Greason and Reynaldo Anderson join Apathy Is Not an Option to explore how Afrofuturism helps us reimagine what’s possible and how it intersects with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s work to advance racial justice, strengthen democracy and challenge systemic inequality.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 14: Women’s History Month: Power, Purpose and Leadership Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

In recognition of Women’s History Month, Apathy Is Not an Option sits down with Karen Baynes-Dunning, the first Black woman to serve as board chair of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Baynes-Dunning shares the lessons she learned from the women who inspired her, the challenges of leading in spaces where few look like you, and why Southern women remain a powerful force in the movement for justice and democracy.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. Alexandria Beightol is the host. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

Ep. 13 Bernice A. King on Embracing Her Parents’ Legacy Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center, joins SPLC investigative reporter Caitlin Cruz for a powerful conversation about her journey from resisting the legacy of her parents — the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King — to embracing her calling to carry their vision forward through nonviolence and lasting social change.
Apathy Is Not an Option is a production of PRX and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Nichole Hill and Mark Pagán are the senior producers and editors. Terence Bernardo handles sound design and mixing. I’m your host, Alexandria Beightol. For the SPLC, the executive producers are Cassandra Douglas and Julian Teixeira, with assistance from technical producer Neil Parekh and senior producer Jennifer Lazarus of Digimentors. From PRX Productions, the project manager is Edwin Ochoa, and the EP is Jocelyn Gonzales.
Visit splcenter.org and follow us on social media to learn more, take action, and support the work of dismantling white supremacy and advancing racial and economic justice.

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