Our Body Politic

Latest Episodes:

Voices of Buffalo, Rep. Ruben Gallego on Racial Terror, and CRT May 20, 2022

Show notes

This week, U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona speaks with Farai about how his past experience as a Marine combat veteran helped him keep himself and fellow congresspeople safe during the insurrection on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol building. The pair also discuss the mass shooting in Buffalo and how replacement theory is a driving force for racial discrimination. 'Our Body Politic Presents' features Pushkin Industries’ podcast, “Getting Even With Anita Hill", with Anita Hill's interview of legal scholar and civil rights activist Kimberlé Crenshaw on Critical Race theory, a term Crenshaw helped coin in the late 1980s, that is now central to America’s culture wars. And on our weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai speaks to two veteran journalists and longtime residents of Buffalo, N.Y., Rod Watson and Sandy White, about the impacts of the racist mass shooting on their community.

Preparing for and Fighting Against a Post-Roe Future May 13, 2022

Show notes

Given the recent leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision which could overturn Roe v. Wade, we do a special episode with a focus on abortion access, law and lived experience. Farai starts with best-selling author of Nomadland, investigative journalist Jessica Bruder. Her Atlantic Magazine cover story, “The Abortion Underground” details the covert network that is preparing for the possible end of legal abortion on the national level. Farai invites Jessica to answer questions provided by OBP listeners as well as share additional insight she has on what preparing for a post-Roe future could look like. Then, Farai speaks with Madison Jacobs, communications strategist at the Public Rights Project about the state-level abortion fight in Michigan and elsewhere. In the weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai speaks with law professor and OBP legal contributor Tiffany Jeffers and reproductive rights expert and UC Irvine law professor Michele Goodwin, who begins with the lived experience and learnings from her own abortion.

Aging with Purpose and Redefining Strength for Black Women May 06, 2022

Show notes

What does it mean to age with purpose? In this week’s show, we are invited to hear a past conversation between Farai and author of Sign My Name to Freedom Betty Reid Soskin, who recently retired at age 100 from her work as a National Park Ranger and community historian. Then in “Our Body Politics Presents,” we hear more from Tonya Mosley’s podcast “Truth Be Told” where she speaks to Ayanna Brown, a mother who graciously details her cycle of loving, losing, grieving, and persevering. On the weekly segment, “Sippin’ the Political Tea” Farai speaks with professor and Vice Chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Dr. Mercedes Carnethon and author of 55, Underemployed and Faking Normal, Elizabeth White on how to age well, physically, emotionally and financially.

In Depth -- The Investigation into January 6th, plus the Roots of the Insurrection Apr 29, 2022

Show notes

This week Boston Globe senior op-ed writer Kimberly Atkins Stohr joins Farai to discuss the latest findings - and potential government involvement - in the January 6 insurrection investigation. Our host then speaks candidly with OBP senior producer Bianca Martin about Farai’s 30 year journey as a field reporter who focuses on the challenges to democracy and society, and who predicted the 2021 political violence. Their conversation leads us back 12 years to Farai’s radio documentary “Pop and Politics Radio.” Traveling hundreds of miles through Arizona during the 2010 midterm election, Farai and the documentary producers saw how many of today’s political battles began to take shape, laying groundwork for the 2021 insurrection.

Leveraging Financial Power to Build Equity; A Brief History of Black Education in America; PLUS Restorative Economics Creating Pathways to Prosperity Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

How do you harness the power of money for the greater good? This week, Farai speaks to philanthropist Mona Sinha, founder and CEO of the Insight Circle Fund, about what it means to make an impact as a woman of color in the worlds of finance and of giving. In the series “Our Body Politic Presents…” Aimée Eubanks Davis, host and creator of the podcast After 1954 speaks to author of Black Teachers on Teaching, researcher and professor Michele Foster about the rich past of Black education in the United States, specifically the effects of school desegregation on Black students following Brown V. Board. Then in our weekly segment, ‘Sippin’ the Political Tea’, Farai speaks about pathways to shared prosperity and innovative approaches to community and finance with Nwamaka Agbo, CEO of the Kataly Foundation and Managing Director of the Restorative Economies Fund; and Jessica Norwood, Founder of RUNWAY.

Black Women Fighting Against Disinformation and Reshaping Tech; PLUS Inflation & Reproductive Rights Shaping the Midterms Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

This week, Farai speaks with Bridget Todd, technology guru and creator and host of the podcast, “There Are No Girls on the Internet.” In addition to spotlighting Bridget’s fascinating career as a digital creator and futurist, in our series, “Our Body Politic Presents…” we share a conversation between Bridget and freelancer and activist Shafiqah Hudson about how she and other Black women tried to help Twitter block disinformation. In our weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai speaks to senior adviser at The Lincoln Project and former GOP congressional communications director Tara Setmayer and op-ed columnist for the Washington Post and OBP Contributor Karen Attiah about the latest in U.S. news and politics, particularly how inflation and abortion are affecting current politics and the midterms.

Empowering People in Disaster; Creating a Stronger Democracy; and All Things SCOTUS Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

This week, Farai speaks to Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, former mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico about what it took to guide her people through the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, as well as to create a compass for women leaders to understand their own power. In "Our Body Politic Presents..." A’shanti Gholar, host of the podcast “The Brown Girls Guide to Politics” interviews Dr. Sadaf F. Jaffer, the first Asian-American woman and first Muslim American woman sworn into the New Jersey General Assembly, about what it means for someone with her intersecting identities to have a voice in legislation. On our weekly segment, Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai talks with Georgetown University law professor and OBP legal contributor Tiffany Jeffers and University of Baltimore law professor and Op-Ed columnist for the Atlantic and Politico Kim Wehle about all things Supreme Court.

"Long COVID”; Decolonizing Parenting; COVID and Mental Health Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

This week, Farai speaks to Dr. Raven Baxter about the effects of “long COVID” and the power she discovered from her own personal journey with the illness. In "Our Body Politic Presents..." Tonya Mosley of the podcast “Truth Be Told” interviews her mother and parenting coach Yolanda Williams about the joys and challenges of raising free and healthy Black children in today’s world. On our weekly segment Sippin' the Political Tea, Farai talks with former Obama White House Health Policy Director Dr. Kavita Patel and psychiatrist and activist Dr. Kali Cyrus about mental health and equity in healthcare when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SCOTUS Confirmation Hearing; A Well-Read Black Girl; Oscar Predictions Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

This week, Farai speaks to Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who shares a firsthand take on the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings at Capitol Hill for SCOTUS nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. In ‘Our Body Politic Presents…’ we hear from actor and author Gabrielle Union who spoke to the podcast, “Well-Read Black Girl” about writing her truth. And in Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai talks with pop culture gurus Casey Mendoza of Newsy and Candice Frederick of the Huffington Post about all things Oscars.

Finding Joy, Nikki Giovanni’s Wisdom, and High Gas Prices Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

And a big thank you to Tonya Mosley, host and creator of the podcast Truth Be Told and her team: Ayanna Angel, Aisha Brown, James T. Green and Enrico Benjamin. Truth be Told is a production of TMI Productions in association with Fearless Media.

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