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The Laura Flanders Show — Society & Culture
The Laura Flanders Show

Award winning host, author and journalist Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people from the world of politics, business, culture and social movements. The show explores actionable models for creating a better world by reporting on the people and movements driving systemic change. We spotlight the solutions of tomorrow, today. The show airs on PBS stations in over 80% of the US market, and airs on 40+ community radio stations, and is available on YouTube and as a podcast. Online subscribers receive lots of video and audio web exclusives. Recent specials include “Indigenous People’s Power”, “James Baldwin: Lessons for the US”, “Building Public Trust for Public Health”, “Countering the Coup From the Grassroots Up”. Recent special guests include Representative Karen Bass, environmental activist Jane Fonda, economist Robert Reich, author/activist Naomi Klein, agrarian reformer Shirley Sherrod, novelist Arundhati Roy, economist Michael Hudson and ’Next System” theorist Gar Alperovitz.

Latest Episodes:

Progressive Congress and Progressive Confidence Feb 22, 2017

Show notes

The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is 25 years old, and yet, the shadow of a Trump administration looms over its vision to advance a progressive agenda. In this seemingly discouraging time, what does the CPC offer, and how does it stay progressive? In the ramp-up to the DNC Chair nomination, for which Keith Ellison (D-MN), chair of the CPC, has hotly campaigned, Laura travels to the 2017 Progressive Congress to speak to progressive leaders.

Joining Laura this week are CPC First Vice Chair Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI); CPC Vice Chair Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA); CPC Vice Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY). Pocan and Lee bring to us an optimistic forecast for how progressive organizing will take on authoritarian and isolationist legislation. Jayapal and Clarke echo this sense of confidence in their caucus and constituents ability to organize. And all four celebrated Congresspeople reaffirm their belief in Keith Ellison’s ability to direct the Democratic party further left.

Rep. Mark Pocan was the first to introduce a bill to impeach Trump on the House floor; Rep. Barbara Lee has introduced a bill to protest Steve Bannon’s appointment to the National Security Council; Pramila Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, known for her leadership in FightFor$15 Seattle; Rep. Yvette Clarke has sponsored a bill to prohibit the use of federal funds to support the Muslim Ban executive order.

Standing Up to Big Brother: Thenmozhi Soundararajan Feb 16, 2017

Show notes

Trump has been critiqued, among other things, as the troll-in-chief. His presidential win can be credited to the rise of alt-right internet 'trolls,' complex bots, and the online harassment of his opponents. Our guest this week, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Dalit organizer, filmmaker, and activist, says the spread of online attacks comes with vast offline risks for communities in danger. When Steve Bannon, an avowed white nationalist, serves on the National Security Council, with access to the largest police and surveillance apparatus in world history, there's a problem we haven't even gauged yet, says Soundararajan. Laura speaks with Thenmozhi about the history of surveillance as a tool for state control and violence. And why, to build an effective resistance against the threat represented by Breitbart and the NSA, resources need to go to counter measures. Although the language of cybersecurity can seem overwhelming, simple tools and training can reduce an average person's risk by 80%, says our guest. For undocumented immigrants, women, and people of color, these practices can make the difference between life and prison. She and her colleagues know first-hand, from their own experience of a hack attack sourced to the extremist Modi government in India. Thenmozhi Soundararajan is the executive director of human rights and security startup Equality Labs, director of the film Dalit Women Fight!, and the first Dalit woman on Facebook. She is a transmedia storyteller, technologist, and journalist who has won countless awards for her versatile work. Find Equality Labs digital security one-sheets at https://www.equalitylabs.org/ #countersurveillance #digitalsecurity

A Vision For The Progressive Left Feb 01, 2017

Show notes

Guest host Bhaskar Sunkara (editor of Jacobin Magazine) engages political voices Kate Aronoff and Jonah Birch in a conversation about the future of the Left: were the election results a testament to the decline of the Left, or is this a moment for a new left movement? When 13 million people in America cast a vote for a self described Democratic Socialist, is there hope to be found in a political movement propelled by the swamp in the White House? Our guests this week discuss how we got to Trump, and where we -- as progressives -- are going. Kate Aronoff is a writing fellow at In These Times, and writes for Truthout, Dissent, and the Guardian, as well as hosting the Dissent podcast. Jonah Birch is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at New York University and a member of the International Socialist Organization, and also writes for Jacobin.

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Cooperative Economics for a POC-Led Future: Aaron Tanaka Jan 26, 2017

Show notes

Under the Trump regime, we’ll certainly have to be on the defense to protect the communities most likely to be attacked -- but we’ll also have to build powerful, alternative models where POC, Muslim, undocumented, disabled, and queer folks have leadership. In this week’s episode, Laura speaks with Aaron Tanaka, founder and director of the Center for Economic Democracy about his longtime advocacy and visionary work for the next system of solidarity economics. Tanaka wants to know if Trump will make us think think or act differently about extractive capitalism. To change the circumstances of injustice, whether it’s mass incarceration or mass displacement, we have to build our communities’ governance power to take control of their economic resources -- so says Tanaka. Tanaka and the Center for Economic Democracy are one of the many organizations behind Boston’s Ujima program, which is funneling the discourse of democratic economics into the practice we need. The Ujima project is helping communities of color direct their resources into the ideas they believe in, through a cooperative model of community budgeting. All this, and an F-Word from Laura on why we’ve got to look beyond personality politics to understand the actual culture that’s driving the nation’s voters.

Capitalism, Raced & Gendered: Rick Wolff & Farah Tanis Jan 12, 2017

Show notes

Capitalism looks different to those who were once commodities, and that has implications for how we build a future not based in domination.

Holiday Special Pt. 2: Facing Race – Kim Diehl + Tarso Luís Ramos Dec 29, 2016

Show notes

Supposedly, the far right have won. So what now? We ask our guests this week the same question, taking from a mixed pot of loss and success. Whether it's about the fight for reproductive justice in the South, or a movement for rural agency in progressive work, our guests offer some wisdom on what's happening now, and what's next as we head into the new administration.

The Facing Race conference, coordinated by Race Forward this November in Atlanta, brought together some of the most noteworthy names in progressive organizing right now. This week on the show, we have a special compilation of interviews from the conference with these very activists.

On this Holiday Special for the Laura Flanders Show Podcast, Laura speaks with Tarso Luís Ramos, executive director of Political Research Associates, about the far right's global dawn; Kim Diehl of the National Employment Law Project, on strategy for progressive movements.

For more on these organizations, check out our website at www.lauraflanders.com.

Holiday Special: Facing Race – Rural Organizing Project + Eesha Pandit Dec 22, 2016

Show notes

Supposedly, the far right have won. So what now? We ask our guests this week the same question, taking from a mixed pot of loss and success. Whether it's about the fight for reproductive justice in the South, or a movement for rural agency in progressive work, our guests offer some wisdom on what's happening now, and what's next as we head into the new administration. The Facing Race conference, coordinated by Race Forward this November in Atlanta, brought together some of the most noteworthy names in progressive organizing right now. This week on the show, we have a special compilation of interviews from the conference with these very activists. On this Holiday Special for the Laura Flanders Show Podcast, Laura speaks with Cara Shufelt and Jessica Campbell, of the Rural Organizing Project, on supporting rural mobilization; and Esha Pandit, from the Center for Advancing Innovative Policy, on reproductive justice victories in Texas.

Not Trickle Down, But Bottom Up: Anthony Flaccavento Dec 16, 2016

Show notes

At the Laura Flanders Show, we want to find the common ground that unites Americans, stories of progress, equity, and resilience -- to discover that there is more evidence of congress, than of division. Our guest this weeks speaks to some ways he has built a career on these very philosophies of equity and unity. Joining us for last new show of the 2016 year, is Anthony Flaccavento, founder of SCALE (Sequestering Carbon, Accelerating Local Economies) and author of "Building A Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up." Much of the Trump campaign and its cohorts campaigned for "trickle-down" economics -- the idea that, when those at the top (the 1%), do well, that prosperity "trickles down" to the bottom 10%. This concept has been disproven repeatedly. Flaccavento's experience and success in reinvigorating rural communities, which are often left out of macro policies, suggests one major way we can bridge the divides between these disparate parts of America. A resotorative, perhaps, for the shared economic struggles that led to Trump's ascent. Flaccavento hails from rural Virginia in Appalachian country, and has spent the last 25 years in community development advocating for directing government policy and resources towards building sustainable, thriving, rural communities. By building an economy from the bottom up -- that is, from the farm -- we make its foundations sturdy, says Flaccavento.

Facing Race: Stephanie Guilloud + Suzanne Pharr Dec 08, 2016

Show notes

The Facing Race conference, coordinated by Race Forward this November in Atlanta, brought together some of the most noteworthy names in progressive organizing right now. This week on the show, we have a special compilation of interviews from the conference with a couple of these very activists.

On today's show we have Stephanie Guilloud from Project South and Suzanne Pharr, who founded the Woman's Project in 1981 in Arkansas.

For more on these organizations, check out our website at www.lauraflanders.com.

Bridging Fascist Divides: Arlie + Adam Hochschild Dec 01, 2016

Show notes

In the aftermath of the election, much has been said about what liberal government, media, businesses failed to do: contextualize his rise to office and connect with his voters to change their minds. In this episode, Laura interviews Adam and Arlie Hochschild, who have each spent their careers documenting the complexities of political behavior.

Arlie Hochschild, with pragmatic energy, undertook the work we’d all like to do: she left the liberal haven of Berkeley, CA to go to the Louisiana Bayou -- a stronghold of the conservative right. Hochschild interviews Trump voters about their “deep story,” what drives them and how they feel left behind by the same liberal policies they need the most. Her new book, National Book Award finalist, Strangers in their Own Land, hopes to find common ground with Tea Partiers and Alt-Righters beyond politics.

Adam Hochschild is a celebrated writer, cofounder of Mother Jones magazine, whose new book Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. Hochschild, author of eight books, writes with what the New York Times calls prose “constantly vivid yet emotionally restrained” about the struggle of young Americans who joined Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. In our current politically fraught time, Hochschild speaks to the hallmarks of fascism and how to mark its ascent.

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