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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:

White People in Solidarity Against Racism Aug 03, 2016

Show notes

A social justice group that invites white people to fight racism is spreading like wildfire in the US. From 12 to 150 chapters in two years. Clearly a whole lot of white people are interested in fighting systemic injustice. But how? This week's guests have dedicated their lives to grappling with that question, for the sake of making real change. They are both organizers, educators, and feminist anti-racist activists.

Dara Silverman is the former Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and is currently the National Coordinator for SURJ: Showing Up for Racial Justice, a network with over 100 chapters and affiliates across the United States moving white people into action for racial justice. Chris Crass is the former co-coordinator of Catalyst Project, an antiracist training organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. And the author of two books, Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy and Towards the “Other America”: Anti-Racist Resources for White People Action for Black Lives Matter.

Uninvited to the Party: The 2016 Republican National Convention Jul 25, 2016

Show notes

In this special episode, the Laura Flanders is at the scene of the Republican National Convention -- but while the party is on inside Quicken Loans Arena, much of Cleveland is still grieving. The 2014 death of Tamir Rice still rests in the minds of many city residents, but it is not the only one. And death is a topic; at the RNC, the rhetoric is targeting those who fear the death of middle class chances and white-working class jobs. There's a reality to that too, in a city where the normal family incomes are half the national average. In a city that's hurting, in a country that's hurting, who is speaking to all this hurt? The LF Show are on the ground speaking to Joel Anderson and Cassandra Johnson, the family of Tanisha Anderson, killed by Cleveland Police in 2014. They continue to await justice. Other guests include Jim Mason, Goodyear Unit President and member of United Steelworkers of America; Harriet Applegate, Executive Secretary at North Shore AFL-CIO; Imam Paul Hassan, Cleveland Interfaith Activist; Deb Kline, Director of Cleveland Jobs for Justice; and performances by Prophets of Rage. For behind the scenes, highlights, and more - follow us on Facebook! With special thanks to our supporters, Link TV, and Free Speech TV.

Bernie’s Revolution: Socialism and the People's Struggle Against Capitalism Jun 21, 2016

Show notes

Bernie's success as a mainstream, socialist presidential candidate has taken most commentators by surprise; even after he'd been mathematically counted out of the Democratic nomination race, support for Bernie Sanders kept coming in. One person who wasn't surprised though, is this week’s guest, Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant. Kshama is a teacher, activist, organizer, and a member of Socialist Alternative. She was a visible presence in the Occupy Movement, and an activist in her union, the American Federation of Teachers Local 178. In 2013, Sawant ran for Seattle City Council on a platform of fighting for a $15/hr minimum wage, rent control and taxing the super-rich to fund mass transit and education. She defeated a 16-year incumbent Democrat to become the first socialist elected in a major US city in decades, and the first socialist on the Seattle city council since 1877. On the show, Sawant discusses the radical potential of Bernie's politics, the possibilities for Socialism in America; and argues that the Democratic Party's anti-Trump strategy, with Hillary at the helm, is critically flawed in the long run. Also on the show, Greek alternative energy expert Ioannis Margaris discusses going from theory to practice in the Left government in Greece. All that and a few words from Laura on Liberal Democrats and Rosa Luxemburg.

A New Economy for Whom? Jun 15, 2016

Show notes

Palak Shah discusses The Good Work Code, an attempt to bring comprehensive worker’s rights to Silicon Valley. And Yochai Benkler asks why the people who create all the content on Facebook - you and me - don’t own it. All that and a commentary from Laura on Apple's questionable borrowing practices. Palak Shah is Social Innovations Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. In addition to helping create The Good Work Code, she has worked in state government, for Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, and in the grassroots, from Los Angeles’ Bus Riders’ Union to Generation Five and Oakland Rising, both in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yochai Benkler is author of The Wealth of Networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. He is Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

No More Debt for Puerto Rico Jun 13, 2016

Show notes

3.5 million Americans in Puerto Rico are in dire crisis. The island territory is mired in debt and facing imminent default. Media coverage has blamed the last twenty years - when tax breaks were rolled back and loans extended. But this week’s guests say the root of Puerto Rico's problems go deeper than that - to US colonial rule. If colonialism's at least in part the culprit here, it's pretty ironic that the solutions on offer from Congress seem so colonial as well.

This week, journalist Ed Morales and activist Charles Khan talk about the roots of the problem, and how a colonial approach to a colonial problem just might not do it. Later in the show, we visit with the Urban Bush Women at their Summer Leadership Institute, a training program for artists and organizers held every year in New Orleans. Founded in 1984 by choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women seeks to bring the untold and under-told histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. All that and a few words from Laura on Yale University’s outrageous aversion to paying taxes.

Charles Khan is the Organizing Director at the Strong Economy For All Coalition, a Coalition of Labor Unions and Community groups fighting for economic equality, equal funding of public schools, and corporate accountability in New York State. He is also a leader of the HedgeClippers - an activist group taking on the Hedge Funds.

Ed Morales is a journalist who has investigated New York City electoral politics, police brutality, street gangs, grassroots activists, and the Latino arts and music scene. He is also the author of "Living in Spanglish and The Latin Beat: From Rumba to Rock." He also co-directed a documentary called "Whose Barrio?" and is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

Ireland's New Rising Jun 06, 2016

Show notes

One hundred years after the Easter Rising of 1916, the question of Irish sovereignty still looms large. New challenges face the Irish in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and slashes to public spending in the North have ignited fresh waves of resistance. In this special report, Laura Flanders returns to Ireland, 30 years after first reporting on the so-called "Troubles". With photographer Paula Allen she takes a fresh look at Irish nationalism through the stories of socialists, anti-imperialists, anti-austerity activists and several generations of republicans. With Fintan O'Toole of The Irish Times, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O'Broin, Clare Daly TD, and more. Made possible by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting #pulitzercenter.

Rising up Against Empire: Jeremy Scahill and the Easter uprising May 24, 2016

Show notes

Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill talks about the secrets he’s learned about our government’s assassination programs, and how our military policies are leading to more oppression at home as well. Then, Laura visits Ireland for the anniversary of a one hundred year old rising against empire, and her commentary looks at the undeserved power of hedge fund managers. Jeremy Scahill is an award-winning investigative journalist and a founding editor of The Intercept. He is the author Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield, and a producer of the film Dirty Wars, which was nominated for an academy award for best documentary. His newest book, co-written with the staff of The Intercept, is The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program.

Union Banking and Progressive Ice Cream May 20, 2016

Show notes

A bank founded by a garment workers union, and a global ice cream company founded by a couple of hippies from Brooklyn. Keith Mestrich, President & CEO of Amalgamated Bank, talks about running a big bank with a social justice mission. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream talk about Bernie Sanders and progressive business principles - do they exist? Later in the show, Laura comments on the rise of automation - is it the end of human connection?

Eat the Rich? Raphaële Chappe & Nick Hanauer May 12, 2016

Show notes

Can the wealthy save the rest of us from themselves? Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer tells us what’s wrong with rich people, and former Goldman Sachs Vice President Raphaele Chappe tells us about her work to even the playing field between the 1% and the 99% with the Robin Hood Hedge Fund.

Revolutionary Mothering May 04, 2016

Show notes

On this special Mother’s day episode, guest host Alexis Pauline Gumbs explores revolutionary mothering with a panel of guests including China Martens, Mai’a Williams, Victoria Law, and Cynthia Dewi Oka. Self-described Queer Black troublemaker and Black feminist love evangelist Alexis Pauline Gumbs is the author of Spill: Fugitive Scenes, coming later this year from Duke University press. China Martens is the author of, among many other works, The Future Generation: The Zine-book for Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends and Others, and co-editor of Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities. Mai’a Williams is a former journalist for teleSUR English and author of two books of poetry. Victoria Law is the author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women. Cynthia Dewi Oka works at Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and her book of poems, Nomad of Salt and Hard Water, was a 2015 Pushcart Prize Nominee.

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