The Radical Bureaucrat

Latest Episodes:

S2:E5--Tassika Lloyd, @t_lloyd, Sociologist and Visionary Mar 21, 2020

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We hear from Tassika Lloyd, who shares with us some of the ways her heart is heavy reckoning with (and calling people to reckon with) the ways that they are modeling things right now that are teaching our kids what it means to cope in a crisis. Takissa blew us away with her visionary call for collectivism in this critical chapter of human history.

S2:E4--Seth Hanlon, American Progress Mar 20, 2020

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We hear from Seth Hanlon, a veteran wonk and bureaucrat in the seat of the Federal Government. We discuss the challenges of working from home, the 'all hands on deck' environment in DC right now, and what our elected representatives from both parties are coalescing on in terms of economic recovery programming.

S2:E3--Genevieve DeBose, LAUSD Mar 19, 2020

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We chat with educator, artist, and instructional leader Genevieve DeBose about making time for collective and self care, the social costs of isolation and physical distancing (socially we are still practicing solidarity and love!), and how schools and workplaces are important sources of belonging for students AND workers (AND managers AND leaders).

S2:E2--Toni Smith-Thompson of NYCLU Mar 17, 2020

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Sam and Abram chat with Toni Smith-Thompson, who is working from her NYC apartment as a Community Organizer for the NY Civil Liberties Union (NY State branch of the ACLU). The lockdown won't stop the movement, because we move from a place of purpose. There will be change, mistakes, losses, and grief (which we must take time to process), but there is also our purpose. The decisions we make, the leaders we become at this time of crisis, and the ways that we take action to live out our values—these are the stories our grandchildren will tell about us.

Season 2! Coronavirus Lockdown with The Radical Bureaucrat Mar 16, 2020

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Season 2 of The Radical Bureaucrat: Now with less editing and polishing, but still made with love. Join us as we try to make sense of living through this unprecedented moment. Questions and Comments via Twitter @RadBureau

S1-E8: "Brazil," the Movie (Season Finale) Mar 04, 2019

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For the last episode of the season, Sam and Abram invited some friends to watch and discuss Brazil, a surreal film that takes on themes of bureaucracy and alienation. Sam and Abram are joined by Patrick G. Williamson, who works for the NYC Department of Education and produces the podcast 3 Educated Brothas, and Toni Smith-Thompson, who is an organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union. In Brazil, protagonist Sam Lowry works for a massive bureaucracy called Central Services, but fantasizes about becoming a “lone wolf” hero who rescues a damsel in distress. It inspires a conversation addressing questions like: What is normalcy, and what can we learn by observing who accepts it and who doesn’t? How do we balance individual ambition with the call to be of service to other people? How does the dystopia in Brazil mirror the real world? And, should we work to change unjust systems by trying to become revolutionary heroes, or can we build community to work for incremental change? Further reading: Brazil (1985 film), directed by Terry Gilliam. Sorry to Bother You (2018 film), directed by Boots Riley. 3 Educated Brothas podcast (http://www.3educatedbrothas.com/). Jay Smooth – “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdxeFcQtaU) The Coup – “Me and Jesus the Pimp in a ’79 Granada Last night” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr1JLoYLW4) Killer Mike – “Reagan” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU) Ill Doctrine, a video blog by Jay Smooth (http://illdoctrine.com/)

S1-E7: If You Want to Go Far, Go Together (Paul Forbes) Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Sam and Abram chat with Paul Forbes while he drives one of his Expanded Success Initiative students to college. The Expanded Success Initiative, which Paul runs, is a New York City Department of Education program that works with Black and Latino boys in high schools to make sure they graduate ready for college and career. Paul’s approach has a strong emphasis on community- and relationship-building. Process vs. policy is a major theme in this conversation as Paul shares how he works at the school level to build trust in the program among educators and students. The group revisits the metaphor of a jigsaw puzzle, with its messy curves that combine to create a whole picture, as a stand-in for effective collaboration. They talk about how to reconcile that messiness with policy-making, which tends to have a stronger emphasis on control and order. The conversation—and Paul’s work—is guided by the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, you should go alone. But if you want to go far, you should go together.”

S1-BONUS: MLK Day 2019 Jan 21, 2019

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A special tribute to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior.

S1-E6: All About Love (bell hooks) Jan 14, 2019

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"The Radical Bureaucrat: Love" When a co-worker cried after a tense phone conversation, Sam started thinking about accountability and human relationships within bureaucracy. Inspired by this incident and by the closeness they’ve built while working on The Radical Bureaucrat, Abram and Sam spend this episode exploring the intersection of love with the bureaucratic workplace. Join a conversation framed around bell hooks’ All About Love in which the guys unpack what love is (and isn’t), what a workplace characterized by love would look like, why the concept of love is taboo, and how that taboo is baked into the systems that organize our workplaces. Along the way, they discuss issues like gender, race, class, capitalism, and the “junk food” version of care in modern workplaces rich in amenities but poor in work/life balance. Tune in and get inspired to build a more collaborative, loving community in your professional relationships, personal life, and the global community. Further reading: hooks, bell. All About Love: New Visions. 2000. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1968. Darder, Antonia. Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love. 2002. Marx, Karl (editor: Robert C. Tucker). The Marx-Engels Reader. Published 1972. Nossa Chape. 2018 film. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983678/]"

S1-E5: Cutting School, Listening to Communities (Noliwe Rooks) Dec 16, 2018

Show notes

The Radical Bureaucrat: Noliwe Rooks At the beginning of her most recent book, Dr. Noliwe Rooks shares a conversation she had over and over with her white, affluent students at Princeton. They called education “the civil rights issue of our time,” and seemed eager and committed to eradicating educational inequity. Rooks quickly noticed that for all their enthusiasm, few of her students had actually visited the underserved schools and neighborhoods they wanted to help or talked to the parents, students, and educators there. When Rooks brought up this type of engagement, they seemed dismissive of the idea that it was even necessary. In today’s conversation, Dr. Rooks shares how these repetitive conversations reflect broad rhetoric in the education reform movement and historical patterns in the racialized history of education in the U.S. She shares the concept of "segrenomics," economic and business models that require segregation to produce profits. She describes the great lengths that formerly-enslaved people in the rural south took to build schools in their communities, why white philanthropists took all the credit, and how similar patterns echo in today’s education politics. Rooks explores all the reasons why, if we ever hope to serve our most marginalized communities as bureaucrats, we need to engage meaningfully and continuously with community members who’ve been organizing, teaching, and fighting for education resources for decades. Further reading: · Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education by Noliwe M. Rooks. 2017. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34196066-cutting-school · Comparative and International Education Society https://www.cies.us/ Referenced in this episode: · Waiting for “Superman,” David Guggenheim, 2010. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1566648/ · Dangerous Minds, John N. Smith, 1995. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112792/ · Stand and Deliver, Ramón Menéndez, 1988. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/ · Race to the Top: 2009 U.S. Department of Education initiative that awarded grants to education reform initiatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_Top · EduColor Collective: http://www.educolor.org/about/ · Teach for America: https://www.teachforamerica.org/ Show notes by Hannah E. Brown; “Aquarela” do Brasil by Ary Barroso, Performed by Peter Markowski, Luke Maurer, and Abram Guerra; Thanks to Chris Martinie for logo and all of you for your love and support.

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