In this episode, Niki interviews James Lopez, Executive Director at Power U Center for Social Change. Grounded in an organizing tradition and a leftist framework, the two discuss what it means for "defund the police" to go mainstream, the benefits and limitations of social media politickin, and what is needed to win meaningful material social change. James began organizing through the Western New York Law Center working with members of their consumer debt clinic, which helped change New York sta...
Aug 24, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode, Niki interviews Francisco Perez aka Platanomics , a Black solidarity economy activist, educator, and researcher currently pursuing a PhD in economics. In this interview, the two unpack Black capitalism, how buying Black unfortunately won't free us, and how this crisis offers us some openings for transformation. The conversation attempts to answer "whose concerns does Black capitalism actually speak to?" Francisco is the Director of the Center for Popular Economics , a nonprofit ...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode, Niki interviews Kari Faux , a multidisciplinary artist, rapper, and producer. The two get vulnerable and real about the impact of social media, the conflation of visibility with fame and financial security, and the power that having supportive friends and family has on our mental health. Through this candid conversation, Kari talks about the pressures of living in LA, the creative process behind producing and writing music, and how artists are more than 'aesthetic packages' up f...
Jul 09, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey , a multidisciplinary cannabis entrepreneur, artist, and writer. Gushing in their shared gemini curiosity, Niki and Mennlay discuss the politics of weed, the hype moment of CBD, ancestral wisdom present in food, and how the African Diaspora is expansive and in every corner of the world. Mennlay is the author of The Art of Weed Butter: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Cannabutter Master . Her work has been featured in Vogue, Hea...
May 18, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Cynthia Cervantes Gumbs , creative director and co-founder of Maroon World . As COVID-19 begins to shift perspectives around the indispensable value of childcare labor and reproductive work, Niki brings in Cynthia for a fresh perspective on what it means to be an artist, a mother, and an emerging voice in the creative world - with all identities coexisting in harmony. They discuss the myths and hangups around pregnancy and motherhood in an era of white...
May 07, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Doris Muñoz , founder of Mija Mgmt , representing some of the top emerging Latinx artists. At 23, she took indie artist Cuco from backyard shows to Coachella in just one year. Understanding that representation is not enough for improving the material conditions for immigrants, she started Solidarity for Sanctuary , a concert series that connects undocumented families to grassroots organizations. Through this candid and vulnerable conversation, they dis...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Marz and Amin of Decolonize This Place , a collective of organizers, artists, and cultural workers in NYC who have led actions of solidarity with Palestine, Black Liberation, and decolonizing the land NYC landlords profit off of. Some of their most notable actions have been against museums across NYC in hopes of holding them accountable. As COVID19 heightens the crisis of disaster capitalism, they discuss some sobering assessments of the moment, the ro...
Apr 24, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode, Niki interviews Kia Damon ( @kiacooks ), an emerging multifaceted Chef and the Culinary Director for Cherry Bombe . They discuss what it means to be self-taught, young, gifted, queer, and Black in an industry with harsh labor expectations and a culture that particularly de-prioritizes self care and mental health. Tracing ancestral wisdom through food, Kia offers a unique perspective into the culinary world and what is possible when we step out of the rigid eurocentric and capita...
Dec 02, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In this episode, Niki interviews Becca McCharen-Tran , queer fashion designer and founder of Chromat (a swim and bodywear brand known for its powerful garments that fit all bodies). Recognizing the impact of cultural institutions, they discuss the inherent white supremacist nature of the fashion industry, pick apart the contradictions of the new trends of "body positivity" and "inclusivity", and highlight different designers who are centering conversations of race, police brutality, and the carc...
Nov 12, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In this episode, Niki interviews Zaina Alsous , a Palestinian, abolitionist poet, and movement worker in Miami. Processing the urgency of the current carceral and climate crisis, they discuss potential interventions to resist and disrupt fascism, within an analysis of settler colonialism, and the power of new language as a means to world-making and envisioning social and political possibilities. Zaina's work has been published in the Boston Review, Bitch Magazine, the New Inquiry, Mask Magazine,...
Jul 21, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In this episode, Niki interviews Mars , founder of Art Hoe Collective , a globally-renowned QTPOC collective of young artists that helped catalyze the movement of online creative collectives back in 2015. Navigating the nuances of commodification of bodies of color; they discuss exploitation of trauma, the precarity of the gig economy, the invisibility of creative labor by femmes of color, and the effects of radical rhetoric becoming mainstream. Art Hoe Collective has been featured in PAPER Maga...
Jun 05, 2019•50 min•Season 1Ep. 1
