"A bridge is only as strong as its weakest part. Former slave turned educator Anna Julia Cooper uttered those very contemporary-sounding words back in 1893. The US didn’t heed them then. We haven’t heeded them yet. The big question, brought home to us one more time by the Covid 19 crisis, is why not? What does American society so love about having weak parts that we refuse, year after year, and epidemic after epidemic to shore them up?" The F-Word is released bi-monthly featuring timely commenta...
Mar 27, 2020•4 min
Since October 2019, people in Lebanon have been protesting corruption, climate denial, big finance, and government ineptitude. Where does that work stand now? Laura talks with Lebanese activist/artist Dayna Ash who runs one of the few safe spaces for LGBTQI+ people and women in the region about her experience of organizing in a melt-down. Music in the Middle: “Drown Out the Other”, featuring Danya Ash and her collaborator Nour Sokhon courtesy of the artists. As many of you know, the Laura Flande...
Mar 26, 2020•33 min•Ep. 287
Acclaimed “Race Traitor” author, Mab Segrest, takes Laura through deep south to trace the racist roots of American psychiatry. They explore the infamous state mental hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia and visit with Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama to consider how our society’s mental and political health relate to history. Segrest’s newest book is “Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum” due out...
Mar 19, 2020•34 min•Ep. 286
Support by becoming a patron . The F-Word is released bi-monthly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Gra...
Mar 13, 2020•3 min
For more information on Okwui Okpokwasili's work, a link to watch this episode along with additional research materials, go to Patreon.com/theLFShow . That’s also where you can easily become a member for as little as $3 to $12 a month. We couldn’t do the show without you and continue to bring you uplifting voices and issues that matter. Subscribed via Apple Podcasts? Please write a review and we’ll share it on the show . Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;...
Mar 11, 2020•31 min•Ep. 285
In this episode, Laura interviews the founder of One Billion Rising and VDay, Eve Ensler , world renowned playwright, author and activist, along with activist, singer, songwriter Taína Asili about One Billion Rising 2020 , a global movement to stop violence against women and girls by organizing public demonstrations rooted in music and dance. They discuss the role that joyous public movement and song can and must play in soothing trauma, raising awareness, and building solidarity among women acr...
Mar 04, 2020•28 min•Ep. 284
:The latest Laura Flanders commentary, The F-Word :: "Here we are again, ending Black History Month, starting Women’s History month. ...Do we need more months? We certainly need more intersectionality." Become a member and unlock audio extras. The latest, Laura in conversation with Eve Ensler about her new book "The Apology". And Staceyann Chin's performs poetry from her first anthology. Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Produce...
Feb 28, 2020•4 min
In this episode, Laura interviews author and Yale historian Greg Grandin about his new book The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. They explore how America's foundational myth of progress has given way to protectionism. Will opposition to the wall finally force us to reckon with the white supremacist conquest the frontier myth has always but thinly veiled? And what can we do to replace destructive myths with productive truths? Music in the Middle: “Gold...
Feb 26, 2020•30 min•Ep. 283
In an era when companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on diversity and inclusion programs, the proportion of African Americans in tech, media, and business leadership roles is stagnating. In her new book, Diversity, Inc. The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business, award-winning journalist and New York University professor Pamela Newkirk describes the gap between the rhetoric and the reality where racial equity and inclusion are concerned. She calls us to go beyond lip service and r...
Feb 19, 2020•29 min•Ep. 282
"The 2020 presidential race didn’t get decided this week but the choice before us did. More democracy or less of it?" - Laura Flanders' latest commentary. Become a member and unlock audio extras. The latest, Laura in conversation with Eve Ensler about her new book "The Apology". And Staceyann Chin's performs poetry from her first anthology. https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothre...
Feb 14, 2020•4 min
From Austria to Chile, Lagos to London, people are demanding policies that democratize economies and keep public resources in public hands. In just the last decade, more than 2,400 cities in 58 countries have brought privatized resources back under public control. In this episode, Laura reports from Amsterdam at The Future is Public, a conference that brings together hundreds of organizers, scholars, and government officials who are working to democratize their municipal and national economies. ...
Feb 12, 2020•30 min•Ep. 281
The U.S. economy, weak or strong, is the question at the heart of the election. But it doesn't get to the reality which is that, whatever else it may be, the U.S. economy is not democratic or good for the planet. But it could be. Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative say how in their new book The Making of a Democratic Economy. Music in the Middle: “The Offering” by Mark de Clive-Lowe from his album Heritage courtesy of Mashi Beats. theLFShow episode #268 Research & Re...
Feb 05, 2020•30 min
Down-home democracy rests on down-the street media when it comes to covering the Iowa Caucuses 2020. February 3rd 7pm-Midnight (EST) you will be able to follow the livestream of KHOI'S caucus coverage hosted by Laura Flanders at our Facebook page and through Laura's live posts on Twitter the night of. For more details goto LauraFlanders.org Support our coverage by becoming a member at Patreon.com/theLFShow Live From the Iowa Caucuses Pacifica National Coverage February 3, 2020 7:00 – Midnight ES...
Jan 31, 2020•4 min
In this episode, Laura interviews British comedian and activist Jess Thom, TourettesHero, about her performance of Samuel Beckett’s play “Not I”. Thom’s work reveals how neurodiversity makes theater, society—everything!— richer. Support by becoming a member at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow More about "I Am" by Samuel Beckett, performed and adapted by Jess Thom Jess Thom has Tourettes, a condition that means she makes movements and noises she can't control, called tics. Following the award-winnin...
Jan 29, 2020•30 min•Ep. 280
Award-winning poet, performer, novelist, and activist Staceyann Chin has just published her first anthology of poems. She has been featured on Broadway, HBO, and Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam and her latest one woman show, MotherStruck , was adapted for film and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019. In this episode, Laura interviews Chin about the anthology, Crossfire , and her relationship to a cannon dominated by white men. Despite her success, Chin says that until recently she did...
Jan 22, 2020•28 min•Ep. 279
"Given a choice between covering tit-for-tat tweets and reporting on voting rights or publicly-owned generic drugs, the brought-to-you-by-Big-Pharma News Networks will always go where it’s easiest. " The F-Word, Laura Flanders' bi-weekly commentary. For as little as $3 a month support, be a part of our crowd, by becoming a member. Sign up today! https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah C...
Jan 17, 2020•4 min
What most Americans know about Puerto Rico is based on a colonial fantasy, says journalist and Columbia University professor, Ed Morales. This fantasy, and the reality it obscures, is the subject of his new book, Fantasy Island. In this episode, Laura interviews Morales and scholar/activist Rosa Clemente about the personal and political implications of the island's ongoing debt crisis, recovering from Hurricane Maria, and #RickyRenuncia, the intersectional protest movement that led to the resign...
Jan 15, 2020•30 min•Ep. 278
This year at the Progressive Strategy Summit members of Congress and progressive change makers came together to build a movement that won’t only win back the White House in 2020 but also create long term systemic change. Laura interviewed activists and congresswomen to understand how they see this critical moment when business-as-usual politics simply won’t cut it. Will a movement led by women of color—inside and outside Congress—transform the government so that it truly serves the diverse peopl...
Jan 06, 2020•31 min
In her latest film, The Edge of Democracy , director Petra Costa tells the story of how Brazil went from a rising star among free nations to a democracy on the verge of collapse. With unprecedented access, Costa documents the rise and fall of Brazil’s Workers Party and its charismatic leader Lula da Silva, the impeachment of Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, and the rise of President Jair Bolsonaro who has ushered in, as Costa puts it, a new era of rule by the bible, the bullet, a...
Dec 30, 2019•31 min
As 2019 comes to a close, Laura speaks with Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City's East Village. Rev. Jacqui's public theology focuses on social and environmental justice, community engagement, and the practice of what she calls "Revolutionary Love." In their conversation, Laura asks if love really can sustain our movements for justice in an era characterized by protest, social unrest, and political strife. When we are at our wits’ end, can love renew us so that...
Dec 23, 2019•30 min•Ep. 277
In the wake of the 25th UN Climate Change Summit known as the Conference of Partners or COP, scientists and activists are warning that governments are failing to act as quickly as the climate crisis requires. Taking matters into their own hands, youth organizers with Extinction Rebellion have led marches, school walkouts, and hunger strikes around the world. Though digital organizing plays a major role in their movement, non-violent civil disobedience is their primary tactic. How does a new gene...
Dec 19, 2019•30 min•Ep. 276
In this episode of The Laura Flanders Show, author and scholar Dr. Priyamvada Gopal discusses her latest book, Insurgent Empire, which examines a history of abolition and rebellion under colonial rule to demonstrate how these resistance movements served as active participants in their own liberation, while reshaping ideas around freedom and self-determination during the expansion of capitalism and empire. Liberty can mean many things, not just, for example, the freedom to earn a meager wage. She...
Dec 11, 2019•30 min•Ep. 275
This week, in her first appearance since fleeing Brazil, women’s rights advocate Debora Diniz joins fellow activists and philanthropists to discuss what works and what doesn’t in stopping violence against women and girls. Music featured: “Cause I’m a Woman” by Muted Soul Featuring Jess King courtesy of Muted Records. Guests: Debora Diniz ,Deputy Director of Rights and Justice; Terry McGovern ,Chair of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Medical Center; Kavita N. Ramdas , Director o...
Dec 04, 2019•31 min
The following minicast features excerpts from Laurie Anderson’s lecture “The Size of the Con”, addressing how to prepare for the 2020 election cycle and the tumultuous year ahead in the United States. Anderson's lecture was commissioned by the Brooklyn Public Library as part of a series “Message from the Library” providing a forum for great minds as they reflect on the most pressing issues of our time. Laurie Anderson’s entire 30minute lecture is available to patrons of the Laura Flanders Show. ...
Dec 03, 2019•8 min
The climate crisis is accelerating faster than expected. This November, 11,000 scientists from 153 countries declared that “We’re reaching potentially irreversible climate tipping points—climate chain reactions that could cause significant disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies...” In this episode of the Laura Flanders Show, author and activist Naomi Klein discusses her new book, On Fire, in which she argues that addressing the climate crisis requires more than simply reducing greenho...
Nov 27, 2019•28 min•Ep. 274
Social change and systems change go hand-in-hand. Movements for democracy and human rights are most effective when they aim to transform unjust, unequitable economic systems. In this episode, Laura travels to Spain to learn how people in two of the regions most brutally repressed under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco built the worlds’ largest worker-owned co-ops. From the Basque Country to Barcelona, she speaks with co-op members who explain how humanist models of business helped their pare...
Nov 20, 2019•30 min•Ep. 273
"I was thinking about impeachment when a bird fell out of the sky. ......Dazed, on the sidewalk, she stood perfectly still, protected by gentle cops and generous yards of yellow caution tape... It happened to be the same week, five years ago, that Tanisha Anderson died on the street in front of her home, when she was having one of her bad days." The F-Word, Laura Flanders' bi-weekly commentary. For the full transcript goto LauraFlanders.org Goal, reach 100 Patrons by end of year. You down? For a...
Nov 15, 2019•4 min
In her new film, The Edge of Democracy , director Petra Costa tells the story of how Brazil went from a rising star among free nations to a democracy on the verge of collapse. With unprecedented access, Costa documents the rise and fall of Brazil’s Workers Party and its charismatic leader Lula da Silva, the impeachment of Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, and the rise of President Jair Bolsonaro who has ushered in, as Costa puts it, a new era of rule by the bible, the bullet, and ...
Nov 13, 2019•31 min•Ep. 272
This year at the Progressive Strategy Summit members of Congress and progressive change makers came together to build a movement that won’t only win back the White House in 2020 but also create long term systemic change. Laura interviewed activists and congresswomen to understand how they see this critical moment when business-as-usual politics simply won’t cut it. Will a movement led by women of color—inside and outside Congress—transform the government so that it truly serves the diverse peopl...
Nov 06, 2019•31 min•Ep. 271
The people of Newark, New Jersey—the majority of whom are black and brown—are grappling with a lead contamination crisis that has drawn comparisons with Flint, Michigan. There, the state took control of the city’s water after municipal officials and a private management company failed to provide clean water. In Newark, local residents want to keep their water in public hands. Why? This week, Laura interviews activists working to fix their city’s water through more robust democratization rather t...
Oct 31, 2019•29 min•Ep. 270
