Julián and Sawyer talk about Julián’s decision to sit out the Texas gubernatorial race, which just welcomed former Congressman Beto O’Rourke this week. They also chat with ‘Words to Win By’ podcast host Anat Shenker-Osorio about her ‘Race-Class Narrative Project’ and the need for Democrats to hone their political messaging against Republican dog-whistling. Follow Anat online at @anatosaurus . Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro and Instagram at @JulianCastroTX . Sawyer can be found o...
Nov 17, 2021•51 min
Julián and Sawyer walk through the disappointing Election Night results likely worrying the (slim) Democratic majority and offer answers as to what could’ve happened. They also welcome Julián’s twin brother, US Rep. Joaquin Castro, who provides an inside look as to how Congress was finally able to pass President Biden’s massive infrastructure deal late last week. Follow Congressman Castro online at @JoaquinCastroTX . Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro and Instagram at @JulianCastroT...
Nov 10, 2021•48 min
Julián and Sawyer talk about President Biden’s newly-amended framework for his Build Back Better Plan and how voters may react to certain legislative omissions like paid family leave and tuition-free community college. They also welcome Marguerite Casey Foundation CEO Dr. Carmen Rojas to unpack how the bill’s passage will impact the work of non-profit organizations. Follow Carmen online at @crojasphd . Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro and Instagram at @JulianCastroTX . Sawyer can ...
Nov 03, 2021•46 min
Julián and Sawyer talk about the ever-evolving nature of President Biden’s two-tiered infrastructure package ahead of a purported final vote and the hotly-contested gubernatorial race down in Virginia set for next week. They also welcome renowned election law attorney Marc Elias to break down gerrymandering efforts in Texas and the continued fight to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Follow Marc online at @marceelias . Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro and Instagram at @JulianCastroTX ...
Oct 27, 2021•52 min
Julián and Sawyer unpack the importance of the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection (which Trump is now suing) and analyze new poll numbers that may be enlightening for some Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. They also welcome BuzzFeed News immigration reporter Hamed Aleaziz to break down the current administration’s decision to maintain two widely-criticized Trump-era policies. Follow Hamed online at @Haleaziz . Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro an...
Oct 20, 2021•50 min
US Rep. Ayanna Pressley joins Secretary Julián Castro and new co-host Sawyer Hackett for our season two premiere to talk about President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and the power of progressives on the Hill. Julián and Sawyer also discuss the latest judicial back and forth on Texas’s restrictive anti-abortion measure and a new study analyzing voter outreach in the Sun Belt states. And Julián thanks...Elon Musk? Follow Congresswoman Pressley online at @AyannaPressley . Keep up with Julián on...
Oct 13, 2021•56 min
Voting. Abortion. Immigration. Poverty. Federal courts. This season, Julián Castro goes off script with Sawyer Hackett and insiders on the front lines of the biggest political issues influencing Our America. From Lemonada Media. Premieres October 13th. Find Julián online at @JulianCastro and Sawyer at @SawyerHackett. And stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada s...
Oct 06, 2021•2 min
Just days after the state implemented a draconian anti-abortion measure that effectively invalidates Roe v. Wade, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed voter suppression legislation into law this week. With COVID numbers also spiking there, Julián and his longtime staffer Sawyer Hackett hop on the mic for a special episode to dissect the latest (and not greatest) in Texas politics and welcome reproductive rights activist and fellow Texan, Cecile Richards, to better understand SB8. If you’d like to suppo...
Sep 09, 2021•56 min
Season Finale! We’re ending on a high note with Grammy-award winning musician and social justice advocate, John Legend, who joins us to talk about using his platform to fight for racial equity, and his personal connection to reforming the criminal justice system and upholding the voting rights of formerly incarcerated folks. Keep up with Julián on twitter @JulianCastro and Instagram @JulianCastroTX . Resources from the episode: Learn more about changing the conversation on incarceration through ...
Apr 08, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 27
When you hear the word ‘filibuster,’ you might think of an idealistic Jimmy Stewart delivering an impassioned speech against corruption on the Senate floor in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington . But the reality of the filibuster of today – and how we got here – is anything but justice-seeking. Senate insider and author Adam Jentleson walks us through the filibuster’s racist history, its impact on if and how legislation gets passed, and what’s at stake if it isn’t eliminated or reformed,...
Apr 01, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 26
After a year of disproportionately high rates of COVID-19, the major losses within Native and Inidigenous communities have underlined just how deep-seated historical discrimination still is – evident in an overwhelming lack of access to water, electricity, and health care services on reservations. We’re joined by Áshįįhí Clan member President Jonathan Nez of the Navajo Nation and climate activist and journalist Julian Brave NoiseCat of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen to talk about reopening Na...
Mar 25, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In February, Texas faced the startling reality of a changing climate with single-digit temperatures that led to widespread power outages, flooded homes and lives lost. But why was Texas hit with one of the worst blackouts in our country’s history? And why was its energy grid unprepared to handle it? This week, senior energy analyst Julie McNamara of the Union of Concerned Scientists helps us answer these questions, and Lori Landry, a longtime friend of Sec. Castro, shares her family’s experience...
Mar 18, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod saw a gap in mental health services in Denver and decided to do something about it. With the help of a van, a mental health professional, and an EMT, the Support Team Assistance Response (STAR) program was born – and six months in, it has proved effective at fielding mental health calls received by the Denver Police Department. Rep. Herod joins us to talk about STAR’s success, her personal stake in it, and other state-level measures being taken to moder...
Mar 11, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in the US, over 3,000 attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have been reported – with many targeting the Bay Area’s elderly population. Misinformation, fear, and politicians’ racist rhetoric tied to COVID’s origins in China have only fueled the sometimes fatal violence against AAPI communities across the country. Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate and Chinese For Affirmative Action joins us to talk about scapegoating, the data collected on t...
Mar 04, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 22
After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, many Americans felt a call to action to reform our country’s gun laws. One of these people was Shannon Watts, a mother of five who started a Facebook group that turned into Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Two years later, a mom in Texas joined her local chapter of Moms Demand Action after losing her 20-year-old son to gun violence. Calandrian Simpson-Kemp and Shannon Watts join us to speak about turning grief into action and p...
Feb 25, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 21
For over 40 years, Mary Kay Henry has fought for the rights of workers with the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU. With the rise of COVID-19 and an increased reliance on essential workers, these rights have too often been disregarded, leaving many without adequate personal protective equipment or access to fair wages and benefits. This week, Mary Kay joins us to talk about unions as a vehicle of justice for a racially diverse workforce that’s representative of our country. Keep up w...
Feb 18, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Los Angeles County is home to the largest foster care system in the country, and it’s run in partnership with the police and local Sheriff’s department. So what happens when a system that’s meant to protect our children intersects with law enforcement and ends up criminalizing them instead? How do we get to the root of the system’s domino effect in Black, Brown and Indigenous communities? This week, we’re joined by two women, La Mikia Castillo and Yahniie Bridges, who share their personal experi...
Feb 11, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Storied news anchor and journalist Dan Rather has reported on some of the world’s most important events – from Georgia’s church pews at the height of the civil rights movement, to deadly student protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, to the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Dan’s been at the epicenter of American media since the ‘60s, and now, at age 89, he’s found himself a dedicated following on social media as well. He joins us to talk free speech, disinformation, and what a 70-year caree...
Feb 04, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Dan Harris knows all about how to cope with everyday stressors and anxiety. In 2004, he was filling in for a news anchor on Good Morning America when he experienced a panic attack on air. He joins us this week to talk about how his televised panic attack led him to embrace meditation, and how this mental health routine developed into the Ten Percent Happier books and podcast. With a year like 2020 behind us, we could all use some tips on how to take a breath and practice mindfulness! Keep up wit...
Jan 28, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 17
With the launch of the hit Netflix show, “Queer Eye,” Jonathan Van Ness became a personal grooming guru for unkempt Americans across the country. But JVN has engaged audiences in so much more than better hygiene practices – a year after the show launched, JVN wrote a memoir that helped to demystify living with HIV and what “undetectable equals untransmittable” (or U=U) actually means. JVN joins us this week to talk about living with HIV, overcoming addiction, and the steps that he hopes the Bide...
Jan 21, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Although 2020 is behind us, the new year is already off to an unsettling start. On January 6, chaos erupted as a violent mob of Trump loyalists stormed our nation’s Capitol, leaving five people dead. One of this week’s guests, Massachusetts representative Ayanna Pressley, was at the Capitol that day. Fearing for her safety, she reached for the panic button installed in her congressional office only to find it had been torn out. The buttons were installed as a security measure in 2019 after membe...
Jan 14, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 15
From his humble beginnings as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont to his seat in the Senate, Demoractic Socialist Bernie Sanders has consistently backed the working class, universal health care and taxing the wealthiest Americans. The Vermont Senator joins us this week to talk about the future of Trumpism, priorities for the new administration, and what this upcoming shift in power could mean for transformative, inclusive change. Our team is taking a break for the next few weeks, but not to worry – we’...
Dec 17, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Foster care youth experience disproportionate rates of homelessness, incarceration, food insecurity, and trauma. The pandemic has only made things more uncertain. With the odds so stacked against them, how can we ensure that foster youth will be able to build a sustainable future for themselves once they transition out of the system and are no longer eligible for the benefits they previously relied on? Franco Vega and Amber Baker of the RightWay Foundation join us on this week’s episode to addre...
Dec 10, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Martin Macias and his wife, Tomasita, crossed the border from Mexico into the United States back in the ‘80s with the dream of starting a family. They had their son Jose, and together they became community leaders in the fight for immigrant rights and workers’ benefits. But their journey is marked with unimaginable loss – of a job, their home, and the family’s matriarch. This week, we’re talking about the life and death consequences of what happens when workers are denied basic benefits like pai...
Dec 03, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Happy Thanksgiving! This week, we’re airing a rerun of the very first episode of Our America featuring Rosie and Joaquin Castro. In 2012, on the stage of the Democratic National Convention, Julián Castro described the American Dream as a relay. In the first episode of Our America , we dig into the Castro family’s backstory. We follow the baton passing from one generation to the next, starting with Julián’s grandmother immigrating to the US nearly 100 years ago. Julián and his twin brother, Congr...
Nov 26, 2020•43 min
Below the iconic Las Vegas Strip, another reality exists in stark contrast to the gambling and entertainment excesses. This week, Louis Lacey of HELP of Southern Nevada paints the picture of homelessness in the city’s drainage tunnels, and how his personal experience with homelessness has influenced his community outreach work. We also talk with Emily Paulsen of the Nevada Homeless Alliance about solutions to homelessness and the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Keep up with Julián ...
Nov 19, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 11
With the presidential election at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we’re unpacking the 2020 election results and Latino voter turnout with Joaquin Castro, who recently won his own reelection to Congress. We talk about what the Democratic win actually means for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and what still needs to happen to restore and sustain democracy in our country and around the world. Keep up with Julián on twitter @JulianCastro and Instagram @JulianCast...
Nov 12, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 10
After nearly a decade in the military, Jason Kander had grown accustomed to the demands of deployment in Afghanistan -- but it was his return to civilian life that presented the biggest challenges for him and his family. Today, Kander talks about life during and after service, the career shift into politics that led him to seek treatment for his PTSD, and the dangers of thinking of trauma as “unearned.” Resources from this episode: If you or a veteran you know are struggling, dial 1-800-273-8255...
Nov 05, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Stacey Abrams and Angela Lang are no strangers to voter suppression. In their respective states of Georgia and Wisconsin, they have seen communities of color disproportionately silenced time and again by restrictive voting measures. This week we sit down with each of them to talk about knocking on doors, getting out the vote, and what it means to have representation in positions of power, particularly in this moment in history. With less than a week left, we consider how our collective voting po...
Oct 29, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In 2018, MSNBC journalist Jacob Soboroff was among the select few to visit Casa Padre, one of the detention centers at the epicenter of the border crisis. What he saw there was cruel, unjust, and part of a long, complicated story. Soboroff joins us this week to talk about reporting at overcrowded facilities, and the families he met who were forcibly separated. Their perspectives shed light on the inhumanity of Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, chronicled in Jacob’s book, “Separated: Inside an Ameri...
Oct 22, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 7
