A Conspiracy Realist prompts some serious questions about all the balloons making the news these days. Bobo asks whether politics have become a kind of religion. Another Government Worker shares their first hand experience dealing with conspiratorial family members. All this and more in this week's listener mail.
Saving our democracy isn’t just about registering people to vote, ending gerrymandering, and so on. It’s about getting back to the basics of living together well through micro, everyday moments. To kick off season four of the show, Baratunde talks with writer, activist, and fellow Virgo adrienne maree brown about how we can learn to practice democracy in every space we’re in and how our small, civically-minded behaviors in society create a culture that isn’t easy to shake. Stay till the end to hear questions from our live audience.
SHOW ACTIONS
Internally Reflect - Make a plan to share your power
What communities are you a part of right now, from the smallest to the largest, the most local to the most global? Build that list in your mind. In which of these communities do you play some role in decision-making and resource allocation? Can you think of ways to bring others into those decisions more? In other words, can you think of ways, even and especially small ways, to bring more democracy to your existing communities?
Become Informed - Study the work of Grace Lee Boggs & Octavia Butler
Publicly Participate - Practice collaborative ideation
Return to the communities you identified in the personal reflection. It could be your household, classroom, office department, or group chat. Within one of these groups, have members identify some challenge you feel is hurting or impeding the group. Then ask folks to imagine what things would be like years out if this challenge were fully resolved. How would they feel? What would they be able to accomplish? Write this down in short form, perhaps a corny movie trailer to make it fun. “In a world, where none of us carries student debt…” or “In a world, where everyone in this house is able to access the bathroom for as long as they need without preventing others from doing the same…” It doesn’t have to be super serious. The point is to try, with others, to imagine a better future. If you don’t have someone to play with, try this by yourself but look for ways to share your ideation with others, maybe in an email to a friend or a post on social media.
Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!
Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show!
How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.
CREDITS
How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor. Our Mix Engineer is Justin Berger. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina.
Additional thanks to our live audience voices Allison M., Janine D., and Carole W.
The stories we’re told & tell about ourselves shape the ways we act and how we citizen. And the story we’ve been living in for decades now is one of consumerism and self-interest. Baratunde talks with reformed ad-man and author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of UsJon Alexander about how we can tell a new story rooted in community and interdependence.
SHOW ACTIONS
Internally Reflect - Tell a new story
Think about the three stories – Subject, Consumer, and Citizen. Where do they show up in your life? Maybe you’re a subject with your parents or a consumer in your neighborhood. In what spaces, communities or realms are you already living the Citizen Story? Where else could you show up that way?
Publicly Participate - Practice asking for help Think about Jon’s question: What are you trying to do in the world that’s so big, you actually need other people to do it with you? It can actually be small, but just too big for you alone. It could be fixing the fence around your yard, organizing a fundraiser at your school, or envisioning a future for your company. Ask someone to help you do it! We know asking for help can be hard, so start by asking those in your sphere, “is there something you’re trying to do that I can help you with?”
SHOW NOTES
Check out our episode with Audrey Tang to hear more about how we can leverage tech & digital tools to strengthen democracy.
Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!
Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show!
How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.
CREDITS
How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina.
Additional thanks to our live audience voices Janine D., Martha T., Ray K., and Jonathan F.
A Week of Action is planned for March 4th as the city of Atlanta prepares to receive land disturbance permits. We discuss how the movement might evolve going forward.
For all official purposes, criminal gangs and law enforcement agencies are natural enemies -- yet for decades, communities across the United States have argued a conspiracy is afoot: the same people paid to combat gangs have, themselves, become the monsters they claim to pursue. In today's episode, Ben, Matt and Noel dive into a disturbing, dangerous question: What happens when cops have gangs of their own?
Police and politicians continue to intensify repression against the movement with domestic terrorism charges and unprecedented high bail costs. Meanwhile, a protest in downtown Atlanta ends with a police car in flames.
Could any real human beings have genuine superpowers? Join the guys as they take a closer look at extraordinary beings across the planet -- and, most importantly, ask who may be attempting to manufacture and control these abilities.
Friends, loved ones, and comrades of Tortuguita share memories and stories of them. The Friday after the police killing, a vigil for Tort is held at Weelaunee People's Park.
New York's former top FBI counterintelligence agent, Charles F. McGonigal, has been indicted for shady dealings with oligarchs. A man in Singapore attempts, for the second time, to sue a woman for rejecting his romantic advances. As mass media keeps people focused on spy balloons, the top-secret Kosmos 2499 Russian satellite appears to disintegrate in orbit -- no one knows what it was doing up there, or why it began to break up. All this and more in this week's Strange News.
The Georgia State Patrol kill a forest defender during a police raid on the Weelaunee Forest. Garrison travels to Atlanta to talk with people in the movement; this episode covers the police's escalation of violence and what happened the day of the shooting.
