my private podcast channel
Robert and Mia talk with Revolutions Podcast host Mike Duncan about the similarities between his new series The Martian Revolution and the Trump administration and the politics that inspired the show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/image.jpg?t=1749835422&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }We head to Eliot, Maine, where a multiracial, multidisciplinary group of artists have reimagined what a conference can be. At SeaCHANGE, creativity isn’t an afterthought—it’s the starting point. The gathering opens with movement and dance. It invites deep connection through shared meals, collaborative workshops, and artistic expression. And it creates space for belonging, especially for artists of color.
Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/how-we-gather-is-how-we-citizen-7th
🧭 More stories and updates: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
🎙️ This story series is a collaborative effort by Shira Abramowitz, Jon Alexander, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Video produced by Tess Novotnoy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/02a74f24-92a4-4d6f-a2cb-ae27017c4772/image.jpg?t=1684961491&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }True story - for years, Ben, Matt and Noel have wondered about the concept of sensory experience. Turns out On Air Fest was listening, and called them to New York. In tonight's episode, the guys present their live exploration: A Conspiracy of Sound, at Brooklyn's legendary National Sawdust.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/image.jpg?t=1749831085&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }Margaret reads chapter five of her book The Barrow Will Send What it May.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/image.jpg?t=1749835422&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }Today we bring you Story #6 in our Week of Citizening. We’ve already shown you how people are rethinking democracy through libraries, labor, and school boards. Now we’re headed to a place often overlooked but brimming with democratic possibility: West Virginia.
See the visuals and links to all these stories here: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/dont-wait-for-better-leaders-become
We’re told politics is about picking the lesser of evils. Ordering off a fixed menu. But what if we left the table… and headed for the kitchen? That’s what the folks behind West Virginia Can’t Wait are doing. And it’s a clear sign that democracy is evolving.
They’ve passed legislation that’s rare even in liberal strongholds
They don’t run candidates but communities
They help hold elected officials accountable and offer ongoing support
This is what Jon Alexander calls the shift from Consumer Democracy to Citizen Democracy. Not just new processes like Citizens’ Assemblies or Participatory Budgeting (though we love those too) — but real people getting a grip on the systems we’ve got, starting from where we are.
“One of the things I’m most proud of in my career is helping to demystify politics. It’s just everyday work for everyday folks.”
— Rosemary Ketchum, West Virginia Can’t Wait
This isn’t happening in some liberal stronghold. This is Appalachia — a place many assume to be too red, too rigid, too far gone. But that’s just not the whole story. I’ve seen firsthand the level of commitment and creativity in Appalachia through my recent travels there for my PBS America Outdoors show. Trust me, these stories are happening in all sorts of underestimated places.
💬 Who else is opening politics to everyday people?
Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
Video Produced by: Tess Novotnoy
Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/02a74f24-92a4-4d6f-a2cb-ae27017c4772/image.jpg?t=1684961491&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
When Care Workers Organize
Behind Myanmar's Devastating Earthquake
Trump's Concentration Camps in El Salvador
Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #12
You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!
Sources/Links:
When Care Workers Organize
https://www.instagram.com/friendspdxunionnetwork/
Behind Myanmar's Devastating Earthquake
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-aftershocks-airstrikes.html
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-juntas-aerial-attacks-continue-despite-post-quake-ceasefire/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/myanmar-junta-shoots-chinese-earthquake-aid-convoy-rcna199233
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-aid.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-junta-airstrikes-kill-over-30.html
Trump's Concentration Camps in El Salvador
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogLw7I2BWO0
https://documentedny.com/2025/04/14/ice-bukele-cecot-tren-de-aragua-el-salvador-new-york-deported/
How Strikes Build Democratic Workplaces
https://www.instagram.com/urban_ore_workers/
Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #12
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/investing/us-stock-market/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/dispatch-border-wall
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy03j9vddlt?post=asset%3Aaff18753-80c9-4445-963e-03b9438ef121#post
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/image.jpg?t=1749835422&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }Today, we head to Chicago, where a civic gathering called Chi Hack Night is bringing technologists, designers, policy nerds, and everyday residents together to build a better city.
Access to visuals for this story are here:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/we-found-the-anti-doge-in-chicago
and that conversation on Life With Machines with Deb Roy is here
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-with-machines/id1766829040?i=1000703577941
mRelief, a woman-led initiative that’s made it easier for people to access food benefits. Since 2018, it’s helped unlock $2 BILLION (yes, with a B) in SNAP support for people across the country.
In a time of DOGE and digital distrust, it’s tempting to think all tech can do is tear things down. But this is what happens when we invite everyone—not just the billionaires—into the process of shaping solutions.
This is what citizening looks like:
🧑🤝🧑 People-powered innovation
🏙️ Tech rooted in place
💡 Making tools with communities, not just for them
💬 Seen something like this in your community, an org that asks first?
Visit https://stories.howtocitizen.com, join our list, and let us know you have a story to share. These stories are everywhere — and we need them more than ever.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/02a74f24-92a4-4d6f-a2cb-ae27017c4772/image.jpg?t=1684961491&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }The gang talks about concentration camps in El Salvador, an ICE arrest of another green card holder, and RFK Jr.’s autism eugenics. Plus updates on tariffs and DOGE.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/investing/us-stock-market/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/dispatch-border-wall
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy03j9vddlt?post=asset%3Aaff18753-80c9-4445-963e-03b9438ef121#post
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(184) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/ed47f15d-d7b5-4924-8b9a-b2c20115b433/image.jpg?t=1744908805&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }Born in 1940, Samuel Little was known in multiple states as a drifter, petty criminal and man occasionally capable of violence. Like many people living on the fringe of society, he seemed to slip through the fingers of justice despite numerous arrests. Yet intrepid investigators and improvements in DNA testing eventually proved Little was more than an itinerant drug addict and shoplifter -- according to the FBI, he is the most prolific serial killer in US history.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/image.jpg?t=1749831085&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }We’re told some people just need to be saved. But what people really need is to be needed. This community of young single mothers in Lexington, Kentucky reveals a version of this story.
Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/young-mothers-asked-to-lead-and-they-did
This episode features Tanya Torp, Executive Director of Step by Step, a nonprofit that chose to stop assuming what young mothers needed—and started asking.
These moms didn’t just receive support. They shaped it. They requested Narcan training. They showed up. They led. They built trust and built community. And in the process, they reminded us:
People need dignity. Agency. The opportunity to contribute.
More stories and updates: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
🎙️ This story series is a collaborative effort by Shira Abramowitz, Jon Alexander, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Video produced by Alexa Lim.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/02a74f24-92a4-4d6f-a2cb-ae27017c4772/image.jpg?t=1684961491&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }