Better Future with Michael Mezz

My guest is Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement. We spoke while Aru was on the ground in Minneapolis during an unprecedented wave of ICE raids that have shaken the city – and sparked a powerful, decentralized organizing response.

We go beyond the headlines to what’s actually working: neighborhood-level organizing, mutual aid networks, logistical disruption, and new strategies for building power. We also zoom ...

My guest today is Steven Donziger, a human rights and environmental lawyer best known for leading a historic legal case against Chevron on behalf of Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

We discuss Chevron’s environmental crimes, the weaponization of the legal system, the implications of the recent $600+ million verdict against Greenpeace USA, and what all of this means for climate activism, democracy, and political resis...

My guest today is Donnie Maclurcan, founder of the Post Growth Institute and a thinker who played a major role in my own journey. In this episode, Donnie breaks down why money accumulation under capitalism necessarily produces rising debt and inequality, leading to human suffering and ecological breakdown. We also go deep into possibilities for a better future – including the ways not-for-profit business models are quietly succeedi...

My guest today is Grace Blakeley – UK-based political economist and author of three books, including her most recent: Vulture Capitalism. We discuss how political and corporate elites work together to protect their interests, why governments prop up monopolies, and how “the system” isn’t broken – in fact, it’s working exactly as it’s designed. We also touch on the history of capitalism and enclosure, the global legacy of imperialis...

My guest today is Elizabeth Booker Houston – lawyer, comedian, and political commentator based in Washington DC. We discuss white supremacy in US politics, how to integrate class consciousness with anti-racism, the false myth of “rugged individualism,” and how to build a bridge between identity politics and class politics within the progressive movement.

Follow Elizabeth Booker Houston on social media:

Substack: https://bookersqua...

My guest today is Jason Hickel, Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science & Technology (ICTA) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and author of two books: The Divide and Less is More. We discuss why a growth-based capitalist economy is incompatible with a livable planet, and what a truly democratic, post-capitalist economy could look like. We cover lots of topics – including degrowth, AI, the history of capita...

My guest today is Raymond Wei – filmmaker, community organizer, and co-founder of The Conscious Citizens. Ray creates sharp, accessible videos about everything from geopolitics to community organizing, and his work is rooted in on-the-ground experience. In this episode, we talk about building community power, the rise of the authoritarian police state, and how to lay the bricks for a better future – even when it feels like t...

Welcome to the Better Future podcast. My guest today is Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement. We discuss the state of the left, the importance of activism, the future of the Democratic Party, and how to align our political and economic systems with a better future.

To join the Sunrise Movement and/or learn more about their work, visit their website.

Support the Better Future podcast by subscribing:

YouTu...