Unbossed, Unbothered, and Unfiltered

After this most recent Supreme Court session, there were two buzz words that seemed to be on the lips of everyone: Christian theocracy. If you have been listening to my show for a while, then you know that issues of faith are often something we discuss and I wanted to bring in someone who has experienced this personally and professionally. 

Fresh from Denver, raised in Oklahoma, Ben Mann (they/them) "Pastor Ben" has spent a ca...

This summer the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival held the largest gathering of poor and low wealth people in the nation’s history at the Mass Poor People and Low Wage Worker’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. While gearing up for this major event we got a chance to talk to Zillah Wesley about organizing in DC.

Zillah F. Wesley, II is a native Washingtonian. She loves working in ...

During the summer of 2020, people across the country and world were captured by footage of George Floyd pleading for his life at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, MN. Here we sit in the aftermath of countless rallies, protests, and even attempts at legislation asking what is next. For so many, George Floyd is a symbol about much needed change in this country, but he is also a man who left behind a family picking up the p...

Since the 2016 presidential election revealed some stark differences along racial lines in voting, the rallying cry of listening to Black women has become prevalent in many different areas of work. Today we are in conversation with Gabrielle Wyatt founder of The Highland Project, an organization focused on building and sustaining a pipeline of Black women leading communities, institutions, and systems, resulting in the creation of ...

Last month, the Commonwealth of Virginia held its first statewide election under the Biden administration. The night did not go well for the Virginia Democratic Party as they lost the seats for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general along with some prominent delegates. I worked for 3 years in Virginia politics and brought in former colleague of mine Matt Rogers to discuss what happened in Virginia on election night. 

This c...

Dr. King said that the core triple evils of America are racism, capitalism and militarism. While we have discussed racism and capitalism some, we have not discussed militarism and I am excited to be having that conversation today with Khury Petersen Smith. 

Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at IPS. He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration. Khury graduated from the Clark University Graduate School...

 In 2007, when I was in high school in TX I started volunteering with TACT, Teenage communication theater through Planned Parenthood North Texas. We were peer educators and advocates on sex education, birth control, healthy relationships and so many other important issues that teenagers deal with. That group ended up being my entry point into political advocacy and education and I am excited to be able to bring those together on th...

Today’s episode features our second candidate Alaina Reaves, who was kind enough to step away from the campaign trail to tell me about running for office and what inspires her. Alaina is a veteran community organizer who understands the need for responsive representation, and has demonstrated an ability to communicate effectively with constituents. She is passionate about building connections and engaging with her community–that is...

The year 2020 was a year where we asked for a lot of reforms at local and county levels and the narrative was that those reforms were being asked for, even demanded by young Black people. We saw activists of all stripes pressuring politicians at all levels for change and while that was very impactful some advocates took it a step further and ran to replace many of the current officeholders. Our next 2 episodes feature young people ...

In response to shifting demographics across the country, Republicans led state legislatures have been passing extreme voter suppression bills in places like Georgia and TX. Democrats are fighting back and today we are speaking with someone on the frontlines of the issue. 

Aneesa McMillan is one of America’s leading political communicators. She currently serves as Deputy Executive Director of Communications and Voting Right...

Misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccinations has spread rapidly and Facebook has been a major player in that. This episode we are talking with Beth Tadesse about how that misinformation has impacted her work.

Beth Tadesse is currently the Operations Section Chief for the COVID 19 vaccine operation center at the Chicago Department of Public Health. While, she currently works in public health emergency preparedness and response, she...

We took off for Holy Week last week but we are back with a conversation on cannabis legalization. While cannabis legalization has been popular in different state legislatures, that hasn’t always meant that everyone has equal access or that the criminal justice issue will be solved. This week, we will talk with Cree Robinson, cannabis social justice advocate about what barriers this access has meant for Black communities. 

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The anti-Asian racism and hate crimes have increased at alarming rates in recent months, some allege because of early reports of COVID-19 deriving from China. However, racism against Asian populations has been prevalent long before COVID-19 through harmful stereotypes and dismissal of experiences. We have with us today two women, Aryani Ong and Janelle Wong, who are bringing awareness to this issue  through academia and activism. <...

Critical Race Theory is an important part of understanding how pervasive white supremacy is in America. Using this framework, we can see why we need to centralize the stories of the marginalized and oppressed when telling American history.  Our guest today will explain to us how the application of Critical Race Theory is important for policy work today.

Jazmyne Owens is a policy advisor on the PreK–12 team at New America, ...